Guest Checked Out Late, Now Lying and Has Refused to Pay Late Checkout Fee

[Sarah327]

I recently hosted a guest who I felt uncomfortable with from the outset, and even spoke to Airbnb to voice my concerns. Long story short, after an advisor convinced me all was well, I have now learned to always listen to my gut instints!

From struggling to get the guest to respond to communications, he eventually arrived last Thursday with his girlfriend (for her 'birthday' weekend getaway) and seemed nice enough.

They checked in, asked for logs after messaging me to say they couldn't find any (we provide them onsite only and upon request, so goodness know where the guest looked!) and they settled into the cottage.

On the second night of their stay, the guest asked me to light the woodburner for him because he was struggling to and paid me for the monies owed for the basket of logs. So far... fine. Then the cottage was plunged into darkness all curtains drawn (day and night), NO lights on, and barely any movement during the remainder of his stay. This made me feel even more uncomfortable as it's only happened once before, and recently. It is certainly not the typical behaviour of our usual guests.

Anyway, fastforward to the night before checkout and I sent the guest my usual reminder message and checkout instructions via the platform. No response, unsurprisingly.

The next morning, I had an uneasy feeling and noticed that all the curtains were still drawn and, by 10 am, there was no movement to the car, bags being packed or rubbish being put out (all usual signs of a guest checking out). So at 10.07 am, I knocked at the door to remind the guest again of the checkout time and to make sure everything was okay.

When the guest unbolted the door (locked from the inside) and answered, he and his girlfriend were still in their pyjamas and she was sat eating breakfast at the table.

During our brief conversation, I advised the guest he was now late checking out and a £25 fee applied (per my listing), and that he had 30 minutes grace to vacate. He made no mention of the checkout time or what he thought it was and agreed to pay the late checkout fee before shutting the door on me (I realise now this was just to get rid of me!).

I immediately sent the guest a request for the monies via the platform and also text him the following:

Hi XXX, Per our conversation this morning, and my reminder message last night, check out is 10 am. As you are now late, a £25 fee will be applied. I'm sure you can appreciate, with guests arriving promptly at 5 pm today, this negatively impacts on our ability to clean The Cottage and present it to the same high standard. I would, therefore, be grateful if you could ensure you are packed up and ready to depart within the next 30 minutes. Regards, Sarah

I then contacted Airbnb to advise them of the situation, as I was extremely concerned at this point that the guest might not leave. During my conversation with an advisor, the guest eventually departed at 10.46 am and sent me a text saying he "already left!"

The guest has today declined my request for monies and is claiming that I offered him a late checkout! Unfortunately, the Resolution Centre has clipped his response / I can no longer view it, but it started:

Hi Sarah, I'm sorry for being late to leave I honestly thought check out was at 12. When we spoke at the door you said you offer late check out which is till 12 and I said we will be out by 10:30 am...

Not only does my listing specifically state I do not offer early check-in or late checkout, I clearly did not offer the latter to the guest and my messages via the platform and text, and conversation with Airbnb, confirm this.

Rather than get into it with the guest, I have involved Airbnb and they have subsequently responded:

I am sorry about what happened. I understand that you ask the guest to pay £25.00 for the late check out pay. Let me contact your guest and inform him regarding this additional payment. Thank you for your patience.

Hopefully, this means I will be paid... BUT now I am really worried what review the guest might leave me and how I review him in return?! 

While I know it is likely to encounter a guest such as this, and it would happen at some point, I still feel extremely angry, upset and ill-prepared to deal with it : (

Any suggestions or advice is greatfully received!

[Sarah327]

At the time, when the guest failed to checkout, I was extremely worried he was not going to or might leave considerably later. Hence why I involved Airbnb and imposed my late checkout fee (for the first time ever) as a prompt for him to go. 

Under pressure and without any assistance/support, it was the decision I made at the time. I don't think it was the worst nor the best, but I have certainly learned from the experience, and, ultimately, it had the desired effect. Although the guest checkout 45 minutes late at least he left.

Adding a late checkout fee to my listing, goodness knows how long ago, was mainly done so as a deterrent to guests - to stop them checking out late. Which had started to become more frequent. 

I think a few feel my checkout is too early and many more push the boundaries because I am a lone female and appear much younger in person than I actually am.

I strongly believe this particular guest has done similar before, or worse, and likely had another Airbnb profile perhaps with other bad reviews, or uses different ones, and I want other hosts to be aware of this fact. 

It's always difficult to explain but when you know there's something not quite right with a guest, you just know. How I get Airbnb to listen to my gut instincts, take it on board and support me is another thing entirely!

[Marie6762]

I agree with @Laura2592 that 10 a.m. is an earlier-than-usual checkout time- which would sneak up very quickly on a romantic weekend!  The fact that he did vacate within the hour, and your initial gut feeling that he could escalate, would have been reason for me not to pursue the late charge:  the time alone is worth $25 and so, apparently, is a positive review?

[Elaine701 · Accepted solution]

Ok, again... 

Because you're unlikely to receive any support from Airbnb in a case like this, why bother? 

You won't get your late checkout fee unless the guest agrees to it. You won't get anything. Confronting the guest before or after they refuse is an exercise in futility, and can result in a retaliatory review, quite possibly filled with fabricated horrors you've imposed on them, which cannot be removed. Worst case, they demand a full refund (which they can actually get sometimes). In either case, bad on you. 

So what's the only available remedy? An honest review of the guest. 

Forget involving Airbnb. In fact, don't even confront the guest. They'll think they got away with it, and write pretty things about your place in their review.

You, on the other hand, can tell the truth in your review of the guest. Don't make personal remarks or accuse them of lying. That looks bad on you. Just tell the truth. 

It's really the only remedy you have, so make the best of it, instead of adding insult to injury by confronting the guest or getting Airbnb involved. Your loss is small. Count your blessings. Don't make it worse. 

[Inna22]

@Marie6762 @Laura2592 @Sarah327  I have a 10 am check out. I can not get through cleaning the house if there is the same day turn over otherwise. I used to have a lot of guests who overslept until I started to put the check out time on the welcome note. It has a few warm words, wifi password (most frequently asked question up until I started doing this even though it was posted all over the house), check out time and my phone number. 

I charge for late check out and early check in however I would probably not ask for any money for a half hour delay. if I were truly in a hurry to start cleaning, I would instead explain that, make my way into the house and just start cleaning- getting the laundry etc

I have a device called Party squasher that registered a head count. It is mainly to prevent parties but it has come in handy in other ways, such as proving to airbnb when a guest truly check out if needed