I recently started hosting again after a long hiatus. I had no troubles with my first 10 guests and am waiting for my Superhost status to be reinstated. But today a guest arrived for Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and asked for a discount.
He pointed to some dog hair and stated that he may be allergic. I have a pet friendly listing where I clearly state that two dogs live here. One of the dogs is even in the second photo of the listing. I asked, “Why did you book this place if you’re allergic?”
He said he would be ok with it if I drop the price. I vacuumed a bit more. Again, he asked for a discount. I said that he’s free to cancel and book another place. He again said he’d be ok if we could work something out. He stated that he hosts as well and cleanliness is important. I said that I prefer if Airbnb were to handle it.
I left the apartment to commute with my dog to the place where I was staying. When I arrived, I got a call from an Airbnb rep who stated that I was in violation of Airbnb policy. I was shocked! The rep said that despite the listing stating clearly that dogs live here, there should not be dog hair.
But because it’s a long weekend, the rep was concerned that the guest will not be able to book another place. I cut him off there. I said that I’m not comfortable hosting this person and would rather have the booking fully canceled.
Unfortunately, this does mean a full refund and it’s likely too late for someone else to book this peak weekend. I can’t believe that Airbnb sided with this scammer.
Some more background…I do not charge a cleaning fee and I do the cleaning myself, which the guests know. This typically results in the guest’s expectation to be lower.
Has this happened to you?
P.S. When I talked to the Airbnb rep, I asked him how I can precent this from happening. He said he’ll flag this individual’s account to see if it’s a pattern of behaviour that this guest commonly engages in.
