Guest behavior is troubling.

[Renee520]

Hey there. I have a guest that makes me more uncomfortable by the minute. They are from another country, so I am trying to take into account the cultural differences as I have lived abroad and know how difficult it is to adjust to a new place.  First, checked in (long term stay - 31 days) 9 days late with very little notification of when they would arrive despite my many attempts to reach out to confirm arrival.  Second, when they arrived, they left their car unattended to meet me and walk through the property (as I do with my new guests) but they left the car parked way down the street with the keys in the car. Of course, it was stolen with all of their belongings in it.  After one night of being in my house there was damage to my wall (curtain rod came completely out of the wall) and last night I was awoken with their screams.  I live on the same property, so I ran to see if there was an emergency and this person was laying on my front porch (which was wet from rain) on top of my blanket (which was getting dirty and wet).  They told me a story about someone speaking to them in appropriately while she was on the porch in the middle of the night (although I never heard. a second person). For me, I would like to ask this guest to leave the house as it appears that this person might not be in the best shape to stay in a place without potentially harming themselves or others. I have families that live on either side of me and their safety (as well as my own) is paramount. 

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Pat271]

I would call Airbnb and tell them this story. My guess is that they will ask if you are willing to refund the rest of their stay. If so, they may inform your guest for you that they need to leave. Normally, they would also assist in finding the guest a new place to stay, but in this case, they might not feel comfortable offloading someone with reported mental issues onto another host.

Or…maybe you have ghosts! Please consult your community exorcism expert for further evaluation.🙂

[Mark116]

@Renee520  Yes, I would contact Airbnb and tell them that you are uncomfortable with these guests, explain why, and you also fear for your own safety and the guest safety and see what reaction you get from Airbnb.

Just remember the guests will be able to leave you a review after a cancelled trip.  I would position it to the guest that based on the several unusual events that have happened with them, you believe it is in their interest to move to a different location, and they can do that by either cancelling the reservation or making a change request to shorten it.

Whatever you do, do NOT cancel it yourself or you will be stuck in Airbnb limbo trying to get the host penalties removed.  

Good luck, that sounds terrible and super stressful.

[Linda108]

Hello @Renee520   You have a lovely cottage and so far 2 very positive reviews.  In 2017 you had 3 cancellations in a row, so I can understand how you want to avoid trouble with this new guest.  That a guest is not responding to messages or communicating might be related to their not wanting to incur roaming charges while in another country.  Leaving their car with keys in it way down the block relates to parking issues for your listing as much as poor judgement on their part.  If you wish to cancel their stay because of this incident, contacting Air BNB is the first step, but you could wait a couple of days to see if they are able to calm down.  After all, they are now in a foreign country with no belongings due to the car theft.  Just a thought...

[Huma0]

@Linda108 

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@Linda108 wrote:

Hello @Renee520    Leaving their car with keys in it way down the block relates to parking issues for your listing as much as poor judgement on their part... you could wait a couple of days to see if they are able to calm down.  After all, they are now in a foreign country with no belongings due to the car theft.  Just a thought...

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Unfortunately, not every listing has off road parking or parking very near by. As long as that's clearly stated in the listing, I don't see how that's the host's fault. Regardless of where the nearest available parking is (and who's to say this guest chose the nearest parking, as they don't sound that logical to me?) or where you come from, leaving all your belongings in the car WITH THE KEY in it, is more than careless and I don't believe the host should be held to account for that in any way, nor have to overlook otherwise very worrying behaviour to somehow compensate for something the guests, not she, did.

If guests want to arrive nine days after the booking starts and waste their own money, that is up to them, but to not communicate about it and leave the host waiting around for them for nine days isn't okay. Neither is any of the other behaviour (damage, screaming in the night, strange conversations with non existent other people). Sorry, this doesn't sound like someone who is just adjusting to a new country.

I have occasionally experienced  similar behaviour from guests and, believe me, it never ends well. My guess is that this will only get worse and could end in something quite serious. I would absolutely want this guest relocated asap and would just swallow the expense of refunding any remaining nights and risking a bad review. Some things are just not worth the money.

We are hosts, not trained mental heath practitioners. No host should be expected to bend over backwards to accommodate guests who are very possibly a danger to themselves and maybe even others.

[Olivia-and-Olivier0]

Oh so sorry you are experiencing this kind of guest. Definitely, it sounds like they might have had a psychotic episode or maybe under the influence of something , or they might be trying to leave early and get a Full refund by making/building up stories of a bad situation.
Hopefully if the guest is not deceiving, then it s the first, also sad reason, potential Mental health issue. Yes I would also ask them to leave, politely but firmly, your safety is most important.

[Hal3292]

I feel for you, Renee! I do like what Linda said -- if you can take steps to ensure your own safety, then wait to see if things calm down. The car theft must have been traumatic for this guest. Would it be possible to suggest that she stay inside in the middle of the night???

[Anonymous]

@Renee520  Given the state of the guest's mental health and the communication difficulties, I'd expect any potential resolution here to be complicated. But you have valid reasons to want out of this booking, and you might eventually need a paper trail, so I'd suggest that you get the ball rolling by sending the guest a booking change request advancing the checkout date with reasonable notice, offering a refund for the unused portion of the stay, summarizing your concerns in the associated message (minus any commentary about mental health), and showing a good faith effort to help your guest have a smooth transition out of your home.

Calling Airbnb is your last resort if that doesn't work, but you have to approach that with extremely low expectations. It's unlikely that you'll get an operator who can fully comprehend a delicate situation and communicate effectively on your behalf. They can help you terminate the booking in the system, but that's about it - you still have to deal with the physical removal yourself. One thing you definitely won't get from Airbnb is useful advice about the hospitality side of the situation - nobody working there has any training in that anymore.

I hesitate to recommend calling 911 if the guest is acting in a psychotic or potentially harmful way again. I've never had an experience with this In the US that didn't make the situation drastically worse. If you have a local hotline that deals with mental health emergencies, I imagine they'd have better guidance for how to approach the person and when to call in help. 

[Renee520]

Thank you so much for all the suggestions. I contacted Airbnb and they have been helpful, but just too late.  The guest was on my porch all afternoon smoking cigarettes wrapped in my extra blanket (which was getting dirty and wet on the porch). 

I received several messages from neighbors about her behavior (talking to herself, smoking three puffs of a cigarette and lighting up a new one) that I ran home to find many cigarette butts on my porch. Inside the  home she had placed items under the beds, smeared ashes on the walls and taken down a mirror in a bedroom. 

I have spent the last five hours helping her get to a hotel and find her passport.  Luckily, I was able to get a phone number of a friend who could bring me up to speed on her mental illness and her refusal to take her medications. I am going to sleep after a long day and have indeed a paper trail (and witnesses) if I need. 

Btw, that one note about the parking was way unhelpful and off task. There is plenty of street parking available in front of my house. 

[Laura2592]

@Renee520 glad you got this guest sorted elsewhere.  It sounds really stressful. 

We own a condo in the Treme just a few blocks outside the Quarter and I constantly warn friends and family about bringing a car when they visit.  Car theft and break ins are rampant in New Orleans and much of the city is walkable.  My father in law INSISTED on showing off his bright red Porsche only to have it disappear mere hours after he parked. A friend who lives in Lakeview had a truck broken into 9 times in a year parked directly in front of their house.  I think its hard for people who don't live in the city to understand the dynamics with car theft there. It has zero to do with where someone can park. Maybe warn future guests about this? At any rate, I'm glad you got through this very difficult situation.  

[Huma0]

@Renee520 

Have you seen this?

https://www.netflix.com/title/81183727

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but what actually happened is not what people would initially have imagined.

I think that one needs to act quickly when there a guest appears to have serious mental health issues like this.

You didn't just ignore it and good for you. Others should maybe take note!