Hi all - I admittedly skimmed many of the replies but at the very least, I plan to look at the extenuating circumstances policy. Allergic to mosquito bites seems ridiculous and if this was allowed, it seems a pretty clear example of guests being favored over hosts.
I am also jumping on this thread out of total selfish neediness to spread my bile, I mean share my concern with others.
I am sitting on this review/diatribe because I need to review and edit it OR NOT SEND IT when I am less angry and more clear-headed.
I am not sure if I would have had any luck had I contacted Airbnb first to make sure they were aware that the guest had already talked about finding a local place to stay and wanted to end her stay two weeks early.
Feel free to ignore as I am getting some small satisfaction just by the act of posting it.
I have had such positive experiences with my Airbnb guests that my interactions generally boost m y mood and make me feel good about the world. This one left me feeling let down and slightly sick to my stomach for longer than I would like to admit.
Airbnb agreed with “Marnie” and left me $1000 short so sadly, I am left with using my review as the only form of justice I will get.
There are two sides to every story. “Marnie” claimed to be afraid of one of my dogs and I was ready to refund her because I am a pushover, but the more I thought about the timing of when she told me she was too scared to enter the condo and the fact that she calmly entered my condo the following morning to collect her belongings, made me realize that her greater fear was of her student loan debt.
Indeed, when she told me she was stopping by to pick up her belongings, I had assumed she would have rung the doorbell so I could put the dogs in my bedroom, but she entered with her key despite the fact that my dog was barking as she entered. She did not seem scared at all.
I was so accommodating to “Marnie” from the start and I feel embarrassed and angry with myself for being such a sap. Here are the bullet points:
- I allowed her to check in a day early without paying because she had to start work early the next day.
- After spending the night at her boyfriend’s place Friday night, she asked if her sister could stay with her for a few nights and I told her she would not need to pay extra. Immediately after this, she informed me that she would be able to stay with a friend and wanted to cut her 4 week reservation by half and I agreed knowing full well that a lot of the Airbnb payment had already been spent.
- The night after she made these requests, she called me saying that she was too scared to enter my condo. I was out and it would have taken too long to get home, but her boyfriend apparently entered the condo to get what she needed as I assume her plan was to spend the night at his place anyway. One message to me reminded me of her financial concerns: “I had to take financial aid to help pay for this trip and I shouldn’t have to worry about this. But it’s nothing personal ….”
- To repeat, she entered my condo the following morning despite the fact that my dog barked when he heard her enter the door code.
- My sappy-ass self actually sent her a text to remind her to make the reservation change request through Airbnb that evening.
- As I realized that I would have to scramble to transfer funds because I would be losing $1,000 I asked for other Airbnb hosts’ advice and their universal response was that she made a reservation for 26 days and the cancellation policy was such that I needn’t refund her at all.
- I offered to keep Radar in my bedroom or in a crate to make her feel safe and agreed that she could cut her reservation by 2 weeks rather than 3. She later wrote to say “it concerns me that you even tried to negotiate and pass the blame on my end.”
- She apparently was able to convince Airbnb that she became scared of Radar and they agreed with her. As I was trying to accommodate her early, unpaid arrival, I mentioned that I would feel better being home when she arrived because my dog was acting more territorial ever since the fireworks on the fourth of July. She was able to use this against me.
- Despite her telling me many times about her family’s dog and how mine reminded her of her own, she also told me Sunday morning that she had been attacked by a dog as a child and this was to explain her strong reaction to my dog. Perhaps she could have considered this when I told her about how he was behaving oddly. I sent her this text a week before her scheduled arrival and she could have cancelled the reservation without penalty.
- The message she sent to me the day after she got out of her reservation increased my anger and showed her to be entitled and focused on saving money since she had friends she was able to stay with for free.
- “For me the space was becoming unsuitable and even the later stages feeling unsafe for me. I did not voice these concerns very loudly because I am trying to be thoughtful of your needs.” Excuse me? Were you whispering the concerns under your breath? Was I supposed to read your mind? Did she want congratulations for “being thoughtful of my needs?” I think that she meant to say was the space was becoming TOO EXPENSIVE FOR ME as I realized I could stay with friends for free.
- “At the end of the day though 90 dollars a night was unreasonable for my experience there and I have the right to leave when I felt was necessary.” First of all, my records indicate that I was getting $60/night so if she was paying $90, she should contact Airbnb and try to get more money back from THEM and not ME. Even if I had charged $90/night, I am pretty sure SHE made the reservation and I did not force her to stay with me. Furthermore, I would like to check Airbnb’s cancellation policy to see if it allows for the “right to leave when I feel necessary.” Perhaps they have a special policy for millennials.
- And then, the piece de resistance: “To extend this a week because of my concern for you (which was definitely on my mind thus why I tried to work with your process initially) would have been completely absurd. I would not do that for a hotel and would not expect to do so for you, despite the level of respect I had for you.” OOOOH to be patronized by someone who wants a pat on the back for trying to “work with [my] process initially.” I feel all warm and fuzzy to know that she respects me!!!! Once again, I will need to compare Airbnb’s cancellation policy to hotel policies but I am pretty sure they can absorb cancellations and expect them.
- So, in closing, I am the loser here. I lost a night’s worth of income when I allowed her to arrive early and I lost some sleep as I worried about her and her supposed fear of my dog and then I gained a little as I called her on her bluff and offered to keep Radar in my room. But I lost again as she beat me to the punch and cried her crocodile tears to Airbnb. I lost sleep and faith in humanity and lost the embarrassing amount of time and energy it has taken me to write this letter. Oh, and I lost $1,000.
- But future Airbnb hosts, it might indeed be true that she was scared of my dog. Either way, “Marnie” seems like a generally upstanding person who just felt justified in screwing me out of income and getting out of her reservation because she found better, FREE, options locally.
