Guest having unauthorized party

[Jean5989]

I had a guest that booked for 5 adults for 2 nights.  They ended up having an After Party back at my house after the attended a Wedding.  Can anyone tell me how to resolve this issue with Airbnb?  I spoke with someone at Airbnb the night of the party, and Airbnb said they would investigate the matter and get back to me.   It is now 2 days later and I haven't heard back from Airbnb. 

I am fairly new to hosting and was hoping someone could give me some advice.  Thanks!

[Paige12]

You have to call and call and call again and again until you get the desired response and conclusion you deserve. I'm not saying you will get it, but it seams the only way to get them to do anything around here is to be as persistent as possible. Also, document everything you can like sending a message via the platform to the guest about breaking a basic Airbnb rule regarding no parties.

[Jean5989]

Thank you @Paige12.  This is all so frustrating.  I did message the guest through the platform and I have security camera footage of the extra guests and party with alcohol.  I am not even concerned with getting money for the extra guests, I want the guest to have consequences with Airbnb so he is not able to deceive another host.

Going forward I am more concerned if this happens to me again and there is someone injured or property damage and Airbnb is not going to help in anyway.

This is making me rethink using the Airbnb platform

Thanks for responding and letting me vent!! 🙂

[Colleen253]

@Jean5989 It's extremely difficult to deal with these things after the fact, and attempting to collect extra guest fees/damages/cleanup costs is next to impossible on Airbnb, so my comment pertains more to 'going forward.'

You need explicit house rules in place regarding unauthorized visitors, and state the consequences of violations. You also should have security cameras to log footage of extra guests or parties. If there are violations, about the only thing Airbnb can help with is cancelling a booking. This is where video or camera footage is helpful. It's up to you to remove either the extra guests, or the whole entire party. With most situations, fast action is required. Far easier to deal with a few extra people than 20-50.  Also, careful vetting of guests at booking, clear communication, and being midful of red flags are super important preventive tactics.

[Jean5989]

Thank you for your response @Colleen253! 

 I have explicit house rules in place and I have Security Cameras with the footage of the extras guests and the party going on.  Unfortunately, when speaking with Airbnb I got nowhere, and have not been able to connect with a person at Airbnb that can help.   It seems there is no one in charge there.   I did take care of having the party and extra quests removed.  My problem is with Airbnb not responding and taking action on the guest who clearly violated my house rules as well as Airbnb rules.  Thanks for taking the time to respond and letting me vent!

[Laura2592 · Accepted solution]

@Jean5989  never wait for ABB. Have a plan about how to deal with parties. 

How long is left on this reservation? If its almost over your only true recourse is the review and any claims for damage that may have occurred. I would say something like:

"So and so were friendly but held a party at our absolutely no events or parties space. Extra clean up was needed. Not a guest who is comfortable following house rules and did not communicate about his intent to throw a party. Not someone who is a fit for our space and not a guest we can recommend to others."

Then below 3 stars in every category and push the "would not host again" button. The guest can't see your star rating and they can't read your review until they leave you one. 

[Philip2683]

For non vetted guest “without good reviews” I tell guest they’ll have to do an additional $1200. Fully refundable deposit against parties. And of course tell them how awful it is others have to cause such drastic measures but it only takes one wang dang doodle of a party to tare your house completely down..

[Colleen253]

@Jean5989, Airbnb CS is useless, and Airbnb’s party ban is just a front to make them look like they are doing something about a big problem. Unfortunately, dealing with and preventing these situations is all down to those of us in the trenches.

As @Laura2592  says, the review is where you will skewer this guest. 1 star in rules for sure. 

[Mercedes491]

I just had this happen to me last night :(. I was up half the night feeling sick about it. The person who booked has clearly deceived other hosts before because she knew everything to say. I kindly asked her multiple times to clear her party and she kept lying about it even when I told her I have a camera. 

very very upset. 

[Helen3]

So sorry you had this experience. Unfortunately guests like this often target new hosts. 

How did you vet this guest when you accepted their booking?

In those sort of situations, never trust a guest who has already lied to you.

You need to go there and make sure all the party goers leave. @Mercedes491 . You don't ask. You tell her (presumably that parties are against your house rules as are guests not on the booking being at the property). that you are coming over and expect the guests to be gone by the time you arrive and will be checking the property for damage. 

Leave an honest review and put in a claim for any damages/extra cleaning. 

[Susan548]

Lodgers that throw wild parties must be banished. Hosts shouldn’t have to deal with them. And Hosts that are maintaining a disruptive house need to be banished as well. This behavior is destroying the brand. 

[Seyi39]

This happened to me recently too and I have had sleepless nights and stress too. Airbnb have been extremely unhelpful. 

[Susan548]

ABB brand is being destroyed by disruptive behavior in investment houses. Neighbors are negatively impacted. ABB is not cracking down on this egregious behavior of  lodgers and in some cases hosts. ABB is just too greedy to deal with this effectively.