Guests using my address to open bank accounts

[Gordon58]

Hi,

Looking for a bit of advice from anyone who may have been in this situation.

I have two students from Kazahkstan staying with me. They are studying at Glasgow University until December and booked to stay at my place for the whole of September

They appear to have opened bank accounts and have used my address for mail to be sent. I received a couple of letters for them today.

However, they didn't ask if they could use my address. Had they asked, I would have said no.

I would have thought the university would have a set-up to deal with this type of situation – perhaps the university being used as a postal address.

It could all be fairly innocent and I appreciate the difficulties young people from countries as far away as the likes of Kazakhstan have.

However, I have concerns about fraud and my address being used for other purposes.

What do people think? What should I do with the mail (the guests are currently out and don't know it has arrived)? Return it to the bank? Should I contact the university? The bank?

Additionally, they mentioned last night that they want to cut short their stay as they feel my place is too far away from the university.

I called Airbnb support but they weren't much help – and said I might want to speak to a lawyer! That might cost a bit...

[Kimberly54]

Hello @Lizzie,

Would you kindly tell us (inquiring minds want to know) what on EARTH n-i-p might mean to offend?  I am truly curious.

Is the list available to read?  (We could have fun with that!)

I even tried to rock the boat a bit with iterations (nipples totally passed) and even a penius!  And it flew!  (Wow, can they fly? Sorry, I digress.)

You know "us."  We're not mean people at all.  

Best intentions always,

[Victoria567]

Hi @Robin4

My favourite is

Beans, beans are a musical fruit.

The more you eat, the more you toot!

The more you Toot, the better you feel

So let’s have beans for every meal!

Tah Dah!.......drum roll etc.

[Victoria567]

I’m proud to be an old fart......we have them here in the U.K. too.

I tell the yougsters when I reach 70, I’m going to have a tattoo that says.....Retired NOT retarded.

[Letti0]

@Gordon58  First off ANY mail or packages you get do not give it to any guest. Period. Mark on the front: 'Not known at this address, return to sender. I use a black sharpie, but make sure you cross out your address and leave the name only. Drop them in a postbox, if it's FedX or UPS I refuse delivery if I'm around otherwise I drop them into a Kinko's or UPS store next time I am out and about. This gives them residency and is not good for you. They could very well be doing it also to get resident rates at the University. 

[Gordon58]

Thanks Kimberly, Rachel and Letti for taking the time to give advice.

Sending the letters, unopened, to the PO Box (it's a British thing) listed on the back of the envelope is an option.

However, I am also considering asking the guests if they will come to the bank with me tomorrow to sort it all out.

Hopefully the bank would be able to close the accounts they set up and remove my address from any paperwork.

The guests would then have to open new bank accounts with a different mailing address, probably a PO Box number.

As I mentioned before, they are leaving my place to go somewhere else before they had planned to. I had intended to give them a part-refund but am less inclined now.

I also feel they need guidance from the university about various practical aspects of life in the UK.

In all of this I am giving them the benefit of the doubt that I am not about to become the victim of some sort of scam, but I am understandably wary!

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Victoria567]

Please dont give a part refund....I made this mistake a couple of weeks ago and gave a full refund despite a strict cancellation policy.

My reward.....two entitled young women from Utah who then used my laundry facilities and refused to cough up.

I wasted the best part of a day going through resolution.

Did I leave an honest review......I certainly have, I awaitbto read publication.

We owe it to our air bnb hosting community rather than pass these people onto other unsuspecting guests.

[Gordon58]

You are correct of course re the review. An honest and frank one will be submitted!

[Victoria567]

Hi  @Gordon0

A wouldnae bother ma Bahookie....if you get my drift.

You going to the bank involves you.....they had no business doing this in the first place......down right presumptious of them.

Any further mail.....return to sender!

Advice from a well intentioned Highlander to a Weegie.......” Do I look like I floated up the Clyde on a water biscuit?”

[Sarah977]

@Gordon58  It's very accommodating of you to be willing to go to the bank with them to help them sort it out. But considering that they have deeked out of the rest of the reservations they made, I would simply mark the mail "Not at this address, return to sender", let the guests know you will be doing this, and call the bank to let them know that the address was used without your permission and that the guests no longer are staying with you. If the guests require assistance as far as an address is concerned, they should seek that through the university resources.

 I would only offer a refund if you are able to rebook the dates they cancelled on. And never send a refund until you have received payment from Airbnb according to your cancellation policy. Guests will often appeal to Airbnb for a full refund for unused days and get it. If the host has already given a refund, the host loses out double.  The guests may be young and clueless, but they will never learn what is acceptable or not if they don't experience the consequences of their actions.

[Gordon58]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, Sarah. They are indeed young and clueless. I hope it's that and not something more calculating. At the moment, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.

The approach you suggest re returning to sender is tempting but I also don't want retribution from disgruntled guests.

My partner and I work full-time and these guests are often at my place when we're not there as they don't go out much (the first guests I've had who are like that). I don't want to have to worry about what is happening at home.

I'm trying to pin them down on a date when they are leaving but they are a little vague about that.

And no, there will be no refund now. If they want to try to claim it from Airbnb, I will fight it and bring this issue up.

I will not review them and will let them know I don't expect one either. I'll put this down to experience and make a few tweaks to my listing to hopefully prevent it happening again.

And I hope they don't read Airbnb forums!

[Victoria567]

Retribution from disgruntled guests?

Wake up and smell the coffee.......YOU should be disgruntled.

There is some business you can well do without.....maybe they’ve not caused you enough grief yet for your milk of human kindness to dry up.

And you don’t know when they are leaving?.....that’s coming the bag, as us Scots say!

I know as a nation we are warm and friendly but since when did we become doormats?

I would be returning ASAP to sender with note “No one of this name lives here”

Please review them, you need to warn other hosts about these people, think about it as your duty to the hosting community.

[Gordon58]

I am disgruntled but would rather keep a lid on it and get them out asap without any more drama.

I'm going to flag up the bank accounts issue and other things about these guests to the university's international student support department and hopefully they can speed up the process of getting them into alternative accommodation.

It's all time-consuming though so there will be no refund!

[Letti0]

@Gordon58  Did you get any mail from the University also? If so I don't don't think their young and clueless. They probably applied for resident fee's if you got anything from the University. With the bank account they could possibly have gotten cellphones linked to your address, credit cards, linked to your address and other bills that could be linked. Return it all marked "Not known at this address, return to sender" do not even being it up to them you'll open up a whole nother can of worms. Asking them to go to the bank with you is not going to work, they won't do it is my guess. I would actually ask the post office to hold your mail temporarily until they are actually gone and you go and pick it all up every day or every other day. I can not stress enough how bad it can be for you to have them using your address. At least getting a UK Driver's License is not possible. 

[Gordon58]

No other mail as far as I know. They are usually out and I'm around when the postman comes. I know him so I'll have a word.

However, blocking mail deliveries temporarily is a good idea. Will do that.

They have said they will come to the bank with me tomorrow. I would still prefer to see the bank cut up the cards and delete the accounts. Quite keen to get their passport numbers if possible too – just in case...

Thanks for your advice.

[Victoria567]

Hello @Gordon0

**bleep** this well in the bud!

Phone Air bnb call line, in London and get the operator to talk you through shrinking the content of your home address to prevent fraudsters and bankrupts using your address which impacts on your future credit ratings btw.

Such as no House name and no postcode and a note to your guestsvon the section for directions to contact you an hour before arrival for detailed instructions how to reach you.

Also having your full name and address is an invitation to potential burglars who will view your listing photos as a shopping catalogue and the exact address is really the icing on the cake as far as they are concerned!