House Rule Violations/Extra Guests

[Kelmany0]

This experience was a doozy for us and sharing so others can learn from it. 

We rented one room to two guests. Our payout was $56, guest paid $80.

Within hours of their arrival we noticed countless people coming and going. By around 10:30pm he messaged us he was cold. We went down to give him a heater for his room. We observed someone passed out on our living room couch. The train of people coming and going continued. By 11:30pm I messaged the guest asking who the other guest was and why we were observing so many people coming and going. No response.

After observing more people coming I went down to see what was going on. 7 people were in my living room. One passed out, one 1/2 naked, 2 cursing and swearing in the phone. I told the guest these people had no right to be in my home. He rented a room. He said “oh don’t worry, they are just visiting”. I said no they are not. This is my house, my living room, you rented a room with a bed for two people. No one else is allowed to be here.

They couldn’t wake the drink guy up. The 1/2 naked man went into the other room they didn’t rent and closed the door. I went up, called Airbnb, took videos of all the people coming and going and sent them all to Airbnb.

The Airbnb guy support guy called me to tell me the guest cancelled. I said if he cancelled why is he still in my house. Airbnb support guy negotiated with me to allow him to stay till 11am provided everyone leaves.

The extra guests left but by 2am they all returned. I spent the entire night stressed these people were in my home. Airbnb support told me he was willing to leave when he cancelled provided I refund him the second day. I said I would deal with the issue after he checked out provided he follow the rules and not let strangers in my house. 

at 11am I submitted a request for payout for the extra 7 people that slept in my home. Airbnb denied it.

I had my cleaning lady come in and clean my living room and I promise you 7 smelly men doesn’t smell great! I sent the invoice for cleaning.

They concealed themselves by wrapping my towels around their heads and they jumped the fence of my neighbor because they parked their cars around the corner. I sent an invoice to replace the towels they stole. 

Airbnb sent me links and info on how to file all the complaints and fees. I did that. I escalated the complaint after Airbnb said I can’t get reembursed because they can’t get in contact the guest to collect the money. I told them I want the contact information of the guest since I planned to take them to small claims court. Airbnb won’t give me the information. 

I then hear back from Airbnb and they walked back the decision to refuse to pay. In the end they sent me $280 for the extra guests violations. They told me the resolution department dealing with the cleaning invoice and stolen towels is separate. The next department contacted me saying he wanted all the invoices and the videos. I told him I already sent everything and he said he can’t find it so asked me to send them the videos of the guests leaving. So I sent this new Airbnb person (Carlos) everything again. I just got an email from them saying they won’t pay to replace the stolen towels and the cleaning fees because that happened outside of the window of the reservation even though the whole thing happened because I found 7 people in my house. 

Naturally the guest gave me a bad review. I was able to get it removed because everything they said was false. 

So three weeks of back and forth, 3 weeks of being told completely different things from all the different agents and in the end I am SOL for the extra cleaning and stolen towels. 

What a nightmare. If a guest violates a rule KICK THEM OUT! Call the police and KICK THEM OUT! 

[Joan2709]

@Kelmany0 

First...so sorry this happened.

The first thing to do is call the police to remove everyone...including the guest who violated your house rules.

Then contact Airbnb and have them cancel the booking as the guest violated your House Rules by bringing in all these unauthorized guests. Be sure they understand you as Host are not canceling, as you don't want to accept any kind of penalty if the guest broke house rules.

Then immediately change the code on the lock so no one can use the old one (including the booking guest). You did not have to allow the guest to stay in the listing. Tell Airbnb no, it is a safety issue and you don't want the booking guest allowing the unregistered guests back in the listing.

I would continue to press for reimbursement for the towels and cleaning. 

[Kelmany0]

Thank you. I just replied to them again with the following. I really hope my experience helps others understand what can happen. My permit provided by the city of Ottawa states 2 persons per room and it’s part of the bylaw. I told them they can’t make me pay for a permit to host, have rules and bylaw in place then proceed to let the guest violate the rules and myself not be compensated. This was when the refused to pay the violation fees in imposed on the guest. They did payout $280 for that after my threatening to take the guest to court. Now I need to do the same to get compensated for the cleaning lady and stolen towels. Had something worse happened, image the position I would have been in. My house insurance would have been voided as the guests violated the permit/bylaw rules. It’s terrifying. I have since clamped down severely on my listing and we are vetting everyone personally and trust me when I say they will get kicked out immediately in the future. I state in the first email accepting a booking they are to provide the first and last name of the second guest or the booking doesn’t proceed.

This is a cut and copy of my last response to them:

At this point please don’t bother apologizing for « the inconvenience ». This issue has been going back and forward between all sorts of « interpretations » by countless of your agents. I have emailed the resolution officer Carlos B all the videos of all the unauthorized guests entering and exiting my home DURING the reservation. When I spoke to him on the phone I told him I had already sent every your agents in REAL time during the reservation all the videos documenting what was happening during the reservation when I observed endless people not authorized entering my home. He appears to have not bothered to review the documents which leads me to believe you simply like to waste peoples time. My home needed to be cleaned after they entered and they stole my towels. I gave you the receipts. Of course the cleaning is going to occur AFTER the guests leave. Likewise I am only able to learn the towels were stolen by the Airbnb guests AFTER they left the premises. To determine it happened after the reservation was cancelled by the guest who we couldn’t get out of our house is insensitive to the situation we were placed in. Furthermore to have your agent negotiate with me his remaining in the home until 11 am provided he followed the rules which he then proceeded to violate again (listen to the recordings!) and to then use that as the reason why I will not be compensated is unacceptable. As I stated before, if you cannot reemburse me for the expenses I incurred because this guest violated my house rules I want their name and address and I am taking them to small claims court. So yes, put me in touch with this Carlos B and give me the information I need to get reembursed for the expenses I incurred because they violated my house rules during the time they were in my house. Kelmany 

[Jackson180]

Holy cow, I am so sorry that happened. As someone who rents a room in my home, I couldn't even imagine what this would be like. I would have gotten the cops involved once I saw 7 people in your living room. That is insane and unacceptable. 

I am very surprised airbnb support was not much of a help. Lets hope you get reimbursement for the towels and cleaning. 

[Kelmany0]

The back and forth and round and round in circles is a complete joke. This has been going on for 3 weeks.  They say they record everything for quality assurance, let’s see if they go back and listen to their agent negotiate with me to not call the police and let him stay till 11am and they’ll me the guest said they would leave if I refunded them the second night. So they literally held me over a barrel and told me not to worry I could file for claims after they left the premises. Now this Airbnb resolution agent « Carlos B » says I won’t be refunded because they canceled and remained on the premises. I wouldn’t have paid the $150 cleaning fee to clean up after 7 unauthorized stinky men slopping around my house and wouldn’t have had my towels stolen if their Airbnb guest hadn’t been in my house yet somehow they are not responsible. So Airbnb negotiated me out of being reimbursed for the cleaning fee and the stolen towels. I just told them I want the name and address of the guest so I can take them to small claims court. I hope this story helps others see what happens. This is absolutely infuriating.