How to review and block strange guest with possible mental health issues?

[Kaya10]

So we had our strangest guest of the last 5 years leave this morning and I'm trying to figure out how to word our experience into a truthful but fair review and also how to block her from staying with us again.

We have a shared house. My husband, 3 kids and I downstairs and 2 Airbnb rooms upstairs. This guest had 9 very positive reviews so when she requested at 9pm we accepted her even though we often don't take reservations that late. At 11:15 I was tired of waiting up for her and asked if she was still coming. She sent a message saying she had found other accommodations and would need a refund but she never actually canceled her reservation.

Then the next morning she let us know she actually needed a place to stay that night, so could she just change it and stay that night. Fine, a little annoying but it wasnt booked so whatever. When she arrived she pretty much immediately told us that she was a prophetic writer who works with spirits and demons. Now we're not afraid of a little eccentricity so my husband talked to her about this a little further, which in retrospect may have been a mistake. First night was totally fine. The next morning things got strange.

Firstly it sounded like she was walking around upstairs on the phone all morning but then we realized she was just talking to herself, not a big deal but we do have another guest upstairs with her so it seemed strange to be loudly talking to yourself in a shared space. She let my husband know she wanted to stay another night and we decided she was strange, but the room wasnt booked and she didnt seem dangerous and we didnt want to be too uptight about the situation so we agreed to a second night. Then she came down to take a shower and my husband could actually hear everything she was saying and he realized she wasnt just talking to herself but rapid fire casting out demons and then she started yelling very argumentative things laced with profanity. (ie. "Who the f*** is this? Get out of my head **bleep**!") This went on for the whole time she was in the bathroom.  Luckily only my husband was home at that point, but what if I had come back with our toddler or the other guest had come back? 

After hearing about that episode I was feeling very uneasy about her staying a second night but we had already approved it and again she w wasnt hurting anyone and she was pretty friendly while you were interacting with her and the room looked fine, so one last night would probably be fine. And it was. She asked me if I worked with the kids I work with ona spiritual level and I said no and she pretty much left our interaction at that for the night, however she did let us know that she had suffered quite a few spiritual attacks that day... 

This morning she came downstairs to leave (luckily the kids and I were already gone) and proceeded to tell my husband that she should give us a bad review because she was attacked by witch spirits all night in that room. Also that our house is full of Free Mason energies AND evil spirits that have attached themselves to our children. She let him know we should have the children cleansed of this spirits or else they will become sexual perverts. 

So... how do I block her? And how do I leave a review without saying everything I just said? Please help.  

[Terri151]

How to block: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/HOW-TO-BLOCK/m-p/976977#M244774

For review I would say something along the lines of "Guest acted very strangely and inappropriately throughout the stay, might be mentally unbalanced. Can not recommend." I say might be because you don't know for sure what is going on. She could have been pranking you, or she could be doing a research project, or she could be batsh*t crazy. You just never know.

[Kaya10]

Yeah, I definitely don't want to amateurly diagnose her. I had not considered it might be a prank, although after googling her name and finding her extensive blog posts and Twitter feed I'm pretty sure that is not the case. 

[Kaya10]

Also thank you for the blocking instructions and sample review! I think that is a very concise way to put it. Thanks!

[Lisa723]

@Kaya10  @Terri151  I would not conjecture about her internal mental state. I would say "Guest was friendly and clean [if she was], but talked loudly and profanely to herself in shared and overheard spaces, and told us that she would leave a bad review because she was attacked by witch spirits all night in her room. "

Also, somebody posted on a FB page a couple of weeks ago about guests leaving early because one of them was "posessed by a demon."  Seems to be a lot of that going around.  🙂

[Rowena29]

Hi @Kaya10 

Sounds like a rather difficult experience all up!

I am far from an expert , but I am almost certain if you put in a phrase like "might be mentally unbalanced" the review will be removed.  Far better to write very factually and un emotively

Someone will probably be along later to give you more specific ideas re wording. 

I would also suggest you wait a few days and then write the review.  You could always post what you plan to say here on the boards first and get feedback from other hosts. 

[Giedre-and-Andre0]

@Kaya10 Woow... SOOO Strange... 😮

BUT I would NOT make a conclusion in a written review (such as as "mentally unbalanced" in this case). Sticking with facts is more than enough tol warn other hosts.

Mention for example:

"...The guest, as of her own statement, was constantly arguing loudly with her demons, day and night..." I think this is all I would need to know to make a educated decision IF I WANT TO TAKE HER IN OR NOT AS A FUTURE HOST 😉

Also be aware that a guest will never see the "STAR RATING" you will leave for her, so no need to be generous with giving her to much stars perhaps for "COMMUNICATION"    LOL :-))))

[Sarah977]

@Kaya10  Oh boy, the average person would never believe the things hosts have to deal with. I'm no psychologist, but she seems to be clearly schizophrenic, hearing and talking to voices no one else can hear. But you can't say that in the review. 

I'd write something like @Lisa723  suggested, just the facts with no speculation. That she had 9 good reviews with no mention of this behavior just goes to show how faulty the review system is, unless those weren't shared listings, so the host wasn't subjected to the phantom demons conversations. 

I also host a private room in my home. When I look at guest reviews, if it's not evident from the review whether it was a shared or entire place listing, I'll cross reference to the host's account to check. And reviews that say "Good guest" or "Nice guest" generally indicates that the host never had any real interaction with the guest and certainly wasn't sharing the space.

[Kaya10]

I realized later that all those good reviews were from 1.5 to 5 years ago. Most mentioned her and her husband. She had told us they had separated and kept saying "since my life became terrible"  so I would also conclude she is likely schizophrenic and became so pretty recently in her life. I have total empathy for her, but since schizophrenia can lead to unpredictable behavior I do feel like I need to warn other hosts. That's a good idea to cross reference the host's account on vague reviews!

[Laylee0]

I agree with the above. I think as a host if I read a review saying something along the lines of what @Lisa723  suggests! Nice but also states the facts so other hosts can make up their minds 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Kaya10  Maybe she's on some kind of medication since splitting up with her husband that's making her nutso. Or she could have been on medication for schizophrenia, and stopped taking it, which is when her husband ditched her. Have a friend that happened to- her boyfriend was on bipolar medication when they got together, then stopped taking it, unbeknowst to her, and showed up at her house and went crazy, throwing frying pans at the wall, etc.

If you want to take the time to dig even deeper into reviews, when you check out a host's profile who's given a guest a very brief, generic review, click on each or some of the guests' profiles who reviewed his place to see what reviews he left for them. You're likely to find he reviews all guests "Nice guests", which indicates he doesn't have any personal interaction with guests, or just doesn't really care how they behave.

[Pete69]

This post is further confirmation that you should never accept same day bookings.

[Kath9]

@Kaya10, be very careful how you word this review if you don't want it removed. DEFINITELY do not say 'mentally unbalanced'. I think something along the lines of Lisa's suggestion is good. Just be factual and honest about what happened but don't speculate on the state of her mental health. With regard to her previous good reviews, people with psychotic disorders can have episodes so she may have not been unwell in her previous Airbnb stays.

[Linda108]

@Kaya10   You have a business that is offered to the public (10% of whom might have an active psychiatric problem) however, you are not required to accept everyone into your home.  Her behavior may not have been problematic in another setting.  The issue is that you need to set booking settings that reduce the probability of problematic guests.  You want guests that have made plans to come to an area for a specific purpose that fits with your listing.  You don't want drunk or otherwise impaired guests.  You need time and communication to vet the guest and same day does not allow that.  If you are a hotel, then you can be available for such guests but you are not a hotel.

As to the review, read the content pollicy first so you write a behaviorally oriented review, not a judgement oriented one so your review will not be removed.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Kaya10 

How about in addition to mentioning she left the place clean and there was no damage that "she seemed to talk to herself a lot which could be heard clearly from other rooms and we were concerned our children or other guests might hear. Based on our experience, we would not welcome her back as a guest in our home."