How would you write a review if you were me?

[Chi37]

Hi I became a host only this month.

Last Saturday I got an instant booking for 2 days and  a hour later the guests arrived when I just finished changing and cleaning from previous guest. The booking was for 2 adults and 2 kids. Came two men and I did not have a chance meeting the kids. First the men entered our own space by mistake(they did not follow our sign and meanwhile our door was not locked) without an apology.

Then one of the men walked into the rental unit (the whole lower level) and turned on all the lights and turned back. They started to complain to me the house is not for their sole use because we living on the main level will be disturbing.

They would want to cancel and ask for refund.

I was bit annoyed and told them everything was cleared written in my listing.  They insisted because they need to leave their kids here but in fear of endangered by other people(us). I asked how old are the kids. This guy answered about 5. I felt odd and told him in Canada this would be illegal to leave so little kids unattended. Anyhow the guy insisted free cancelling and pushed me to contact Airbnb. 

From the name and appearance and accent of this guest I can tell their origin and they might be visitor or new immigrant. Their facial expression was stiff, senseless and never looked at me straight when spoke to me. I could not bear this so straightly cancelled their booking with airbnb.

Few days have passed I still cannot help but guessing why the two men 2 young kids came to our town from a place that is 10-12 hours drive away bringing two kids to spend the weekend but booked an accommodation in last hour and still would leave the kids alone in airbnb. Although they cancelled their booking with me and did not stay, Airbnb asked me to write a review.

What would you experienced guest write this review if you were me?

[Chi37]

last sentence, you experienced hosts~~~sorry for slip of pen

[Jennifer1421]

Hi @Chi37 and welcome to the forums!

This is an odd circumstance and definitely something I would have trouble with. Leaving 5 year old children alone is totally out of order!

First off, let me say that your space looks lovely! I notice, however, that you have it listed as an "Entire Bungalow", which is misleading to guests who would think that the whole house is what they're renting. Your written description is clear that it's an apartment, but I would suggest you change the classification to "Apartment" for property type, and "Entire place" for listing type to better reflect what you're offering. This will prevent future cancellations for this reason.

In your review, it is best to be factual but business-like. Like you, I would struggle with this one. Hoping some other hosts will chime in, as I'm very interested to hear advice on this as well.

I would tend toward saying something like, "Guests did not stay, and asked me to cancel on their behalf rather than cancelling themselves." Star ratings are hard in this instance, however, I would tend toward a 1 for communication, as (although your listing says entire bungalow) it's clear from your description that this is a basement apartment and not an entire home, 1 for house rules, as leaving young kids unattended would certainly be something no hosts would want. Cleanliness: well, I guess a 5, since you don't know. I would then do a thumbs down on recommendation, as I'm sure you wouldn't choose to host these folks again...

What do other hosts suggest?

[Chi37]

Thank you Jennifer for responding and giving me advice. You are right that I will make it more clear on description of the property to avoid misunderstanding, which I will do it right away.

[Helen350]

@Chi37 I would have called police & social services. 1. They intended to leave the kids home alone. 2. They did not know their ages. 3. The thought of being disturbed by the presence of others on the property made them angry. - Can you be sure the kids had not been abducted for some sinister (& illegal) purpose?

- How much verification did these folks have? I'd still consider the police, even now.

I would put all the facts you have given in the review. Obviously you can't speculate about sinister purpose, but say it was 2 men, 2 kids, who you didn't meet & say they said "about 5", & wanted to leave them home alone in a place with no neighbours. I certainly would not host these without a good old chat to reassure myself it was all innocent, but I doubt these men would reassure me.

[Linda108]

@Chi37  To your question, I would avoid any statement about your suspicions or speculations.  State only that guest's lack of understanding of the listing resulted in a cancellation.  If you want to take any other steps regarding your concerns, this platform is not the appropriate.  Pretty sure someone's intention is not reportable to the police 😛

[Helen350]

It was less the home alone intention, but the fact that they did not know their ages, which bothered me @Linda108 ...

[Chi37]

Hi Helen thank you for responding. Actually I don't have much argument on the age thing--because what they meant might be 4 years 10 month or 5 years 3 months and they just wanted to make it short--taking into consideration they are not English native speaker(nor am I). But the other facts were indeed annoying to me. When they left as the booking was totally cancelled I told them that no other hosts would accept guests who would leave little kids alone in house. They flatly left without any more response.

[Helen350]

Hi @Chi37  Yes, the odd age thing could be cos they  were not native speakers of English.. I reckon  most native speakers would say "He is 5" if the child was 5 years 3 months. Or "5 & a half", Or "nearly 6" I describe my dog as "about 11" - cos I don't KNOW for certain. 

What a pity you did not meet the children - to see if they looked happy with the men. I'm worried the kids could have been abducted.

[Maria2288]

I suspect something dubious about these guest, I have steps in my apartment and I don't want the responsibility ok  children falling down the steps, so I specified only Adults, and it works!!

[Chi37]

Finally he gave me a negative review and a mark as low as 1, especially spread untrue words about my house. Can airbnb do a justice?

[Helen350]

@Chi37 I would contact Airbnb & ask them to remove the review. If they say "it was their perception, so it must stand", tell Airbnb that you suspect they wanted complete privacy for the purposes of child abuse, & that therefore their review was retaliatory & that they did not seem trustworthy people.

[Jennifer1586 · Accepted solution]

This is my first  response here but the situation you described made me cringe.

We live in Minnesota  close to the border we share with our wonderful neighbors to the north so I have a lot of love for Canada!

Sadly, we hear a lot of reports of child pornography rings operating in our state and In Canada.

One of the things we are warned about is EXACTLY what you discussed!!! 

IF those men are innocent then the police will determine that!

In the mean time... you have to report this to the proper authorities so if those children are being abused  they can get help before it’s too late.. 

I owned my own child care center and was a licensed teacher for over 20 years. I also worked with child abuse advocacy groups and victims of abuse and torture over the years... so trust me... REPORTING SUSPECTED CHILD ABUSE AND ENDANGERMENT SHOULD ALWAYS BE OUR DUTY! And this certainly sounds very suspect!!! 

Hotels report suspected abuse so should we!

If this many hosts say to do the right thing and report.. for the sake of those kids REPORT! 

[Helen350]

Yes @Jennifer1586 , Well said. You have spelled out what I could not bring myself to spell out on this forum.  

@Lizzie , @Stephanie , Maybe Airbnb need a policy/note about us all being vigilant? And alerting  authorities in similar circumstances. 

[Jennifer1586]

Exactly!!! Most hotel chains have policy for their employees directly addressing this very sensitive issue! As well as addressing discrimination. Concerns and  suspicious criminal  activity...

Why doesn't air bnb?

Great thought process!!! Like where your going with it! People like you save lives and make the world a better place for all!