I hate the guests I have this weekend!!! (rant)

[Michael956]

I have two guys sharing a queen size bed in one of my guest rooms.  I'm gay, by the way, so I have no problem with guys sharing a bed, but these are two straight guys.  Guess they're cheap. 

Anyway,  all my guests have been lovely...until now.  They didn't respond to my request via the Airbnb platform about their arrival time, so I ended up messaging them using their cell phone number.  Now I can't get them back on the Airbnb messaging system, and I've missed a couple of their "requests" as I always respond instantly to anything coming from Airbnb but don't always check my personal messages. 

So the first strike against them is "bad communicators".  Soon after check-in one of them asked if he could do laundry "at night".  He said it was raining so he'd need to wash and dry his clothes after being out all day.  OK, no problem.  I offer my guests full access to my washer and dryer, but when he said, "at night" I assumed he meant 9 or 10 p.m.  At 1 a.m. I am awakened by the sound of a zipper crashing back and forth in the dryer, and a loud cell phone video being played at the table near the laundry area.  (My house rules ask for "quiet time" after 10 p.m.) Thinking of my other guests in the room nearest the kitchen, I get out of bed and go, "shhh", there are people sleeping".   

Now he is on the fourth (and last) day of his stay, and he has done laundry all four days.  My house is not a laundramat!  One day he took all  my still damp towels and sheets out of the dryer, piled them in a heap, and put his own clothes in.  When I went to use the dryer, I carefully folded his laundry, which consisted of 3 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of underwear and 2 t-shirts.  We have a water crisis in California!  Then one afternoon I hear someone open and closing all the cupboards in my kitchen.  Fine, I thought, I tell my guests to feel free to look for cups, dishes, silverware, sugar, etc. in my many cupboards. 

However, later that evening I walk into the kitchen and find him munching away at my food, which i keep in the highest, most inaccessible cupboard.  The nerve!  Not only is my house a laundramat, now it's a restaurant!  I didnt' say anything because I was so embarrassed for him.  And this is after I went out and bought  a large fan for his room after he messaged me that he needed one because he "sleeps hot", even though it's a chilly and wet January outside.  They are both working my last nerve.  I've never left a guest a bad review, but I so want to punish them and warn other hosts. 

Sorry, I just needed to rant here.

I can't wait for them to leave tomorrow morning.  

[Linda356]

Way over the top. Just leave a message in the public review that you would not recommend them to other hosts. Plain and simple.

[Gordon0]

The beauty of this forum means you can let off steam before leaving reviews that actually make you come across as a bit unhinged. Man alive, I've been there!

My nemesis guests are those that crank the heating up yet have the windows open. Oh, and the others that leave the loo door open.

Edit: I love your listing and have just 'favourited' it for a future trip!

[Michael956]

@Gordon0 Thanks, Gordon.  

[Donna240]

@Michael0, I feel for you, but would have gladly traded your nightmare guests for mine. I may have had less trouble with them for the following reasons: #1) I don't own a cell phone (but if I did I would avoid admitting it) so my guests must communicate through the website, #2) there is a laundromat on the corner where I direct my guests, #3) I drive my guests to Trader Joe's upon arrival, so they can eat whatever their heart desires (at their own expense), #4) I tell my guests to read house rules before I accept their booking, and generally tell them that their booking is their express consent to abide by the rules.

My guest stole a bottle of red wine; spilled it on my sofa, without telling me; he proceeded to wash it with soap and water, which bled the dye in the fabric because it is "dry clean only", and created permanent damage that could only be resolved by reupholstering the sofa. He also flipped the cushions so I wouldn't notice, but seeing as I flip the cushions after each guest, I found it immediately. I actually walked over to the sofa as I was saying my farewell and stopped myself because I thought it might appear tacky. His $200 security deposit left me with a $500 loss after all was said and done and he fought me on it saying I could wash it at the laundromat on the corner for $40. Luckily my platform caved on their desire to refund him something after I sent them the website for the laundromat, that didn't even list furniture covers and clearly was a laundry not a dry cleaning establishment. My photos of the damage helped, as did the mention of him helping himself to my wine, and photos of blood stained sheets I had heretofore not mentioned. When I went to use my steam iron weeks later I discovered that his girlfriend did not empty out the water and it rusted the iron making it a throw away, and my clothes steamer must have been left on all day burning out something or other in the steamer, before she put it back in the box because it was broken and had to be replaced. I had used it 2 times before she got her hands on it. So throw another $100 for replacements.

I'm in S.F. too and during the drought asked guests to be aware of that, but frankly, I have no way of knowing if they overused, since my bills didn't seem to spike much. There are always going to be rotten apples in the barrel, but like you, all my other guests have been enjoyable. I've even met two couples in Paris for dinner.

I handled my guest with kid gloves, restrained my anger and never wrote a review, because I thought it was counter productive to achieving my goal of obtaining the entire deposit. I ended up receiving a 5 star review from him, although his was the only review that didn't mention the host.

[Michael956]

@Donna240  Yes, yours was far worse.  It's good to come on this forum and hear other host's stories and then I realize I'm not the only one who experiences this.  Once my two guests checked out today I immediately felt much better and my stress and anger towards them dissipated.   I would catergorize them as "bad guests" but not "guests from hell".  My impulse now is to leave no review, either public or private, and let my silence speak for itself.  

[Sarah977]

Actually, Michael, contrary to what many hosts have advised, having raised 3 kids (who are all well-functioning members of society, so I must have done SOMETHING right), I think that sending a private message re their inconsiderate behavior is a good thing to do. Maybe they won't read it, maybe they'll read it and think you're the one with a problem, but maybe, just maybe, they will have a wake-up call that their "me me me" attitude doesn't fly out there in the real world. If they go through life without anyone calling them on their inconsideration, they will have no reason to reflect on it and change and will continue to take advantage of others' generosity and trust. They're gone, you never have to see them again, and it's not your job to educate them, but why not try.

[Michael956]

@Sarah977 Although I've never had kids I was a teacher once, and my initial impulse was like yours, to give them some constructive guidance.   I'm mulling my response, but I just may do that.  

[Lucille16]

I think that you should send the private message. And also something in public review--there were some good suggestions on this thread.

I am new to hosting on Airbnb and was searching for a way to review my first guest. Piece of cake compared to what I read here!

[Kelly149]

@Michael956 NOOOOOOO!!! your silence says nothing

[Michelle-and-Ray0]

"My impulse now is to leave no review, either public or private, and let my silence speak for itself.  "

Your silence will say absolutely nothing and not speak to anything.
How is that helpful to anyone? The point of your review is for others to know what they're in for. As a host, when you have difficult guests, you owe it to your fellow hosts to warn them that these particular guests could be such-and-such a problem in such-and-such an area. just the same as guests owe reviews to their fellow guests. This is how it's supposed to work. Otherwise, how will anyone know to steer clear of bad guests/hosts or glady accept great guests/hosts? 

The only reason AirBnB works is because of the review system. Please don't break it.

[Michael956]

@Michelle-and-Ray0  Advice noted.  I'm going to wait a few days to collect my thoughts and will review them.  

[Dave197]

So after over 60 great guest experience I had my first one with a bitch. 1st there were two people but only 1 registered. I ask for the second person fee and it ent dowm hill from there. Said my wifi didn't work. Logged into wrong one. Did she ask? No! said I had cat. Yea, so did my sight say so. On and On. Gave me 1 star. and Airbnb is ready to throw me under the bus. What figure? 

[Michael956]

 @Dave197 I just read her review.  Yes, she was nasty!  Sorry you experienced that.  

[Dave197]

I've been told there are other booking service one can use. Any one name a few. I'm looking to continue host with a differnt service.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Dave197 Private message me. I’ll go over the good ones. 

I was in Manchester NH two summers ago, loved it!