Long Term guest very problematic

[Walter171]

I am in the middle of hosting a long term stay, now 4th of 12th month.

One guest that had booked the room has previous stay with Airbnb with good review and i do not have any issue from him for this stay. 

However, his room mate (new to Airbnb) has been an unintentional disaster.  It seems that this young man does know or has done any household tidying up.

This is a shared apartment (co-living) with other rooms with guests/tenants. 

He leaves his wet mouldy bath towel without hanging and spreadly out to dry.  He leaves his wet and sweaty tees on the sofa.  He leaves the air-conditioning on, at times, for the whole day even when he is not around. He has caused scratches on the floor tiles while sitting on a chair.  We had ants infestation where he sits in the living room.  He doesn't wash out a spoon but leave it in the kitchen sink.

He does light cooking even there is strict no cooking rule.   Initially doesn't clean up properly.

He had washed the bed sheet but doesn't put it back on.  Now, sleeping on mattress protector.

The toilet sink has ants, spiders which we didn't had it before.  The sink choke after almost 2 weeks and need deep flushing and de-choking.

He has improved somewhat (eg. With aircon on and windows open) 

It seems that he may have a very pampered childhood with mom clearing after him always. 

I don't hope to end the stay early but he may damaged more items in the house.

What is the best way to rid of him. 

 power/usb extension ripped from bed frame. 

[Dale711]

@Walter171 

I am so sorry to hear about your negative experience with the guest and understand completely your concern about the guest behaviour.

Since you stated that, he is a young guest and a new Airbnb user, he should be educated by you.

Acknowledge him the Airbnb term, conditions and policy.

You can honesty discusses with him your house rules, communicate with him " do " and " don't ".

It important to remind him it is a shared room and shared flat, everyone needs to be clean, tidy and be a responsible good housemate.

Teach him the lesson by warning him in case after a while, he still behaves the same, you will have no choice to ask him to find another place which is a better fit for him. Of course, he must be also agreed to leave.

As you decided to cancel his stay, do contact Airbnb Support Help Center, “ Live Chat " with the team( not with an Airbnb bot ), that is always someone here to answer you within a few minutes.

Do acknowledge the case manager as the detail you has been described, the most concern is the home safety, the guest is not a good fit in the shared pace, request the case manager to cancel on Airbnb behalf, refund the payment for the nights which he not stay and relocated him to a better place.

Or either, settle with him in the correct ways without involved with Airbnb. 

It is important to be fair on both sides, the host and the guest.

Hope the guest will be well behaved after he learned the lesson.

Happy Hosting

[Lorna170]

@Walter171   So many people do not seem to be trained in how to co-habit with others.  If the guest cannot comply with what is "decent living", then encourage him to leave.  If the other guests are as annoyed, and the problem guest does not voluntarily leave, start the campaign  of removal:  Get a large container and start placing the items left around the house in that container.  If the towel is smelly and wet, it disappears.  If he cannot sleep on a sheet, put a protective plastic (uncomfortable) cover on the mattress.  Remove the damaged power/usb hub as a hazard.  Tell the guest that the utility bills are too high and he will have to help pay for the air conditioning and his use of the cooking electric/gas which was not in the listing.  If the sink gets clogged again (what is he putting down there?) tell him that he will have to help pay for the plumber and for the bug exterminator.  These extra fees may encourage him to leave or behave better.  Good luck.

[Kevin1056]

Lol

[Linda108]

I am not clear about how your listing works.  What is the connection between the good guest and the problematic guest besides being roommates?  If you cancel the problemat guest does that affect the good guest?    

Are you interested in educating this young guest as part of your hosting style?  Or, would you just treat him as a problematic guest whose stay you will shorten and let him gather whatever life lessons he can?

What local considerations apply with this long term guest that do not apply with a short term guest?  Lots to be considered, but your post convinced me he should be booted out.

[Sarah977]

@Walter171   If you haven't already, you need to sit down with this guest and go over all the things he needs to comply with if he expects to continue to stay.  If he then continues to ignore this and carry on as he has been, or gives you some "attitude", you need to be prepared to shorten his stay. 

If you don't get the point across that these aren't requests, but requirements, and that he will be expected to leave if he doesn't respect the rules, he will continue to ignore your wishes.

He is obviously quite immature and probably just hears you asking him to change his ways as like his mother nagging at him, not understanding that unlike ignoring his mom, there will  be repercussions.

[Walter171]

He is quite OK most time but usually after some unimagineable/illogical event had occurred. 

[Sarah977]

@Walter171  You are giving very mixed messages here. First you portray him as "very problematic", now you say he's "quite okay most of the time."

If you aren't prepared to boot him out if he continues his disrespectful ways, other hosts can give you all the advice in the world, and your problem will not be solved. 

It isn't just you his behavior impacts, but your other guests as well. You risk bad reviews from your other guests if you don't take charge of the situation.

[Walter171]

He is the most problematic guest I ever had.   Things happened and he is not aware or have any idea of his actions. 

Once told of it, he is generally Ok.

Things one would not have envisage could be a problem can happen.

My earlier example, chair with rubber sole could caused scratches on his side but no issue with the main guest's side. 

[Sarah977]

@Walter171 So what you have is a guest who isn't used to considering anyone but himself, or how his actions affect others. Not a good candidate for a home-sharing situation.

As you say, he has probably lived  a pampered life with his mother cleaning up after him. Because he doesn't know any other way, his behavior isn't going to change quickly- he doesn't realize that all the things he has been talked to about fall under the umbrella of respect for others and their belongings, he sees them as separate issues that are unrelated to each other.