Long term guests - daily complaint and demands

[Joanna105]

Hi all I'm wondering if anyone can give me some pointers here.

I have been hosting for 1 year and most guests have been pleased with my place. Its definitely an older place hence the price is cheaper and I have all the photos to show.

I had a family stayed at my listing (entire apartment) for 40 nights. They checked in last week and since then its been complaints and demands every single day.

List of items:

- Before check in she wants me to help her daughter research (and may reguster) for summer camps, I rejected but send them websites for reference.

- Day of check in they wanted to check in at 12noon even though I said 515pm is the earliest (I have 6pm on my listing). She started sending me photos of her kids sleeping in the mall at 2pm because they are tired and just got off a plane, and a few rude comments on how unaccomodating I am. When I checked them in at 445pm, they said i'm late and gave me attitude during the whole check in process. 

- They wanted me to take them to Costco, which requires membership to get in. I told them I don't have that...and they said I should get one. 

- Complaint about smell of garbage from outside, which is unheard of in a year of hosting. But I still went and moved everything to another corner just to make her happy. She still complained to me, but the garbage is removed from site so there is really no smell all around anymore. I already sent a complaint to building manager and he mentioned no one complained either.

- Complaint on mosquitos at midnight...again unheard of since Vancouver apartments should not have any mosquitoes. Plus I know they went hiking the day before so its obvious where the bites are from.

- Request to install screen door. I'm looking into it in order to make her happy.

- Request to black out all possible windows. Claimed that the sun will wake them up at 3am every morning. Sunrise in Vancouver does not start until 5am really. But Again I'm working on getting everything covered.

- Fridge is dripping water and leaking water into the humidity container. I went there and cleaned it up but couldn't locate any problem and it hasn't 'drip' (most likely from their groceries but just a guess). They want a new fridge anyhow.

I'm exhausted dealing with all these daily demands with new items I have to replace and fix for them. Can I offer them an exit if they are not happy? They booked my place early in the year so they got it for cheap (maybe 25% lower than market price). Will that hurt my rating? From what they are complaining every day, I'm not gonna get a good review anyways.

Any suggestions? With all the harrassing and negative comments every day, its really tough to put on a smile when I see them. I have another other apartment next to theirs for Airbnb and that's running smoothly at the moment with no complaints and good reviews.

[Lina53]

@Joanna105  Beyond inapproprate and low behavior.  It sounds like they are going to complain every single day but stay.  Then they will try to get a full refund from Airbnb.

If possible, complain to Airbnb and attempt to cancel the reservation.  After the frustration, wasted energy, and potential full refund to them... you will likely end up with a terrible review.

[David126]

I do not do long term stays, but with somebody like that probably best they go sooner than later.

Make sure you record all their unreasonable requests on the system, ie the COSTCO thing.

[Joanna105 · Accepted solution]

Update: I went to install the magnetic screen door and covered their windows with dark fabrics today.

While I was intalling the screen door, she was like 'your internet never works during this time of the day.' I looked into my phone and its really down, so i walked over to the router and saw all lights are off....then i realized someone unplugged the whole power bar!

I showed it to them, and the couple was like 'you probably kicked it off when you were installing stuff' which is impoosible given I worked 4 ft away from that area. The finger pointing continued until her daugther said 'o i unplugged it for my laptop' and they shut up. All I said was 'o wow  your daughter unplugged it everyday at the same time.'

When I leave the place she showed me a photo of a dead fruit fly and insisted that the fly bit her. Then she proceed to show me ' the million flies hanging out at the ceiling', which she claimed I'm lucky because 'the last fly just flew out of the apartment'.

Yes this is definitely the last straw. One more request and I'll be emailing Airbnb to see how I can get them out.

[Welcome0]

You are truly amazingly patient! Actually a masochist! I'd offer to help them pack and offer to help them take out the luggage! 

[Peter71]

I would offer to let them move out since the apartment isn't the hotel they expected, and refund an extra day or two. I take a maximum stay of 14 days for just this reason.  

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Joanna105

I prefer long-term guests and my listing seems popular for longer stays so I actually welcome long-term stay guests. With that said, I do think depending on length of stay and purpose of the visit, the guest expectations are vastly different. I didn't really know this when I was setting up, but now I can see that my listing is actually much more suitable for a longer stay 🙂 I think most short-term guests would not really appreciate what I offer as much as my long-term guests, and based on my limited experience, I think before confirming any long-term reservations it's really really important to make sure they are a good fit with your hosting style and listing - because they aren't leaving "in a couple days" 

Reading about YOUR guest, she sounds like she's had a lot of practice nagging and complaining to get what she wants. If she calls you "rude" in anyway, call her rude right back for trying to take advantage of you. Learn how to politely say NO! I'm sorry my listing does not have 000 but I never said I had 000 in my listing description so I'm at a loss why you would ever think it's something I would provide???  

I agree with some of the other comments that she's the type to try and get a refund at the end of her stay. I would suggest you do something to protect yourself in advance - maybe contact Airbnb and ask about what options are available for you, would there be any penalty if host asked for these guests to be re-located? What kind of refund would you be expected to provide? Just some information gathering and to leave an official record with Airbnb that you have had trouble with these guests throughout your stay - so that when they later ask for a refund, you have proof that THEY were the problem. 

[Alexandra224]

Im sorry to read this girl, how long have they been in your place?,  what if you tell them you are going out of the country for a quick vacay?, they booked 40 days, is not like those 40 days you are going to be around.

This really irritates me, because guest have became really picky and horrible, they expect everything is neat, and super extra clean, even in the most hidden places, i mean COME ON, its a house, it has a LOT of corners and places, its impossible to make it happen.

I had problems like yours, and its lowering my rating, i'm actually starting to think i should quit being a host, and believe i'm really nice and empathic person, but some people, are really not comprehensive about how it affects us 😞

[Paul154]

Learn to say NO.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that"

"No, I'm busy'

"Maybe you could find someone better to help you"

"If only there were some kind of machine that you could ask...."

There is a high chance this guest is angling for a free stay. Document All requests. If verbal, memorialize them in a message through Airbnb. Plan on her upping her game and becoming more nasty as you do this.

DO NOT PLAY HER GAME!

Call Airbnb on steps to get rid of her. Plan on coughing up some money to get rid of her. Get rid of her sooner than later, regardless of the price or the bad review. She is not worth it.

Sorry this is happening, but it is common and  you need to learn to protect yourself.

[Paul154]

This guest may be a master mind con.

Be prepared that when you become firm and say no, she may become nice and docile.

She may even apologize.

DO NOT BELIEVE IT.

She has already formulated in her head her free exit. You were "mean" to her so you need to pay for her free stay.

GET RID OF HER

[Mia29]

Joanna,

Firstly breathe in and then breathe out. Customer service jobs can be super demanding energetically....but try not to take it too personally....Call Airbnb customer support ,communicate them your message with your guidelines and standards and let them call and speak to them.You will be surprised how nice they will start behaving after that....They will realize what you are made of .😄

[Welcome0]

Initially, when I began my Airbnb, I had a few misunderstandings and problems. I was able to resolve them with the assistance of customer service. If you are not sure of the procedure , it's better to have it handled  by a professional.