I just had a mentally ill guest who stayed for a week. She was very respectful and quiet but when she left I received a disturbing message about how her shoes and a lid on her food were slightly moved. She then when on to say I said bad things about her and that I should have respected her.
First off, no one was in her room. I do not go in guests rooms and my security cams show no one trespassing during her stay. Plus the doors are locked. Also, I never had any sort of interaction with this guest. She pulled up once when I was out front and she did not get out of her car until I went in the house.
I'm assuming she has some sort of detachment issues that trigger mental illness. A couple other hosts have mentioned her 'questionable behavior'. She gives hosts 1 star reviews with false accusations such as: "shady people lurking around the house". It's apparent the way it's worded that the review is written by a mentally unstable person.
I called airbnb after she left to alert them of this person's odd behavior and to see if I could warn other hosts somehow. They asked me what I wanted them to do. I was calling them because I did not know what to do... They did say I could object to a review that I felt was questionable so it is looking like I have to through this process.
The thing is that this person was a great guest, despite the disturbing message. However I think most 'normal' hosts (not inner city types like myself) would be very frightened by her message. I was at first concerned she was back there with a knife or gun, since she heard voices that "I was saying bad things about her". Then after viewing her in security cams, etc. I am likening this person to the sort of mentally ill you see wandering around the city. Not to say there is no danger, but most likely a very disturbed person. I feel bad for her.
Also, she requested that she books a month. I said there was already a booking for a couple days in the month, and she responded with an "OK, thank you". Its clear she is trying to get squatting rights. This person then created a fake profile with a different name and put in a booking request. I knew it was her because the text in the message was identical and the profile photo was mysterious, it was just a black dot. After a few days, the request was cancelled by the guest. I mentioned this to airbnb and I am surprised they did not even look into it. There is now a legal risk involved that I guess they are ok with.
Has anyone else dealt with a mentally ill guest, or a guest who straight up lies and you gives you a low review based on delusions? Airbnb clearly does not want to be bothered with this sort of thing. So we have to protect ourselves as host. I feel bad for this person and may actually host her again as a way to help, but I am concerned about getting false bad reviews and of course the squatting attempt, as weak as it was, is a big concern. For now, I will leave a very honest review. It sucks because airbnb's lack of willingness to handle this sort of situation means she will not get hosted because who wants to risk a bad review.
With all the employees airbnb has, you think they would have a solution for this since its not uncommon (look at other posts). One solution could be a message to hosts that they will be hosting a mentally ill guest and that hosts can flag reviews that are false for review by airbnb, while they considered the special situation. I just came up with this. Maybe I should be getting a $250k a year salary!
