Month-long guest has checked out and is demanding a partial refund.

[Christiana1]

Hello all! I am having a very difficult time with a very difficult woman.

An airbnb user booked my apartment for her parents for a little over a month (so I offered a 50% discount), during which time she had a baby. She was easygoing at first, then as the reservation date came up, she became more pedantic and irritable. I assumed it was because she was about to have a baby, so I tried to placate her and respond as quickly as I could to all of her questions (which were about 5x a day for a week and a half).

They checked in and broke the lock on my front door. They threatened (in a very rude way) to cancel the reservation if the lock wasn't fixed before the end of the day but also complained of having nowhere else to go as no apartments were available nearby. I didn't need any threats to get the lock fixed by the end of the day, but I think they thought throwing a tantrum was the only way to get my attention. I would have fixed the lock whether they had been rude or the paragons of politeness. I had the lock fixed, emailed them to let them know, and heard nothing back.

Three days later, I get another complaint that the apartment is "disgusting, dirty, and unliveable." They also mention they have nowhere else to go and are stuck. As I'm already familiar with their overreactions, I offer to have a professional maid service to come in a clean, if they wouldn't mind letting her in. They are not comfortable with having a stranger come in to clean. I offer to have a trusted friend of mine to come clean (as I am not in town) if they will just let me know what precisely they want to be cleaned so I can make sure they're happy. I also tell them I have a few friends who host, though their apartments are nearly twice as expensive as mine, and I offer to get them in touch and perhaps get a discount, since they're staying so long. I hear nothing back.

Three weeks after check in, I contact the airbnb-user-new-mom to make sure everything is ok with the apartment and if she would like a maid to come in. I hear nothing.

I messaged again three days before check out to see when her parents are planning to leave and wishing them the best on their journey home, and congratulations on her having a baby. She responds with:

"Hi Christiana - we were extremely upset and disappointed with the apartment. It was very dirty and run down. We took pictures of the furniture and the dirt accumulated. My parents couldn't even sit on the sofa! The stains, the dust, the bugs!The place needs to be completely renovated! With the birth of the baby, the unexpected C-section, complications with the apartment, it has been an extremely stressful month and not the experience we paid for. I will be contacting Airbnb to place a formal complain and request a partial refund. We paid a lot of $ for an apartment that is not suitable to live in. Let me know if you want to work this out between you and I. If not I will initiate the process with Airbnb and seek legal advise as well. Thanks."

I was surprised, to say the least! I asked her what exactly she would like for me to do to make her happy, and she responded that she would like a refund of $1290, which is a little more than a third of the total  reservation fee. I feel like that's far too much to refund her, especially as I was trying to be as helpful and accomodating as possible. My cleaning fee is $40, so I thought the least I could do is refund that, though it seems like a slap in the face to her.

[As a little backstory, my boyfriend and I deep-cleaned the apartment from top to bottom two weeks before she arrived. We bought new sheets, dishware, pots and pans, and semi-renovated the bathroom. It looks even better than when I moved in, so I am absolutely sure the apartment is not as dirty as she perceives it to be.]

What would you say is fair in this situation? I want to make her happy but I don't want to be taken advantage of.

Thanks for reading and for any advice you can give me! She checked out three days ago so I want to get this squared away as soon as possible.

-Christiana

[Eileen1]

Please don't refund any money to this guest. If the place was as bad as she said she would not have stayed there! She is trying to frighten you into refunding money in order to shut you up.  If this guest succeeds on this occasion then other guests are likely to try it, it seems to me it's nothing short of blackmail. Refer her to Airbnb and refuse to have any further communication with her. 

[Hiram0]

I am just glad to know that I am not the only person who gets insane guests!

[Jennifer38]

I get insane guests too!!! I had one who stole my luggage out of my sons room and used the luggage that he stole to steal all my dishware out of my kitchen that I got from my mother when she passed away, the guest name was fuad and hes from connecticut so beware!!! I also had a guest claim that my one bedroom basement apartment was dirty, hahahahaha, the nerve, hahahaha, he even took a picture of one speck and I mean it was a dot of lint on the area rug, INSANE!!!! And demanded all his money back, like 1400 dollars!!! I had another guest from connecticut who demanded that I remove and dig up my carpet from dinning room as he didnt like carpets!!! INSANE!!! Its my house!! The carpet was brand new at the time of his reservation. I have had people that steal my dishes, use my personal hygene products, slap my cat, break my front door locks, try check in early by arriving to my home at not the scheduled check in time thats stated on my page. I have a guest even take her hands and dig into my food with her bare hands unwashed, GROSS!!! I wish that Airbnb as a company could have more screening of people before they can actually use their website.

Jennifer

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

Wow @Jennifer38, what guests you have had! I must be heading my share of them off at the pass; I'm grumpy in the listing details about some things (like using the towels for ONLY drying CLEAN hands and/or body parts, and NOT for wiping off makeup, dirt or lotions--particularly those containing benzoyl peroxide bc it leaves bleached out marks on the colored towels; I've tried using white towels but they get grungy from guests wiping off dirt and makeup ... ugh). Without having read your listing details, I'm guessing my expectation that we expect our guests to treat our home the way I would treat it--and how I expect my own family to treat it--comes across to those who may be inclined to take liberties and, thankfully, they go somewhere else ... ? I don't know how you do it! The horrendous experiences you have had would put me off hosting for life!

[Jennifer38]

Good morning Fiona

Thank you for replying back. Yes, I have the rules listed publicly on my page but hence they still do what they want to do. These are the ones I feel that don't read the entire description and the rules that are made public on my page, I guess they just see the low price and they book it. So I tried raising the price but then I wasn't getting any reservation and so I lowered the price a little and then I got a few. This time I got one that checked in to my private room at 2 am in the morning!!! when in fact she did not ask permission in advance if she could check in at 2 am in the morning, luckily my fiance was there from NYC to let them in. I was not at home, I work the graveyard shift. It clearly states on my page that check in time is 6 pm to 9 pm. I asked her in the future when she checks into a hosts place that she'd come at a decent hour or the schedule check in time. Can I suggest that you ask your guests to bring their own towels, this way you won't have to keep replacing the towels or worry about if they're wiping their make up on your towels, believe me they will bring their own towels and don't feel bad about doing this okay. You can always offer offer to wash their towels and etc. This way it lets you off the hook. I hope this helps, cheers!!

Jennifer

Hyattsville, Maryland

[Jennifer38]

I hope you have a deposit set up on your listing because if you do , you can contact airbnb to charge the guests for damaging your towels. This is what I did when the asian guests damaged my dinning room table and also when guests take my dishes and pots and pans and anything else.

[Darius0]

Wait - this is crazy. Ive been hosting for two years and have yet to have a crazy gust. Hiram, what happened lol?

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

Wow, Christiana, you have some important feedback regarding poorly functioning amenities (gas stove not working, broken lock), dirty apartment, and poor communication. It seems your month-long guests also found the condition of your apartment unclean. Some people's idea of "clean" is having a tidy space; other people define clean as having every corner scrubbed with a toothbrush. Most people's definitions fall somewhere in between, but would include at least a sparkling bathroom: sink, toilet, and bathtub (including surrounding tile); thoroughly swept, dustmopped (including under the beds and furniture) and washed floors so that one could walk around without getting one's feet or socks black from dirt; and a clean and sanitized kitchen (according to research, this is the part of the house where most illnesses are spread--especially the kitchen sink) and NO bugs. The feedback on the dirty furniture can be fixed by vacuuming the upholstery and under the pillows and/or putting clean and washable slipcovers on them and washing them now and then (every few months, for example). You can snake out the drain in the bathtub and an old-pipe friendly drain unclogging solution. After I got the drain unclogged so the water drained freely, I keep it that way by installing a hair trap, emptying it regularly and using the HOTTEST water I can to flush out the drain (I use a handheld shower and put it right up to the drain and let it run full throttle to flush out build up of soap scum, body fat, and shampoo and conditioner residue, but you could also use the plug to partially fill the tub and then a stick or utensil to release the plug so the HOT water dumps into the pipe and flushes it out). Did you really house people without a functioning front door lock? Or did they merely not know how to use it (there are two comments about this, including one in French). Resist the urge to shoot the messenger (including me), but rather use the feedback (especially from the Airbnb host) as information to improve on all of the points they raise. The motto I live by: There's always room for improvement. And, Don't shoot the messenger!

[Linda0]

Well Christine, I hope you decline their request for a refund. You did not offer free lodging and if guest stayed that long they owe you plain and simple. Only refund if there were circumstances that made it difficult for them and were out of their control such as major issues ie no hot water, plumbing issues, electrical or safety. Cleaning after they messed up don't count.

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

@Linda0 What about if the space is dirty to begin with? Would you be happy staying at a listing that felt grimy? I feel ikky when I end up having to stay in a space that's dirty/not clean. Previous guests complained about the lock not working properly; in fact, one guest commented in their review that the lock on the front door was not functioning at all so they had to take their jewelry with them. Take a look at the listing and its reviews.

[Linda0]

@Fiona - I was unable to view host profile until I downloaded Chrome. Since then after reading your comments I looked at the reviews by guest. I would agree with you that the host must do a better job at keeping her maintenance at a higher standard. She should probably hire someone locally to manage her property and do inspections. But, how much of a discount is still questionable. Since we never know when something might fail at the rental, that's why I prefer not to do discounts in case repairs are needed and I will not feel put upon by the guest.

[Mark5]

What a horror story! I sympathize with you and hope this never happens to me.

I'm sure there are lessons to be learned in sizing up guests before they arrive. I always look at their personal information and reviews. HOw long had they been registered with Airbnb? Did you know much about them before they arrived?

Mark

[John14]

You've done a excellent job trying to manage this extremely difficult guest.  Complaints were addressed in a timely fashion.  Don't be scammed with a refund.  Stand your ground!

[Mathew0]

I won't look at older reviews- the fact that they refused to allow a cleaning person to come in is telling enough. Maybe they planned this, or (more likely) they got cold feet when they realized the price they were paying, but to complain that something is dirty or broken but then also say that you don't want anyone to come fix it is clearly trying to lay grounds for complaint. They probably looked at your reviews from when the apartment was dirtier so that they would have a story that seemed to be corroborated by the prior reviews. And when push comes to shove, they stayed the whole month! It was so terrible, but in a city of 8 million + people, there was *no* alternative? BS. 

[Fiona-and-Keith-and-Fami0]

@Mathew0 This review is the 2nd most recent and is from December 2015: "Christiana let us know that because of some misunderstanding with the cleaning guy it has not been cleaned. We arrived at home at 1.00 am and it was really really dirty, besides no light was working in the kitchen where we had to look for sheets and towels (as we were told by our host) in the end we went to bed without even possibly using the bathroom. Christiana arranged for cleaning next morning (we obviously had to get out in the morning without any shower) and offered to reimbourse cleaning fee (she did that right away). Just note that the apartment and the furniture are really old. The bathroom is really small and the sink is so small that it's impossible to use it without getting wet, water don't rinses normally and there are problems with the toilet. The small carpet in front of the bath tube seems to have been there like... forever." Seems there's consistent feedback to do with cleaning/cleaning service, dirty furniture, or the bathroom. If there a pattern, including from another Airbnb host, I'd agree with you. But there is, so I don't.