My guest has smoked in my non-smoking house.

[Amy24]

THey have now checked out but I"m not sure what to do.  I have other guests arriving soon and the room smells terrible.  What recourse do I have?

[Kelly873]

I just had 6 guests for 5 days who chain smoked & also smoked weed. They left a lot off sticky resin on the counters, pieces of bud all over & a broken wine bottle in the sink & in the disposal & slivers of glass on the counter & floor which I eventually stepped on.  They were actually polite to interact with so I’m somewhat shocked. We also have a clear NO smoking policy but they are new & never bothered to read any house rules. It’s the cigarettes that are horrible!  I lock my large walk-in master closet & it’s in all my clothing & everywhere imaginable.  I did not give them a super bad rating (even though they left a mess & also broke the living room blinds)  b/c I have had damage with EVERY SINGLE LISTING (this was #3) & I was getting paranoid Airbnb would think I’m making up claims. The first group snuck in kids & left huge amounts of trash & cooking mess, chewed gum & gummy candy on floors & under & on furniture & walls & broke one set of blinds.  The second group had a party & destroyed the bed frame & ruined towels & also left a mess.  Airbnb has still not reimbursed us the $650 they owe for the furniture replacement. And now this.  Honestly, I think the smoke is the worst though. I’m so tired & embattled. We are taking our house off - probably permanently.  I’m going to run a moveable air filter & launder everything possible, wash walls with vinegar. We’ve been running all the fans non-stop. I’ll also be calling the steam cleaner & going to Bed Bath beyond to get the Bad Air Sponge which is supposed to work wonders at absorbing odors. Fingers crossed!  We do not deserve this & I am shocked how service recovery & resolution processes have slipped. (Never mind the new blind profile situation!) Airbnb does not care AT ALL & our place is WAY too nice to be sustaining this type of damage regularly. 

[Ned-And-Laura0]

I had a guest soke pot in the space.  It is a non smoking listing with a large outdoor seating area I tell guests they can smoke on.  Usually pot smell doesn't last (as I learned in college) so I wasn't too worried about it, but for some reason this was a strong smell that lasted for days and days no matter what we did.  I didn't make a claim and they left me a nice review, but looking back I should have said something to the guest and to airbnb but I was worried about getting a bad review.   We finally got the smell out with loads of lysol spray. 

[Victoria567]

Hi @Amy0

phone up air bnb asap.

london Number is 020 3318 1111.

Also Make sure you leave an honest review for this entitled guest!

[Diana908]

We are new to the Airbnb scene, only having rented our home for one month.  Of the half dozen guest visits we have had so far, the last two couples left the place smelling like smoke.  Standing in an open patio door and smoking is not considered complying with our non-smoking home policy!  Great to know that is what they were doing when it was - 20 C outside and all our heat was being lost too!  Fortunately we have an ozone machine and it seems to be doing a fairly good job of eliminating the odors.  I am not afraid to put this on their reviews.  We are very disappointed that people are so disrespectful.  Our home is newly renovated and freshly painted!!

We are now looking at having a damage deposit and stating that it will not be refunded if there is any odor of smoke in the home.  If this is clear before people book we hope that will deter any smokers from violating our policy.

[Carolyn-and-Dutch0]

After seven years, we had our first guest smoke inside. I went downstairs and immediately opened all the windows and used a fan to blow the smoke out. I won’t know the damage until they leave tomorrow.

[Nikki51]

Why does Airbnb require us to post house rules, if they won't allow us to enforce them?

Airbnb "Customer Experience" must mean "traveler support team" because they don't give a ship about hosts. The fact that someone can cancel their VACATION (optional fun) and get a full refund while your ability to earn a living is not protected is 100% proof that Airbnb has no regard for hosts. They pretend to care only when they think they can get a bit of money out of a traveler easily and pass that onto hosts. If the traveler who broke your house rules says they don't want to pay any fines listed in your house rules, Airbnb is not going to make them pay.

I have a very strict no smoking policy. The dog who lives adjacent to the patio of one of our rental is deathly allergic to just about everything. Smoke could kill him within minutes. As for my reaction to smoke, it isn't death, but if you've ever had migraines you know a swift death is sometimes what you pray for.

Airbnb "customer experience" rep Britney H just told me she thinks it's fair that my guest not have to pay for additional laundry or the 6 days the home had to remain vacant while undergoing airing out and deep cleaning.  My cleaner had to use a special device (cold fogger) and solution to finally get rid of the odor.

Airbnb is not our friend, hosts. We should start our own rental hub that is fair all around and does not cater to rude renters

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Nikki51 I'm totally with you on this.

[Per24]

I have a no smoking policy too in my house that I leave, when it is rented. I discovered after I had posted a review (with a NO recommendation to other hosts for other reasons) that someone had been smoking. They left garbage in bags around the house and I sorted it somewhat in recycle and garbage. During the process I discovered a plastic bottle with cigarette buts (took photo).  My neighbor confirmed that one man had been smoking outside.

I asked Airbnb support the day after they had left (within 48 hours) what they would recommend, saying my main concern was to help other hosts understand the risk with this guest and discourage hosting them. I was not asking for any compensation, though said it could be an option, if Airbnb recommended it. They did not respond to that question.

Responses from Airbnb support over a period of 8-9 days that was mostly unhelpful (it felt like waste of time and that they are not on there to help the hosts). Except for finally suggesting that I could posting a reply to the guest's public review.  And after I asked they confirmed that would be available for future hosts to see.

Support did not clarify what happens when you press the button of no recommendation. So, I am still wondering about that.

I updated my policy and now it says no smokers at all. 

[Kelly873]

Amen!! 🙌🏼

[Per24]

I am not trusting Airbnb Support much after 8-9 days of dialog. But here is what they say

The answer to the question would you recommend this guest yes or no is not visible to hosts. It does impact guests ability to do instant bookings if the host made it dependent on whether a guest is recommended. I do not know what the balance of host votes need to be. 

Initially, they said that if a host respond to a guests review, then the reply will be visible too on the guest's review page. When I copied and pasted what I saw, they retracted that. The support person did mention they would escalate that to management. 

So, as far as I can tell there is with the current interface, there is no way to adjust a review later at this point.

I will take longer time to submit reviews in the current situation.

As other hosts have observed.It seems as if Airbnb is OK with guests that does not adhere to house rules, because it brings in more revenue regardess of the consequence for the individual host.