Need Support-Things Are Rough

[Rhonda301]

Gulp. Here goes we are fairly new to Airbnb. I come here often to get answers for tough situations. Didn’t post what happened last weekend and now another bad situation ongoing.  Here goes…. Realized I am a license therapist trained in the most bizarre but this goes above my professional resources.  We are at the point maybe we will go live on other hosting sites and leave ABB behind. 

Last week a guest came as a single told us visiting her daughter she hasn’t seen in two years.  First she complained about the toilet paper because it’s for a septic system and we have had to pump out the system twice in one year due to previous renters prior to us buying the property. Then complained about how far the grocery store is, yet is is clearly noted on the listing all amenities provided. We added a few we didn’t have to.  We disclosed in three different locations as well as in the welcome message about the alarm system and OUTDOOR cameras in public outside space for the driveway not for guests but because in our area people think it’s ok to driveway up into any driveway and hangout. We are putting up a gate soon. Anyway she got angry about something and reported us as having cameras inside in private area.  Plus she let another not identified guest spend the night who I believe is local and gave the woman the private key code to the front door. We let it all slide didn’t call AirBNB yet they simply shut down our listing for 4 days until we answered their questions. We sent them actual photos of the tiny cameras on the front and back porches. We are quite rural and neighbors have complained about people trying g to stay in their crawl space so we decided it was best to protect our investment.  AirBNB also told us they were noting our file if we got another complaint they would  shut us down. I appealed this and eventually they acknowledged it was a false allegation. They didn’t even ask us or call us prior to making our listing disappear. 

fast forward to this current reservation. The husband thinks he is a handyman. Now mind you this house received a total upgrade with all new faucets, appliances, ceilings fans we added a full en-suite with freestanding tub. The downstairs bedroom has a shower tub combo all new.  We get a call the first night they burned a pan by forgetting it on the stove using olive oil and set off the smoke detectors.  They admitted it got really Smokey and they left all the doors and windows open to air it out. They couldn’t turn the tv on and get the right channels but wouldn’t let me come over to show them around and help so resorted to sending them photos since I have the same tv at home. They admitted they had read any of the house  rules.  They are ok with the alarm system and cameras for it made them feel safer and ask me to set the alarm each night which I did no problem. Yesterday evening I get an urgent phone call the lady was using the faucet to the freestanding tub which has a brand new $500 faucet set on it. Well she cranked the handle so far it broke off flooding the floors all brand new which flooded the other bedroom downstairs.  We had to turn the water off at the main because there was no way to get the faucet to stop shooting water everywhere. We cleaned it all up gave them extra water for the toilets which they didn’t use so guess what we had to do this am. The plumber we used was out on an emergency call 45 minutes from us so they had to go without water overnight. The plumber came today And took the faucet out stating it was not repairable and tapped off those water lines restoring the water.  My husband cleaned out all the nasty toilets cleaned all the water up and provided small mats used to draw water up out of the rugs and wood floors. Then the husband told us he tried to fix the loose toilet seat and couldn’t get it back on. So we fixed that. Now Lind you two days ago when I sanitized this toilet the seat was as tight as it was suppose to be. The place is trashed with garage all over dirty dishes and it’s very smoky inside. 

called AirBNB to see what we should do should they be relocated due to all the water damage the drywall will need to be replaced and so will the rug and ceiling fan since it had water running from it.  No response. They thought I was trying to file a claim I said no I believe they need to be relocated and was told by CS they had to send it a different department. So we have water damage we cannot clean up yet we have a broken toilet seat damaged ceiling, all the bedding g was damaged not the mattress for it has a waterproof cover. And silence from AirBNB. I believe they will force us to keep guests in a home with water damage we won’t be able to start clean up until Tuesday. The plumber told us the faucet was forced off it wasn’t faulty.  He knows this brand and said it’s a well made. In any case I am. Owned over by the sheer lack of support.  I felt it was in the best interest of the guest to be relocated. We afe

losing money every day the water damage sits unattended.  

 
Up to now we have had guests respectful and clean with all good reviews.  The last two have honestly made me less thrilled to be renting out our farmhouse that is historic 122 year old real farmhouse and we poured so much time and money into to for short term rental. 

Any insight would be helpful. 

Rhonda and Mark. 

[Jenny]

Hi @Rhonda301 

Sorry to hear about this situation, it's good to see you've got such great advice from your fellow hosts on this thread!

Have you heard back from Airbnb about this yet?

Jenny

[Rhonda301]

Finally a different CS rep called back to hear our side and when she realized the extent she called them back and said you must leave immediately. I had already told them what several wonderful host recommended and they left. Now they tried to intimidate us by getting their family (who I might add they rarely saw) to come over and the daughter ordered me off my property and I held firm and said you cannot tell me

tonlewve. I explained what happened what the plumber said and the husband exclaimed you did break it and the daughter I think finally realized the state both parents were in and quietly got them to get their stuff ready and moved it all to their vehicles and the whole family

finally vacated the premise and we went to work. A very late night but we have fans etc working the water out. And the third representative asked if they Sanger it I said yes told what the plumber stated and how I have it replace it. It was a relief to be able to start clean up. AirBNB helped finally but we learned our lesson to take matter into our hands I had already given them an hour to evacuate they took two and half but they are gone. And honestly i don’t think they cane on their own. 

how do you get people before accepting their reservation?

[Alexandra199]

How do you vet guests:

1. Have your setting set to allow guest with 5 star reviews only allowed to book your property. Check the reviews of EVERY guest before you accept their reservation.

2. Send out some communication asking the guest to tell you a bit about who is staying and the purpose of their visit. Ask for names of all guests who will be at the property. You can wrap this up in a nice message and explain that it helps you prepare your place for their stay and give them any info that may help them. Any guest who refuses this or comes across as a bit off is a RED FLAG and you cancel their booking.

3. Do not accept bookings made by one party that is actually for another ie. I'm booking somewhere for my Mum to stay. No, your Mum needs an Airbnb account with reviews or there is no booking.

4. Be totally honest about everything about your listing. I don't have any kind of security cameras in my properties and if I'm honest I wouldn't want any where i was going to stay either. It gives a bad impression of the property and area. If you have them though be totally, brutally honest about where they are and why you have them.

5. Finally, if at any stage you feel a strange feeling in your stomach that something isnt right about a guest, get rid of the booking. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and waddles like a duck...its usually a duck!

Hosts on here know RED FLAGS, I'm sure there are plenty of other hosts who can tell you what to look out for. However, I'm afraid hosting is full of pitfalls. The general public are diffcult to deal with and you need a certain amount of resilience to be a host. Stand up for yourself. Its your house and you get to decide who stays regardless of what Airbnb say.

[Mark116]

@Rhonda301   I'm glad you were finally able to get them out, I do think that two such extremely awful guests in a row is unusual.

Communication with guests is the best way to prevent disasters, but nothing is full proof.  We've been hosting for years and  have just had a bunch of destructive, 4 star giver, poor communicators...nothing at all on the scale of what happened to you though.

I'm not sure how relevant my next advice would be, since our apartment isn't a luxury space by any means, I would not feel comfortable putting a $500 faucet in a guest space because I know there is a good chance someone will not know how to use it.  We furnished our space with thrift store finds and stuff we already had which includes some solid wood items that would be almost impossible to really ruin.  My motto has been that I don't want anything in there that I would mourn if it was destroyed, and on that note just took out an original floral still life and brought it up to our apartment because I decided I would be very upset if it was damaged.

I'm sure you already know to take photos and video of the damage to help assist in getting some reimbursement from Airbnb.

[Rhonda301]

Yes we did get good help finally with another support staff and today assigned to a special to assist with the damage. He told me how to create a case.  Thank you.  I’ve already and t photos to the support staff. 

[Helen744]

@Rhonda301 I am not a plumber Rhonda and in Australia all plumbing must be done by a liscenced plumber , but faucets should not come away with any type of normal use, as there are both external and internal connections. I hate to say it but I actually think that there was something wrong with your faucet that caused this to happen unless the guest came 'equipped'No matter what your 'plumber says , this should not happen and if it was hot water they could have been badly burned.H

[Mark116]

@Helen744  That's an interesting perspective. 

I know from experience that guests can break faucets and other fixtures from mishandling, thinking you pull it when you turn it, etc.  I have zero problem believing that @Rhonda301  guest broke the faucet as she and her plumber attest, but it's sweet of you to be so concerned for the safety of these guests who destroyed someone's newly remodeled house.

[Rhonda301]

Thank you for the support. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Mark116  😄 😄 I love you guys

[Helen744]

@Mark116 surely our business is 'concern for guests 'Water destroyed the house not the guest and if this is covered by insurance is the apparent issue not the guests supposed 'mental impairment or ' what bad guests they were . If a guest can snap off your faucets by turning them the wrong way then maybe they need changing .H

[Rhonda301]

Helen you are wrong Simply wrong.  If a guest leaned on it hard it would snap off. So you just want to make this about the host’s error. So In stance you are in line with Airbnb. We make mistakes never the guests, this is about supper on hard times or difficult situations and your comment isn’t support. But you do you. 

[Rhonda301]

No the guest finally admitted what she did to her husband and daughter she got did use force to crank it hard.  It was the cold water and she had already used the tub so once you fill it up the hot water has to recover.  She admitted wrong doing and plumber is licensed with a large company and he installed it. Because this is a rental we used only license and insured contractors.  I do believe this plumber he has done impress work on our current project. Plus he said she pulled out the actual cartridge fitting and it was damaged. I hear what you are saying g this is a couple who aren’t really able to care for themselves.  Their daughter a doctor came got them realized what was happening and took them with her brother to drive them.  They were confused and they did all this in two days. Cleaning g up after them it’s clear they are forgetting basic information and we had no idea until we went over to see water spout spewing water at a high volume. This faucet was tested by the plumber prior to use as well he tested the puppies in the house.  I appreciate your answer. 

[Rhonda301]

Pipes not puppies.  Lol

[Gillian166]

@Helen744    clearly you have never had this happen to you. Once in my 20s in a rental unit the handle came off the shower mixer (it was clearly old and i think a spring inside had corroded) pouring water out everywhere, and we had to run around to find a wrench to turn it shut. We got lucky. 

We have lever mixers and it's not impossible to imagine a guest pulling it up too much and breaking it off. not sure if it's law to have bathroom and laundry floor wastes in the USA like it is here. even so, they aren't that useful, my husband has overfilled the bath 3 times this year (idiot man!!) and we still got wet carpet in the bedroom. 

[Helen744]

@Gillian166 I certainly have had it happen to a person I care for and as you say something was damaged inside the wall which the person using it has no access too. I was reminded of this as the internal and external parts are different. How would someone taking a bath damage a cartridge internall y I ? .Just saying . It is not supposed to happen and was not necessarily the guests doing . It is spectacular and requires turning off at the mains when it happens for sure. I am sure the guests got a shock.Maybe some plumbers are in the CC.If every time a person fiddled with the taps something like this could occurr then no one would ever wash . H