Need advice dealing with Airbnb and Destructive Guest

[Catherine1274]

Can anyone help me deal with this situation? 

1. Red flag:guest asked to pay me by check for the rent before moving in for an extended stay (I said no).

2. Yellow flag: guest asked me to move my bed out so she could move her bed in (I said yes). 3. Red flag: guest said she had a lot of boxes and a printer and her stuff to move in (I said no).

3 Red flag: guest told called at 6:30 am and left a message that she needed to cancel her reservation and then changed her mind at 7am. I called Airbnb and they said I'd be penalized if I processed the cancellation because guest had a mind change.

4 red flag: after she moved in,  she told me (didn't ask me) that her daughter would be staying with her in this tiny suite (I said no or she'd have to pay extra).

5 red flag: guest sent a photo of rust liquid all over the sink faucet. Plumber said it's obviously something she spilled on the faucet as there are no metals in it which rust.

6 red bright blinking light: guest refused to let the plumber in to look at the sink begging me not to let anyone in with her being there and wouldn't tell me a time I could go in (she was always there).

7 red flag: looking in the window it looked like a hoarder house with a ton of crap stacked in the small space.

8 red flag: she said the heater was broken and I said someone is coming the next day to fix it and look at the sink.

9 Red flashing light again: she said nobody can come in without her there and again she wouldn't give me a clear time as to when that would be good for her.

10 red flag: I called airbnb and they called her to get a solid time which they agreed to let her have till Wednesday (it was Saturday) and I'd have to wait to fix and assess my own property that she said is broken. And she told them she was going to be away for a few days, that's why.

11 red flag: she wasn't away she was there most of the time as usual and I texted her and messaged her that we were ready to go in and look and fix things and she ignored it.

12 red flag: Monday morning (remember she told Airbnb she's going to be away till Wednesday) and she called airbnb that she's freezing and heater is broken and all electricity is broken (again).

Obviously she's making up stories again as she'd have hypothermia in an unheated place at 19 degrees outside and I know my electrical works and I know there must be a reason she's refusing to let us go look at it and or fix it.

Airbnb agrees to give her a refund and a few hours later, she's out of there.  We went in that afternoon to discover that all the electrical worked perfectly and the heater was on. But in the week she was there, she managed to ruin a shelf with water damage, break my stone sink by putting nick in it, break the threads on the shower by torquing it too hard, splatter small bits of concrete on the glass doors which we're still trying to scrape off with a knife and her photo of rust on the sink was pure theatrics that make no sense in reality as there is no rusting metal anywhere near that system of a year old stainless steel sink with pvc piping and ss faucet. She poured rust around it obviously in an effort to make it look rusty. She also set my chairs and my broom and mop out on the dirt and in the elements.

And now airbnb is telling me they've escalated my claims and will get back to be but so far nothing, no word from them. Also, she called me a liar in the review and threatened "I will shut down your business" in her last  message responding to my request that she pay for her damages.  And in that same last message from her she mentioned that she fell and hurt her knee in my driveway. She's a scammer from red flag #1 but I'm pretty concerned by airbnb's lack of concern for any of this.

Any advice? 

[Danielle476]

Yikes.  It sounds like you already escalated it to AirBNB - did you make a claim against her?  I'm assuming you did since you mentioned their involvement.  If the guest messaged you in the app and said she was going to 'shut down your business', that in and of itself should negate her review/have it removed.  If she said this to you outside of the AirBNB messenger, but you have it in writing, make sure that's shared with AirBNB.

My advice:

-Make a claim against her if you haven't already, and be sure to take photos of everything

-Be sure to do so before the next guest checks in

-Keep receipts for any and all repairs that you've had to make since her departure

-Get written estimates on an official letterhead for any other repairs that have not yet taken place

-Send screenshots of any and all conversations that may have taken place through e-mail or via text, especially ones where she's threatened you or your business

-Raise your security deposit to cover yourself if this were to happen again (AirBNB's Host Guarantee is more difficult to claim than a guest's security deposit.)

These claims can take up to a week, and usually more depending on how complicated they are.  I would submit all of the aforementioned information and then wait to hear from the individual who was assigned to your case.  The last time I made a claim, I escalated it on a Friday and heard back from them on Monday - it was resolved by Thursday.  In the future, I would steer clear of allowing guests to make such drastic changes to your accommodation (bringing furniture & other belongings in), and clarify what your responsibilities are in terms of cancellations.  You wouldn't have been penalized if your guest cancelled.  Best of luck to you!

[Catherine1274]

Thank you for the info about it taking a few days for them to get back to me. 

Good advice above! I'll follow those steps. 

[Catherine1274]

I did take screenshots and keeping receipts. 

It's interesting because the message where she says she's going to "go to court to shut me down" isn't in  the inbox. I screenshotted it though. 

[Colleen253]

"She's a scammer from red flag #1"

But you accepted her anyway, and then went on to discover more than 10 red flags, total. Wow, what a surprise. 

"but I'm pretty concerned by airbnb's lack of concern for any of this". 

And now you expect Airbnb to pick up the pieces, and are annoyed that it's taking so long. Stunning. Spend some time learning how to vet guests, and stop ignoring obvious red flags. You should have declined this guest and reported her for the first red flag.

[Catherine1274]

I hear your point. I will learn and be very much more insistent with airbnb next time.  I did tell them that I wanted to cancel before she moved in and that I had concerns,  but they told me I'd be penalized if I cancelled because she had changed her mind and wanted to go forward with her reservation. It was at this point that airbnb first didn't take my concerns seriously. I assumed they'd be helpful if things went awry. But so far, they haven't been. 

[Colleen253]

@Catherine1274  This is your business, your investment, your property. Do what you need to do to look after it. Don't EVER rely on Airbnb for anything, nor be intimidated or pushed around. You know more than any CX you'll ever speak to.

All you had to do was speak red flag #1 and that would have been the end of it,  and the end of this guest.

[Catherine1274]

@Colleen253 How do you what I didn't "speak" or did "speak"? I think I've told you a couple times now I told air bnb that I needed to cancel for the first few red flags and I don't have access to my thread to them asking to go ahead an cancel but I think it was including #1. And this flag which you think would have been so important to them and you're so sure I didn't tell them (why?) is also  in this guests first email to me on this app.  This is their business too and they take measures to insure people don't do this. They didn't and they didn't care when I told them either. Have you ever given someone the benefit of the doubt and then all their successive actions show that you shouldn't have? Yeah..it's like that. And I asked to cancel before she moved in and they were unmoved. By that time I'd had enough red flags to want to cancel. And airbnb didn't listen, nor read their own app. 

[Colleen253]

@Catherine1274  "Have you ever given someone the benefit of the doubt and then all their successive actions show that you shouldn't have"?  No, because I'm not in the business of doing favors for sketchy strangers who wave huge red flags in my face. I'm also not interested in allowing Airbnb to tell me what I can and can't do to protect MY interests. My business, my responsibility, not Airbnb's. You said it best yourself "(This is their business too and they take measures to insure people don't do this.) They didn't and they didn't care when I told them either".  Never rely on or trust in Airbnb. They may come through for you, they may not. The only thing  Airbnb is interested in, really, is the service fee. That's Airbnb protecting IT'S interests. A guest who asks to pay off platform is both trying to get out of paying the service fee, and violating the TOS. All grounds for having their account terminated. If you had clearly communicated that she wanted to do that, that would have been the end of it. I realize you said no (very good you did) but just the fact she suggested it was your golden ticket out. The next time someone tries this, flag them. I'm really not trying to badger you for the heck of it. Just trying to help you see things in a way that may help you in the future. I hate to see anyone go through crap like this. It's largely preventable. Take or leave anything I say. I sincerely wish you only the best.

[Catherine1274]

Thanks. I hear you. Hindsight is 2020. And I really wasn't doing any favors. I was giving her the benefit of the doubt in order to do my business. She acts innocent so I just assumed maybe she was innocent and just dumb. Turns out, she knew what she was doing and scamming purposely all the way. 

[Pete69]

This is the only red flag I need to see: "Extended stay".

I don't allow stays of more than 8 days. Too much risk, especially if they stay for 30 or more days and thus become a legal "tenant" (in California and other states) with tenant rights that require a lengthy court order to boot them out.

[Catherine1274]

I see why! Uhg!! 

[Huma0]

@Catherine1274  Ok, my two pence is that there are a lot of penalties on a host if they cancel on a guest. So, that's not what you want to do if you can help it and I would also call Airbnb in this situation rather than just cancel myself. So, if you explained fully to the first CS rep that the guest was trying to pay you off site, that should have been enough for Airbnb to cancel for you with no penalties to you. If you did explain this and the rep told you to keep the booking, they were wrong.

So, make sure you know as much Airbnb and policy as you can. Some CS reps know what they are talking about and some don't. If I told one the guest tried to pay off site and they told me I would be penalised for cancelling, I would remind them that the guest was breaking THEIR policy and that they were wrong.

I recently had an issue with a guest instant booking and it immediately turned out to be a third party booking, i.e. against the rules (Airbnb's and mine). The first rep I spoke to was totally clueless and unhelpful and told me she wasn't qualified to deal with it but someone else would get back to me eventually. This was a booking for Christmas, so I was having none of that. I told her I would rather hang up, redial and try to get a different rep on the line. Of course, she was offended, but I did just that and the next rep understood what I was talking about and cancelled the reservation.

I don't agree that it's down to hosting long term guests. I mostly host long termers and rarely have problems. You just have to vet them properly and listen to those red flags from the get go. Yes, it's super important to understand tenants' rights where you live. Here in the UK, my guests don't get tenants' rights because I'm a live in landlord. They get very limited lodgers's rights at the very most.

[Robin4]

@Catherine1274 

So sorry you have had this experience Catherine, as hosts we all hope we can avoid 'guests' like this one you have had....and as time goes by, you will get better at picking them!

I have said in other posts here, guests fall into 2 categories....passive/complimentary or aggressive/demanding! 

If a guest comes to me and says...."I love the look of your property, can't wait to stay"....Catherine, I can't hit the accept button fast enough. All they want to do is pay and stay, I know they will be good guests.

When they come to me with questions about cooking, off street parking, Wifi use and others things that would have been answered if they bothered to read the house rules, I will turn them away!

Hagglers are not like a fine bottle of wine, they don't improve with age. 

Catherine try paying a bit more attention to that initial,message, be it a booking request or an IB message, pay attention to the way it is worded! They either can't wait to stay, or they want to jerk you around.

*

I am sorry to have to say it but, you won't get much help from Airbnb....you are not important enough. Hosts like you are a dime a dozen to Airbnb and as each year goes by Airbnb are taking a harder and less conciliatory stance with their hosts. Don't expect that they will rush to your aid here, they won't!

Catherine, you are going to have to put this one down to experience, learn what to look for in that initial guest approach for next time.....and I hope you don't get another like this for a good few years.

All the best mate.

Cheers......Rob

[Catherine1274]

I had to laugh at your comments...so sad but true, so gotta laugh, I guess. I still am gathering receipts for the damage this con artist did. All I'm asking from airbnb now is that they remove her review and get her to pay me money for her damages. Are you saying air bnb cannot provide that?