Recent string of bad hosting experiences

[Christina983]

Hello all!

I have been a member as a host and guest  for 4 years. Until last month we have had the best experiences  on both hosting and guest platforms.  I truly have loved being part of the AirBnB community! Having said that, I can  not figure out why and how I have been having such extreme hosting experiences this last month. Any advise on how to avoid and traverse these situations would be greatly appreciated. I have 2 spaces: guest house and a private guest suite. These are my back to back guest experiences in the last 25 days:

1. Guest checked in for two days asked to extend two more days. I did. Her card was declined. Guest kept assuring me she was taking care of it.  I was never given a payout. Guest checked out, and no payout for her extended-stay to date. She continues to claim Airbnb paid out but that did not happen. She had a great experience as a accounted in her messages to me. But no payout for me to date. AirBnB escalated team tells me this account is in collections, however I can see on the guests profile she has stayed with another host after me and it appears they were paid and reservation was completed. 

2 . Guest violated rules, guest lied, guest set off my fire alarm at 2 am  and lied that he was smoking in my room. I had to cancel this guest’s stay and asked AirBnB to find him  a new host.

3. Guest did not communicate about checking in for 24 hours. Guest had a 3.5 rating and review and only one previous  AirBnB experience.The guest lives locally so travel was not the issue. The guest is under 20 years of ages. I believe inexperience and lack of  maturity is the issue here.   This guest Finally communicated with me around midnight,  two hours after the check-in time had ended. I was asleep. The guest claimed she had lost her phone. The guest was sending unintelligible text messages to me. I stopped communicating at that point and I canceled this reservation and asked AirbnB to help the guest find a new host.

4. Guest came to check in. We live in a mountainous and rustic area. The guest had trouble walking up the paved driveway, two steps of the deck and walking across the deck. The guest tripped on the deck and complained about the steps. We have a large 2/3 acre property. Guest complained it is dark and she is used to living in the city. She complained she could not see. She is elderly, needs a walker and cane, can not see at night and weighs approx. 300 lbs. she was breathing with heavy gasps just walking up the driveway, which is not at an incline. We have large pine cones from our red wood trees, stones and cobble stone  walkways—-i felt it was not safe or conducive for someone with her conditions to stay with us. She never had asked me if I accommodated someone with disabilities like hers and I do not claim to on the platform. When I told her this, she yelled at me and told me she was a lawyer and would sue me if I cancelled this reservation. I am still waiting for her reservation to be cancelled.

All of these experiences have  happened from Dec 12, 2019 to Jan 4, 2020. What is going on? Am I encouraging these types if guests? Any wisdom with this is most appreciated!

Sincerely,

Christina

[Emily491]

I've had similar experiences!  I'm a superhost and have a 1 bedroom apartment that I rent out with a maximum of 4 guests.  Recently I've had 2 separate reservations book for 2 guests but they brought in 12 guests instead and partied all night.  For one of them there was vomit in the entry way and trashcans, and for the other there was marijuana residue and smell when they left.  Not to mention the noise they made throughout the night clearly bothering neighbors!  In my house rules, I list clearly that there are fines for breaking rules like bringing extra guests, partying, or smoking, but the real problem is that Airbnb doesn't enforce these rules.  If a guest doesn't want to pay a fine, they just don't and there's nothing that Airbnb can do about it according to their policy now.  I think the only way to help hosts trust that their guests will follow the house rules and be respectful to our properties is if Airbnb changes their policies and allows hosts with evidence like video surveillance or pictures of vomit, cigarette butts or marijuana, to actually charge these fees and have the guests pay them.  Right now, guests act however they want because they know they don't have to pay any fees if they break the rules.  Instant book or not, hosts need to be able to rely on enforcement from Airbnb if these blatant violations happen and right now this just isn't the case with Airbnb's current policies.  I've submitted feedback to Airbnb and I encourage other hosts to do the same because that's the only way they might listen.

[Christina983]

Thank you! I will. I appreciate you sharing your experiences, because I thought  I was the only one this was happening to. I am supposed to receive a superhost rating for Jan 1 and I was concerned that the recent bad experiences with my guest would change that.  

[Alex-and-Vaughan0]

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@Emily491 wrote:

In my house rules, I list clearly that there are fines for breaking rules like bringing extra guests, partying, or smoking, but the real problem is that Airbnb doesn't enforce these rules.  If a guest doesn't want to pay a fine, they just don't and there's nothing that Airbnb can do about it according to their policy now. 

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Airbnb has only ever considered House Rules to be "guidelines" and not enforceable in any way. Hosts don't actually have any direct agreements or contracts with the guests: hosts have an agreement with Airbnb, and guests have an agreement with Airbnb. The most hosts can do is cancel the reservation, and even then guests will be refunded for unstayed nights.

It's not possible to "fine" people, only courts can do that. (You can claim for damages through the court system, but that's outside Airbnb.)

[Anna8335]

I totally agree! Guests should have to upload a credit card number in order to use Airbnb and then if they trash the place, their credit card should be charged for the damage/clean up.  IN your case, those people should be banned from the site!  Airbnb does not support hosts as much as they should. 

[Juan63]

Hi Emily, this is why you should have a deposit. But I do agree with you that Airbnb should enforce fines. Do you not have cameras? I've always caught guests trying to sneak people in. At this point, it your duty to protect your property.

[Tammi50]

I totally agree! Airbnb does NOT do enough to protect Hosts.  They need to have warnings that pop up during the reservation process that say guests can be asked to leave with no refund if they break the rules and/or that their Airbnb account will be suspended for a minimum of 3 months if there is proof they broke the rule, etc.  I also think Airbnb needs a check mark box during the reservation process verifying they read and agree with the rules and max occupancy rates. And if they break the rules, there should be some sort of consequences like they can't leave a review and their account will be suspended. 

[David4245]

As a host we take risks for rewards. Unfortunately, we get bombed once in a while. One Golden Rule: NEVER and I mean NEVER make a booking agreement with a guest you don't know outside Airbnb. NEVER NEVER NEVER! If a guest asks for another night, tell them go to Airbnb right now and book those additional nights. Once you get involved, you can forget about getting paid. Let Airbnb do all the booking. Now, imagine all the things a guest can do that you don't approve of such as Smoke in your house, bring dogs on the property, have more people than agreed upon, have a party, do drugs, spill wine on your rug! If you can imagine it, it is happening. You have to be prepaired as much as you can to protect your property, but you can't stop the violations. You would be appauled if you knew everything that was happening in your home. Get a deposit from all your guests, put water proof covers on your matresses, keep stain remover at the house, etc... Good luck!

[Gail152]

I agree that in general most guests are considerate but there are always a few bad apples.  I have guests (typically older) who show up 3 hours earlier before check in time.  They totally ignore the check in time and have even shows up while I am cleaning it right after a guest has left.    I also have guests who say they are not checking in until 1 am so they don’t want to pay for that night.   Anyone else have this similar issue and suggestions of how to solve it?

[Linda108]

In my experience, negative guest feedback helped me see my listing from the guest perspective, @Christina983 .  Sometimes this feedback was useful for me to tweak my listing and my description on Air BNB.  Make sure guests understand the unique aspects of your listing.  As a guest, I have needed more information about the listing that the host did not realize was needed.  

Perhaps, guests violating rules or lying on the reservation are related to your vetting process.  Most of us want to maximize our availability and appeal to the maximum number of potential guests.  Sometimes that is not a good long term perspective.

[Mika8]

@Alex-and-Vaughan0 

this is not true, please read the TOS

f.i. this section

1.2 As the provider of the Airbnb Platform, Airbnb does not own, create, sell, resell, provide, control, manage, offer, deliver, or supply any Listings or Host Services, nor is Airbnb an organiser or retailer of travel packages under Directive (EU) 2015/2302. Hosts alone are responsible for their Listings and Host Services. When Members make or accept a booking, they are entering into a contract directly with each other. Airbnb is not and does not become a party to or other participant in any contractual relationship between Members, nor is Airbnb a real estate broker or insurer. Airbnb is not acting as an agent in any capacity for any Member, except as specified in the Payments Terms.

further

8.1.2 Upon receipt of a booking confirmation from Airbnb, a legally binding agreement is formed between you and your Host, subject to any additional terms and conditions of the Host that apply, including in particular the applicable cancellation policy and any rules and restrictions specified in the Listing. Airbnb Payments will collect the Total Fees at the time of the booking request or upon the Host’s confirmation pursuant to the Payments Terms. For certain bookings, Guests may be required to pay or have the option to pay in multiple installments.

.. of course, this would not help to claim a damage .. but.. 

[Maia29]

I just had two horrible guests in the last two weeks. They complained about ME, and now my listing is unavailable due to two horrible drug-using guests. I have photos of the complete mess they left behind and I have called Air BnB numerous times to try to get a resolution. I even looked up the guest's background history and guess what? Both guests have had drug charges and eviction cases AND they listed fake Facebook profiles. The first bad guest's boyfriend actually threatened me through Air BnB's messaging system and made racist comments. Those guests were IV drug users. The second bad guest, tried to say they found "drug paraphenelia" in the kitchen drawer and they smoked marijuana and cigarettes in the unit and left it a complete mess! IT'S A NON-SMOKING UNIT! In addition, to smoking, they brought a dog without asking for permission. Air BnB is NOT backing me up at all! I'm so disappointed.

[Linda108]

What Air BNB resolution are you seeking @Maia29 .  Sounds terrible but your post is unclear about what you think is fair.  BTW when I sought to look at your listing, I was not able to see it and I was redirected to the general search function.  Not sure what that means but wanted you to know.

[Maia29]

You can't see my listing because Air BnB has deactivated it. There is no resolution. I reported both people for their violations of my simple rules and Air BnB is taking their side. I've been a super host for about a year and a half. I've put up with SO much nonsense from bad guests, and they minute I had had enough and reported them, I get deactivated.

[Maia29]

The resolution I am seeking is for Airbnb to reactivate my listing. My listing SHOULD NOT be deactivated by a deceptive guest. I escalated the guest previous to the second bad guest. There was a serious safety issue and it's been two weeks and Airbnb has not resolved that safety issue. The second guest made up a lie to be able to get a refund after staying for 3/4 of the booking. I'm not even asking for any reimbursements; I am just asking for my listing to be reactivated.

[Tammi50]

If hosts can PROVE the guests broke the rules, then the guest's Airbnb account should also be suspended!  Why should the Host be the only one to suffer consequences.  Next time, call the police to have them kicked out.  If they are using illegal drugs, the police should be able to step in.