Smoking guest.

[Duy68]

Hi everyone,

I am super new to ABNB and bad thing already happen to me on my second guest. I am checking to see if anyone run into the same situation and want your opinion about how to handle it. I have a last minute guest that booked for the weekend. At beginning, everything was going very well till the check out.

I happened to be in the area that day and decided to stopped by my unit about an hour after. Upon entering the unit, I can smell heavy smoking ordor and weed. My unit is a non smoking, it is very clear in the listing. I was so upset, therefore, I decide to take a look at my doorbell camera (smart doorbell is declared in the listing). I saw them walk into my unit with the cigarrett holding in the mouth. I messaged them, they said the cigarrett is not lit up and they only smoke in the pool and balcony area (no where in the listing that said unit balcony is allow smoking). I then leave a hornest comment on their ABNB account regard the smoking smell that they left in my unit and of course receive a negative review back from them. 

I contacted ABNB for help to remove the comment and review. I do have the screenshot of the guest holding the cigarrett in his mouth entering my unit for evident. ABNB replied to me said they are unable to remove. I am super upset with how ABNB protect the host and thinking to switch platform since I am new.

Should I start over on a different platform since my rating is very low because of the situation?

[Anonymous]

@Duy68  You could switch to a different platform, but situations like this will come up again. It's not enough just to say that your listing is "non smoking," because people usually take that to mean only the indoor areas. If you also prohibit smoking in the outdoor areas, you should be explicit about that, and also indicate both in your listing and at check-in where the nearest location is that guests are permitted to smoke. 

Your guest was probably too presumptuous about the smoking rules, but her review appears to be a valid and relevant portrayal of her experience, so I don't see any reason why AIrbnb should censor it. There are times when it's necessary to confront a guest - especially if you catch a rule being broken while the stay is in progress - but you should always be very sure of what your end goal is before you take an action that is obviously going to leave the guest displeased. It's not clear what you hoped to accomplish when you messaged her about seeing a cigarette in her mouth on the spy cam, but any host could have told you a negative review would a 100% guaranteed side effect of that decision.

[Duy68]

It was bad on my side, I will defintely update my listing when possible. I just so angry for my new unit to be disrespectful. In addition, when I checked the camera, he had the cigrarrett in his mouth everyday, I only know when they checked out. But, I am over it now, it is what it is. The doorbell camera is very common nowaday, it is also disclosed in the listing. I am using it as a way to virtual check in to make sure guest can access the unit and also a way to know if they are out before my cleaning lady can come in and do her part. I do not have time to spy on anyone. I assume people are ok with the camera before they book since it is clearly state in there.

[Anonymous]

@Duy68   That's not a critique of your use of an external camera - it's a useful tool for remote hosts to have. But looking at it from the guest perspective, if you confront them about something you observe them doing on camera, they're going to get an understandably uneasy feeling that they were being spied on. One reason to be especially cautious about this on Airbnb is that they are constantly suspending listings when guests complain about surveillance cameras - even when they're fully disclosed and the host was not in the wrong. Unless there's a security issue that requires immediate attention (e.g. unexpected people entering the home), you have nothing to gain by bringing up your cam observations to the guests. 

In this case, the complaint was more about the communication than the smoking rules or the camera. That's a hard thing to get just right when you're not interacting with the guests in person, as there's no sense of personal connection or the nuance of face and body language. It should only take a few great reviews to recover your ratings after one dud, but I'd recommend working a little harder on setting the right tone in the pre-booking correspondence and the communication during the stay to make sure your next bookings don't end in more mutually unpleasant surprises.

[Sarah977]

@Duy68  Last minute bookings tend to be problematic in various ways. Not saying you can't have smoking violations with guests who book in advance, but guests who don't plan ahead and book last minute may present more issues. (And booking last minute for the weekend can often be a red flag for partiers).

Suggest you set 2 days advance notice for bookings.

[Val4219]

Okay I need help here. I do last minutes booking. I have had mostly great clean guests since raising my price  early last year. About 3 times only did I run into big issues.  

So here is the issue I am mad at right now. A guest booked for one night (I won't be doing one nighters anymore). She showed up with 5 people and a dog. When they checked out, I find drug paraphernalia, Marijuana joints and ashes, food, trash littered all over the house and out on the patio. There was dog pee on sofa and in other places. The worst part was the heavy smoke odor.

I make it clear in my listing and on welcome instruction sheets that:

1-  no smoking

2- inform me if traveling with pets

I only found out on both of these rule-breakers after I saw all the mess and went to check the cameras.

A fellow host told me they charge $500 flat for smoking violation and $250 for pet violation.

Sounds excessive but sounds like it's a powerful deterrent? But how do I go about this in filing damage claims?

Usually 1 maid is all I need. With all the mess, I had 2 maids plus myself and sister all hands on deck trying to get the place clean and foul-odor free. It was a lot of work and running back and forth to the store for supplies to cover the odor.

Still, we had to push our next check-in 2 hours back.

How do I handle filing the damage claim?

[Duy68]

I tried. The guest immediately decline to pay and then use the camera evident that I provided for the reason of a bad review.

[Lorna170]

@Val4219   You can submit a claim to the guest on the resolution center, but count on the guest ignoring or denying the damage.  Then ABB is supposed to have your back, but they won’t.  Smoke damage and the resulting cleaning fee increase is not something that they will pay for as many other hosts have posted.

Your property is lovely, and I am glad that you have decided to not do one night rentals any more.  P.s. I would move the margaritaville picture further back.  With it as the second pic on your listing, it immediately conveys Party Time.

[Tamara682 · Accepted solution]

If you do not have a guest coming w/in 24hrs, set bowls of vinegar throughout the place. It will absorb the smoke smell usually within 24hrs. Of course, I do not know if that applies to "heavy" smoke damage as that definition is rather fluid. And still open the doors and windows and use a fan initially.
Please remember to leave your honest review of your guest as well. It's not just a one-way street.

[Val4219]

I have a patio. I don't understand derstabd how people can smoke indoors when I say no smoking. Worst, leave the evidence littered all over. No respect.