This week has been one of the most stressful weeks of my life. My pride and joy… my Airbnb dream was suspended. Probably permanently.
It has been a lifelong goal to open a small hotel. To get closer to that dream, I invested my motivation, positive energy, saved finances, and made sacrifices to create two beautiful lakeside rental properties. As a reward, I’ve been blessed with six years of extraordinary guests. I love the interactions and friendships I’ve built with my guests over the years. I have enjoyed much pleasure from making my Airbnb renters happy by providing them with a treasured and memorable experience amongst a serene and beautiful setting. Some guests cry when they leave.
No joke.
Last week a couple with only one review (who I had a bad premonition about), were the one bad apple to destroy my Airbnb business. Their profile had no photo (not good), and is a preference I require. Then came a request to bring two dogs, even though the house is pet free (guests with allergies can enjoy. I have another listing next door that’s dog friendly). The couple gave me the hard sell that their two “well behaved” canines were non barking, non-roaming, obedient, dogs. They promised the dogs would stay off the furniture, and the premises inside would be totally clean of hair and outside they would clean up the poop. Against my better judgment and my instincts screaming “no, no, no”, I reluctantly said okay to the dogs. Big mistake.
You probably already know where this is going, but there’s more for later.
Because my properties are in a very rural area with plenty of wild animals to tangle with, and these were city dogs, I required that the dogs would be on a leash at all times when they were outside. No roaming, especially because my other guests next door had two dogs, and I didn’t want any dog fights. I also directed the couple to read the pet rules for my listing next door. They obviously didn’t.
When the couple arrived, the dogs leapt out of the car unleashed, tearing around completely out of control, barking like crazy. The younger dog immediately jumped on me and nipped my hand when I pushed him off. He then ran off into the woods and wouldn’t come when called, resulting in ten minutes of chasing the dog. All this in just the first few minutes. This wasn’t going well. The wife reassured me that this chaos was temporary. It wasn’t.
Throughout the first three days there was barking. A lot of loud barking and yelping. Any time the humans were in the lake, the dogs were freaking out and barking. I should of put my foot down and stopped the barking, but didn’t. Why, I don’t know. Probably because it was a short visit, and I’m not into conflict. After the couple left on the morning of the third day, the guests from the other house confronted me and asked when the dogs were leaving. I told them the couple and their dogs were gone. Then came the stories that the trouble dogs had tried to get into the other house at least four times. Had they of been successful, it would of been a bad scene. The possibility of a dangerous dog fight starting from the roaming dogs forced my other guests to keep their sweet dogs inside. Not fair to my other guests. Not fair to the good dogs.
The couple had to repeatedly retrieve their roaming pets, and when doing so, never apologized to my other guests for the disturbance their dogs were creating. They were weird (for lack of a better word), rude, and not at all like the type of guests that stay at my cabins.
After three nights, the couple wanted to depart a day early (I think because it was raining. Btw - I don’t control the weather). They only wanted to pay for 3 out of 4 nights, and no cleaning fee. I’ve never received such a request. Most of my guests want to extend their stay because they love the cabins and setting so much. Anyway, I declined their refund request based on the fact that my booking preferences were clearly stated on Airbnb as “Strict”. Now is my peak season, and if I returned their money I would lose a day’s income. More importantly, the guests had clearly violated some of my most prioritized rules (my intuition was spot on), endangering and annoying my other Airbnb guests next door with constant and potentially aggressive visits from the dogs. Also, the white haired dog was definitely on my couch, as his hair was ingrained in the fabric. The dark haired dog was in the beds, resulting in having to wash the duvet and sheets multiple times to eliminate the dark hair. Of course there was dog poop in plain sight in my driveway.
I’m flexible and fair, but I don’t reward bad behavior… for humans or dogs.
The guests didn’t like the financial outcome of not getting their money, so they told obvious lies that escalated the case. Based on the facts I presented, Airbnb declined their refund. At that point the couple started slinging more
lies about the property and my actions as a host. They wanted that money at any cost.
In the end, Airbnb only listened to the couple’s side of the dispute with no input from me. There was no logical discussion, and my voice didn’t count… but a dishonest guest’s bs that resulted in me being booted off Airbnb, that counted. I’ll never know the what or why of the circumstances.
I knew something was up when I was locked out of the Airbnb app. I called “Superhost Support” (ha!), and was told my account was suspended. No other explanations were given, but they promised an Airbnb manager would call “within two hours”. That call never came, and I doubt it ever will. I’ll probably never know what the back story is. Airbnb is radio silent and ghosting me, which I’m assuming is not good, and I’m probably kicked off Airbnb for not kissing the bad guest’s *ss. How unprofessional, unethical, and completely incongruent with the Airbnb mantra that “we’re here for you! Thank you for being a Superhost”.
Right.
I’ve been a Superhost for six years, with a decent rating of 4.98, and over 120 amazing reviews from the hundreds of happy guests that I’ve had the pleasure of hosting. What motivation would I have to spontaneously jeopardize the years of hard work I’ve invested to prioritize Airbnb and make my cabins one of the “Top 5 Must Stay At Lakefront Cabins” in Maine (according to an unsolicited popular article on social media that resulted in five bookings)? It doesn’t make any sense. Instead of fairness and support from Airbnb, I received a punch to the gut. I lost what has been my sole income since the pandemic started, which is a huge disaster (I’m immune compromised). Even more tragically is saying goodbye to my dream.
I have multiple new guests arriving soon to both of my listings. Without my app functioning, contact numbers, etc, how do I manage the guests? Will their vacation stay be canceled? Will the remaining bookings till November be canceled and I won’t receive that income?!!
With no one at Airbnb answering my calls and questions, what am I to do??? Man am I stressed… help please!!
