Warning to other host, possible loophole in Airbnb policy exploited by rent tyrant

[Felix-Lam0]

The guest made a complain to Airbnb about mould in the property but did not supply any pictures. Unusually this was accepted without any pictures required. We approach the guest in person to help resolve the complain. He was surprised to find out there is a mould issue and instead directed us to a small crack in the wall which we were aware of and explained to him that it has already a coat of paint and we will be applying more coats in the future. We also ask him if there is any other issue, he said no. We thought this was just a misunderstanding and we clarified with Airbnb.

However, 3 days later the guest has sent pictures of hair in carpet, spiders and the crack in the wall to Airbnb as proof of mould. Again, this was accepted as document even though not a single image shown has mould and the guest made no mention of other shown issues in the initial complain or when we spoke to him. Most likely he just took his time looking around the property to back up his false claim and may even planted the evidence, since he did not make any mention of these issues when we spoke to him after the initial complain.

Since he made the complain 24hr after check-in, Airbnb will not relocate him. However they will also not evict him because these behaviour is not directly threatening, even though he mess up the place for other guests. We even offer him refund for the rest of his stay which he rejected and Airbnb will not take this any further as per their policy and Christmas. I don't see any options I have since cancellation from my end will mean he will be refunded for the week he has stayed, which possibly is what he is aiming for.  Certainly one of the more elaborate attempt by exploiting the oversight from Airbnb support staff as well as their inability to verify that we spoke to the guest in person. (Airbnb support saw our messages asking him to show us the issue as well as many attempts to communicate with him, but this was not enough)

[Huma0]

@Felix-Lam0 

I have no idea about the existence or not of a mould issue, but your listings do seem to potentially have a few problems as your ratings are not that high. Quite a a few guests mention issues with cleanliness. There might not have been any mould, but cracks in the walls, hair on carpets and spiders stuck in cracks could easily make a guest feel that the place is not that well looked after.

Listen, I understand. I have a big, very old house, and there are always repairs to be done. I mean, always. However, it's always important to be as clear about these as possible, preferably before a guest books (i.e. on your listing) or at least in prior communication to them if it's a temporary problem.

None of that negates the need to clean properly. There should be no hairs on the carpets. You must present the place as clean as possible regardless of the budget.

One thing that guests seem to repeatedly mention in your reviews is the smell of smoke. This is going to be very off putting for a lot of guests. Again, I am not being judgemental. I am a smoker myself and share the house with my guests. However, I make sure that guests are very aware that smoking in the guest bedrooms is absolutely not okay. In several years of hosting, I only had a couple of guests do this and, since then, have learnt to make it crystal clear and it has never happened since.

A lot of people say it is better to set lower expectations and then excel them. I don't know if that is true or not (maybe not the best marketing strategy for getting bookings??) However, do please disclose anything that guests might be upset about after arriving, e.g. if smoking is allowed, there are cracks in the walls etc.

[Felix-Lam0]

When we received reports about cleanliness, we either sent the cleaner again or do it ourselves. In the event that they are still unhappy, we provide full refund. 

For others issues such as cracks, we always inform the guests (We do not always find out immediately until the previous guest check out) and explain how it is been taken care of and ask them what other issues they may have since we are not at the house ourselves. In this case, when spoken to in person after we received the complain, the guest only mentions the crack and did not mention any cleanliness issue only to later send the pictures to Airbnb, also refusing to speak to us in person or on Airbnb. We explain the crack had already been painted over once the day he checked in and requires further coats, he is also free to leave and receive full refund if he is unhappy.

We and other Asian hosts who does not personally live in their Airbnb accommodation have encountered a few individuals in the past who will make a complain without any pictures or communication and later threaten us for refund for free stay by claiming issue with cleanliness well into their reservation(In this case, he only send the pictures 5 days after the initial complain, a week into his reservation, between which we engaged the guest on multiple occasion in person and on Airbnb). Depending on the hosts themselves, giving in to the rent tyrant's demand is usually the easiest as the effort to communicate with Airbnb or the treat of bad review is far greater than the lost revenue. However, in this case,  the guest has mostly likely messed up the place himself to fabricate the evidence since we provided multiple offers of solving any cleanness issue(We also inspect the common area just in case) which he did not agreed to and suddenly was able to produce the pictures 3 days after our offer to clean again.

With regards to smoking, there was a period around May which a guest smoked excessively in the room, since the studio is detached from the main house where other guests stayed, they were not aware of this and we were not able to find out, our cleaner also failed to inform us. It may come across as me finding excuses, but you staying in the house with the guests may be a deterrent to guests who may smoke in doors. Nevertheless we have taken great effort to clear the room of smoke and offered full refund when the smoke is uncomfortable for guests, while we arranged deep clean professional to remove the odour. We made it clear in house manual as well as Airbnb page and messaging that smoking is not allowed, sadly many does not follow since it is an independent studio. 

[Huma0]

@Felix-Lam0 

I am sure you are right that it is easier for me to control the situation as I live in the house, but pre-pandemic, I travelled a lot for work (around two trips abroad a month) so was often not here while guests were staying.

Both times that guests smoked in the bedrooms were while I was staying in the house so no, that didn't seem to deter them! I guess they were smoking out of the window so thought I wouldn't notice and I didn't. Not until they checked out and I went in to clean the rooms and then it was very obvious. Who knows for sure if it has also happened while I was away, but I haven't noticed any evidence of that.

It's unfortunate that one of your guests smoked so much that it affected future guests' stays. If you have not done so already, I would suggest you ask your cleaners to inform you in future if anything like that happens.

As for your current problem, yes, it does sound like the guest is making excuses to try to get a refund, because I don't see how he could have only noticed cleanliness issues on day 5. 

In future, I would suggest that you should make sure you keep conversations like this in writing on the Airbnb messaging system, but the CS reps always check that when there is a problem. If you speak to the guest in person or on the phone, follow this up with a message so that it's written down, e.g. "Dear X, as per our conversation earlier today, I just wanted to reiterate that the unit was professionally cleaned right before your arrival but that we are happy to send in the cleaners again if you are not satisfied with it. Also, just a reminder that you were informed of the small damage to the wall prior to your stay and it was explained that this has been repaired and just needs a final coat of paint."