What do I do for same day turnaround after COVID guests?

[Monique798]

Hello everyone,

I need some advice. I have a guest staying with us that told me 3 days after check-in that she is caring for her Covid infected parents in our Airbnb. The day she checks out is the same day someone else checks in. I'm annoyed and concerned that she put us in this position.

Would appreciate some feedback regarding recourse with this irresponsible guest.

Thanks

[Emiel1]

@Monique798 

I suggest you should report this to Airbnb.

IMO the next guest can not check in. So or the current guest must leave asap and/or the next guest must be cancelled. Both for Airbnb to deal with !

[M199]

@Monique798

, @Emiel1 is correct!  You need to get on the phone to Airbnb asap.  I hope you have the admission documented via Airbnb Messages.  The guest's  appear from your comments to be untruthful by the fact they did not disclose this information either before or at check in.  Maybe Safety and Trust issue.

[Deborah175]

No point in going to Airbnb with it. I just did. I have a guest right now, coughing, gagging, possibly vomiting, and having diarrhea. He made a same-day booking this morning. As part of our exchange, I explained that I live here and share the bathroom, so during this Covid surge, I ask guests to wear an N95 mask. He balked, saying no other Airbnb has required masks. He’s just arrived from France (overseas flight a day ago) and has been traveling around a Europe the past three years. He checks in at 3 and IMMEDIATELY begins his incessant coughing. (My house is 900sf, by the way.) i call out to him after two hours of it, and he says—Oh, I’ve got a cold. Finally I called Trust and Safety to ask what I should do. I’m 64.5 years old. They say they’ll note my account. Gee. Thanks. That’ll probably save my life. I head out to pharmacy to see if I can get a Covid test, and ask him if he needs anything. “No,” he says. I picked up cough syrup in my way over.” So—he knew he was sick and still decided to book a shared Airbnb. AND balked about masking. WTF?????

[Helen3]

Sounds like there were major red flags that were warning signs when he booked - ie why would a guest travelling from Europe to the US not book until the morning of his arrival. 

Presumably by now you have already insisted he had a Covid test if he wants to continue to stay and you have read up on Airbnb's Covid policy so you understand what you can do in these circumstances (i.e. if the guest has Covid) @Deborah175 

[Deborah175]

We have no home tests available to purchase anywhere locally. The government will begin allowing us to order tests, but they won’t arrive for weeks. PCA testing sites take 1-3 days to provide results. If I were to try to make my guest take a test, all I’d get for my trouble is a retaliatory review. I got him soup and cough drops instead. I also notified my next guest, in case he wants to cancel. He doesn’t. I’ll just need to continue to isolate until I see if I caught something from him. 

He stayed a night in a hotel prior to booking my place. He’s back in the US after 3 years abroad. A 55-year old, not a kid. 

[Deborah175]

The spot you’re in with a strange situation like this is that the guest can leave you one very negative review that can sandbag 8 years worth of 5-star ratings. It wasn’t worth the cost to me.

I decided to just go buy him soup and to hide out in my room until he left.  A few days later I went for  a PCR test. (It was negative)

I got a good review (with a bit of a grumble about how I require guests to wear an N95 mask (supplied), and I wrote one about him reflecting what had occurred. I felt that was the best (most efficient in terms of time and energy)  way to deal with it. 

[Brian2036]

@Monique798 

This is worse than irresponsible. It borders on criminal.

What’s really amazing is that she so blithely admitted her act of vandalism.

Airbnb has posted this under Health ans Safety:

Don’t travel or host if you’ve recently been exposed to or have symptoms of COVID-19

To protect the health and safety of our community, it is Airbnb’s policy that Hosts (and all people who may be present at the listing before or during a stay) should not enter their listing(s) or interact with their guests, and guests should not check into a listing if any of the following are true:

• You are actively infected or have tested positive with COVID-19 in the past 30 days
• You suspect you are sick or have been exposed and are awaiting test results to confirm or deny a diagnosis of COVID-19
• You are showing symptoms or are concerned about possible infection of COVID-19
• You’ve had close, sustained contact with an individual confirmed or suspected to be infected with COVID-19, within the last 14 days*

This person has demonstrated reckless disregard for the health of the host, cleaning staff and future guests.

 I wish there were a way to make her pay for the consequences of her intentional behavior but I don’t think there is.

[Monique798]

Thank you Brian, I thought the same exactly the same thing. Guest did not take the news well that we asked her to leave 1 day early so house could be completely sanitized and aired out prior to next guest's arrival. Airbnb is handling this issue now

[Brian2036 · Accepted solution]

@Monique798 

I’m just uneasy that this is going to become a “thing:”

”Dammit, I was diagnosed with COVID-19 and ordered to quarantine, so how about if I come to your house to stay for two weeks so I don’t infect anyone I care about?”

Maybe they could even blame the host and get a full refund. (I wasn’t sick before I got there! I must have caught it from the house! And of course I couldn’t leave after I got sick…)

 I have a really bad feeling about this whole thing.

[Monique798]

Hey, just wanted to give y'all an update. Airbnb did nothing! They are allowing guest to stay through their contracted time. I was assigned to the Safety Team, but they never called me. Although Airbnb contacted guest and allowed her to stay. I'm disgusted 

[Sarah977]

@Monique798  So much for their "Enhanced cleaning" theatre. They obviously don't care in the least about Covid safety. I'm disgusted as well. 

You should post this on their public Twitter feed.

If you are willing to take the cancellation penalty hit, you could just cancel them and  boot them out.

( While this sucks for you and upcoming guests, one thing is that by not cancelling them, at least they  won't be out spreading Covid around )

Make sure to leave this guest a scathing review, but try to word it so there are no grounds for removal. You could post a draft review in the "Host Circle" section of this forum (not the "Hosting" section), which is only visible to hosts, so others can help suggest wording. 

[Katja202]

I think Airbnb has a problem there. They not only put yiu at risk, but they also put the next guest at risk. In the netherlands that would by a legal issue by law. I don’t know how long your next guest will stay but perhaps when it is a two night stay. You can be honest and hope that guest will cancel. You loose money i know. But no risk with legal issues. I also would ask some one for legal advise and tell that to Airbnb. In this case it is really not ok they are not responding. The are also accountable if anything happens. Notdoing anything will knowing ….

[Deborah175]

Same here.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Katja202  I am not surprised Airbnb CS did nothing bc they can't

Our tourist board sends us an email about what to do in case our guest gets sick of Covid while in our Airbnb. They are allowed to stay until the end of the reservation. If they are still sick they have 3 options:

1.  To go home if they arrived with their own car or if they can rent a car
2. To extend their stay and pay for additional nights if the unit is available
3. To call emergency line and ask to be picked up by ambulance vehicle and relocated to the city quarantene

So, maybe you can call a tourist board in your city and ask them how it is regulated.

Regarding cleaning protocol after their check-out.... well, hosts can't be knowing if guests are positive or sick. So I always wait for an hour after their departure, put a mask on (I don't believe it helps but...) I enter and open all the windows and turn on the ventilator. Then I go and take a coffee in the cafe across the street for an hour. After that, I came back to clean. According to numerous articles, it seems the virus is mostly spread in direct contact with the person and not by touching the things after the infected person.

What happened to you can easily happen to every host anytime.

 if your next guests booked just a very short stay you could call Airbnb and ask them to cancel without penalties for you. If it's a longer stay and you would lose a lot then maybe ask him to check in later so you have enough time to clean and sanitize