Guest Tried To Get Me Fired From Non-Air BNB Job after giving me a 5-Star Review

[Leiloni0]

Hello Fellow Hosts:

I’ve been hosting for Air BNB since 2017 and I can count my problematic guests one one hand but this takes the cake. This guest stayed with me twice. The first time for a few days at the end of June into the beginning of July and the second was from the end of July until she abruptly cancelled her reservation on August 4th (the reservations was until September 1). 

Air BNB is a supplemental income as I have an unrelated full time job in the medical field which for the last 18 months has required me to work from home. This guest never expressed any concerns with me working from home and was hardly present during my work day. The guest would occasionally ask me questions about my job as the role I fulfill is one in which she is interested. I would give her general answers but NEVER discussed patients or health information. 

On August 4th, I came back to the house from lunch and found the guest moving her things out. I asked if there was a problem and the guest told me that she 
“can’t handle” me working from home.  She claimed that the nature of my work exacerbated her mental health issues and she needed a place that was quieter. 

I apologized and agreed that Air BNB refund her the remainder of her days.  When I submitted her review, I only gave her 3 stars on communication and also pointed out in my review that she had cancelled the reservation and was given a full refund of her remaining days. The review was fact  based and non disparaging.  The guest gave me a 5-star review and even thanked me for my hospitality. 

Earlier this week, I received a message from my manager stating that someone had called into the privacy office and accused me of disclosing protected health information. An offense that can mean immediate termination of my employment. The guest gave a false name but left her phone number so they investigating party could call her back. 

After a little digging, I realized it was this guest. During my digging, I found the review the host for the reservation before mine left and it was scathing. I only wished the host had reviewed this guest sooner, because I would have never booked her.

I reported it to my manager who in-turn reported it to the powers that be. After an exhausting investigation, was reprimanded and cautioned to not do anything to this guest that could be construed as “retaliatory”.  I contacted Air BNB and lodged a formal complaint against this guest. Other than flagging her profile. 

I am pissed and I am reserving my next steps for a time when I can respond instead of react.  What I really want is my refund back but I know that’s not going to happen.  I also want to warn other hosts about this psycho. I’ve already given her a review and she responded to it. I’m tempted to respond to her response as other hosts can see it but I don’t want to look like I’m as crazy as she is. 

Does anyone have any ideas? 

Thanks for reading. 

[Emiel1]

@Leiloni0 

You can not respond to a comment on a review.

So maybe the best thing to do is consider the case as closed.

[Leiloni0]

That’s interesting because there is a reply button at the bottom of her response to my review. 

[Lisa723]

@Leiloni0 What @Emiel1 said is correct.

It looks like this guest has not in fact publicly responded to your review,  yet. (Her unhinged response to the review from her previous host will likely keep her from being accepted by any other host, though.)

Did she perhaps private-message you, and you have the option to reply to that? (I wouldn't do it, fwiw.)

Sorry this happened to you.

[Anonymous]

@Leiloni0   The guest's response to her previous host's review is in itself ample warning of her behavior. If she's spiteful enough to take aim at your career, the best thing you can do is block her and disengage from further contact. One thing you do have the right to do is ask Airbnb to remove the reviews you wrote of her, as subsequent events have rendered them inaccurate. The refund you issued is irreversible.

This might be a good time to change your listing description to emphasize that you work from home, if any aspect of that might impact the guests' experience. Currently, there's no mention of this, and it seems maybe a little at odds with the statement

"Guests will love the peacefulness and quiet of this place. It’s park like setting makes it very relaxing."

I would be as upfront as possible about what guests can expect from daily life in the home, to make sure you don't attract any more people who aren't a suitable fit.

[Leiloni0]

Thank you for the suggestion of having my review taken down. Air BNB is doing so as we speak. 

[Leiloni0]

I definitely will do that since it looks

like I’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future. Thank you for the suggestion. 

[Anthony1363]

I see the issue from my perspective here:  First you jumped the gun by reacting, divulging your private information when there was a red flag of goading..

The fact that she paid, didn't wreck your place, shouldn't get you miffed or otherwise to refund prematurely or give a less than perfect rating because she moved out early..

Be fair in your assessments of your guests, no matter how they may be.. too often, we don't see ourselves as being at fault, or our guests having issues or a bad day, but for any 'slight'? bang!! 

Yes I have had issues with "buffaloes" (wreck-waste-nasty) but I was fair..

Having class and respect for one's home is something I strongly stand for, not them wanting to leave early..

[Sarah977]

@Anthony1363  I don't read the OP's post as being miffed that the guest shortened her stay. She gave her 3*s for communication, as the guest seemingly never mentioned in what way the host working from home was disturbing to her (and guests who book home-shares need to understand that they will be subject to the host's lifestyle, within reason), or indicated previously that perhaps she gets woken up too early by Zoom calls, but simply packed up and left on short notice. 

And if a guest is curious about the work a host does, that the host couldn't politely engage in a conversation about it without the guest using it as fodder to try to get the host fired from her job, is a bizarre idea. Discussing in general what one's job entails with someone who expresses interest isn't "divulging personal information".

[Anthony1363]

Clarity appreciated, but beyond my understanding that someone could have been vile enough to have done this..

Lesson learned however, not to divulge to indulge others in behavior unexpected..

[Anonymous]

@Anthony1363  From your perspective, was the guest justified in calling the host's employer and trying to get her fired from her job? Would the host have had the right to be "miffed" if she was now unemployed due to the guest's actions?

[Anthony1363]

No, the guest was not justified to report to an Employer armed with privy information, and should be pursued in a court for defamation, owing to the action of causing harm to the host.

I am very sympathetic to the Host over what happened, but seeing that goading was a red flag to get information about an Employer, was where the problem began.

Yes, I agree that the Host should be miffed, but beyond miffed... My opinion was to be indifferent, to see where mistakes were made, and to be learned from, not to be construed to be harsh in any way..

[Sarah977]

@Anthony1363  It seems you missed the part where this host explained that she disclosed no private, sensitive, information at all to the guest? The guest lied to the host's employer. 

How is expressing interest in someone else's occupation "goading"? It seems that this guest acted friendly and had no complaints until the moment she left. Then turned around and stabbed the host in the back.

Had it been my guest, nothing about her behavior during her stays, as the host describes it, would have set off red flags.

Simply telling others where you work is not generally considered to be private info that anyone should have to be concerned about divulging.

[Anthony1363]

Again, an unfortunate situation that shouldn't have happened and much have been learned since. We are in the people business, and not everyone is stable.

One of my friends in New York, suffered a tremendous loss of a business, because of a similar situation and I empathized knowing they had doubt before it happened..

[Christine615]

DO NOT DO ANYTHING. She left you a 5 star review. Leave it alone. She's mentally ill and nothing you do will change that. It will only keep her focus on you. I once had to talk to the FBI about something and the agent told me to not engage the person because they would move on. He was right.

Trust me, you are in more danger job wise than she's put you in because you're in the healthcare field and her lies are hard to prove wrong. Be mad. Vent with us. Then keep records in case you need to file a harassment suit or a restraining order. But chances are you aren't engaging her so she'll move on to another victim.

And yes - hosts with crazy guests should put up red flags for the rest of us.

Sorry this happened to you.