Hi @konacoconutz,
I hope you have not taken offense at the discussion. I just want you to know we all very much value your posts and your point of view. And also appreciate that you take the time to write those posts.
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@konacoconutz I apologize if my post made you feel that way. It sure wasn’t my intention. You are the veteran here and speak from experiences that I’ve not yet had. My style and viewpoint may be different from yours but in no way do I think it’s the ‘right’ way or better. Just different.
As I said in my post I will not be surprised when the day comes when I will be burned like you have and learn the same lesson. It’s early days for me yet - you are the one with experience.
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I print things for my guests all the time. It’s not just boarding passes. Often they need to print the tickets for attractions (theme parks, etc.) and events (hockey games, etc.). We switched to a black and white printer so we wouldn’t overspend on printer ink. I would feel churlish if I made the guests spend another hour or so of their precious vacation time finding a place to get something printed when I can do it in under a minute. I also allow a lot of things that other hosts warn against: use of the washing machine, bring friends over, check in early/check out late. To date, I have not experienced a negative consequence. As a matter of fact, most of my reviews state that the best feature of our listing is the friendly, flexible hosts.
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I think Kona may be frustrated with the discussion - because she is trying to make a point that is not neccesarily black and white. We all make certain exceptions out of the kindness of our heart. But it’s the give an inch, take a mile mentality. Fine - if you don’t mind printing a boarding pass, and it takes a minute. But I think Kona is warning about the guest perception of whether or not they feel they can keep asking and asking for things. Oh - couldn’t believe how easy it was to check in 6 hours early…let me see what else I can get for free- it’s that mentality!
OK…maybe boarding pass is late in the stay…so not the best example. But in the situation with crazy man - it all started when he realized he could demand a ridiculous early check in …then he got away with it. No one corrected his behavior. From then on he just kept going and going and going - just like the Energizer Bunny.
I know Kona once in a while makes an exception…as do I - but it’s just making it the norm is where you sometimes have to be very particular with what you allow with guests. I also think it is a huge difference (in the approach) with whether the person is living with you, and you are renting out a full space.
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Hi @cabinhost,
I think I understand roughly where Kona is coming from. And find her input and advice very valuable. If it wasn’t for her, and you, and the others here, I’d probably be
a) much less prepared to take care of guests
b) much less prepared in dealing with the various issues that crop up
c) doing things for guests that I didn’t really want to do, and getting stressed over it
(This list could probably be expanded.)
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I’m guessing you’re all bored with this now, but having written to Airbnb via Twitter, I heard back from someone, who said, in part:
I see that in your message you say the guest threatened you if you did not store his items. I was wondering if you have any documentation supporting this so I can pursue this further?
I’m not sure what kind of evidence they expect. Did you think I would have a cameraman standing by filming the whole thing? Or perhaps they think I should have filmed it myself?
I haven’t replied yet, but I don’t see what else I can say, besides, “no, I have no documentation”.
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Or ‘what sort of documentation? How do you suggest I document such situations in future?’
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Dear Sir or Madam,
Sadly my camera crew had just left to have their morning tea, so this threat was not documented on film. Next time, I will strive to be threatened during normal union hours. Sadly, my mother was, at the time, making the crew tea in the kitchen, and did not witness this encounter either. I fully regret that I had any conversation with a guest without a witness present.
Dr. Faheem Xxxxxx
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Haha. In the future ask your guests to route all requests through the airbnb messaging system. So when they ask say “could you please enter your request throught Airbnb.” Then when they do you reply “No, I can’t.” Then they curse and threaten you and you report them to Airbnb. LOLOL.
I’m quite amused by the prospect.
As Sheldon Cooper pointed out in a Big Bang Theory episode, many comic book villains have doctorates.
Hmm.
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Yes. To be precise, he said,
Do you know, it’s amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees. Graduate schools should probably do a better job of screening those people out.
To Penny, on the stairs of the apartment building, in The Codpiece Topology, with reference to Leslie Winkle. Back when TBBT was actually good. Yes, I watch the Big Bang Theory.
(Faheem wonders if he should be admitting this publicly.)
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Hello everyone,
Thanks for the comments.
Thanks @jaquo. That was a good suggestion. I basically used this in my response.
Hi @anon67190644, as it happens, my mother witnessed this person yelling at me. So I mentioned this in my response to the Airbnb rep. Whether or not she/he will consider it useful or relevant, I don’t know.
I thought afterwards that one should perhaps video this kind of thing with a phone, but I’m not sure if anyone would continue yelling and screaming if he/she knew he was being recorded. But if this kind of thing ever happens again, I may give it a try. Provided I have my phone handy.
Hi @KKC, the guest didn’t have an internet-enabled device (which is usually a smartphone) while in India. So he wasn’t responding to any of the messages I sent through the Airbnb system. I see that the last message in the Airbnb system from him was on 20th July. Then four messages from me with no response. And the last email message I got from him, period, was on 31 July. Since then just SMS/text messages.
Regardless, it’s hard to imagine that I could persuade people to route requests such as this through the Airbnb messaging system. And emails sent via the wacky obfuscated Airbnb email address often don’t show up in the Airbnb messaging system, anyway.
You can always do a screen-shot of the texts …
True, but the texts aren’t incriminating, they just aren’t very polite. And texts are easily forged. Here’s what I just got back from Airbnb:
Hey Faheem,
xxxxx here with Airbnb’s trip team.
So I can block xxxxx review from being posted but only if I have some documentation of him attempting to extort you for a review or if he breaks the
guidelines.
Some viable documentation would be maybe communication via email or SMS showing him trying to get something in exchange for a better review.
I’m not sure how to respond to this. How about.
Hi xxxxx,
I’m not asking Airbnb to block his review. I’m just concerned that he may write an unjustified bad review as per his threats.
Unfortunately, I forgot to ask him to put his threats in writing.
(Too sarcastic?)
Just for clarity, what guidelines are you referring to?
What does the Brains Trust think? 
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You might try posting on Air’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/
The responses are often not really helpful but they are faster than CS. And, you can be as salty as you want on that page.
I honestly don’t think they are going to get that you are being sarcastic. I mean…you are corresponding with people who someone how think you could have caught verbal threats in writing somehow. I’m surprised Air doesn’t tell all guests to not even speak to their hosts…only text them. The rep. is being ridiculous.
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Hi Sandy,
Thanks for the suggestion. But would it be any more effective? It might be worth if if they are completely ignoring me, but they aren’t so far.
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Agreed. And everyone should bear in the mind that these are the people we are relying on to help us if we get into trouble. How reassuring is that?
But how does the response sound otherwise?
So, I just heard from Airbnb that the guest this topic is about just left me a review. Airbnb says that I have till the 14th September to write a review. I calculate that 14 days from the end of the stay in question would be the 13th. At any rate, if he has already written a review, there is no need to wait on writing mine, correct? Also, I have at least today to write a review. And I should probably assume that he has written a bad review. Does anyone know what the review length limits are?
This is a preliminary attempt at writing a review. I expect it’s a tad on the long side, but I have unable to discover how long a review can be. (Is it a secret?) As I recall Airbnb does not have paragraph breaks in its reviews, so it will all be run together.
I asked a separate question about this at Length limit of Airbnb review by host for guest - Airbnb hosts forum
Comments/suggestions etc. much appreciated, obviously.
I am writing this review for two different visits with a short gap between them.
I am sorry to say that Francois was a problem guest.
At initial booking he had difficulty booking for the correct number of guests. He initially booked for one, when the correct number was two, and then wanted to pay me cash for the difference.
In general his communication was poor. I contacted Airbnb the day before his first visit, because I had not heard anything from him about his scheduled arrival. He called me at 8 pm the day before to tell me that he would be arriving at 10 am. He did not seem to understand the concept of check-in times, and apparently thought he could arrive any time.
On arrival he did not fill out the govt form that I am required to submit by Indian law, so I had to fill it out for him. He also complained about the form, saying it was “annoying”.
The day before his second scheduled arrival, I again contacted Airbnb because I had not heard anything from him. This time he did not contact me. I texted him and he replied telling me that he had missed his train and would be arriving a day late. On the evening of the next day I texted him asking him when he would be arriving the following day, and he informed me he had already told me he would arrive at 7.30 am (he had not), and that he hoped he would not have to wait till 10 am as was the case the first time! In the event, he turned up at 9 am.
On the morning of day of checkout, I was assisting him with booking and printing out his plane tickets when he asked me whether I could hold on to his luggage after checkout till the evening. I explained to him that this was not possible; this is also clearly stated on my listing. He became extremely upset and began verbally abusing me, and threatened me, saying he would give me a bad review. Shortly
afterwards, he left with his luggage.
Overall, this was an unpleasant experience, and I definitely cannot recommend this guest.
I thought of going with
Cleanliness 5/5, Communication 3/5, Observance of House Rules 3/5