Evidence of pot smoking in no smoking rental - what to do

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We just rented our downstairs rental unit to 4 young women. My husband did the usual show them around the unit and then we left for the afternoon. When we came home, upon entering our home, there was a strong smell of pot smoke. There is a door that separates our living area from the rental unit, and there was a blanket (one of ours) stuffed under the door. Since I hadn’t met the renters yet, I went down to their private entrance and knocked on the door. I introduced myself, just sayi hi hadn’t met them yet and wanted to say hi. I then said I wanted to remind them that this was a non smoking unit (it clearly states this on the ad as well as in the welcome packet we leave for visitors). I told them I didn’t want to offend, but it smelled like pot, and that pot smoking is not allowed on the property. They insisted they were not smoking, pot or otherwise, and I said thank you, and have a good time, and left. They have since left the u it and cancelled the reservation and are expecting a refund because they were made to feel uncomfortable. How should I have handled this differently?

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Just say no to the refund, don’t let air bully you. You did not cancel the reservation or ask the guests to leave. You simply told them not to smoke pot.

RR

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you need to repeat the conversation through Airbnb messages, take a pic of the blocked door and call Airbnb to advise your side of the story.
Hopefully you will get a reasonable CSR

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Don’t send them a refund. If they cancelled you are backed up by your cancellation policy. The less you speak to them the better, don’t respond is even better. If they do file a claim, deny the request and cite your cancellation policy. That’s all you need. Keep it short and simple. Everything especially if written will be used against you.

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Thank you all for your responses. I believe the issue is resolved thru Airbnb. If the guest files a claim, I will just deny it. Thanks for all the tips!

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Your house rule is no smoking indoors. You reminded them of the house rule because you smelled smoke. I appreciate your desire to remind guests of house-rules before you get Airbnb involved. I agree with prior posters, document the series of events factually on the Airbnb thread.

Maybe something like:
Hi WhateverYourNameIs. This message is to document our conversation On WhatDayOfWeek when we chatted. I reminded you about the No-Smoking House rule because I smelled smoke. I felt an obiligation to remind you so there wouldn’t be a second violation of the rule.

PS—In my state pot is illegal. I personally don’t care if people do it at their homes HOWEVER at my home, I have NO tolerance because: 1. My home is no-smoking indoors, 2. Pot smoking on my property puts my property at risk, my rentals at risk, and possibly me at risk.

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Risk for what? Fire? Munchies?

RR

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Pot is illegal in my state. If neighbors complain to police about the pot smoking, here we go.

  1. If they have over the amount deemed “for personal use”, they can be charged with dealing.
  2. The property is at risk for seizure.
  3. I am a Registered Nurse. Anything drug related charges puts my license & livelihood at risk.

The bottom line—it is illegal in my area. Personal opinions don’t matter. I cannot condone illegal activities in my home which also includes underage drinking, prostitution…you get the idea.

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I mis read that in your original post .

RR

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First: document, document, document. In the future, take pictures of the object blocking door jam prior to interaction with the guest. Next, send a message to G (guest) on the message thread (MT) so Airbnb can view it in the near future. Then contact the guest as you did. Once all of that is done and the guest does a CBG on Airbnb, you can call in and tell your side of the story. An experienced agent will only refund the guest based on your chosen cxl policy in place for listing and will ask you to refund outside of your cxl policy in full just as a good measure to ensure guest satisfaction (just say no). The guest will be refunded based on your cxl policy and possibly additionally refunded or compensated by AIrbnb at the agents opinion of what happened and what the best outcome will be. If it is an agent like myself, “hey the guest shouldn’t be smoking and clearly realized they were busted after you talked to them so they checked out” (my mentality and not what an agent could or would say on a recorded line) and then the agent will be more on your side because you’ve done everything we ask for from our hosts regarding any situations that come up.

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