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Luckily we were in between guests when this happened. My husband and I were actually sitting on our couch thinking about how to respond to an annoying 4 star review someone left us when we saw a car idling in our driveway with no one in it.
We went out to see what was going on. But my mind immediately went to - “are people trying to break into our house and this is the getaway car??” “What the hell is going on?” When we saw two women were poking around our side yard and heard us (or our dogs) and came back around front. I was like, “Umm hi can I help you”? And one woman, immediately went back to the car while they were explaining that they’re staying here in a few weeks (closer to a month) and that they just wanted to pop by and check out the location. I tried to change my expression from horrified to friendly when I realized they were our future guests. It seemed like a mom/daughter. The daughter who was just a bit older than me seemed a little mortified and I got the impression that maybe her mom insisted upon checking the place out. The elder woman proceeded to stand there and ask me all of the questions about the apartment, amenities and checkin (which are clearly listed on our listing sheet). At this point, it’s like 8pm at night after I’m home from working a full day and I’m trying to think of how to respond to an annoying review before I have to spend the next 3-4 hours cleaning/turning the place over for our guests coming the next day when these people showed up unannounced. I answered a few questions and when it became clear that this wasn’t going to be a short thing and she was definitely trying to get us to invite her in I said “You know, this is information that we will give you a few days before check in and we are currently about to do turnover for guests coming tomorrow so we really have to get back to it.” Ugh. So annoying. What if we had guests staying?? They had no way of knowing that we didn’t when they were poking around and probably looking into windows!!
I thought about contacting airbnb and telling them how uncomfortable it made me but I honestly don’t want to be out the money.
What would you do? Also, thanks for reading. I almost think I needed to just type that all out and vent.
It’s likely that perhaps they, or just the mom, is not familiar or comfortable with an Airbnb booking. But I don’t think that matters in this case. It’s wrong to show up on someone’s property and start walking around at night. To me this is someone who has problems with healthy boundaries and respect. I think if glance around you’ll see the man who waves the red flag unfurling an extra big one on this guest.
This is so wrong on many levels. Even if the mom was uncomfortable she could have just messaged you and asked for permission to come. I would call Airbnb and ask let them know and maybe advise you. I know you want the $ but that may not be enough if these guests are a problem.
These people were trespassing, which is criminal. Doesn’t matter if they were future guests or not.
I know how you feel about the money (I totally KNOW!!!) but I think this is a highly needy or worse reservation that you are probably going to regret hosting. I would call Air now, tell them about the trespassing and ask them to cancel this.
You will get another reservation to take its place.
The actions of the mother-daughter duo are astonishing, illegal and invasive, and the potential income would not sway me to go through with their booking.
Common sense and recognition of normal behavior and boundaries are obviously not in their make-up, and I cannot relate to people like that. Based on their actions, there is no way in the world I would host them.
Do you really expect that their actual stay would be a positive experience?
Get Air to Cancel them. I would say “terminate with extreme prejudice” but that might be going just a tad overboard.
Unless you and hubby are flat broke, you don’t need the kind of aggro these guests will give you. If they’re snooping now, imagine what they’re going to be like when they are staying there!
One of many reasons for NOT booking guests who live less than a hundred miles from you!
I would totally call Airbnb and tell them they made you feel uncomfortable. They are not welcome before the check-in date unannounced. I mean, they could have done a drive-by if they were super curious - or asked follow-up questions via the platform - but to drop by unannounced and demand answers to questions? No. Call Airbnb and complain and let them know what your options are. You should NOT be penalized for cancelling them, either.
They don’t understand the meaning of the word “guest” and what behaviors are appropriate for such a status. Or maybe the next time I’m invited to someone’s house for dinner for the first time I’ll stop by a few nights before after dark and poke around the premises a little.
What would I do? I would have struggled to be polite to her, in fact I might have been far less than polite. But I get that you were caught unawares!
I don’t see the point in calling Airbnb. Unless you want to cancel, what are they going to do? How many guests booked? Could it be a case of overbearing mother checking out on her daughter’s activities? Either way, I would send a message saying that this is not acceptable behaviour and she/they need to familiarise themselves with how Airbnb works.
While typing this, I have changed my mind. Unless you really need the money (and I get that, believe me) CANCEL them. There is something seriously off about it all.
edit: for some reason I didn’t see all the other replies! duanemitchell’s description of the big red flag says it all
I’m curious as to why they are even staying at your place and why it’s convenient enough for them to stop by weeks in advance. The whole thing is rude and weird. I would cancel!! If you don’t cancel, please mention this in the review, even if they end up being perfect guests while they are staying.
And that is why we don’t give our EXACT location until around 1 or 2 days before.
This is nuts, and an MO that thieves would use as well.
I can’t have people come poking around in advance!
No thanks!
Both our listings are in gated communities, and so while you may arrive at the gated community, you would need more specific details to ascertain the actual houses.
Secondly, the pictures on our listing are such that, one cannot identify our particular listings directly from the pictures.
The sum total is that without additional details they will not find the listing.
We once had a crazy situation with someone who booked, never showed up, and then later wanted to show up almost by force.
It’s from then on, that we changed our procedure! It’s a it of extra work for sure, but we prefer it this way.
Sooo, I came across this thread again and thought where’s the OP’s response or acknowledgement or thank-you in all this…it’s been three days and we’ve never heard back from her. Hosts have come to her aid and offered their opinions or probable actions in a similar situation which is just what she asked for.
Then, I read her initial post again and realized she said she just “needed to vent” and she didn’t “want to be out the money’”.
…