Guest claiming neighbour guest is smoking but he is not!

I have a young lady staying who is convinced that the person in the room next to her is smoking. First thing I did was message him just saying that someone is complaining about smoke up there. He came downstairs immediately to see me, telling me he didn’t even smoke. I declined his offer to smell him haha (an offer to smell his room would have been preferred, just so I could tell the other person I had done that). I am sure (beyong a reasonable doubt) that he is not smoking, based on many reasons that I won’t go in to here.

I have said to the girl that the guy says he hasn’t and I think he is being truthful. I said either he was lieing or she was imagining it. I told her I had never smelt it (despite passing that room frequently, as I need to to get to my own room) and suggested she let me know next time when it smells like he is smoking at that actual time. She replied something about it being late at night, and how the night before she kept waking up in the middle of the night and smelling it!

This girl knows that I generally go to bed at midnight as this came up in the convo. Next night she texts me at 1am saying she can ‘smell it now’. I was asleep.

Now I have had a lot of odd scenerios over the years including a guest who would make things up about other guests for attention from me. Although you couldn’t tell at first, this person had brain damage. This is presumably a very unusual scenerio, but I am sure this guy isn’t smoking in his room, and it had already occured to me that the lady may have some mental health issues - anxiety of something perhaps. I base this on the fact that she is here from the States (and is thinking of going to visit Scotland and Italy), but never seems to leave her room. She also sleeps extremely late - I know this from when cleaning day comes etc - and I have seen bottles of wine in her room. None of this my business I know but all I can think here is she is anxious in the middle of the night and is waking up thinking she smells smoke and then this idea has stuck with her.

Her social skills aren’t great and I have tried asking her what I can do to resolve this situation for her and she looks like she is wanting a resolution but she hasn’t told me what she would like me to do. Am I missing something here? Is there something more I can do?

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I think you need to document your conversation on the airbnb app. Also, if she is going to be there a while, then get a smoke detector monitor. I don’t know how expensive they are but I google it and here’s an option:

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Fun fact: there are medical conditions that make a person smell cigarette smoke when in fact there is none. Strange but true!

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True, and that could refocus her anxiety!

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Is she sleeping with the window open? Maybe someone outside is smoking and it’s blowing into her window. Is there a ceiling fan? She can run the ceiling fan at night to dissipate the smell.

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Interesting and makes sense as cant see what else this could be about

Re sleeping with window open… yes! This is what occurred to me after a while. And teenage neighbours do hang out outside sometimes. However I checked her window the next morning and it was closed. I’ve also messaged her with this theory but she hasn’t replied. This in itself I find slightly odd not to respond. She asked me to put something on my credit card on her first day here as she couldn’t top up her SIM with her US card. I wasn’t able to do that for her the day she asked but I said I’d do it for her the following day. I messaged her at 10am the following day saying I could do it then. She replied at 1pm with no acknowledgement of the time gap or whether this would still be a good time. She also needed to borrow my phone for some time which was actually pretty inconvenient.
Plus she texted me when I was out with this credit card issue and soon as I got home she wanted my help and needed to use my phone etc. So I’m surprised that now she just wouldn’t reply to me

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She needs money and your phone? And is seeding the visit with complaints?

You are about to be scammed.

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Why are you putting their stuff on your credit cards and letting them borrow your phone - she could have looked at anything /hacked your accounts.

Please stop .

These are her problems to resolve. Stop making them yours @Bosty64

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Yes you’re right I shouldn’t have. I put the credit card details in for myself. She didn’t have a phone to get her connected on her own phone so seemed mean to say no I guess, or i felt mean to say no. Also she bombarded me as I came in the door with her issues and I was busy so I think I was just caught off guard really

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So this isn’t directly related but reminds me to warm that when you loan your phone to anyone, especially anyone who approaches you at a public place with a sob story, you are opening yourself up to having your bank accounts emptied. So many folks now have Venmo, or Cashapp, and it’s soo quick and easy for someone to swipe (pun intended) themselves some money from your account and send it where you’ll never see it again. Even though your guest may be just fine…she could still do the same and you’d never be able to prove it was her. It’s just a bad idea to give anyone your phone…if they need to make a call, you dial it for them and put it on speaker…just don’t hand it over.

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Yikes okay thanks for the warning. Lesson definitely learned

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I don’t understand why she travelled to another country without topping up her phone with time before she left the US. And did she pay you back in cash at the time for what you put on your credit card? Didn’t you find it odd and rude that she took your phone for “some time”- and why didn’t you ask for it back instead of being inconvenienced?

This girl sounds either a bit mentally off or up to no good.

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She had a nee SIM card here. I didn’t get it as I thought these days u can just use your phone wherever you are, and That’s what I do. But maybe getting a nee Sim is cheaper or something.

She needed my phone to sort out her phone issue. You know when you’re rushing home and you’ve got this list of things you need to deal with ASAP when you get in, it was like that. She was in my way when I really needed my time to get things done. So I just handed it to her, hoping then she could deal with her situation and that’d be the end of it. I fee like some inconvenience has to be expected as a host. Yes this was a step too far and I should have recognised that boundary! Yes I did think it was rude but I thought she really needs it and will be appreciative and she will leave me alone instead of boring me with the whole story. Yes she did pay me back, but she wasn’t quick to get out the money (not saying I needed to remind her but there was a gap which made me think she really didn’t acknowledge what she’d just had me do for her). Pause before the thank you also. Around now I was starting to think she was perhaps mentally off. I do think it’s that rather than being up to no good. She’s been in her room literally all day today, with one cheap takeaway arriving for her and that’s it.!

If I were in your shoes and a guest asked for use of my credit card and my phone, first I’d say “No.” No reasons, nothing. Just “No.”

Then I’d document all her complaints and your resolutions (or attempts) on ABB messaging system.

You don’t say how long she’s staying, but if she’s drinking heavily, staying in her room, and complaining about money and smells that don’t exist she needs to go now.

Tell ABB you want her gone because she’s asked for money and your phone, is bothering a non-smoking guest (tell them why you know he doesn’t smoke), and cancel her reservation. BTW, a new SIM card is her problem, not yours. She can walk down to the post office or convenience store and top off the SIM without you getting involved.

She has issues. YOU are letting her make them your problem. Please, learn to say no and be OK with that. It’s not confrontation, it’s a boundary and a way to make your life easier.

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It totally depends on what kind of phone plan someone has. I can put time on my phone here in Mexico, and if I travel to the US or Canada, it automatically switches over to a provider there, and my phone plan covers unlimited calling and texting between anywhere in Mexico, the US or Canada.

But if I were to go to Europe, that wouldn’t be the case- each phone call or text would cost me huge roaming charges.

And not every phone provider’s service will connect in another country or area. I had a guest who had paid an extra $40 to her provider in the US so she could use her phone here in Mexico. But she couldn’t get it to work, despite following all the setting instructions she had been given. I asked to look at the instruction card she had been given and saw right away what the problem was- her US provider was partnered with a Mexican provider whose signal doesn’t work in my town, although it does in other parts of Mexico.

This is why so many people who travel a lot use Whatsapp- it’s free calling and texting worldwide, although it does require a Wifi connection to work. And if someone is trying to call a bank, credit card company or other corporate entity, they wouldn’t be reachable through Whatsapp.

Yes I assumed there would be some such reason. I didn’t know you could top up at the shop or I’d have definitely redirected her there

There is so much that can go wrong when a stranger borrows your phone:

  • Using financial apps on your phone to transfer money.
  • Using e-tailer apps on your phone (e.g., Amazon) to make purchases.
  • Resetting practically any of your account passwords any gaining access to those accounts because now they have access to your 2-factor authentication device.

You should be very diligent about checking any and all of these things as soon as possible.

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Sorry I don’t agree. You are running a business. @Bosty64 Would you go into a restaurant and ask the owner to use their phone and put purchases on their credit card?

  1. If she has a problem with a phone she goes to a phone shop
  2. Your comment about her asking you to put a purchase on your credit card because she couldn’t use her credit card makes no sense. Who arrives in a country with no money/access to a credit/debit cards. I’ve never has a US guest that can’t use their credit cards here.

And no as a host you don’t need to be inconvienced by guests.

You really need to 'grow a pair. There’s a two letter word you need to use. It’s called no :slight_smile:

You’re based in the UK I can’t believe you don’t know you can walk into any phone shop, supermarket, garage or local shop and get your phone topped up

She can’t necessarily top up her US phone at a local shop, but she could, I’d imagine, for a local SIM card, although I’m not familiar with what a "nee SIM) is.
There are lots of small phone providers who may not have facilities in other countries. I said she should have topped up her US account before she went travelling, or made some other arrangement for having phone service at her destination.

Like buying a SIM card locally and switching it out for her US one. Some phones also have the ability to insert 2 SIM cards, as well.

I actually give guests coming from other countries pre-arrival info about using their phone here, since the situation with the guest I mentioned, whose provider’s signal partner doesn’t work here.