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This is my first post and I struggled over an hour to make it brief. At the last minute I backed out of posting my detailed account of a guest successfully coercing AirBnb to allow him to cancel a long-term reservation after four days as opposed to the 24 hour rule, explained by AirBnb spokesperson Nick Shapiro in several articles. (My cancellation policy is “strict.”) The guest was issued a full refund. The crux of the issue had to do with air exchange and our baffled inability to accommodate a guest who was completely MUM, other than thanking us profusely for responding to his various demands around allowing him cooking privileges and providing considerable added food storage.
AirBnb has me paranoid. Their “resolution” agent modified her original position to be further punitive toward me once I made reference to “aromatic cooking odors,” in response to the guest’s fabricated claim that there was a musty odor in his room that we did not deal with. (This guest made some absolutely wild claims in addition to this.)
Before I post the details, I’m wondering, if I decide it’s too risky to address discrimination, can I take it down? Or is there a “pre-flight” way to run my post by one of our “sages” here in the forum?
You can send a private message to anyone you choose. Click on the user name and you will get a pop up that includes a button so you can message that user.
I suppose you have done that. I’m a bit confused about your approach though. It seems you wanted to privately tell some of your story to forum “sages” which I took to mean you had someone(s) in mind. Different forum members have very different philosophies on dealing with guests and issues of discrimination so keep that in mind.
@endsinjoy just post what you would want to write. Are you saying you don’t want to give the person an honest review or that you don’t want to write something within the group that would appear “discriminatory.” We’re all adults (well most of us) and if someone gets a little butt-hurt they’ll let you know. Other than that, Air doesn’t monitor this so post away! Don’t use fanciful linguistic gymnastics either, just put it out there.
My house currently smells a little musky on account of the rain, and a little fishy because that’s what I cooked for lunch.
I’m happy to be schooled! My forte is hospitality and I can blunder technically. Perhaps if I read more I’ll get the nuances that you suggest. (I did by the way click on you and I love your colors!)
Okay, no cartwheels! To get my feet wet, I’ll ask something more practical. If you weren’t sure whether you were being “nose blind” would you let the guest judge for themselves? Fortunately, I have the option of offering the second floor, but this guest enjoyed the first floor, next to the kitchen.
Guests always judge regardless. My stove top is currently pretty gross, but I’m always cooking and my guests know that. I tell them I’m a food writer and so I’m always testing out new recipes. I learned pretty early on that you can’t please everyone all the time.
If you are a big cooker, or you cook aromatic things (like what are we talking here? All I can think of is Indian food which is possibly one of my favorite smells/foods) put that in your bio. It could also be that the person was looking for an out and took an easy one. You want people to have that expectation when they book the room off the kitchen.
You could also try an oil diffuser with a scent that is fresh (not fruity) and then ask someone who doesn’t live in your house to take a whiff.
Yes, you are right-I was talking about Indian cooking, but it was the guest’s not mine. I always take a “mi casa su casa” approach to what makes guests happy and all I ask is that they communicate with me if anything falls short. He was looking for an out-after four days he discovered the commute was too hard.
Have you ever had a guest manage to “dupe” AirBnb that resulted in your loss? (I hope that’s not a stupid question.)
There are other old threads that address this issue. They sometimes became contentious due to the cultural issues surrounding this. Bottom line is Indian food cooking is quite pungent. The smell can linger for days and not everyone enjoys it. I’d love to have someone whip up some curries in my kitchen one or two nights in the summer when I can open up the doors and windows and air the place out and then I’d be over it. Winter…I’m not so sure.
You’ve identified the problem…he just wanted out and found whatever way he could get out. My advice is to move on and be grateful that you don’t have to deal with it. I hope you get a more suitable long term booking if that’s what you want. Most of think using Airbnb to get long term lodgers is a bad idea. As you’ve seen, they side with the guest. If you want a roommate, find one and have them sign a lease.
You’re right. My husband resisted the long-term (one month) stay, and the guest wrote a nice letter promising there would be no reason for him to cancel and we could trust him. No more long-term rentals. Thanks.
I love long term rentals. This is just one experience you had .
Also you can dispute the decision to refund the guest. Call aggain and get someone on a line that can open a case. I did that and I was paid how they said “out of pocket”.
Air said there was a mistake on their part how they handled the case. Also this guest already did aomething similar to another host and cancelled while her stay was in progress for some silly reason.
Also I laughed when I read that Indian cooking guest complained about smell. The way they cook with all the spices it’s the rest of the world who can complain about smells. I remember when we were looking for a house our realtor was about to show us one house but she warned us. She said, an Indian family lives there and the house still smells after a week being empty of all the spices. She told us it’s very nice house just if we can get pass smells, because eventually it will go away.
Oh yes and I would not categorize it as “dupe” she didn’t have to go out of her way to get a full refund. It is just the way Air works. In favour of the guest in mild cases like my incident.
While I have been very successful with AirBnB in my short year with the system I have a strict cancellation policy. My property is at a mountain resort, a summer winter recreational destination. This guest booked her stay 5 days AFTER her son broke his leg. Then a week before their stay she cancelled requesting full refund. She got it.
People have different sensitivities to smells. (or is it SCENTitivities) We had a couple a few months back who mentioned not liking the scented candle we used to get rid of cooking smells! Sometimes, you can’t win. Fortunately, they still gave us 5 stars.
Ah-yes I’ve heard anything medical-related definitely goes in the guest’s favor. I didn’t realize that it’s an OVERALL trend. I had good luck with the resolution center in the past–in fact I thought it should have lent to my credibility. I found 5 weeks after a guest left that she had broken my vacuum cleaner (I know, I have a cleaning lady who brings her own so I don’t use mine that often.) Y’all will be happy to know there were CAT FECES in the vacuumn that ultimately “pooped out” (doh!) under the strain. (Cleaning her room was a NIGHTMARE after she left, cat in tow, that she had schlepped here FROM GERMANY!) It was too late to collect from the guest but AirBnb offered to pay me direct! My husband and I decided to decline, explaining it was really her fault not their’s. So much for Karma-I could use the $300 bucks now to offset my creepy chef-argh.
You aren’t dealing with a resolution center. You are dealing with an airbnb employee (or contractor) who may or may not even know Airbnb policies well. As Yana said you can call and dispute the refund. You may also want to change your rules to “no cooking.” Guests may store stuff in the fridge and heat things up but no full course meals. People who aren’t long term guests don’t need to be cooking meals anyway.
