We had 2 guests stay in rooms of the top floor of our house. Also on the top floor is the appartment where my son and his partner live. They were away that particular weekend. I leave the appartment door ajar (not fully open) because my son has 2 cats, which we look after when he is way. I pointed out the door to the guests and told them that it led to my son’s private appartment and was not for guest use.
The following day I went up there to feed the cats, and saw that the kitchen had been used as there were coffee cups and plates by the sink which were not there the day before. I tried to contact the guests, knocking on the door to the guest room when I could hear they were inside, but they did not answer. The same thing happened the 2nd day, again clear signs they had been using the kitchen in my son’s appartment, again no response when I tried to contact them. They checked out the following morning.
They have left a review complaining about the mess in my son’s kitchen, calling it disgusting, which is completely out of order. It was messy as my son had left in a hurry, but no way was it disgusting, and indeed if it was, why did they use it a 2nd time? But the condition of my son’s kitchen is beside the point. They trespassed into a part of the house off-limits for guests, and then reviewed that part of the house rather than the rooms they had rented.
I have raised a complaint with Airbnb CS to complain that a) the guests entered parts of the house that were off-limits to guests, and b) the review focusses specifically on those parts of the house. So far nothing from airbnb beyond stock message that they are reviewing my complaint.
I hope you contacted Airbnb by phone and not by message or email. They’re more likely to respond if you call them. They may not do anything, but at least you will have talked with them.
More importantly, if you don’t want guests in your son’s apartment, then I suggest installing a cat door and keeping the apartment door locked.
Because you left the door open again in spite of knowing that the guests were making unauthorized use of that space. Yes, I know guests shouldn’t do that and then complain but a little hosting sense is in order as well.
you can leave a response to their review. please note that the response is for future guests.
Quoting a previous post I made
It’s pretty well-know that some guests will open any cabinet or container and enter any room that isn’t locked.
Yes, you should say that they actually entered someone else’s apartment and are admitting to it because they were in kitchen. It doesn’t matter that it was your son’s apartment. Believe it or not, depending on where you live, this may even be a crime of trespassing or breaking an entering.
I had something similar in my last review. They booked my twin room which has an en-suite bathroom & is on the ground floor. However at some point they had gone snooping upstairs where there was no need for them to go and found ‘my’ bathroom & left me a 4 star rating stating in the private comments that the upstairs bathroom could do with updating.
If there are places you don’t want guests to go, use locks to keep them out.
Still…it’s infuriating to have a 4 star or even a private comment about an off limits area. It would be like me commenting on a guest’s poor taste in fashion and disheveled appearance in my review of them.
You should ask your son to check if any of his belongings are missing. They were trespassing and chances are snopped around upstairs in the bedrooms. God only knows what else they used when they were upstairs.
Unfortunately locking the door is not an option unless we fit a cat flap in the door of the appartment. I may have to resort to this as I am extremely annoyed that they went into a space that was not included in their rental, and used cups, plates, cutlery, and used the microwave (I know because of how they left it). Then had the cheek to write a bad review of the space they were not supposed to enter. They rented 2 bedrooms with en-suite shower, their review should cover those rooms only, plus (possibly) the hallway and other public areas they walked through to reach their rooms.
I hope you included this information in your review of them.
Thing is in my case the upstairs bathroom is available for guests in my 2 non-ensuite bedrooms on that level. These are currently occupied long term by contractors so that bathroom is not used by AirBNB “holidaying” guests and admittedly probably not up to “guest” standard as it’s not intended for holidaying guests to need to use it if that makes sense.
Agreed. This is one of the few times I would advise writing a PUBLIC response to a review. The guests entered another TENANT’S apartment and used their kitchen. It doesn’t matter the tenant is your son in this case. How tidy other tenants keep their units is not the concern of this trespassing guest.
And I agree with the guest-proofing suggestions. This situation could have been prevented, especially the second time, but the public response doesn’t need these details.
Did they understand clearly that they can’t enter there ? It’s just sounds so unbeilevable that they not only used kit hen there but also complained about it. Made me think they didn’t realize they are not allowed to use it
This is just another reason why I couldn’t be an in home host. I’d have tossed them on street after the first occurence, by involving Airbnb of course. Although they would be destined for the street even if Airbnb didn’t agree with me and sod the review.
JF
What did the guests say when you confronted them about using your son’s private rooms the first time they did this. I presume you followed up on airbnb to confirm that this was not appropriate and shouldn’t happen again? @fionajk42
You can use this evidence together with any photography you took of the used kitchen in your private space to ask Airbnb to remove the review.
Going forward I agree you do need to ask your son to fit a cat flap and lock to his private space if he wants you to feed his pets while away.
I know that that’s why I used the words ‘follow up’ @Brian_R170 …if you couldn’t reach the guests in person about such a serious issue you wouldn’t just leave it would you?
You would put a message under their door/message them on airbnb/text them etc so there was a record in writing.
I would keep at CS until they remove the review, keep pointing out that the listing does not even have a kitchen and they were trespassing in another tenants kitchen. I would be as nice as pie on the phone, end every conversation and email with " I do not consider this resolved, when will you be getting back to me with a resolution?
RR
I see, and you’re right. I’m not sure how much further I would’ve gone to contact the guests about it, but given that the guests were told in the beginning that the space was off-limits, I am quite sure that I would not have left the door either open or unlocked, regardless of whether or not I was able to contact the guests. Even if the guests agreed, I would’ve locked the door, because either they intentionally broke the rule the first time or as @Yana said, they don’t understand.