Need help: dealing with a complaining guest who never checked in

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I swear, I’m on a run with shitty guests. But here goes.

D booked for two days, two guests (supposedly only her for the first day, and her son to join for the second day) to attend a wedding. She asked about distance to the wedding venue, how much would an Uber be, etc. I responded…crickets. Sent the check-in email…crickets.

Day of check-in, I get a voicemail from her (I think? She used guest A’s name) saying she doesn’t know how to get in. I call her back immediately. Turns out, it’s the daughter of the guest. I tell her I sent check-in details to her earlier, she says mom doesn’t have access to email or Internet right now. Says she’s at the door and can’t get in. I give her the code and ask her to tap it in to make sure she gets in ok (I’m assuming at this point she’s just running interference for mom). I ask her if it works, are you in, etc…she immediately gets sidetracked, saying thanks, she has to go, and hangs up.

When I get home at 9pm, I see the keys are still in door. Odd, but whatever.

Fast forward to this morning, I get this text message (outside of Airbnb) from the daughter:

Stephany, I am sending this on behalf of my mother D who reserved a two nights stay with you beginning last evening. As guests of your home, we were very disappointed in our accommodations. There was a smell that was very offensive as well as extremely hot in whole apartment. The accommodations were not what we were expecting based on pictures. I apologize as this is an uncomfortable conversation to have but thought as a host family you would appreciate the honest feedback. We will be out most of the day for a family wedding but I can be reached by message here or email at XXX. Thank you, T

So I send this in reply:

Hi T. I’m puzzled at hearing this, as we’ve never had complaints such as these. However, per airbnb terms, I have to address guest satisfaction/resolution concerns within the airbnb messaging system (between me and the guest who is staying/booked) so that everything is on record.

I then sent this to T via her email, noting exactly what I sent to Airbnb.
…
Hi T,

Here is what I sent to Diane via the airbnb messaging system. In accordance with their terms, discussions about customer satisfaction issues and cancellation/resolution requests need to be documented there rather than just via personal email/text.

Natalie

…
Hi D,

I received a message from your daughter earlier, the text of which is as follows:

Stephany, I am sending this on behalf of my mother D who reserved a two nights stay with you beginning last evening. As guests of your home, we were very disappointed in our accommodations. There was a smell that was very offensive as well as extremely hot in whole apartment. The accommodations were not what we were expecting based on pictures. I apologize as this is an uncomfortable conversation to have but thought as a host family you would appreciate the honest feedback. We will be out most of the day for a family wedding but I can be reached by message here or email at XXX. Thank you, T

I replied as follows:

Hi T. I’m puzzled at hearing this, as we’ve never had complaints such as these. However, per airbnb terms, I have to address guest satisfaction/resolution concerns within the airbnb messaging system (between me and the guest who is staying/booked) so that everything is on record.
Natalie

To address her/your concerns, I just had my husband walk around the outside of the house and he said that not one of the three air conditioner units was running, which I can only assume is why it’s hot inside. Even on the hottest days of the year, the high-output air conditioners can easily keep the apartment to 68 degrees. I also don’t know what smell you are experiencing–can you describe it? There is no smell in the hall, stairwell, basement, our unit immediately upstairs, or around the outside of the house.

I’m just very confused at your daughter’s complaint. Additionally, the unit looks identical to the pictures, the only differences being upgrades in the couch, dining room, television, and bedding. Could you describe what is not what you were expecting?

If you are unhappy with the accommodations, may I suggest a hotel in the area for tonight? The Carleton on Pleasant has vacancy this evening. I’m happy to cancel/refund the second night of your reservation here if you’d like to stay elsewhere.

Natalie

…crickets again…

Then I get this, via text, again, from the daughter:

Thank you Natalie, I apologize for the delay. We are in the midst of a crazy day. Will follow up tomorrow am if that’s ok. We appreciate your offer on accommodations-however we made other arrangements for last night and this evening. We also appreciate and accept your offer of refunding one nights stay as we feel this is fair. I will reply to your email tomorrow. Thank you, T


So, I come home, check things out, and I’m pretty sure they were never even here. Like, never even walked in the door. And there’s no smell, of course, the place is immaculate, as it was when I left it. There is not a single sign anyone even opened that door.

So, I am not into giving these people ANYTHING in refund now. So, how should I broach this with Airbnb? I’m sure they just made other plans, and didn’t want to cancel (because canceling means you don’t get your money back, whereas complaining means you might).

And further, the daughter was never a guest here. And my name ISN’T STEPHANY.

I just don’t want the shitty review, but I do want the money. Advice?

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Advice on everything welcomed–the daughter communication, crickets from the person who booked, the obvious “more than two” that were booked who were planning on staying, etc. And how much time do I have to do whatever I need to do with airbnb–their original checkout was tomorrow at 11am.

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What do you mean by crickets? Around here a cricket is an insect.

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Sorry, it’s a colloquialism…means I heard nothing in response. :blush:

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Where is @konacoconutz when I need her? Haha!

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Natalie,

This may be the most bizarre story I have ever heard. You have done a good job of outlining the exchanges above. Perhaps you just submit this to AirBNB assuming that you have opened a case with them?

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I would refuse to refund anything and let them fight for it. Contact airbnb and start getting your revised side of the story in now. Sounds like a mess and they were just trying to take advantage of you from the beginning. The daughter never should have even been there, much less calling you. Of course when they call you and catch you off guard like that it’s hard to have the presence of mind to say “Daughter? No I’m giving a daughter instructions to get in, you weren’t on the reservation.”

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I haven’t yet, but what do I even say? I mean, I agree, it is just so convoluted. And should I change the keypad lock? I think I will; I already cancelled on cleaning.

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Sorry it’s so long, but I just had to post it all…

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Any way you can get a neighbor or someone to attest that there is no smell (so hard to document that one). Please let us know how Airbnb responds!

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What’s the best way to contact air for something like this? I’ve had nothing but fail when calling, and it’s not an emergency or anything.

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Did you say you live upstairs? Do they realize that? Maybe they saw when they arrived that they wouldn’t be able to get away with all the violations they had planned (6 people staying over/a party) Change the keypad lock. This must be the new way people rip off ABB hosts or get refunds. Either claim there’s a smell (no way to prove it) or that a relative died.

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The only way it could have smelled funky when they walked in is if they farted.

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Going to change it right now. :slightly_smiling_face:

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Go to your reservations and there’s a “report a problem” link.

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Start with Dispute Resolution, if you haven’t already done so. Yes, you are best to feed everything through Airbnb. If they keep texting, respond with – I have open a dispute to document our communication regarding this issue as it is in the best interest for both parties; please respond only via Airbnb’s resolution page (or something like similar that doesn’t sound so lawyer-ish).

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“This must be the new way people rip off ABB hosts or get refunds. Either claim there’s a smell (no way to prove it) or that a relative died.”

Or have a picture of a mouse already on their phone as “proof of rodents”.

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Do you think they were at the correct address??

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They left the keys in the lock… doesn’t that mean they made it to the correct location?

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The only other thing I can think of is that they were “uncomfortable” in our neighborhood. I did some Facebook research and let’s just say they might not be happy with a progressive community such as Oak Park. Our next door neighbors are married lesbians! Across the street is a gay couple! OMG there are People of Color walking down the street.

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