This Guest Will Be a Nightmare - Lying & Threatening

[Oded]

Hi everyone, hope you all had a better weekend that I did

I had a guest leaving this Sunday. After they left (5 people), we found:

1. The fan remote control holder (that is attached to the wall) is detached now.
2. A bag of trash was left in the owner closet on top of the linens and the “juice” of the trash bled all over the linens. I’m talking about beer, coffee, tea bags.
3. Blood stains on the sheets

For the life of me… no one ever left anything in the owner’s closet let alone a full trash bag! What the hell?! It gets interesting because I messaged her (here’s how it went down):

We found damage after you left.

The remote control holder in the orange room is ripped from the wall.

Also, a bag of trash was left in the owner’s closet (why?!) and the liquid stained our new linens as well as blood stains on linens on bed.

She replied:

_What? We did our best to leave the home is great condition! Trash in the closet? I am sorry to hear this. What should we do? _

There was a bag full of stuff in the closet by the front door when we arrived by the way, is that what you are referring to?

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So so far I’m thinking that reaction is not surprised enough… she’s too cool about such an odd thing to do so I said:

The bag full of stuff is our linens. A trash bag with Coors light and other things was left on it and it leaked. As well as the ripped remote control holder.

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To that she said:

Also: the remote in the orange room was not secured to the wall it was taken off to adjust the fan… maybe a design flaw on your behalf. Blood stains on the linen?? Isn’t that what bleach was made for?? One of your guests busted his toe in the shower because a steel piece in the shower was broken & non secure. Maybe that is what the blood stains were from? He did hurt his foot pretty badly.

So first, this is a complete lie. There is absolutely NO steel piece in the shower anywhere to be found. Saying he was “hurt pretty bad” started to sound to me she is threatening me in a way… I stayed on the subject and replied with:

How it relates to the trash bag you left in the closet that bleed onto the linens?

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She said:

What needs to happen next? We left the home in great condition.

_??? I am not going to spend more time on this. So if you have a legitimate complaint please send pictures. If this becomes more of an issue I will unfortuantely write a poor review. _

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Now I think that THIS is a threat. She basically telling me to drop it (“If this becomes more of an issue”) or she will inflict a negative action upon me (“If this becomes more of an issue”).

I have photos of the stained linen both with the blood and the heavy stains. Tomorrow I’ll have the photo of the detached remote control. No photo of the actual bag on it. It was removed as soon as was discovered.

I’d appreciate any input here. To me, I know the drill - I’ll send photos, receipts, she will pay $20 instead of $250 and AB will be on her side as always. The only angle I can think of is that threat she was using in order for me to drop it.

Your thoughts?

Thank you,
Oded

[Jess1]

Sorry you’ve had such inconsiderate guests. Take a photo of the bag of trash as well. Once I had an idiot who flooded my shower room by not using the shower curtain. Instead of telling me (I live in), or using existing bath mats, she got out a load of clean towels from the linen cupboard, used those then shoved them sopping wet on top of the remaining clean linen. She then went on to stain my walls, shower grout with hair dye and got black pen and makeup stains on my linen and carpet. She was clueless. I honestly think she was so stupid she wasn’t aware of what she was doing. Some people live in pigstys or have staff so don’t care about anything. She has an honest review which will stop her from getting another Airbnb booking, and that’s what you need to do. By all means go through dispute resolution and money request with Airbnb, good luck with that. I really hope you can rescue your linens. A soak in biological washing powder or oxygen bleach (e.g. Napisan) can work wonders. Meanwhile a big thumbs down for them!

[Helsi]

Hello @Oded

I am sure you have already done this, but take photos and videos of the damage and to show there is no steel piece on the floor of the shower broken or otherwise.

Decide what you want to claim for.

Let her know the costs of fixing the fan.

What do you want to do with the linens - have them professionally cleaned. Replace if they have rubbish soaked through?

Write her a polite factual note confirming the damage to the fan and the linens and the costs of fixing. Confirm to her that there is no metal part in the bottom of the shower broken or otherwise.

Express disappointment that they didn’t tell you of the damage caused, the blood on the sheets and they chose to put a back of rubbish on top of your linens rather than in the bins provided.

Also call Airbnb and flag it with them.

If you refuses to pay escalate to airbnb to deal with.

Leave an honest review (and expect a negative one back).

[sobepuppy]

I would involve Airbnb asap. Submit a claim via the Resolution Center, provide all documentation and photos that support your version of what transpired. Always ask for double the cleaning fee if your cleaning efforts required more than usual effort. When the guest disputes this, it will be their word against yours.

[Oded]

@Jess1

By all means go through dispute resolution and money request with Airbnb, good luck with that.

I will but my past experience is such that AB is all about the guest these days. Thank you for the oxygen bleach tip!

@Helsi

Let her know the costs of fixing the fan.

What do you want to do with the linens - have them professionally cleaned. Replace if they have rubbish soaked through?

Leave an honest review (and expect a negative one back).

I’m getting a video of the shower floor to show that there’s no steel pieces anywhere. We’re working on the linens since yesterday. I got 50% cleaned but it’s BS - these are brand new expensive ones I just got last month.

I have no fear of her negative review as the one I will leave her will hurt. A lot.

I do wonder if AB will see her last message as a threat. It happened once before when a guest did the same and AB blocked us both from leaving a review.

[Helsi]

Then claim for your linens too. But most experienced hosts will tell you it’s a waste of money to buy expensive linens for STR’s. Get decent ones, that don’t cost the earth.

[Oded]

I always did but wanted to treat our guest and get a nicer one for them… oh well!

My camera shows they checked-in 30 minutes before. I’m going for that too as stated in the House Rules.

[Oded]

UPDATE:

Just got off the phone with Airbnb.

1. This text she wrote “If this becomes more of an issue I will unfortuantely write a poor review.” considered extortion by AB and he said they will remove any negative review she will leave and leave my review.

2. I didn’t see this before but the linens issue should go through the guy I just talked to. He asked to email him photos and proof of payment (which I have) and he’ll take care of it.

3. Hole in the wall issue should be handled by opening a resolution request. Strange that they separated the two.

I’m going to try and send them all the material today and I’ll keep you updated!

[Jess1]

Whatever happens don’t give Airbnb any leeway to say this is a ‘personality conflict’. That’s their way in to providing a solution which is ‘fair to both parties’ which is Airspeak for siding with the guest. Keep it factual. Good luck!

[jaquo]

@Oded - I really don’t mean to be harsh but there were a couple of things that occurred to me when I read your original post, so I hope that you don’t find if I comment on them.

We have two (full apartment) rentals and in both, the owners’ closets are firmly locked and inaccessible to guests. I’d really recommend that you fit a lock.

Earlier this year, we had a handyman go into a rental during a guest’s stay to fix an urgent issue. He left the owners’ closet unlocked and consequently the guest stole wine and expensive toiletries that were stored in there. So please get a lock. There’s no point putting temptation in guests’ way.

I’m afraid that blood stains on sheets will happen. Any female can tell you that these things can happen unexpectedly and accidentally in the middle of the night. (Plus there are cuts and abrasions that happen too, of course). Arm yourself with good laundry liquid and plenty of OxyClean powder.

No-one bleeds onto sheets on purpose. (That being said, I do wish that couples who are coming here for a few days of fun and frolics would check her menstruation calendar first!)

Yes, I know that the things that happened to your rental because of these guests shouldn’t have. But it’s like when you have a newly-crawling baby in the house and you babyproof everything so that he/she doesn’t drink the bleach or crack its head on the side of the coffee table or whatever…

As hosts, we have to ‘guest-proof’ our places.

I know that we want to provide the best to our guests but we have to find a balance between doing that and being slaves to their every whim.

Be assured that claiming money for damages from Airbnb is likely to be a long and annoying process. Make sure that your per night price covers you well enough for all eventualities. Make sure that you have STR insurance. Be businesslike, be in charge and don’t leave anything to chance.

Phew. Rant over

[Como]

I have seen cases where ABB has deleted both reviews where the Guest has done a revenge review, not in their policy but you never know.

Bad review is really a major issue for a Host.

[konacoconutz]

The extortion was the first thing I noticed. Glad they caught it.God I hate guests sometimes. How dare they be so bloody disrespectful?

Best of luck resolving it with the little witch.

[lahope]

Not so much if you have a lot of positive reviews. I got a “revenge” review a few months ago, but as a super host with 272 reviews, I wasn’t hurt by it–it didn’t affect my metrics or my bookings or subsequent reviews. Those bad reviews fall off your front page in no time!

[Oded]

After some back and forth with Airbnb they email me:

Your guest refuses to pay the amount you requested for the linens. However, based on your amazing reviews with us and overall very good history, my supervisor and I have agreed to award you the entire amount you requested relating to the linen issue straight from us at Airbnb. $155.88 will be sent to your payout method within the next 24 hours. Also you now have the opportunity to involve a property damage agent regarding the hole in your wall. Just login to your account and go to the following link and then click the Involve Airbnb button.

That’s great. I just need to figure out the payment for the hole in the wall they did. She texted me again but I’m not replying her. From here on it’s only through Airbnb. I’m sure she will have a lovely review.

Will keep you updated. Thank you for your comments!

[Kirsty_Jane]

Thanks for the update!

[Oded]

Additional update:

I got this email for the Resolution request they asked me to open for the hole in the wall:

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Hi Oded,

Thanks for reaching out, My name is XXX. I’m a Trust & Safety specialist, and I’m sorry it had to be under these circumstances. Situations like these are rare, and I hope you’ll go on to have many more positive hosting experiences in the future.

Since this is a relatively low amount and you haven’t claimed other damages recently, I can expedite this request. I’ve processed a payout of $ 60 USD for the damages that happened during reservation XXX with your guest.

I’ve discussed the issue with your guest, so you shouldn’t need to communicate with them further about this issue. Thank you for being a great host. If you have any additional concerns, just reply to this email.

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I’m quite surprised by this whole new approach. We learned that AB is easier to deal with when claims are small AND when you have a good record of not opening too many. This one was $60 and it doesn’t look like to me the guest paid it, if I understand correctly - AB did.

[juzly]

You did the right thing by getting Airbnb involved… a pre-emptive strike if you will. Always communicate with your guests online - because Airbnb can read the messages, and that’s your proof of how things went down.

Sadly, people are people and they just don’t care about your property. Hope everything gets taken care of real soon for you.

I had a smilar experience recently, with meth addicts. The lady messaged me at midnight (I was sleeping), and her message implied that I should be available for her 24/7, even though my listing clearly states “quiet time between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am” - what don’t you get about that? Not everyone is a meth addict - some of us actually sleep at night. Sheesh.

[KKC]

@Oded

We learned that AB is easier to deal with when claims are small AND when you have a good record of not opening too many.

I’m not surprised at all. I’ve also discussed this with my in-home dog boarding friends. Some people have had much better customer service. DogVacay used to send some of us goodie boxes or even flowers on Mother’s Day one year. But other hosts would get nothing. I always thought it had to be some hosts are better than others and the company rewards that. The fact that you bring in more revenue with a higher dollar place also plays a role.

[Jane_Graham]

Do you still get to leave a review about your guests?

[Oded]

Yes. And now for the fun part, the review