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I decided to allow the guest to stay. We discussed the issues and he started to respect the house rules but last night at 12 am, a male guest who was never authorized to enter the suite arrive and the woke me up.
Then a couple of hours later, the registered guest left to pick up his female friend and left the unauthorized guest in the suite above me alone while I was trying to sleep.
This is a serious infraction of my rules and my safety.
Then about an hour later, the registered guest arrived with his friend around 3 am which now put the number of people in the suite at 3. My home owner’s insurance ride only permits 2 people in the suite. Any more and the policy could be voided.
They continued to make noise and I moved to sleep on my couch and ran very loud sound machines. When I woke, I watch the videos and contacted Airbnb.
From the time I contacted Airbnb’s safety line until they agreed to cancel the reservation took 4 hours. At first they said that I would have to refund the unstayed days but after viewing the video evidence, they did agree to not refund the guest.
They even claimed that they couldn’t view my videos. (Really Airbnb - your service reps don’t have the technology to view security camera videos with a .mov extension?). I had to repost them on a site where they could then go and view.
So yes, I should have listen to everyone’s advice and yeah, no good deed goes unpunished.
The irony is a day before he asked to extend his reservation. I had blocked off a few days after his reservation was ending and really do have 3 additional bookings so I declined his request.
Sorry to hear this, Lynick. The guy sure proved himdelf to be a total a**hole.
This isn’t just a matter of ignoring house rules, as you say, this is a serious safety violation. Some rando guy in your house where you live hanging out in the middle of the night? I probably wouldn’t have even mentioned “house rules” with Airbnb beyond just letting them know that “no unauthorized guests” is one of the rules. The safety aspect is far more concerning and important. This guy needs to be banned from Airbnb.
And what really bothered me is that it took Airbnb 4 hours to cancel the reservation when I said this was a safety issue. When the guest did not leave by the time I gave him, I called Airbnb and they said I would have to take legal action on my own.
And regarding him being banned, the rep mentioned to me that they were planning on banning him but I really doubt it will be the case but there is no way for me to check because all records of him staying have disappeared.
I hadn’t realized how tense I had been hosting this man and was counting the days until he checked out. Unfortunately I’m a little worried about him being vindictive and so I’ve been leaving my alarm on during the day and wearing my alarm panic button. (Note - there is no way my 2 dogs would not alert me too but I want a way to have police sent out quickly if needed. )
Some might say I’m a bit paranoid but I’d rather be paranoid than the alternative.
Really? Your Airbnb message stream with him has disappeared? That’s pretty concerning.
FYI Airbnb does ban users from the platform, but it can take awhile (Whereas one complaint from a guest about hidden cameras and privacy violations amd a host’s listing is instantly suspended, before even notifying the host, let alone getting their side of the story first).
I recall a post by some hosts on the Airbnb CC where they had a guest who left a pile of dead squirrels in their yard and shell casings all over the kitchen table, which of course they reported. They kept checking to see if he had been banned and it took about 3 weeks before the hosts saw that his account had disappeared.
Yep, messages, reservations and my calendar. All gone. Also when they cancelled the reservation it said that the guest cancelled which I know was BS because he was asleep and Airbnb couldn’t reach him.
I had to blast music right below his bedroom and oops, I guess my protest megaphone’s siren kept going off to wake him up to get him out of the house.
Here’s the delightful review that the guest left. Gave me all 1 s . I can’t believe he can even be allowed to right a review.
Of course I am contesting, Kept it very short and did no try to go line by line. Just said that Airbnb cancelled due to a safety violation and exceeding number of guests permitted.
This was hands down one of the worst Airbnb experiences I’ve had, and absolutely not suitable for a month-long stay.
First and most importantly: the host misrepresented the listing. I booked this place because I was told I would have the entire property. That was simply not true. In reality, I was living directly above the host, and it became painfully clear that this was not an “entire place” experience in any meaningful way. If you’re expecting privacy and independence, you won’t get it here.
Second: the environment was oppressive and exhausting. There were constant complaints, and on top of that, new rules kept appearing week after week—as if the host was making them up as we went. The list of “don’ts” never ended. Instead of feeling like a paying guest, I felt like I was being monitored and repeatedly scolded in the place I was renting.
Third: the hypocrisy was unreal. The host repeatedly brought up a past guest who supposedly smoked drugs and used that as justification for stri
Sounds to me like the guy either didn’t bother to read any of the listing info (private room in shared home, house rules, etc.) or he’s complaining about everything he already knew when he booked. Probably just booked based on price.
Either way, the guy’s obviously a jerk who thinks he can do whatever he wants.
As a homeshare host myself, I would never accept more than a two week booking, unless it was from a repeat guest I knew wouldn’t be any problem.
The suite is not a shared space (except the main entry) but the unit is on the 2nd floor with a locked door. It’s listed correctly as a secondary unit and I disclose that the host lives below.
As you know, he started breaking the rules within a week of staying. I did not move the gold post.
Also, just a couple of days before I had his reservation cancelled, he offered me cash to extend the reservation off line so he couldn’t have been that dissatisfied.
Airbnb has removed the review. Whew. Now onto the next guests.
The suite is not a shared space (except the main entry) but the unit is on the 2nd floor with a locked door. It’s listed correctly as a secondary unit and I disclose that the host lives below.
Also, just a couple of days before I had his reservation cancelled, he offered me cash to extend the reservation off line so he couldn’t have been that dissatisfied.
Airbnb has removed the review. Whew. Now onto the next guests.
sorry to hear that. it could cause threatening situation to hosts. Cameras might be necessary to host Airbnb, hope you would not have these kind of rude guests in the future:)
You need to be very careful with cameras. Per airbnb rules, I have mine pointing outward toward front door. If I didn’t have the camera I would have had no way to prove what the guests were doing.
You are incorrect. You are allowed one camera facing out toward the front screen door on my front porch. It is NOT in the STR space. It’s disclosed correctly in the listing.
Thanks for your opinion, but its one of the tactics described in the “get free stays on Airbnb” blogs. It’s becoming more and more popular. And as Airbnb support has moved to AI judication, it becomes less important whether it’s true or not. The guest produced a photo of a camera. You did not produce a photo of “no camera”. Who are you going to believe?
You’re depending on Airbnb’s published “rules”. But in practice, that’s not how it works. They don’t follow their own rules. Lots of hosts have been hit with this. Even if they don’t have even one camera on the property (although if you do, then it makes you more guilty). It’s not a secret or news. It happens all the time.
But back to the original topic… it’s dangerous to even have a camera at all. Wherever it points to. A dubious guest can use this to get a free stay at your place.
So be very very careful who you approve a booking for. It can be expensive.
You sort of contradicted yourself. If Airbnb instantly suspends a listing, without getting the host’s side first, which they do, if a guest reports hidden, indoor, or undisclosed cameras, then it really doesn’t matter if a host has disclosed, outdoor cameras, does it? The listing is going to be suspended either way, “pending an investigation”.
And there have been several instances where a guest has submitted photos of “cameras” which turned out to be shower heads, sprinkler system heads, smoke alarms, etc. So should hosts avoid having those as well?
(I’m not advocating for cameras- I personally hate surveillance cameras and would never have one, just pointing out that having permitted, disclosed cameras doesn’t necessarily create more of a risk of suspension for hosts than not having any.)
You can get his review removed. This is clearly a retaliatory review against Airbnb’s review policy.
Update: Just read that you have the review removed. Great!
That’s not the point. Lynick posted the Airbnb policy regarding cameras. But in practical reality, that has little to do with how Airbnb actually deals with complaints. It’s rather naïve to believe that will save you from a fraudster seeking to get a refund.
The guest “proved” it with photos. You can’t prove otherwise. Are you going to send photos of “not a camera”? Do you think the bots will even bother to look? And if you already have a disclosed outdoor camera, then it suggests that you are pre-inclined to use cameras, therefore more likely guilty than not (plus the bonus of rapidly “solving” the issue). Occam’s Razor.
So, for lack of functional oversight by Airbnb bots, the best cure for this type of refund fraud is prevention. Keep Airbnb out of it by attracting better guests in the first place (those who don’t need or seek a “free stay”). But that’s another topic.
It’s your place to live how you want to live, safely and without fear.
Write a clear review with low stars, stating what happened so future hosts stay clear of him if Airbnb lets him remain a member.
I’ve been doing this 10 years and this is the first time I’ve ever had to ask Airbnb to cancel an on-going reservation.
My STR doesn’t lend itself to higher end guests. I have found my sweet spot in pricing - High enough to keep out most of the problem guests but low enough so that budget conscious people appreciate what I offer. (You get a lot more space than an hotel room for less than a hotel room in my area). It’s also a really quaint city that’s 7 miles north of Boston in a very quiet and safe area with free parking and near the subway system.
