Airbnb Host and Investors Forum General Advice 1 2 3 4 5 … 9 Next » A Short Term Rental (STR) Forum Community

[MyPHP]

Hey all Airbnb hosts, I am wondering if there’s anything I can do now to deal with the challenging guests that are currently at my Airbnb. I’m sort of afraid they’re gonna trash us in the reviews for no reason and they’re making my life hell…my main question is whether it is wise to basically reach out to Airbnb now to get ahead and explain the situation, or wait until after their stay is over. 

This is the first time this is happening and they’re making some truly mind-boggling requests like demanding that someone bring them breakfast/supplies even though that is not offered with the Airbnb we host…and other such demands that don’t match at all with what we advertise on our profile.They keep finding “faults” with the Airbnb and insisting on free things or threatening that they will demand a full refund.

Thank you

[LayedOff]

We always involve Airbnb support at the moment rules or other issues come up my partner is especially great at handling these situations. He doesn’t go into apologizing he is direct and factual and states what he plans to do. When they ask what does he need from them he said open a ticket in case xxx or I want to see if they will leave and we will refund remaining nights or whatever he seeks sometimes he says this is just to let you know before things go sidewise or if other violations occur. This has always worked for us and prevented refunds without our input. Just a thought. Hopefully I was clear as my hubs is great at conflict management.

[DELLAS]

Whenever we have had guests like this, and thankfully have been very few, my property manager limits her answers to once per day and only in the app. Airbnb doesn't ding you if you answer within 24 hours. So once a day, a simple "No, we don't provide that, as per the listing."

[zebulon]

In this case, if they have threatened you with seeking a refund for "free" things you may have a case with Airbnb with respect to retaliation. I would get ahead of this and reach out to airbnb customer service (through a documented method, not phone) and indicate that you believe a guest is threatening with retaliation and abusing the rules and makes you feel uncomfortable. At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about potential money lost - if you can get the guests to leave amicable and prevent a terrible review somehow then I would take that path.

[emcampbe]

In this case, if they have threatened you with seeking a refund for "free" things you may have a case with Airbnb with respect to retaliation. I would get ahead of this and reach out to airbnb customer service (through a documented method, not phone) and indicate that you believe a guest is threatening with retaliation and abusing the rules and makes you feel uncomfortable. At this point, I wouldn't worry so much about potential money lost - if you can get the guests to leave amicable and prevent a terrible review somehow then I would take that path.

I agree, this sounds like the guest is threatening retaliation for something not listed. Open a case with CS.

[my2cents]

Are these new guests? how much are you charging a night? Doesn't sound like you're dealing with a "seasoned" and normal airbnb guest.

[MyPHP]

UPDATE: They checked out yesterday. We did end up taking the advice and reaching out to airbnb customer service to indicate that the guests were asking for unreasonable requests which are not part of the listing. We also said that we felt that the guest was "threatening us with a bad review". Because there was no "specific safety" concern going on, airbnb suggested we continue the stay unless we left there was a safety reason. So far no review has been left for us but the customer service person we talked to mentioned that retaliation was a valid cause to remove a review if it is retaliation for enforcing a rule. What concerns me is that the guests technically did not break any rules.

To answer some of your other questions.. the guests had one prior review and it was 5 stars. The account says it is 3 years old. We have a 3 bedroom vacation house in the mountains which generally attracts families. I believe the stay was booked by an older couple who came with their family.

[ms012288]

UPDATE: They checked out yesterday. We did end up taking the advice and reaching out to airbnb customer service to indicate that the guests were asking for unreasonable requests which are not part of the listing. We also said that we felt that the guest was "threatening us with a bad review". Because there was no "specific safety" concern going on, airbnb suggested we continue the stay unless we left there was a safety reason. So far no review has been left for us but the customer service person we talked to mentioned that retaliation was a valid cause to remove a review if it is retaliation for enforcing a rule. What concerns me is that the guests technically did not break any rules.

To answer some of your other questions.. the guests had one prior review and it was 5 stars. The account says it is 3 years old. We have a 3 bedroom vacation house in the mountains which generally attracts families. I believe the stay was booked by an older couple who came with their family.

Well, if they do happen to leave a terrible review, let's hope that it is so blatantly breaks the Airbnb review policy that its not a question of whether it can be removed. You can find the review policy here:

Airbnb Review Policy