How Airbnb Failed Us as Hosts Again and Again
Some of the Bad Experiences We Have Had as Airbnb Hosts Are the Reasons I Do Not Recommend Becoming an Airbnb Host
A few years ago, my husband ran an Airbnb in Tennessee for a few months. We were dating at the time, so I helped with hosting. We met some interesting, polite guests who took good care of his home. When he purchased a home in Oklahoma, he had two rooms he could Airbnb with the help of his brothers who also rented rooms. For the most part, the guests were polite and respected the house rules.
A year ago, after we were married, I traveled with him to Oklahoma several times a year to visit and help improve the Airbnb experience for our guests. I added improved furnishings, art and decorations. But while we were improving the property, the quality of our guests began to go down. For the most part, we still had good experiences, but there was Boot Girl who arrived with one man in tow and left with a different man. When I washed the sheets, I discovered blood and boot stains on our linens.
Then there was Squatter Girl-- a girl who booked for one person, brought her boyfriend in and then refused to check out. My husband was out for the day and Boyfriend muscled himself around the house in an intimidating manner while Airbnb "tried" to make contact with Squatter Girl. Of course, Squatter Girl never bothered to answer those calls from Airbnb. They left when Squatter Girl was good and ready to leave--several hours after our posted checkout when it was too late to clean the room and relist it.
Other than those two experiences, our other guests were pretty pleasant last year, so when we came to Oklahoma in March of 2021 to decide what to do with his house, we put two rooms up on Airbnb again while we made our plans. However, 2021 brought a whole new Airbnb experience.
Guest Makes Last-Minute Reservations During Family Gathering & Complains About the "Mess"
First there was Boyoboy. She messaged me after 3 pm on Easter asking for a last-minute booking that day. I told her were were having family over for an Easter party, but that we would accommodate her anyway. Boyoboy arrived right after the last guests left, including two young boys. I was cleaning the patio from the party when she walked into the bathroom and found a pair of Batman underoos the 3-year-old left, and some hair where one of our guests brushed her hair during the party. Boyoboy didn't say anything to me, but she left horrible feedback claiming that underwear, hair and dead bugs were all over the bathroom. I found one dead candle fly. She ruined our Superhost rating. From then one, we got even worse clientele from Airbnb.
Mr. Foodie was just a slob. He spilled food on our nice comforter that left stains. He also took our keys--including the front door key. For over a week he kept saying he was going to mail them, or that he had mailed them and would email the receipt. We never saw a receipt or our keys again. Airbnb wants you to list each key, each key chain and each ID tag to get your $9 back. No one cares that the time to fill out the form is not worth $9. There is no adjustment for the gas or time to drive to Home Depot to make new keys or any concern that someone has a key to your house now or that you have to enter a public building to replace your keys during COVID. NO.ONE.AT.AIRBNB.CARES.
Guest Ignores No Pet Policy & Brings Large Dog
We had numerous guests book rooms and then change their plans at the last minute who wanted refunds when it was too late for us to relist the property. One of those was German Shepherd Guy. GG came two days after his booking started after twice changing his plans at the last minute. He showed up alone, but in spite of our posted NO PETS policy, he snuck in a large German Shepherd after check in when he thought we weren't looking. The dog caused problems from the beginning, but Airbnb asked us not to cancel his listing. Instead, they asked us to charge him a fee for the pet. Trying to accommodate Airbnb, we agreed.
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| The German Shepherd left these scratches on our door. |
The large dog was a nuisance who aggravated my own small dog. Things came to a head when I had my little guy outside while I worked in the garden, and German Shepherd Guy stepped out with his high-strung dog. Much doggie aggression ensued, and I had to grab up my dog and leave my work to go inside so GG could walk his unwelcome partner. Then GG left his dog unattended in our room for hours one day. The dog barked, whined and scratched the door while my husband and I tried to conduct business on the phone through the ongoing noise. GG never responded to my messages about the situation. When GG checked out, we found scratch marks on the door, and the room reeked of dog. We still have not been reimbursed for the damage and cleaning fees.
Guests Make Reservation for Two Women & Invite Boyfriends to Stay the Night
Next came the Sisters. They checked into Room 3 While GG was still in Room 2. We had a reservation for two sisters for a week, but they had their own plans for their boyfriends to stay with them. Instead of two paying guests, they planned to have two extra unpaid guests in and out, including overnight. Much like GG and other problem guests, the Sisters never responded to my messages. We have a clause in the Guest Manual that says that no extra guests are allowed, so we fined them for the extra guests. They ended up checking out early with no notice. We didn't even know they had left until it was too late to clean the room and relist it. When we went in to clean, we discovered the Sisters and their boyfriends had kept our keys. This time we decided to change the lock-- even more expense for us that we have not been reimbursed for.
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| This mess left by a guest is typical of some of our recent guests. We just consider this a normal part of dealing with Airbnb guests |
Guest Dyes Hair/Leaves Stains, Violates Family-Only Space, Leaves Cigarette Butts & Ash on Front Porch & Breaks a Framed Picture
Then came Niece Naughty. She was in Room Two while the Sisters were in Room Three. Her aunt booked the room for Niece Naughty, and there is a good chance NN never even saw our rules. She sure broke enough of them starting with the Big One--parts of the house are off limits to guests during COVID. This is posted on our listing. It is shared in the Guest Manual. It is mentioned in the Welcome Message I send out. But Niece Naughty came to find me in our family-only area to hand me her laptop so I could enter the WiFi for her. She didn't even bother to wear a mask.
She also smoked on our front porch and left the cigarette butts and ash all over the front porch for me to clean up, in spite of this being listed as a No Smoking home and in spite of the trash can I keep on the porch for guests. She colored her hair black and left streaks in our guest shower and left a big wad of black hair on the bedroom floor along with her other trash. She had arguments with her mother on the phone, and after she left, we found one of our framed prints on the floor of the closet with the glass broken. She told her aunt she didn't know anything about it.
Guest Refuses to Obey Posted Rules About Family-Only Area After Being Told No Twice & Then Won't Leave
Most of these were first time Airbnb users, but the guest who made us end our time with Airbnb came with 17 great referrals. A Pain checked in the day Niece Naughty checked out. Everyone raved about how great she was, but A Pain was trouble from the beginning. A Pain wanted to know if she would have the shared guest bathroom to herself. She messaged me twice about this. Because we were already winding down Airbnb due to the other issues, I took our other listing down to accommodate her. I sent A Pain my normal Welcome Message, but it soon became clear she neither read the Welcome Message, or the Guest Manual--or even the info posted in the listing. She had to have everything explained that had already been addressed in the Guest Manual and Welcome Message.
During COVID, we charge a low rate because, as a safety precaution, we don't provide access to the kitchen where we breathe, handle food and eat. I am at high risk for COVID due to three pre-existing conditions. Our guests stay in another wing of the house, so if they follow our protocols, it is not an issue for me. However, A Pain could not follow our safety rules, or the ones Airbnb posts, such as wearing a mask when she was moving about the private areas of the house.
She asked for kitchen access, so we put a mini fridge in her room, but she kept asking if she could use the microwave. I told her twice that it was not available to guests, as posted in our listing, Guest Manual and my Welcome Message. She finally seemed to accept that. However, when she thought we were asleep, she snuck into the kitchen and used it anyway. We could hear the microwave and we realized she would probably feel entitled to use it throughout her stay since she had no respect for our house rules. I had to spend my morning sanitizing my own kitchen. A Pain, like German Shepher Guy, Boyoboy, the Sisters and Niece Naughty, felt entitled to have things her way, no matter what our listing, Welcome Message or Guest Manual said.
Like other problem guests, A Pain refused to reply to my messages, so I called Airbnb to cancel her reservation at 10 AM the next morning. She would have had plenty of time to find other lodgings. I was assured this would be handled. By 4 PM I had not heard anything, so I left a request for someone at Airbnb to follow up, and I sent the guest a message telling her we wanted her to find other lodging. At 7 pm I finally heard from Airbnb-a short message stating the guest indicated she "wouldn't do it again." Riiiight. A Pain had already indicated to me that she understood she couldn't use the kitchen, and she used it anyway, because she just HAD to have her Earl Gray tea. Plus, she wasn't responding to my messages,
I persisted, spending most of my night making multiple calls to Airbnb to get this woman out of my home. At 10 pm, in spite of my message asking her to make other arrangements, A Pain strolled in talking loudly to a man on speakerphone--not Airbnb, however. She went to her room and continued the call. Then she got off the phone and refused to take the calls from Airbnb who were allegedly trying to help. She ignored my second message asking her to vacate. When Airbnb couldn't reach her by 11, they said THERE WAS NOTHING AIRBNB COULD DO since they couldn't reach the guest. They couldn't even cancel the reservation so that we could evict her ourselves. Airbnb claimed their hands were tied which meant WE HAD NO RECOURSE AS HOMEOWNERS TO GET THIS UNWELCOME GUEST OUT OF OUR OWN HOME.
At 5 pm the next evening I received notice that her reservation had been canceled -- too late for us to relist it. Airbnb fumbled and dropped the ball and cost us money because the guest could not follow the rules or take the calls from Airbnb, and Airbnb was, as usual, powerless to help. Their tied hands made us powerless as well, in our own home.
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| I spent hours and hours trying to work with Airbnb regarding our back-to-back problem guests, but Airbnb can do NOTHING if the guests refuse to answer their phones. |
We won't be doing Airbnb anymore, at least not anytime soon, and I would not recommend Airbnb to anyone, at least not hosting. The small income we make does not cover the threat to our health during COVID that guests present nor does it cover the cost of damages, door locks, and doggie odors we have had to deal with. It certainly doesn't cover trips to Home Depot to replace keys or all the man hours I have spent on the phone dealing with problem guests.
It doesn't help Airbnb's cause that they have aligned themselves with radical and violent political organizations like BLM. Instead of remaining politically neutral to serve ALL their guests and hosts fairly, Airbnb decided to donate $500,000 split between the NAACP and the Black Lives Matter Foundation during a time when BLM protests have been notoriously prone to violence. Too bad hosts lives don't matter to Airbnb.
No thanks, Airbnb, and sayonara. Consider me checked out.
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