Assaulted by Guest

Asssaulted by Guest



Tim shared 10 months ago on Home Sharers of SF

www.airbnb.com/groups/content/content-126624

Tim

Asssaulted by Guest

I received an instant booking from another Airbnb host with 1 review for 1 night. She showed up yesterday and things were fine until people started showing up.

They kept my wife and 3 children up to 2 a.m. and many neighbors. There was a lot of drinking, loud music, and partying. My neighbors even complained to me the following day about the noise. My neighbor told me there were lots of people at the party. I saw a motorcycle and at least 3 cars.

One man of the guest (I think her boyfriend) had a pit bull that stayed the night. We discovered hair all over the place, scratches on our hardwood floor, and sticky beer on the floor.

I entered the flat at 11 a.m. and they were cooking breakfast. I saw the pit bull and a man yelled "it's a service animal". I told them they need to leave. They said yes they will. I told them to leave now.

One male came over and said "You know, I am usually the one who raises his voice! Get out, it is not 11 a.m. yet." And he came over to me within an inch of my body. He was very aggressive and his girlfriend came over and pulled him away.

The girlfriend apologized.

I stood my ground and said "Leave! I want you out of my flat! I live here and I want you out now!"

They started packing, gathering their food, and took them to their cars. I told the host who booked that I plan on keeping her deposit. One of her friends said "worry abut that later, let's go to the beach."

I stood there. The agressive man came out of the bedroom and pushed into me. I immediately called the police and they started picking up the pace to get out.
The host who booked said "Are the police coming?" I said, yes, I called! After they lgot out of my flat, I called the police and asked them to cancel the request.

I have pictures of the dog in the house and the number of people. I also called Airbnb and they established a booking.

My wife informs me that there is dog hair all over the bed and someone took out a few extra sheets from the closet.

We have another guest checking in today for 2 nights. My nerves are shot, my wife upset with the additional cleaning, and we are so concerned with our next guests. He has 1 review and booked "instant booking". I read his review and the host said his cleaner said they left the place fine but they exceeded the number of guests.

I contacted the guest and told him about our previous night guest partying. He is coming with 5 people. He responded that he will be respectful and "we will do our partying at the bars". "We will be quiet when we get back."

What to do? Airbnb told me that I might face penalities for cancelling and lose the superheats status.
34 comments•1 like
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Daniel

Peter
Peter10 months ago
Yikes. Tim, what a nightmare. You've raised lots of issues. Let me try and tease them out and make some useful comments. (1) I don't do Instant Book. Your story reinforces the wisdom of my decision not to do so. (2) You should file a police report, if you haven't already done so. (3) Airbnb's response is outrageous. You should file for compensation under Airbnb's Host Protection Program asap and use the police report as evidence. You should also take pictures. Having filed a Host Protection Claim also helps you argue later that Airbnb should not penalize you for filing such a claim. What's the point of having the Host Protection Program if Host claimants will suffer even more by losing superhost status and other Airbnb. negative consequences for canceling, as a result of filing a claim? (4) You should try your best to repair the damage with your neighbors (for example, apologize and explain the steps you have taken. Bring a gift like a bottle of wine or cookies. (5) If it isn't already on your listing's House Rule, there should be strong language about the maximum allowable number of guests, a prohibition on parties and (to the extent allowable under law) a prohibition against animals. This will help you justify cancellation if this happens again and hopefully elicit a better response from Airbnb.

Reply Like 1 like
Tim
Tim10 months ago
I decided not to cancel our next guest. It is taking 2 more hours to clean. I refuse to let someone shake my trust in the sharing economy . I did turn off instant book. I do feel empathy for our next guest and leaving him stranded 3 hours before check in. Glad I wasn't hurt so I am thankful for that! It did leave me shaken up and it ruined our day. My wife is upset with the dog hair

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Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Tim....state very clearly in your listing that you will *not* allow pets. That is your prerogative, you know.

Michael
Michael10 months ago
I think the most damaging thing is neighbor complaint. That's the No. 1 priority to repair. Financial loss is secondary.

Reply Like 2 replies•1 like
Tim
Tim10 months ago
I competely agree. One neighbor gave me a dirty look today. She was not happy.

Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Michael is absolutely correct. If the neighbor files a complaint about your STR, Planning will ask you to remove the listing completely.

Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
Oh Tim, I am so sorry, how awful! Glad you are in one piece! I'm sure you are both furious and exhausted.
One thing I have learnt is to make sure at first contact & at check in guest think we are both close by even when we aren't!

Reply Like 3 replies
Tim
Tim10 months ago
We were upstairs. I was sick and in a deep sleep. My wife was too frightened to confront them.

Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
:-( that's even worse.

Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Call the police right away the next time!

Santa Fe International Hostel
Santa Fe International Hostel10 months ago
Peter, I have replied to your post (now deeply buried below) Preston

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
Peter, I am going to file a police report. Does anyone know if I can do this online? I don't know the man's name as the guest booked it.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
I listed the hosue rules (no drugs - no parties - no unregistered guests without host's permission Be respectful of your neighbors). They chose to ignore it.

My mistake was turning on the instant booking. She booked with only 1 review (and I suspect it was "gamed". Now, armed with 1 review, she could book any place instantly.

This should serve as a warning not to do instant booking. I think Airbnb should require more reviews. I was also very much disappointed with customer service. I see no advantage to "super host" status now. I am very disappointed and I feel that if this turned out to be something very serious I would get no help.

I am still waiting to be assigned a guest relations. And the nerve of the customer service agent telling me that I should contact the guest and try to work something out! So, I need to consult with my attackers' girlfriend to work out a solution. I have to wait for 72 hours before Airbnb will help me.

I am very disappointed.

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Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
Oh boy! What a stupid thing to tell you to do! I would contact the police and don't mince words so it will all be in the police report. Then I would email Chip with the whole sheebang! There is absolutely no excuse for making light of this!

Tim
Tim10 months ago
Now people are telling me that at least a dozen people were having a party.

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Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
And noone called the police? Why not?

Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
Tim, did the guy lay hands on you? Even just pushing past you? If so the police will take that very seriously, or even if the dog behaved menacingly to you.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
Yes, he bumped into me very forcefully. Earlier, he ran up to me and his girlfriend had to pull him away.

Deborah
Deborah10 months ago
I"m so sorry this happened. I agree that it is vitally important to apologize to your neighbor and make clear that you are taking steps to prevent this from happening again. These are exactly the kinds of things that will be used against us as hosts by neighbors, communities, and the anti-Airbnb crowd. I really wish there would be no such thing as instant book, because I think too many hosts, desperate for bookings, are using it, and can easily have disastrous results, as you saw.

In the future, if you ever have to call police on a guest (or if anyone reading this does), it's probably better to not call back and cancel the call to police. You want the police to arrive and take a report. (Unless you think that as regards your neighbors seeing the police arrive, it would be better if they didn't, and you choose to file the report online)

And I am incensed on your behalf with the idiotic response you got from AIrbnb. I don't know how they are training these customer service folks --- I have been reading about some pretty bad responses to host problems lately. Armed with a police report, you should be able to get compensation from the HOst Guarantee. Let us know what happens.

Reply Like 1 reply
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Thanks Deborah. I agree. I kept my cool with Airbnb especially after they told me they were recording our conversation. But all the Tampa Bay support group did was to read the company rules to me. No resolution other than try to work out a solution with the guest for 72 hours.

Tim
Tim10 months ago
I am asking for $400 from the host. I had dropped my deposit to $150 because I never once had to ask for damages.

Dear Fellow Host,

I had to pay extra fees for house cleaning services. There was dog hair all over the queen bed. I have to apply flea treatment to entire flat. I also need to give fruit baskets to my neighbors as an act of apology for the party that ran to 1 a.m. in the morning. I hope they forgive me and accept my promise that I will be more careful to stop this kind of behavior in the future. I received a lot of complaints from neighbbors about noise and loud music. Additionally, neighbors informed me that many unregistered quests came to the party and were very loud.

S., I see that you are an Airbnb host. I am shocked and deeply disappointed with your deception and deregard for my house rules and for our neighbors. You knew that I don't allow parties yet you planned one at our family establishment. What were you thinking?

I was ill and asleep. Your party kept my wife and 3 young children up. My wife was afraid to confront the group. Airbnb is for shared experiences built on trust and respect and you violated both.

You ruined our day. I had to pay more for house cleaning, my wife and children lost sleep, my neighbors are very upset, and you brought a dog into my home. I do not use chemicals in my flat and there has not been any animal inside for more than 10 years. Many of our guests have medical conditions and have allergies. Some use the services at UCSF for cancer treatment and other medical services and I assure them an allergy-free environment. You contaminated our flat with your boyfriend's pit bull. The flat smelled of alcohol.

I have hosted for many years and have had over 200 guests, your stay/party was the only bad experience in 4 years. I think you and your guests are decent people, although I was frightened for my safety from your boyfriend with his agressive behavior and his forceful bumping into my body.

I hope you admit your fault so I can drop this matter, I intend to pursue additional claims from Airbnb if you don't pay the balance. Airbnb requires me to file a police report which I intend to do if I am not made whole. I am not going to pay for these expenses myself.

I hope you accept responsibility.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
The guy who asaulted me just came back to my home about 10 minutes ago. He knocked on my guests door. Then he rang my door bell. He says he is an Iraqi veteran with anger problems and he left his iphone here. He offered me $100. I tried to explain to him that I don't have it and I have no reason to keep it.

He wanted to come inside (I have guests in there now) and I said he cannot come into the property. He brought his laptop and some application did a location search and played a sound. My guests looked around but could not find it.

I refused to let him inside. Maybe he is disabled or telling me another lie but I took his $100 and knocked on the door. My guests were very nice and they found it. It was buried in dirt in my backyard. Maybe his dog did this?

Anyway, I wanted him to go away. He said he was going to cancel his credit card so I can't claim the $150 deposit. Apparently, he paid for the party rental for his birthday.

I explained to him that I am seeking $400 because I need to flea the place and perform additonal cleaning. His response, "I paid $80 for cleaning and my dog is a service animal". I tried to explain to him that next week I have a guest with terminal brain cancer staying at my place and I guarantee a clean allergy-free environment.

I realized there might possible be an element of truth to his story. He was apologetic and was at the point of begging.

I am still out money but I think the best thing to do now is to drop it. I am not going to file a police report and continue to be involved with this guy.

I hope Airbnb can compensate me without the police report.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
I will never ever turn on "instant booking" again.

Reply Like 1 like
Simone
Simone10 months ago
Tim, I'm really sorry this happened to you and your family. After getting a weird inquiry yesterday, I immediately turned off IB and glad I did as I got another "red flag" inquiry this morning. I also have a 2-night minimum and that seems to help ward off party pad requests.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
Thanks Simone. I appreciate it. It has been very stressful and my current guests have been great and very understanding. I just want to drop this now. He told me he was a machine gunner in Iraq and it messed him up.

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Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Didn't his profile mention this?

Tim
Tim10 months ago
I do think the higher ups at Airbnb should be aware of the possible abuses of instant booking.

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Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
I think this could happen with or without Instant booking. I strongly suggest you vet your guests abit more carefully, Tim. They should be filling out full profiles and sending you photos and names/details of every individual that is staying in your flat.

Alessandra
Alessandra10 months ago
What a horrible situation. we have also done away with instant book after experimenting with it for a while. Not that we've had any bad situations come up, but we have decided that we want more "control" over who is booking. This gives us the opportunity to ask questions & above all, trust your gut instinct. If the booking seems somewhat questionable, I outright refuse the booking. Who cares about the money if you just don't feel comfortable with a potential guest in your home? In addition, I have always had a 4 night minimum & am thinking about upping it to 5 nights. This way, I tend to get more business bookings or families coming to SF on vacation. No one night stands, so to speak. In my opinion, that's the way to go. I also agree that Airbnb should perhaps increase the number of positive reviews to 3 or more before a guest can "instant book." Lastly, I agree that it's very difficult to get specialized service from Airbnb if you are a Superhost. I thought they had a dedicated phone number/email address for Superhosts, but not. I just lost my Superhost status because of one obnoxious guest that lowered my overall rating to 78%. At first I was extremely upset, but then I realized that in the end, it really doesn't seem to matter. When I look for properties to stay in as a potential guest, I don't even look at the host's "status," just the number of positive reviews. I don't see any real benefit of being a Superhost any more.

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Anita
Anita10 months ago
What an awful, awful, experience, Tim! So glad that you did not get physically hurt. Scary!
I agree, Alessandra, there is no benefit that I can see to being Superhost. And also agree that instant booking is too risky to be doing. I have never used it because I am too afraid of the type of guest I might end up with.
Peter, is there anyway we hosts could get Airbnb to allow us hosts to hold a security deposit for breaking host rules (having loud parties for instance). There seems to be no real way otherwise to prevent guests from breaking our rules....

Reply Like 1 reply
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Personally, I believe that with each loud party that involves alcohol and unregistered guests; it has a devasting effect with neighbors. They are angry and they tell their friends. Those friends tell those friends.....and so on. This needs to be taken very seriously by Airbnb. The instant booking system is not working and appears to be abused. One review is simply not enough. Thanks Anita. It was scary - I am 56 years old, a little out of shape, facing a young ex-Army machine gunner with anger problems. I am glad his girlfriend pulled him away. I would have ended up being a punching bag. The last time I was in a fight was in the 3rd grade with another kid who accused me of taking the wrong marble during a game. Personally, I would not have stood my ground if I had known the boyfriend's explosive behavior. Seeing the dog, cooking breakfast at 10:58 a.m. , alcohol bottles lined up against the wall, and all the things spread around the flat was very upsetting. Honestly, I was shaking with fear inside when he ran up to me and later when he crashed his body into mine. I somehow found the strength and courage to stand my ground. I hope I never find myself in this situation again. I consider myself a pacifist and putting myself in harms way with guests was a huge mistake that could have ended with terrible consequences.

Tim
Tim10 months ago
What is also upsetting is that the boyfriend tells me that he used his credit card and he is going to dispute the charge. I am not even dealing with the woman who booked any more.

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Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Just ignore these threats, Tim. The dispute he puts in is between his credit card company and Airbnb. Airbnb has already collected the booking charges. It does not affect you in any way.

Tim
Tim10 months ago
Another thing came to mind about the Superhost status. The customer service man (he said he recorded our call) was very nice and seemed concerned but now that time has passed and I have had time to calm down; he told me that "if I cancel the next guest, and I can;t advise you what to do, Airbnb has to help and assist the cancelled guest". He advised me to call the guest which I did but I also asked him if Airbnb could also call the guest as I thought this would also have a good effect on reminding them about house rules and behavior. "No, don't have the means to do this", was his answer.


Another thing that now annoys me. He told me that he was elevating this up. "You are lucky, because one person just walked by". However, this was short lived because when he called back, I was told that she can't be assigned because tomorrow she is going on vaction for 2 days. It doesn't make sense and he politely told me to follow the Airbnb policy to try to work something outwithin the next 72 hours. After this period they would get step in.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
I am starting to question the benefits of a superhost. I will continue to offer my guests personal service but I am not going to strive for this "coveted" status (as B. from Airbnb's Tampa Bay Call Center call it).

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Deborah
Deborah10 months ago
I have also heard from others that there are really no benefits to being SuperHost. I think it tends to be more of a gimmick, as Airbnb knows that hosts will want to try for it and keep it, so it is a way of motivating hosts to do better. However, quite often what is required to be a SuperHost is beyond the host's control -- vindictive guests who leave low ratings can prevent host from being able to get this, as well as the need to cancel on a nightmare guest, as you experienced.

Actually, I am not sure that if a guest is in flagrant violation of your house rules, and you have to ask them to leave, if that needs to result in an official cancellation of their reservation. You just ask them to leave: their reservation is immediately terminated, but it is not "cancelled". Cancelled being slightly different than terminated for cause, for flagrant violations. I would have AIrbnb cancel the guests' reservation, instead of doing so yourself, in any case, so that it doesn't count against you.

I know how it feels to have a very disturbing incident in one's home, or a violent or very angry person,and a lot of tension. I've been there. To have this occurring in one's own home is one of the most upsetting things that can happen to someone, and I am just grateful for you that this occurred with guests you could require to leave right away. Many property owners have had these exact same things happen with long term tenants who they could NOT get out of their home for the life of them, or whose eviction might take many months. So, one way of throwing a positive light on all of this is just to realize that we are all fortunate when we are renting to guests who we can throw out right away, rather than being stuck with them until the months of court and legal process grind through, or potentially much longer than that.

I hope you get resolution from Airbnb soon. They really need to step up better to extreme incidents like this, it just isn't fair to hosts the lame way they are approaching serious problems like this.

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tony
tony10 months ago
Sorry this happened and I do think that Airbnb needs to step up and address this issue. Best of luck with getting this resolved by them.
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David + Tina
David + Tina10 months ago
Tim,
So sorry to hear about your ordeal- how awful. It's sounds like you handled it very well though.
We too are superhosts and really question its value. We recently had an instant book problem too (though nothing as bad as Tim's). The Airbnb response was slow and lackluster. When I pushed back our case *was* elevated because we are superhosts but that just resulted in a better written (and equally slow) response that defended the guest. She did advise turning off Instant Book if I "couldn't honor it."
Airbnb continues to value the guests more than the hosts which I think will backfire eventually.
In the meanwhile I've removed Instant Book and really question the value of Superhosts.

Reply Like 1 reply
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Thanks David and Tina. I seriously doubt I will get any response from Airbnb and I am not about to go begging for $300 to cover my damages. My gut feeling is that I will be ignored or asked to jump through all these hoops only to be considered for compensation. I strongly agree that this strategy of favoring guests will one day back fire. I also agree that there is no value to "superheats". It is evident to me now that it is a marketing gimmick.

Tim
Tim10 months ago
I went downstairs to my yard and I discovered guests glasses in the rear yard and to my disappointment a large hole in one of our raised flower beds. My kids just planted flower seeds there last week.

The guest's iphone was found in the hole by my current guests.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
I am wondering if I should do a neighborhood online apology on Next-door? If they were partying in the rear yard then this affected not only the 6 unit apartment building next door but at least a dozen homes. (One neighbor 3 doors down complained about the noise). I am so embarrassed!

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David + Tina
David + Tina10 months ago
Tim,
I'd keep the apologies to the neighbors you know were affected. Nextdoor stuff goes out to more people than you think and might just be fuel to a anti-home sharer.
What your guests did was reprehensible, but we do live in a city and parties happen. Our neighbors (regular tenants) do this every 3-4 months and besides calling the police there's nothing we can do. If I knew there was a bill in city hall I could get behind to make them stop I probably would. See where I'm going....

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Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
I hope you got a reasonable nights sleep Tim, and your present guests are angelic!
Tom I seriously think you should 1. Email Chip, as I think a really generous and swift company response directly to your neighbors would go a long way to repair relationships. 2. You should go the police and make an incident report. It worries me greatly that he returned to your house, The next person he has anger issues may not be so lucky !
Airbnb has not established any protocols for hosts in the position you and your wife found yourselves, in the middle of the night and with young children. Perhaps we should establish our own?

Reply Like 1 reply•1 like
Cecilia (Gina)
Cecilia (Gina)10 months ago
Yup....I hope all your future guests are model guests. But do take the extra precaution to vet them carefully.

Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
Tim not Tom

Reply Like
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Where to I find Chip's email? Yes, I think that a better safety policy should be established especially when young children are present.

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Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
Chip at website name dot com

Tim
Tim10 months ago
Good points Stan. I went to the SFPD online and my "type" of complaint cannot be filed online. I don't want the police to come to my home and upset my current guests. I am so embarrassed and I am a member of our neighborhood watch program!

I dont have the guy's name. Only the woman who made the booking. The man said he used his credit card to pay for the booking. He told me that he is not going to pay for the $150 deposit and he will cancel his credit card.

Airbnb has the name on the credit card and I am not about to call them up. I doubt they would be of any help anyway.

He told me he works as a contractor and often has jobs in the City. I understand the need to report but it feels that I am all alone. Airbnb is of no help and is offering no guidance.

Reply Like
Alexina
Alexina10 months ago
Chip at air bed and breakfast dot com (exactly as written, but take out the spaces)

Reply Like 1 reply•1 like
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Thanks. I will write him an email later today. I am taking my son to a Giants game this afternoon with the San Francisco Youth Baseball League. It is his first baseball game!

Drew
Drew10 months ago
Tim - first off, I'm sorry you and your family had to suffer through that most horrible experience. I've always been VERY skeptical of IB and your unfortunate experience punctuates all the reasons why it's such a poorly executed strategy to increase Conversion Rate. You're very lucky that nothing worse happened.


There have been many issues surrounding airbnb's Host support of late. As such, would you please keep everyone posted on how things progress...especially with how airbnb responds to your concerns and needs. Make sure to document *everything*....in word and photos. airbnb MUST support you and make all of this right.


Thank you and I wish you the best of luck for a satisfactory conclusion to this very unfortunate bit of drama.

Reply Like 2 replies•2 likes
Tim
Tim10 months ago
Thank you very much Drew. I sent off a quick email to Chip. I am very grateful for the outpouring of support from this group. Thank's Peter for forming it! I wish there wasn't such a disconnect from Airbnb and hosts. I have photos of the hole in my children's flower bed, alcohol bottles lined up against my flat's wall, a picture of the guy who assaulted me, and a picture of his dog, and a group of people sitting at the dining table. I am not filing a police report. The guy who assaulted me did apologize (although I suspect he was more concerned with getting his buried iphone back). We all do stupid selfish things when we are young and I am not about to get involved with someone that needs therapy. Airbnb can take action. I will most certainly keep you posted. Airbnb has not contacted me back. Maybe I should do a day count? The service rep in Tampa said that it will get assigned 72 hours or when the guest relations rep returns from her vacation. Last time I spoke with Airbnb was 2 p.m yesterday so how many hours? About 20 hours with no response...

Stan & Maggie
Stan & Maggie10 months ago
They only have one guest relationship rep! WOW I wouldn't want that job

Abhay
Abhay10 months ago
Tim - I'm so sorry you had to go through this. AS a relatively new host who just attained superhost status I'm dismayed that Airbnb provides no real additional support based on that status.

I've also had reservations about Instant Book requiring only one good review because those are easy to get. It should require at least 3 good reviews in my opinion. Given your experience I've turned off IB as well.

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Tim
Tim10 months ago
I think Peter is so right about Instant Book - it is too risky and can cause huge problems. I upped my 1 night booking as well.

Deborah

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older version without commenter names:

I received an instant booking from another Airbnb host with 1 review for 1 night. She showed up yesterday and things were fine until people started showing up.

They kept my wife and 3 children up to 2 a.m. and many neighbors. There was a lot of drinking, loud music, and partying. My neighbors even complained to me the following day about the noise. My neighbor told me there were lots of people at the party. I saw a motorcycle and at least 3 cars.

One man of the guest (I think her boyfriend) had a pit bull that stayed the night. We discovered hair all over the place, scratches on our hardwood floor, and sticky beer on the floor.

I entered the flat at 11 a.m. and they were cooking breakfast. I saw the pit bull and a man yelled "it's a service animal". I told them they need to leave. They said yes they will. I told them to leave now.

One male came over and said "You know, I am usually the one who raises his voice! Get out, it is not 11 a.m. yet." And he came over to me within an inch of my body. He was very aggressive and his girlfriend came over and pulled him away.

The girlfriend apologized.

I stood my ground and said "Leave! I want you out of my flat! I live here and I want you out now!"

They started packing, gathering their food, and took them to their cars. I told the host who booked that I plan on keeping her deposit. One of her friends said "worry abut that later, let's go to the beach."

I stood there. The agressive man came out of the bedroom and pushed into me. I immediately called the police and they started picking up the pace to get out.
The host who booked said "Are the police coming?" I said, yes, I called! After they lgot out of my flat, I called the police and asked them to cancel the request.

I have pictures of the dog in the house and the number of people. I also called Airbnb and they established a booking.

My wife informs me that there is dog hair all over the bed and someone took out a few extra sheets from the closet.

We have another guest checking in today for 2 nights. My nerves are shot, my wife upset with the additional cleaning, and we are so concerned with our next guests. He has 1 review and booked "instant booking". I read his review and the host said his cleaner said they left the place fine but they exceeded the number of guests.

I contacted the guest and told him about our previous night guest partying. He is coming with 5 people. He responded that he will be respectful and "we will do our partying at the bars". "We will be quiet when we get back."

What to do? Airbnb told me that I might face penalities for cancelling and lose the superheats status.


Reply
Yikes. what a nightmare. You've raised lots of issues. Let me try and tease them out and make some useful comments. (1) I don't do Instant Book. Your story reinforces the wisdom of my decision not to do so. (2) You should file a police report, if you haven't already done so. (3) Airbnb's response is outrageous. You should file for compensation under Airbnb's Host Protection Program asap and use the police report as evidence. You should also take pictures. Having filed a Host Protection Claim also helps you argue later that Airbnb should not penalize you for filing such a claim. What's the point of having the Host Protection Program if Host claimants will suffer even more by losing superhost status and other Airbnb. negative consequences for canceling, as a result of filing a claim? (4) You should try your best to repair the damage with your neighbors (for example, apologize and explain the steps you have taken. Bring a gift like a bottle of wine or cookies. (5) If it isn't already on your listing's House Rule, there should be strong language about the maximum allowable number of guests, a prohibition on parties and (to the extent allowable under law) a prohibition against animals. This will help you justify cancellation if this happens again and hopefully elicit a better response from Airbnb.

Reply
I decided not to cancel our next guest. It is taking 2 more hours to clean. I refuse to let someone shake my trust in the sharing economy . I did turn off instant book. I do feel empathy for our next guest and leaving him stranded 3 hours before check in. Glad I wasn't hurt so I am thankful for that! It did leave me shaken up and it ruined our day. My wife is upset with the dog hair

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....state very clearly in your listing that you will *not* allow pets. That is your prerogative, you know.

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I think the most damaging thing is neighbor complaint. That's the No. 1 priority to repair. Financial loss is secondary.

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I competely agree. One neighbor gave me a dirty look today. She was not happy.

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M is absolutely correct. If the neighbor files a complaint about your STR, Planning will ask you to remove the listing completely.

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Oh I am so sorry, how awful! Glad you are in one piece! I'm sure you are both furious and exhausted.
One thing I have learnt is to make sure at first contact & at check in guest think we are both close by even when we aren't!

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We were upstairs. I was sick and in a deep sleep. My wife was too frightened to confront them.

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:-( that's even worse.

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Call the police right away the next time!

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I am going to file a police report. Does anyone know if I can do this online? I don't know the man's name as the guest booked it.

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I listed the hosue rules (no drugs - no parties - no unregistered guests without host's permission Be respectful of your neighbors). They chose to ignore it.

My mistake was turning on the instant booking. She booked with only 1 review (and I suspect it was "gamed". Now, armed with 1 review, she could book any place instantly.

This should serve as a warning not to do instant booking. I think Airbnb should require more reviews. I was also very much disappointed with customer service. I see no advantage to "super host" status now. I am very disappointed and I feel that if this turned out to be something very serious I would get no help.

I am still waiting to be assigned a guest relations. And the nerve of the customer service agent telling me that I should contact the guest and try to work something out! So, I need to consult with my attackers' girlfriend to work out a solution. I have to wait for 72 hours before Airbnb will help me.

I am very disappointed.

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Oh boy! What a stupid thing to tell you to do! I would contact the police and don't mince words so it will all be in the police report. Then I would email Chip with the whole sheebang! There is absolutely no excuse for making light of this!

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Now people are telling me that at least a dozen people were having a party.

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And noone called the police? Why not?

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Did the guy lay hands on you? Even just pushing past you? If so the police will take that very seriously, or even if the dog behaved menacingly to you.

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Yes, he bumped into me very forcefully. Earlier, he ran up to me and his girlfriend had to pull him away.

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I"m so sorry this happened. I agree that it is vitally important to apologize to your neighbor and make clear that you are taking steps to prevent this from happening again. These are exactly the kinds of things that will be used against us as hosts by neighbors, communities, and the anti-Airbnb crowd. I really wish there would be no such thing as instant book, because I think too many hosts, desperate for bookings, are using it, and can easily have disastrous results, as you saw.

In the future, if you ever have to call police on a guest (or if anyone reading this does), it's probably better to not call back and cancel the call to police. You want the police to arrive and take a report. (Unless you think that as regards your neighbors seeing the police arrive, it would be better if they didn't, and you choose to file the report online)

And I am incensed on your behalf with the idiotic response you got from AIrbnb. I don't know how they are training these customer service folks --- I have been reading about some pretty bad responses to host problems lately. Armed with a police report, you should be able to get compensation from the HOst Guarantee. Let us know what happens.

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Thanks I agree. I kept my cool with Airbnb especially after they told me they were recording our conversation. But all the support group did was to read the company rules to me. No resolution other than try to work out a solution with the guest for 72 hours.

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I am asking for $400 from the host. I had dropped my deposit to $150 because I never once had to ask for damages.

Dear Fellow Host,

I had to pay extra fees for house cleaning services. There was dog hair all over the queen bed. I have to apply flea treatment to entire flat. I also need to give fruit baskets to my neighbors as an act of apology for the party that ran to 1 a.m. in the morning. I hope they forgive me and accept my promise that I will be more careful to stop this kind of behavior in the future. I received a lot of complaints from neighbbors about noise and loud music. Additionally, neighbors informed me that many unregistered quests came to the party and were very loud.

S., I see that you are an Airbnb host. I am shocked and deeply disappointed with your deception and deregard for my house rules and for our neighbors. You knew that I don't allow parties yet you planned one at our family establishment. What were you thinking?

I was ill and asleep. Your party kept my wife and 3 young children up. My wife was afraid to confront the group. Airbnb is for shared experiences built on trust and respect and you violated both.

You ruined our day. I had to pay more for house cleaning, my wife and children lost sleep, my neighbors are very upset, and you brought a dog into my home. I do not use chemicals in my flat and there has not been any animal inside for more than 10 years. Many of our guests have medical conditions and have allergies. Some use the services at UCSF for cancer treatment and other medical services and I assure them an allergy-free environment. You contaminated our flat with your boyfriend's pit bull. The flat smelled of alcohol.

I have hosted for many years and have had over 200 guests, your stay/party was the only bad experience in 4 years. I think you and your guests are decent people, although I was frightened for my safety from your boyfriend with his agressive behavior and his forceful bumping into my body.

I hope you admit your fault so I can drop this matter, I intend to pursue additional claims from Airbnb if you don't pay the balance. Airbnb requires me to file a police report which I intend to do if I am not made whole. I am not going to pay for these expenses myself.

I hope you accept responsibility.

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The guy who asaulted me just came back to my home about 10 minutes ago. He knocked on my guests door. Then he rang my door bell. He says he is a veteran with anger problems and he left his iphone here. He offered me $100. I tried to explain to him that I don't have it and I have no reason to keep it.

He wanted to come inside (I have guests in there now) and I said he cannot come into the property. He brought his laptop and some application did a location search and played a sound. My guests looked around but could not find it.

I refused to let him inside. Maybe he is disabled or telling me another lie but I took his $100 and knocked on the door. My guests were very nice and they found it. It was buried in dirt in my backyard. Maybe his dog did this?

Anyway, I wanted him to go away. He said he was going to cancel his credit card so I can't claim the $150 deposit. Apparently, he paid for the party rental for his birthday.

I explained to him that I am seeking $400 because I need to flea the place and perform additonal cleaning. His response, "I paid $80 for cleaning and my dog is a service animal". I tried to explain to him that next week I have a guest with terminal brain cancer staying at my place and I guarantee a clean allergy-free environment.

I realized there might possible be an element of truth to his story. He was apologetic and was at the point of begging.

I am still out money but I think the best thing to do now is to drop it. I am not going to file a police report and continue to be involved with this guy.

I hope Airbnb can compensate me without the police report.

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I will never ever turn on "instant booking" again.

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I'm really sorry this happened to you and your family. After getting a weird inquiry yesterday, I immediately turned off IB and glad I did as I got another "red flag" inquiry this morning. I also have a 2-night minimum and that seems to help ward off party pad requests.

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ThanksI appreciate it. It has been very stressful and my current guests have been great and very understanding. I just want to drop this now. He told me he was a machine gunner in the Iraq and it messed him up.

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Didn't his profile mention this?

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I do think the higher ups at Airbnb should be aware of the possible abuses of instant booking.

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I think this could happen with or without Instant booking. I strongly suggest you vet your guests abit more carefully, Tim. They should be filling out full profiles and sending you photos and names/details of every individual that is staying in your flat.

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What a horrible situation. we have also done away with instant book after experimenting with it for a while. Not that we've had any bad situations come up, but we have decided that we want more "control" over who is booking. This gives us the opportunity to ask questions & above all, trust your gut instinct. If the booking seems somewhat questionable, I outright refuse the booking. Who cares about the money if you just don't feel comfortable with a potential guest in your home? In addition, I have always had a 4 night minimum & am thinking about upping it to 5 nights. This way, I tend to get more business bookings or families coming to SF on vacation. No one night stands, so to speak. In my opinion, that's the way to go. I also agree that Airbnb should perhaps increase the number of positive reviews to 3 or more before a guest can "instant book." Lastly, I agree that it's very difficult to get specialized service from Airbnb if you are a Superhost. I thought they had a dedicated phone number/email address for Superhosts, but not. I just lost my Superhost status because of one obnoxious guest that lowered my overall rating to 78%. At first I was extremely upset, but then I realized that in the end, it really doesn't seem to matter. When I look for properties to stay in as a potential guest, I don't even look at the host's "status," just the number of positive reviews. I don't see any real benefit of being a Superhost any more.

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What an awful, awful, experience, Tim! So glad that you did not get physically hurt. Scary!
I agree,, there is no benefit that I can see to being Superhost. And also agree that instant booking is too risky to be doing. I have never used it because I am too afraid of the type of guest I might end up with.
Peter, is there anyway we hosts could get Airbnb to allow us hosts to hold a security deposit for breaking host rules (having loud parties for instance). There seems to be no real way otherwise to prevent guests from breaking our rules....

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Personally, I believe that with each loud party that involves alcohol and unregistered guests; it has a devasting effect with neighbors. They are angry and they tell their friends. Those friends tell those friends.....and so on. This needs to be taken very seriously by Airbnb. The instant booking system is not working and appears to be abused. One review is simply not enough. Thanks Anita. It was scary - I am 56 years old, a little out of shape, facing a young ex-Army machine gunner with anger problems. I am glad his girlfriend pulled him away. I would have ended up being a punching bag. The last time I was in a fight was in the 3rd grade with another kid who accused me of taking the wrong marble during a game. Personally, I would not have stood my ground if I had known the boyfriend's explosive behavior. Seeing the dog, cooking breakfast at 10:58 a.m. , alcohol bottles lined up against the wall, and all the things spread around the flat was very upsetting. Honestly, I was shaking with fear inside when he ran up to me and later when he crashed his body into mine. I somehow found the strength and courage to stand my ground. I hope I never find myself in this situation again. I consider myself a pacifist and putting myself in harms way with guests was a huge mistake that could have ended with terrible consequences.

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What is also upsetting is that the boyfriend tells me that he used his credit card and he is going to dispute the charge. I am not even dealing with the woman who booked any more.

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Just ignore these threats. The dispute he puts in is between his credit card company and Airbnb. Airbnb has already collected the booking charges. It does not affect you in any way.

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Another thing came to mind about the Superhost status. The customer service man (he said he recorded our call) was very nice and seemed concerned but now that time has passed and I have had time to calm down; he told me that "if I cancel the next guest, and I can;t advise you what to do, Airbnb has to help and assist the cancelled guest". He advised me to call the guest which I did but I also asked him if Airbnb could also call the guest as I thought this would also have a good effect on reminding them about house rules and behavior. "No, don't have the means to do this", was his answer.


Another thing that now annoys me. He told me that he was elevating this up. "You are lucky, because one person just walked by". However, this was short lived because when he called back, I was told that she can't be assigned because tomorrow she is going on vaction for 2 days. It doesn't make sense and he politely told me to follow the Airbnb policy to try to work something outwithin the next 72 hours. After this period they would get step in.

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I am starting to question the benefits of a superhost. I will continue to offer my guests personal service but I am not going to strive for this "coveted" status (as B. from Airbnb's Center call it).

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I have also heard from others that there are really no benefits to being SuperHost. I think it tends to be more of a gimmick, as Airbnb knows that hosts will want to try for it and keep it, so it is a way of motivating hosts to do better. However, quite often what is required to be a SuperHost is beyond the host's control -- vindictive guests who leave low ratings can prevent host from being able to get this, as well as the need to cancel on a nightmare guest, as you experienced.

Actually, I am not sure that if a guest is in flagrant violation of your house rules, and you have to ask them to leave, if that needs to result in an official cancellation of their reservation. You just ask them to leave: their reservation is immediately terminated, but it is not "cancelled". Cancelled being slightly different than terminated for cause, for flagrant violations. I would have AIrbnb cancel the guests' reservation, instead of doing so yourself, in any case, so that it doesn't count against you.

I know how it feels to have a very disturbing incident in one's home, or a violent or very angry person,and a lot of tension. I've been there. To have this occurring in one's own home is one of the most upsetting things that can happen to someone, and I am just grateful for you that this occurred with guests you could require to leave right away. Many property owners have had these exact same things happen with long term tenants who they could NOT get out of their home for the life of them, or whose eviction might take many months. So, one way of throwing a positive light on all of this is just to realize that we are all fortunate when we are renting to guests who we can throw out right away, rather than being stuck with them until the months of court and legal process grind through, or potentially much longer than that.

I hope you get resolution from Airbnb soon. They really need to step up better to extreme incidents like this, it just isn't fair to hosts the lame way they are approaching serious problems like this.

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Sorry this happened and I do think that Airbnb needs to step up and address this issue. Best of luck with getting this resolved by them.

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So sorry to hear about your ordeal- how awful. It's sounds like you handled it very well though.
We too are superhosts and really question its value. We recently had an instant book problem too (though nothing as bad as Tim's). The Airbnb response was slow and lackluster. When I pushed back our case *was* elevated because we are superhosts but that just resulted in a better written (and equally slow) response that defended the guest. She did advise turning off Instant Book if I "couldn't honor it."
Airbnb continues to value the guests more than the hosts which I think will backfire eventually.
In the meanwhile I've removed Instant Book and really question the value of Superhosts.

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Thanks D. I seriously doubt I will get any response from Airbnb and I am not about to go begging for $300 to cover my damages. My gut feeling is that I will be ignored or asked to jump through all these hoops only to be considered for compensation. I strongly agree that this strategy of favoring guests will one day back fire. I also agree that there is no value to "superheats". It is evident to me now that it is a marketing gimmick.

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I went downstairs to my yard and I discovered guests glasses in the rear yard and to my disappointment a large hole in one of our raised flower beds. My kids just planted flower seeds there last week.

The guest's iphone was found in the hole by my current guests.

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I am wondering if I should do a neighborhood online apology on Next-door? If they were partying in the rear yard then this affected not only the 6 unit apartment building next door but at least a dozen homes. (One neighbor 3 doors down complained about the noise). I am so embarrassed!

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I'd keep the apologies to the neighbors you know were affected. Nextdoor stuff goes out to more people than you think and might just be fuel to a anti-home sharer.
What your guests did was reprehensible, but we do live in a city and parties happen. Our neighbors (regular tenants) do this every 3-4 months and besides calling the police there's nothing we can do. If I knew there was a bill in city hall I could get behind to make them stop I probably would. See where I'm going....

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I hope you got a reasonable nights sleep, and your present guests are angelic!
I seriously think you should 1. Email Chip, as I think a really generous and swift company response directly to your neighbors would go a long way to repair relationships. 2. You should go the police and make an incident report. It worries me greatly that he returned to your house, The next person he has anger issues may not be so lucky !
Airbnb has not established any protocols for hosts in the position you and your wife found yourselves, in the middle of the night and with young children. Perhaps we should establish our own?

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Yup....I hope all your future guests are model guests. But do take the extra precaution to vet them carefully.

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Where to I find Chip's email? Yes, I think that a better safety policy should be established especially when young children are present.

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Chip@Airbnb.com


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Good points. I went to the SFPD online and my "type" of complaint cannot be filed online. I don't want the police to come to my home and upset my current guests. I am so embarrassed and I am a member of our neighborhood watch program!

I dont have the guy's name. Only the woman who made the booking. The man said he used his credit card to pay for the booking. He told me that he is not going to pay for the $150 deposit and he will cancel his credit card.

Airbnb has the name on the credit card and I am not about to call them up. I doubt they would be of any help anyway.

He told me he works as a contractor and often has jobs in the City. I understand the need to report but it feels that I am all alone. Airbnb is of no help and is offering no guidance.

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Chip@airbedandbreakfast.com

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Thanks. I will write him an email later today. I am taking my son to a Giants game this afternoon with the Youth Baseball League. It is his first baseball game!

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first off, I'm sorry you and your family had to suffer through that most horrible experience. I've always been VERY skeptical of IB and your unfortunate experience punctuates all the reasons why it's such a poorly executed strategy to increase Conversion Rate. You're very lucky that nothing worse happened.


There have been many issues surrounding airbnb's Host support of late. As such, would you please keep everyone posted on how things progress...especially with how airbnb responds to your concerns and needs. Make sure to document *everything*....in word and photos. airbnb MUST support you and make all of this right.


Thank you and I wish you the best of luck for a satisfactory conclusion to this very unfortunate bit of drama.

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Thank you very much. I sent off a quick email to Chip. I am very grateful for the outpouring of support from this group. Thank's for forming it! I wish there wasn't such a disconnect from Airbnb and hosts. I have photos of the hole in my children's flower bed, alcohol bottles lined up against my flat's wall, a picture of the guy who assaulted me, and a picture of his dog, and a group of people sitting at the dining table. I am not filing a police report. The guy who assaulted me did apologize (although I suspect he was more concerned with getting his buried iphone back). We all do stupid selfish things when we are young and I am not about to get involved with someone that needs therapy. Airbnb can take action. I will most certainly keep you posted. Airbnb has not contacted me back. Maybe I should do a day count? The service rep in Tampa said that it will get assigned 72 hours or when the guest relations rep returns from her vacation. Last time I spoke with Airbnb was 2 p.m yesterday so how many hours? About 20 hours with no response...

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They only have one guest relationship rep! WOW I wouldn't want that job

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I'm so sorry you had to go through this. AS a relatively new host who just attained superhost status I'm dismayed that Airbnb provides no real additional support based on that status.

I've also had reservations about Instant Book requiring only one good review because those are easy to get. It should require at least 3 good reviews in my opinion. Given your experience I've turned off IB as well.

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I think you are so right about Instant Book - it is too risky and can cause huge problems. I upped my 1 night booking as well.