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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To have turned away this airbnb guest?

999 replies

Hiptrip · 07/01/2018 09:05

I have been doing airbnb for a while and have found it a great way to meet new people, and earn a little extra. That is until last Friday night.

Despite my house rule of no children, a woman wrote to me and asked if I could make an exception, promising that her two-year old son would be very well behaved. My house is not set up for children, and I simply don’t want toddlers here so I replied and said no.

She said that was okay and booked anyway, saying she had to come to my town for a wedding, and that she’d find someone to look after him.

Then she turned up with her child at 9.30pm saying she couldn’t find a sitter, and had hysterics as she pleaded with me on the doorstep, to allow him to stay. I refused and in the end called the police because she said she wouldn’t leave until I gave her, her money back in cash because she needed it to stay elsewhere. As she was starting to cause a nuisance, they got rid of her.

She’s taken this to airbnb. My argument is that she was told she couldn’t bring her child, and did anyway, so she should lose her money. Not unreasonable?

OP posts:
Iwasjustabouttosaythat · 07/01/2018 11:58

lynzpynz, aw, sorry hun. I’m sure you’re a stable genius. Welcome to Mumsnet by the way. BiscuitGrin

superram · 07/01/2018 11:58

I think the time she turned up shows she was a CF. If she was for real she would have rang in advance or at least arrived earlier allowing her to find somewhere else. The reason she turned up so late was to guilt trip the op.

nakedscientist · 07/01/2018 11:58

horrible people are just as likely to have kids as nice ones!

Whilst OP was fully within her rights and the woman was dreadful, people are suggesting in their own ways that we look beyond cash and CFs and see that, as a society, we have a responsibility at a basic level for all kids.

BaronessBomburst · 07/01/2018 11:59

Of course it a scam. The mother's story doesn't even stack up.
Having been told that the OP didn't accept children, instead of looking for alternative accommodation, she decided to leave her two year old with someone else all night, all day, and for another night just so she could still use the OP's accommodation.
Really??!?

YetAnotherSpartacus · 07/01/2018 11:59

The mother was a cheeky scamming cunt who deliberately traumatised her child and cheated the OP out of income.

Pengggwn · 07/01/2018 11:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

britnay · 07/01/2018 12:00

Surely the woman knew that she didn't have childcare before the wedding? ie before turning up at 9:30? So she could have potentially mentioned it to OP earlier?

LetsGoFlyAKiteee · 07/01/2018 12:01

Thing is surely if they'd stayed.. the child had kicked up a fuss at any point and disturbed the other guests wouldn't they be in their rights for a refund if they complained due to false advertisement?

Don't see how you were in the wrong. Made it clear.. She still booked and yet still turned up with her child. If you knew that children weren't accepted you'd left it and booked somewhere else not have the risk of childcare falling through and being stuck. Or rung.. Not just turned up. Plus hardly sounds like you live in the middle of nowhere. Don't see how it's your responsibility to give them somewhere to stay when the mum made the choice to drive to you.

lynzpynz · 07/01/2018 12:01

Feel really sorry for the poor child being used as a pawn by her mother in this way, they are the one suffering most from her behaviour. Agree with @MumW that surely she could have called and explained the situation before turning up (if a genuine problem had developed and this wasn’t indeed a scam) to avoid any confrontation and exposure of potential aggravation to her child?

MargaretCavendish · 07/01/2018 12:02

people are suggesting in their own ways that we look beyond cash and CFs and see that, as a society, we have a responsibility at a basic level for all kids

I just don't see how OP has more of a responsibility to provide this child with a place to sleep than its own mother does. By that logic, should hotels just never charge parents? After all, the important thing is that children have nowhere to sleep.

Again, would you let a random woman with a 2 year old sleep in your house if she turned up on your doorstep claiming she had nowhere to go? What if it was a man with a 2 year old? After all, it's the child for whom you have 'a responsibility at a basic level'.

pollythedolly · 07/01/2018 12:03

There's no way I'd have let her in, toddler or not. Aside the potential scamming and the CF stuff, the woman behaved so badly the neighbours came out wanting to call the police!

BoneyBackJefferson · 07/01/2018 12:07

swingofthings

Lets say you run a childfree airbnb and this happened to you and you allowed the woman to stay, how much would you refund the other guests for having to stay in a house with a child when you specifically stated that there would be no children?

peppapigwouldmakelovelyrashers · 07/01/2018 12:07

Thing is surely if they'd stayed.. the child had kicked up a fuss at any point and disturbed the other guests wouldn't they be in their rights for a refund if they complained due to false advertisement?

What other guests would that be then?

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 07/01/2018 12:07

Wilting, read the thread ffs.
The OP and others have explained a million times why she refused entry.

InspMorse · 07/01/2018 12:08

people are suggesting in their own ways that we look beyond cash and CFs and see that, as a society, we have a responsibility at a basic level for all kids

All very virtuous. Didn't the OP contact the police though? Surely the situation was dealt with by them.

AdalindSchade · 07/01/2018 12:08

I found out that any review, good or bad, goes through the houseowner first. So any bad review simply doesn';t make it to the Airbnb site

That's simply not true. Hosts cannot see or veto reviews before they are published.

AdalindSchade · 07/01/2018 12:09

Airbnb's host protection does not apply to extra guests who are not on the booking. So if the child had broken something the OP wouldn't have been entitled to any compensation.

IWannaSeeHowItEnds · 07/01/2018 12:09

Peppa, OP had one other guest who was luckily out when this woman turned up

AethelflaedofMercia · 07/01/2018 12:09

What other guests would that be then?

The guest who was staying in the op's other room, as previously mentioned.

Iwasjustabouttosaythat · 07/01/2018 12:10

would you let a random woman with a 2 year old sleep in your house if she turned up on your doorstep claiming she had nowhere to go?

I think it’s only fair to ask people who routinely let strangers stay in their house for a living. If you rephrase the question to be, “would you allow a woman and child to stay in your house if they booked your air b&b room and were going to give you money to stay there and they had nowhere else to go?” then yes, yes I would.

StylishDuck · 07/01/2018 12:10

Surely allowing a child to stay in a room unsuitable for purpose and potentially dangerous would have been more irresponsible than refusing to allow them to stay.

Or perhaps some of you are suggesting the OP should have offered up her own bed and slept in the attic room herself? Hmm

InspMorse · 07/01/2018 12:10

Were they dressed in wedding clothes OP?

expatinscotland · 07/01/2018 12:11

'people are suggesting in their own ways that we look beyond cash and CFs and see that, as a society, we have a responsibility at a basic level for all kids'

So you'll be opening up your home for homeless families with kids to stay, for free then.

'But I have to agree with some others posters that it is still callous to turn away a mother with a toddler who needs to eat, use the toilet etc. I couldn't do it myself. And yes, I know that would be me letting her get away with behaviour that is outrageous, but for all that I still couldn't send a hungry, wet toddler back to a cold car in January at 9.30pm. If that makes me a mug so be it.'

So fuck your other guest who booked childfree accommodation and could then claim a refund from AirB&B for the host not adhering to their own policies. Right.

Cars have heaters. Parents are responsible for feeding them.

AdalindSchade · 07/01/2018 12:12

What other guests would that be then?

The other paying guests using the second guest room that the OP rents out!

Pengggwn · 07/01/2018 12:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.