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AIBU?

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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:
ShoesHaveSouls · 08/01/2018 02:02

Possibly not, LostSight.

It's more a comment about the raging argument between one poster, who said she'd let the child stay, or at least let them use the loo, and the absolute pile on by about a hundred other posters.

She's been called a mug, had her professional qualifications called into question, asked existential questions about overtime/inset days/sending the refund to the woman herself... you know.

I do think this woman was a cheeky fucker in all honesty - or a scammer - or perhaps she was just a badly organised woman who wanted to go to a wedding, and couldn't get childcare? I don't know.

MN can be a harsh place, when people are posting from behind a keyboard sometimes. I know I'll probably be piled upon now . Still, usually nobody even notices my posts Grin

NeandathalWoman · 08/01/2018 02:07

I didn't read all of the other comments, it's not acceptable for people to make personal attacks on OP because they're behind a keyboard.

MN is a brilliant tool, lets not ruin it by making unnecessary rude comments to OP's and visa versa.

Graphista · 08/01/2018 02:13

Neandathal - you clearly haven't even read the op's comments, the op has mostly been supported!

EmmaGrundyForPM · 08/01/2018 03:06

Neanderthalwoman it has been pointed out over and over again on this thread that the OP didn't have the woman's money so couldn't refund it. It has to be done via AirBnB

It's also been pointed out that the CF broke the terms of the contract.

You really should RTFT before commenting.

DottyS · 08/01/2018 04:44

MrsSchadenfreude leave Pengggwn alone. You (and others) are becoming bullies. Each Poster is allowed their own opinion (whether or not you agree with it or not) so there is no need to gang up on someone just because (a) others have (b) it is fun for you (c) you disagree with them. Personal attacks are just vicious and not in keeping with an adult and reasoned discussion

Pengggwn · 08/01/2018 05:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pengggwn · 08/01/2018 05:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

catwoozle · 08/01/2018 05:15

It seems to me that Pengggwyn likes to cause a kerfuffle on any MN threads she can by taking a deliberately contrary view as a kind of hobby. It's your time you're wasting.

Pengggwn · 08/01/2018 05:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CherryMaDeara · 08/01/2018 06:27

Pengggwn

There was only one poster telling people to 'fuck off' and that was you.

It is usually the 'just be kind' posters who resort to abuse, so I'm not surprised.

piefacedClique · 08/01/2018 06:32

Once again it’s been derailed from the actual point of the thread! I’d like to be able to see the outcome once OP has heard back from AirBnB without wading through other people bitching! No wonder many OPs don’t come back to threads in the end with this tripe being added to it! Looking forward to an update x

CherryMaDeara · 08/01/2018 06:35

Neanderthalwoman

Personally, I would allow children in general. But if I didn't then I would have made an exception in this rare circumstance.

If had RTFT, you would know that the room the woman had booked was in the attic and unsuitable for children because of the attic steps. Also, there are no stair gates.

What would have happened had the child fallen and hurt itself? I'll bet the woman would be suing OP then.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 08/01/2018 06:37

I was about to say OP could have been a bit kinder given there was a small child involved

But I am reading Lean In about how women are societally normalised to be always be ‘kind’

So I shall refrain

WaitrosePigeon · 08/01/2018 06:54

I am wary of people who say that don’t like a whole category of things.

Jobjobjob · 08/01/2018 06:54

Op - don't refund, she lost you two days bookings.

Pengggwyn - stop being so,deliberately obtuse. The OP lost bookings because this woman (and child) flouted the rules, she deserves to lose her money. If people want child friendly then boom a travel lodge or whatever. Having a child does not mean you can get a free ride in someone's home.

MrsSchadenfreude · 08/01/2018 07:06

How was I bullying? Confused I skimmed through the thread, saw that every other post was from Pengggwn and commented accordingly, amused that someone had had the time and inclination to spend the entire day on one thread! I’ve never come across her before, have no idea of her posting history, but do think it is bad form that she is being discussed on Reddit. But that appears to be the sort of world we live in now.

OP - maybe the CF is ashamed of her performance, not leaving you a review, in the hope that you won’t review her, and the fact that you had to call the police to get rid of her.

CherryMaDeara · 08/01/2018 07:13

MrsS, possibly you've annoyed DottyS on another thread? Grin

I think OP would be doing other Airbnb users a favour if she did leave a review, but I can understand why she may not want to.

BashStreetKid · 08/01/2018 07:20

Maybe I'm a soft touch but you don't know the circumstances behind why this woman turned up and had her child.

We know that she was told unequivocally that she couldn't bring a child, but that she turned up with her child anyway with a story about babysitting having fallen through. Neanderthal, can you think of any reason why she shouldn't have phoned OP before she left to explain the situation and ask if she would change her mind? That way she wouldn't have been left on the doorstep. Is there really any doubt that she was either running a scam or just assumed she'd get away with it.

BashStreetKid · 08/01/2018 07:24

Shoeshavesouls, I can't see one post referring to inset days. If you mean mine where I asked whether Pengggwn would expect to be paid if her school was closed, self-evidently that wouldn't refer to inset days given that teachers have to attend those.

That post was highly relevant to Pengggwn's statement that OP shouldn't expect to be paid for not providing a service, despite the fact that she would lose £80 as a result, because the answer revealed that Pengggwn herself would expect to be paid in that situation.

We never did get a response as to why it was unkind to refuse to invite into the house a woman who was refusing to leave till she got back the cash she wasn't entitled to and OP didn't have.

cambodianfoxhound · 08/01/2018 07:28

There would have been a time where I would have agreed with people stating that you should have been kind, offered a bed etc. etc. This was until I started a business similar to Air BnB myself.

In the early days I was burned so many times taking this approach - listening to the sob stories, offering refunds etc. I now have a bit of sixth sense in detecting these types - and this lady sets off all the alarm bells. She was totally relying on you to let her in - and if she did the demands would probably not have stopped there. It would have been 'can you watch Jimmy for five minutes whilst I just pop to the ATM' etc. etc.

The fact she lost her rag when you refused is a major red flag - reasonable people don't do this. This is someone who goes through life guilt tripping/manipulating other people into doing stuff they don't want to do and when it doesn't work they get nasty.

KayaG · 08/01/2018 07:31

I really don't understand the abuse OP is getting from some.

She said no kids. CF brings kid and is turned away, quite rightly.

As for those saying she should have allowed the child to use the toilet - do you honestly believe the CF would have left quietly once she got inside?

I don't..

Snowysky20009 · 08/01/2018 07:39

To clarify a few things (for the 1001 time):-

  • the room was an attic room so not suitable for a child
  • the OP did not have her money, Air bnb did
  • the OP has to refund by the paid method, which is via card
  • OP has to follow these rules as it's within her contract with Air bnb
  • she did not allow the woman in as she feared she may not leave
  • the woman was not 'thrown out on the street', she arrived via car
  • the child was not 'cold, wet and hungry', it was other posters who said this
  • if she had allowed them to stay, and something went wrong, the OP could have had problems with her insurance etc as she states that she does not cater for children
  • the OP did not want to make an exception because her home is not geared towards children
  • OP had another guest to think about who had booked a 'child free' accommodation
  • the OP has said that frankly she doesn't want children there because she doesn't like them in her home, which is her choice, it is her home
  • everyone saying 'give a refund' if you went to a hotel and this happened would you be given a refund? Of course not so why should the OP?
  • if this was a genuine case- why did the cf not call ahead and ask like the majority of us would?
  • this is the OP's business, why should she miss out on two nights bookings, because someone is a cf who wanted to flout the rules or worse, was trying to scam her?
  • Lastly, for those asking why is it a scam- she asks for a refund, sorry demanded a refund, if OP had given it to her in cash (which is against Air bnb rules), the cf can then ask to be refunded by Air bnb, so get refunded twice, double the money!
HotelEuphoria · 08/01/2018 07:43

Well said Snowy!

The OP is absolutely not BU.

Iprefercoffeetotea · 08/01/2018 07:43

Lots of more private accommodation providers won't take kids - when ds was small we had to wade through the B&Bs that wouldn't take kids, or insisted that you stayed two nights and we only wanted one night. If a service provider thinks they can cut off a large proportion of potential customers, that's up to them. And I remember reading something a few years ago about the B&B of the year - the landlady said she didn't take kids under a certain age (can't remember what age now) because they drew on the walls. It's completely reasonable to refuse kids (or animals).

As for being paid not to provide a service, if you breach the terms of the booking, you won't get a refund. An airline won't refund someone if they throw them off the flight because they are eg drunk.

Wasn't there a thread on here last year about someone who worked in a hotel and they'd made clear the hotel didn't accept dogs but the people turned up with one regardless?

Tapandgo · 08/01/2018 08:08

Cambodian - agree. Red flags on this one everywhere. (Never quite sure why we are supposed to bow to pressure when someone throws a tantrum - it often shows people used to getting their own way).