To have turned away this airbnb guest?

[Hiptrip]

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?

Don't think it unreasonable not to allow her to stay. Do think it unreasonable not to refund the money. In fact, cannot believe anybody could be so grabby as not to accept the guest but to accept her money.

She obviously isn't a MNer otherwise she would have known the significance of "No is a complete sentence".

She sounds unhinged and YWNBU to stick to your guns on that one, Airbnb or otherwise

I wonder if the folks saying you should let them both stay or refunded her would have been saying that if you ran a hotel and she had booked a single room but turned up with an extra person? At the end of the day you are not a charity and it your house, your rules. YANBU.

I honestly don’t understand this alternative childcare thing.

Why would you book somewhere where your child can’t stay?
If your child can stay elsewhere then why can you too, even on the floor?

Can’t help that none of it adds up to me so sounds dodgy as fuck.

Pengggwn but the refund can go through air bnb how she paid for it otherwise she can get the money the twice and op is out of pocket too.

She knew you had a no child policy but chose willingly to try her luck. How dare anyone try and blame you for not letting her stay! She's the one with the issues, not you, and she's the one who subjected her child to upset. I'd make sure you are very determined in contacting Airbnb about her. She's a headcase, and poor kid with a mum who thinks that rules apply to others, not her.

I would have turned her aawy too.

YANBU Who wants a scammer in their home?

I can see both sides, she was in the wrong for turning up after you had said no but I don't think many people would have turned away a distressed woman with a young child at night, who you had taken money from.

No worries x

YANBU.

For those saying the OP should have returned the money, that isn't how Airbnb works. If the guest breaks the house rules the host is entitled to cancel without giving a refund.

In this case the guest knew the rules. She had been told that she couldn't bring her child. She went ahead and booked anyway then brought her child. I don't know if she was genuine, cheeky or a scammer. But it doesn't matter. She knew the rules. She broke them.

If she was genuine and really couldn't find a sitter she should have cancelled and booked an alternative, not turned up on the OP's doorstep and made a scene.

Even if I had decided to refund her, it would have been through Airbnb not in cash. I am not sure how long it would have been before she saw her money. A few days maybe?

I personally would have let her stay the one night, then insisted she finds alternative accommodation for the next night. It was late at night and she had a tired toddler with her, she may be speaking the truth when she said that she had no alternative money to pay for a hotel room. For that reason, I do think you were slightly unreasonable. Yes she was a CF and she was trying her arm, but I couldn't see a toddler on the street, late at night, when there was a safe comfortable room I could provide them (his Mother had paid for the use of).

By all means, I would have stressed how unreasonable she was and I would have insisted that she find different accommodation for the second night. However, I couldn't refuse a single Mother and vulnerable toddler accommodation late at night, in January of all months! That poor little boy! I hope the police were able to help her find alternative accommodation.

YADNBU and she should lose the money, she was told before she booked that children aren't allowed. Tough luck that she decided to try it on

I did not put her in a potentially dangerous position. SHE put herself and her child in a potentially dangerous position.

Yes, but OP, two wrongs don’t make a right. You saw a child with no safe place to sleep at night and his mother saying she had no money to get somewhere else. You had her money. You had a choice to provide a safe lodging and you chose not to. His mother was absolutely at fault for putting him on that position but if something bad happened you wouldn’t be blameless. It was a mean thing to do and I guess this is why you’ve come to MN to talk about what a CF she was, to make yourself feel better because deep down you know it wasn’t right.

Why is that harsh @pengggwn?

You wouldn't normally get a refund unless you cancel in advance .
You don't get to turn up on the day, break the rules and still get a refund.

She knew the terms, she chose to ignore them

The money is held by AirBNB anyway, and doesn’t get released til the guest has stayed. So you’d be even more out of pocket if you had given her cash.

From my past experiences AirBNB has pretty good customer service so they should help you get it resolved.

Talk about not taking "no" for an answer. Well we all know the saying. You can't blame someone for trying.
However you are being unreasonable to keep her money. You don't want her business because you dont want toddlers there. Fair enough that's your prerogative.
However you can't have it both ways. Keeping her money seems a bit power trippy to me. You know I will because I can.

There is absolutely no way that this should be laid at the door of the OP.

It wasn’t a mean thing to do. I think we all feel sorry for the child but if (say) she’d been thrown out of a Travelodge or Premier Inn for smoking or non payment, they wouldn’t have said ‘oh, but she has a child’ - they would have applied their policy.

the op had to call the police to remove this woman?

she was told the conditions of booking clearly upfront so she can't plead ignorance
turned up anyway hoping to bully/tug on heartstrings and failed

she doesn't deserve her money back as op was unable to 're rent the room for 2 nights as Booker had removed it from the market

she booked for 2 nights with her toddler as well

I live in a large town with lots of places to stay. There were heaps of alternatives.

She had come by car, and had the option to drive home.