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?

Whilst it is sad it’s completely on the mother. She knew no children were allowed and said she’d find someone to look after her toddler but obviously thought she could take the piss. And what about the poor other guest who could be woken during the night or very early in the morning because of the child? OP was very clear no kids. Everyone has choices. And the lady chose to make the choice she did.

YANBU. She asked in advance you said no, she said fair enough and booked. You policy of 5 days cancellation is fair and she didn’t cancel. Cf thought you would be too uncomfortable to say no once she turned up at night with a small tot.

She’s running a business, not a charity, and should take no blame for the situation that this woman put herself and child in. Nor should she refund. The rules were quite clear and the woman chose to try to break them. If she had booked a 5 star boutique hotel which had a no children policy and turned up there screaming with her child, do you think she would have been allowed to stay?

The op didn't turn the paying guest away - she turned the child away. The adult could have still used her booking. So no refund due.

Pengggwn she could potentially have had another guest there though, if CF hadn't booked.
So out of pocket

The mother was clearly relying on the OP being too nice and feeling sorry for her. She knew in advance her child couldn't stay and made the choice to chance it.

Pengggwn - I am renting rooms via airbnb to make a little extra, not running a refuge.

OP sounds perfectly nice! But you do need to have some common sense when opening your room up. Disputes need dealing with via Air BnB. The woman must have known there was a chance she would be refused entry.

SWINGOFTHINGS.....I was just going to type the same.
Everyone has judged her without knowing the full story.there's a saying that the truth between two people is not with all one side but parts of both.
We have only heard the facts from OP.
Yes OP could be entitled to her money.
But yes maybe the woman is entitled to not be judged,sentenced and hung quite so fast.

Airbnb have been informed by me of what happened. If they decide that this lady should be refunded, I will suck it up. But if this happens again, I will do the same thing.

You don’t sound like a cow at all OP

Not sure why people are saying 'no money was lost' - the room couldn't be rented out again at 9.30pm?

I've never stayed anywhere where you could cancel at 9.30 on the night and get a refund.

You did the right thing. She was chancing her luck and it didn't work out. And the fact that you had to call the police to get rid of her just shows how unreasonable she was being. Perhaps now she'll think twice about pulling a stunt like that in future. And no, I wouldn't have refunded her money. You pay for accommodation with a credit card and don't abide by the Ts & Cs you lose your money. That's life.

The woman ignored OP's clear description, even had it confirmed in writing, shows up anyway and you think the OP is the cow here @Pengggwn?

How does that work? OP is running a small business on AirBnB with clearly described rules and conditions. Woman ignores these conditions, after having been informed of them again and still shows up with an extra guest that she knows will not be accommodated. No way is the OP the cow!

It's a risk that you take allowing strangers into your home some of them are going to have problems unfortunately. She was out of order but you should refund her the money. Unfortunately you need to be the bigger person, people that provide a service do this all of the time.

Pengggwn that's because CF had booked it!

How do people pay for Airbnb? If it is credit card surely she could have used it to book a travelodge or whatever.

No way I would have someone in who has no intention of sticking to a crystal clear rule. She spells trouble. I wouldn’t give her a refund. She basically cancelled the booking with no notice by not being in a position to take up the room. OP would lose out as she could have let the room to someone rule-abiding.

I’m not sure why 9:30pm is inherently dangerous. She made a shit parenting decision but sadly there are worse parents. The only way the childcare falling through would make sense to me is if she arranged childcare for him during the wedding (evening at least) and that fell through. That must have happened hours earlier. That was the time for her to ask again/make alternative arrangements.

You had her money

Please learn how things work before shouting facts.

OP did not have the money at this point, it’s with Airbnb.

@hiptrip

YANBU, and she is a CF, and I reckon she planned it all along. But you should have given her the money back IMO.

Yanbu at all

Think you sound very fair and reasonable OP and not at all bovine like. It’s not like she missed it on the house rules and it was a genuine error. She queried it and got told no. Then was rude on your doorstep to the point the police were required. Thank you OP there is one CF who may now think twice before doing it to someone else

The huge number of people saying “oooh let her in, poor mummy with baby in danger in the dark night” seem to be out of proportion to the usual MN crowd who can’t even open the door to the post man.

OP is letting rooms on Airbnb not running a charity. The beauty of this is you can specify females only, single room no couples, no children, whatever you want.