Additional illustrative examples of forms of user misbehaviour in the context of airbnb
| Type of misbehaviour | Concrete form of misbehaviour | Sub-category of misbehaviour | Illustrative examples | Data Source | Who carried out the misbehaviour? | The time of misbehaving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illegal user behaviours | Giving an unwanted kiss | Directed against a person | “One night when I knew the owners were out, I came downstairs to make some food and work on my laptop. The female owner came home while I was cooking, and had clearly been drinking … I was doing my best to exit the conversation and go back to my bedroom when the female owner got into my personal space, said “I’m going to kiss you now,” and before anything even registered, she grabbed my face with both her hands and kissed me full-on on the lips, then began crying. I made an escape to my room, very shaken” | Link | Guest | During stay |
| Driving guests drunk | Directed against a person | “He drives guests drunk. it is illegal for him to drive, unless a breathalyzer is installed in his car” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Kicking a dog | Directed against an animal | “One of them kicked my dog who was just standing beside me not giving much a s&%t about what’s going on. Like he actually kicked a dog in the chest” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Treating others differently because of their race or national origin | Directed against a person | “I hear someone opening the bedroom door … it was the maid … she explained [that] she must visit the apartment every morning to ‘see if everything is okay’ … [as] we were not white Americans”. The host’s exact words, if memory serve me, were: ‘I don’t want any Spanish, blacks or anyone from the streets in the apartment” … [She] explained that her Airbnb listing was [intentionally] in German … She preferred only Germanic guests: from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Northern Italy … [by regularly checking on us she] simply wanted to make sure that nothing was stolen | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not installing a smoke detector in Airbnb rental | Directed against another person’s property Directed against a person | “no smoke detectors” | Link | Host | Before stay During stay | |
| Unprofessional user behaviours | Writing a false review | Directed against user experience Directed against a person | “My guest was unable to find the house, and cancelled the reservation … Airbnb allowed a guest that was never in my house to comment on it. And so, the guest give me one-star ratings for everything. The guest rated the house as very dirty – without ever being inside” | Link | Host | Before stay |
| Not cleaning the accommodation between the guests | Directed against user experience | “The cleaner arrived an hour later, four hours from my initial call. The cleaner was shocked when she viewed the sheets and promised to inform the owners. She also agreed that the floors had not been vacuumed, the toilet had certainly not been cleaned or flushed, and the basin had not been wiped – it was disgusting, with old soap and toothpaste left. The shower had not been wiped clean. This room had obviously been missed” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not responding to the guests’ enquiries | Directed against user experience | “[T]he host was responsive when we asked questions before booking. When we arrived at the complex and called the host, his number was disconnected’ | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not providing basic amenities | Directed against user experience | “After getting inside it was clear that the apartment hadn’t been cleaned: no sheets on beds, no toilet paper, trash bags, shampoo or other listed amenities” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Failing to pay | Directed against another person’s or platform’s financial assets | “The next day I got a message from Airbnb saying “payment is delayed.” The Guest was on “free” night number two. Two days later, after chasing Airbnb, I got a message saying payment could not be collected. The guest was on “free” night four … On the fifth day, after all the failed attempts to get money from Airbnb, the guest told me they would transfer the money via bank transfer … She sent me a screenshot of the bank transfer and confirmation number. The money never actually went through and the guest left on day six” | Link | Guest | During stay After stay | |
| Bringing in additional, unregistered guests | Directed against another person’s or platform’s financial assets | “I entered the bedroom (of which the door was wide open to the hallway) to find a strange person asleep/passed out on the bed (not in the bed – on the bed). I immediately called the guest that was registered and asked, “What is going on? Who is the person that is in the unit?” The guest stated that his ‘friend’ was drunk, and had nowhere to stay. He let him stay at my place and was taking a hotel room for the night. I informed the guest that under no circumstances were unregistered guests allowed in the units and that this ‘friend’ had to leave” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Unbefitting user behaviours | Not informing the guest that there is a cat in the accommodation | Directed against user experience Directed against a person | “Two of the guests are allergic to cats and the landlord didn’t mention it in the ad” | Link | Host | Before stay |
| Micromanaging the water consumption | Directed against user experience | “The host was super creepy. She kept micromanaging how much water we used in the kitchen, … and yelled at me about how much water I used while taking a bath” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Eating guest’s food | Directed against other person’s property | “[my] food was eaten [by the host]” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not repairing creaking doors | Directed against user experience | “Every door also squeaked. I asked my host why they didn’t oil the hinges and she said she wanted it that way so she knew what was going on” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not cleaning the food after eating | Directed against other person’s property | “There was rotten food everywhere” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Uncivil user behaviours | Attempting to use neighbour’s pool | Directed against other person’s property | “I have a pool so several renters tried telling me that my pool was the community pool and I had to let them use it because they were ‘paying for it’” | Link | Guest | During stay |
| Throwing a beer can at the neighbour | Directed against a person | “I had beer cans thrown at me” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Guests not socially distancing during the pandemic | Directed against a person | “We had a family move into out village … They are raucous and have no respect for social distancing” | Link | Guest | During stay |
| Type of misbehaviour | Concrete form of misbehaviour | Sub-category of misbehaviour | Illustrative examples | Data Source | Who carried out the misbehaviour? | The time of misbehaving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giving an unwanted kiss | Directed against a person | “One night when I knew the owners were out, I came downstairs to make some food and work on my laptop. The female owner came home while I was cooking, and had clearly been drinking … I was doing my best to exit the conversation and go back to my bedroom when the female owner got into my personal space, said “I’m going to kiss you now,” and before anything even registered, she grabbed my face with both her hands and kissed me full-on on the lips, then began crying. I made an escape to my room, very shaken” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Driving guests drunk | Directed against a person | “He drives guests drunk. it is illegal for him to drive, unless a breathalyzer is installed in his car” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Kicking a dog | Directed against an animal | “One of them kicked my dog who was just standing beside me not giving much a | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Treating others differently because of their race or national origin | Directed against a person | “I hear someone opening the bedroom door … it was the maid … she explained [that] she must visit the apartment every morning to ‘see if everything is okay’ … [as] we were not white Americans”. The host’s exact words, if memory serve me, were: ‘I don’t want any Spanish, blacks or anyone from the streets in the apartment” … [She] explained that her Airbnb listing was [intentionally] in German … She preferred only Germanic guests: from Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Northern Italy … [by regularly checking on us she] simply wanted to make sure that nothing was stolen | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not installing a smoke detector in Airbnb rental | Directed against another person’s property | “no smoke detectors” | Link | Host | Before stay | |
| Writing a false review | Directed against user experience | “My guest was unable to find the house, and cancelled the reservation … Airbnb allowed a guest that was never in my house to comment on it. And so, the guest give me one-star ratings for everything. The guest rated the house as very dirty – without ever being inside” | Link | Host | Before stay | |
| Not cleaning the accommodation between the guests | Directed against user experience | “The cleaner arrived an hour later, four hours from my initial call. The cleaner was shocked when she viewed the sheets and promised to inform the owners. She also agreed that the floors had not been vacuumed, the toilet had certainly not been cleaned or flushed, and the basin had not been wiped – it was disgusting, with old soap and toothpaste left. The shower had not been wiped clean. This room had obviously been missed” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not responding to the guests’ enquiries | Directed against user experience | “[T]he host was responsive when we asked questions before booking. When we arrived at the complex and called the host, his number was disconnected’ | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not providing basic amenities | Directed against user experience | “After getting inside it was clear that the apartment hadn’t been cleaned: no sheets on beds, no toilet paper, trash bags, shampoo or other listed amenities” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Failing to pay | Directed against another person’s or platform’s financial assets | “The next day I got a message from Airbnb saying “payment is delayed.” The Guest was on “free” night number two. Two days later, after chasing Airbnb, I got a message saying payment could not be collected. The guest was on “free” night four … On the fifth day, after all the failed attempts to get money from Airbnb, the guest told me they would transfer the money via bank transfer … She sent me a screenshot of the bank transfer and confirmation number. The money never actually went through and the guest left on day six” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Bringing in additional, unregistered guests | Directed against another person’s or platform’s financial assets | “I entered the bedroom (of which the door was wide open to the hallway) to find a strange person asleep/passed out on the bed (not in the bed – on the bed). I immediately called the guest that was registered and asked, “What is going on? Who is the person that is in the unit?” The guest stated that his ‘friend’ was drunk, and had nowhere to stay. He let him stay at my place and was taking a hotel room for the night. I informed the guest that under no circumstances were unregistered guests allowed in the units and that this ‘friend’ had to leave” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Not informing the guest that there is a cat in the accommodation | Directed against user experience | “Two of the guests are allergic to cats and the landlord didn’t mention it in the ad” | Link | Host | Before stay | |
| Micromanaging the water consumption | Directed against user experience | “The host was super creepy. She kept micromanaging how much water we used in the kitchen, … and yelled at me about how much water I used while taking a bath” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Eating guest’s food | Directed against other person’s property | “[my] food was eaten [by the host]” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not repairing creaking doors | Directed against user experience | “Every door also squeaked. I asked my host why they didn’t oil the hinges and she said she wanted it that way so she knew what was going on” | Link | Host | During stay | |
| Not cleaning the food after eating | Directed against other person’s property | “There was rotten food everywhere” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Attempting to use neighbour’s pool | Directed against other person’s property | “I have a pool so several renters tried telling me that my pool was the community pool and I had to let them use it because they were ‘paying for it’” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Throwing a beer can at the neighbour | Directed against a person | “I had beer cans thrown at me” | Link | Guest | During stay | |
| Guests not socially distancing during the pandemic | Directed against a person | “We had a family move into out village … They are raucous and have no respect for social distancing” | Link | Guest | During stay |