Being an Airbnb host means having guests in your space who are unfamiliar with where things are or how they work. As such, you expect a lot of questions.
Long-time hosts will tell you that the same questions tend to come up over and over - but even they get thrown for a loop sometimes.
That's the case with TikTok user Michelle B, whose Airbnb guest sent a series of messages that caught her off guard. Mostly because of how confused her guest seemed.
Things started with a message asking if it was okay to use the refrigerator since it was "locked" and just got more unusual from there.
@theflowertruck It’s the lock on the fridge for me. #fyp #fail #airbnb #CloseYourRings
As we said, the first message was about the "locked" refrigerator—which we find out wasn't locked, it just has recessed handles on both sides of the door. That could absolutely be confusing for a guest, Michelle admits.
The next question seemed a bit more unusual. The guest asked how to fix the gas since it wasn't turning on. Confused since there's no gas, Michelle asked for clarification.
The guest explained that the red lights on the stovetop were turning on, but back off quickly. They assumed that must mean the gas wasn't working.
Again, Michelle was able to guide her guest through. She explained that there was no gas and the appliance was fine; the guest just had the knob turned to a low temp and if they wanted the burner to go higher they needed to turn the knob.
Seeming to have figured it out, the guest went quiet again.
But not for long.
A little while later, the guest messaged they ordered food (so they didn't figure out the oven?) and it was marked delivered, but they couldn't find it. The guest wondered if Michelle had taken it since the unit is a basement unit and she was up above.
Michelle didn't have it, but did check the camera to make sure nobody took it.
What she saw was the food sitting on the front porch as the driver indicated, with footprints leading right to it. Her guest had briefly glanced around with a flashlight, but walked right past the footprints and porch without checking thus missing their order.
Some viewers seemed annoyed by the guest and suggested they would have been meaner in their responses.
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
More than anything, though, people wanted to see the fridge, so we got a follow-up video!
@theflowertruck Reply to @starsonedge fridge reveal #fyp #CloseYourRings #airbnb #fail #tour #niagara
That video changed some minds.
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
Which gave us one final, glorious update about the fridge.
@theflowertruck Reply to @ashaffliction little update to the welcome message. #MyStarbucksOrder #fyp #CloseYourRings #airbnb #fridge
But that wasn't the end of things.
Throughout the videos, people repeatedly pointed out how unprofessional it was to post these screenshots and a video of her guest without their permission.
Aside from being a probable violation of Airbnb guidelines, people called it an invasion of privacy. Others said it was incredibly rude to encourage the internet to mock the guest, etc...
People weren't impressed with Michelle as a host.
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
@theflowertruck/TikTok
Michelle responded to a comment with one more video, this time to her guest should they ever see the videos and exchanges on TikTok—which is much more likely now that the video has gone viral and articles are being written.
She said it was "all in good fun."
@theflowertruck Reply to @mai43390 #greenscreensticker
While many can admit a confused guest might ask amusing questions, they aren't sold on how Michelle handled it.