14 Five Star Reviews and I get this message...

[Laura2592]

"Hi Laura-- thanks for asking about snacks for our stay. There will be 3 of us, maybe 4 if our daughter at McDaniel is free to join us for part of the time. Two of us are gluten free/celiac and 2 of us are vegetarian. Though wine seems fun, we don’t normally drink alcohol. Looking forward to a fun weekend and clear cool days!"

Reservation is for 2 for 2 nights. This person has 14 five star reviews. She did not disclose until the day before the stay that she is possibly doubling the numbers. She didn't ask either. Its obviously assumed she can bring whoever. We state this clearly and re-iterate it as well.

I asked her to update the reservation. She did and is now complaining about the extra charge which "seems substantial." It does seem to have a pretty substantial fee attached. For her reservation (and she only updated for 3 people, AND has booked at an old rate, so its $20 per person per night for 2 nights) she got charged $48 extra. We got $38. I just said "really?! Wow, that isn't what we see on our end. ABB does add fees unfortunately."

Seriously after THIS many stays she should know better. But I am sure she will be difficult now.  You can't win. 

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 I didn't really mind the diets but it did alert me that there were definitely more than 2 people coming on this 2 person reservation.  I'm happy if people are honest about what they eat so I can spend my snack money wisely!

I'm convinced that most hosts arw afraid to leave accurate reviews.  This lady was a bully. She also had no qualms about guilt tripping me that my house capacity was ruining her family vacation.  That's just uncalled for. My house has never been available to more than 4 people.  Even when my own family has stayed we limit the number.  It's just not that big. I've definitely had people ask for exceptions over holidays etc but it's just not comfortable for larger groups. We try to give guests a great experience and we know the limitations of our cottage. 

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 

Obviously you need to build on an addition. 

A banquet hall with wet bar, gigantic TV and seating for 20 would be good too.

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 my gosh! I can't believe I missed that! Obviously that's the best solution 😉

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592  It could have been a glitch that has since been repaired, but recently stars were available to view, even with IB off. Congrats on dodging a bullet.

nitwits like this are why responsible hosts make their listings say “no one on property other than those recorded in reservation”. How very dare she. Glad you dodged that bullet! Did you get it cancelled before the review window kicked in?

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149  how very dare she indeed !

Yes. Airbnb canceled. No review. No penalties. No blocking the calendar. She got all her money back.  Took a few hours of calling but worth it. And we booked again almost immediately. 

I was leery as soon as she started to complain about $40. Then she got nasty when I offered her an out in the nicest possible way.  I just don't put up with rude. If you are ugly to me before you show up you won't magically become kind and reasonable when you get to my space.  So it was time to part company. 

[Kia272]

Dear Guest, your dietary restrictions seem quite complex. Perhaps we'll withdraw the generous offer of snacks  and just let you fend for yourselves. 

Not into wine? Cool- more for us. We kinda need a drink after dealing with you. 

Thanks for not staying here. Ever. 

[Laura2592]

@Kia272 lol 😆.  Thanks.  I needed that!

[Robert5501]

Possibly the best answer ever! Lol

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 

I'm playing devil's advocate here, please don't take it the wrong way.

I think by saying "really?! Wow, that isn't what we see on our end. ABB does add fees, unfortunately" has a hidden implication that feels like "Yeah, sorry, you're being screwed."  I don't see anywhere on your listing description or house rules that state that extra guests will be charged an additional amount. Could it be that this guest felt she was honestly communicating her plans and in return is confronted with an increased charge she knew nothing about? I'm not excusing this guest's rude behavior but just looking at it from a possible guest's perspective.

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42 I understand where you are coming from.  But guests do get communication about counts and fees in my conversation at booking. I thank them and may ask additional questions depending on how thorough their emails are.  I always mention guest counts and how to update/that there are additional charges etc.  Added to that, a guest sees the fees increase when they search or attempt to  book for 3 or 4. It's not a secret.  This person clearly had a family that exceeded our capacity, knew we charged extra,  booked to avoid it, got asked to correct and had a meltdown that got her stay canceled.  

[Kelly149]

@Emilia42 @Laura2592 This does beg the question, should we all just price at our max/worst case scenario??

which is so much worse for the smaller groups. 

I like hosting a variety of group sizes. I like hosting 1 or 2. And they are definitely less work than the 4/6/8 groups. But the bellyaching when you have variable pricing is such a pita. 

I used to have extra charges after 4 & I’m currently closed. But it’s an interesting thought exercise. 

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 we have discussed this a lot. We really prefer couples to larger groups,  so we keep coming down on thr side of variable pricing so as not to penalize them. We also don't charge a pet fee to anyone.  

Right now it's couples at 160 a night

3 people at 180

4 people at 200

So it's really quite a bit cheaper per person to be a larger group. Less than $50  per person per night has given us poor guests traditionally.  So I think our  pricing is in a reasonable spot. 

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 Pricing is such an interesting exercise. Before we closed we were 

$200 cleaning fee

$160 up to 4

$45/additional

We’ve gradually been taking less and less guests. We took 10 at our max, then 8, then 6 and really our per person pricing was designed to account for the fact that once you get to 6+ you’re probably talking about multiple adults splitting a bill vs a nuclear family with single payer. If I’m cleaning up after a group I need that to be an upgrade. 

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 yeah,  we have just been keeping our cleaning fee artificially low at $35. The extra charge for more guests really goes straight to cleaning more than anything.  I wish ABB would make that particular fee variable.  But im sure if they did, we would see even more people trying to avoid it on the basis of how clean they left everything  (in their own minds....)

[Christine615]

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