Booking request for guests who don't meet our policies

[Laura2592]

We are not safe for infants due to some 1850s house quirks which include really steep and funky stairs. We decided to allow families with children but not infants last year after a guest who had a crawling baby complained about the stairs. Just too scary in terms of liability for us as hosts. 

This past weekend we had a booking request for a family with a young child and an infant. I declined it based on our policies and explained why. No parent wants so stay somewhere that is not safe for a small child. Airbnb sent a message that they are "reviewing" this declination. Its clearly stated in our policies. I don't understand why this guest was even able to put in a request. Anyone have a similar experience? Shouldn't there be a pop up when a guest tries to book something that is not permitted by the host? Or that category (infant) should not be available at all on our listing. 

[Anonymous]

@Colleen253  This is my favorite new addition to the list of Brilliant Suggestions That Will Be Ignored By Airbnb. But yes, that button most definitely should exist!

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Colleen253 ,Maybe pair it with "Requesting guest is asking for something that is not permitted in our listing", no means no right?  Unfortunately, too many toys r us kids with credit cards ...  Stay well, JR

[Suzanne302]

Whenever I had an issue come up that I could blame on insurance, I did. ie, I'm so sorry, but per our insurance policy we are not allowed to accept or do (XYZ) or we are not covered and will lose our insurance. It makes it less personal and makes it see like the insurance company is the bad guy and your hands are tied, so the guest doesn't take offense.

[Laura2592]

@Suzanne302 yes I actually mentioned that in my response. Its always a good angle. 

[Suzanne302]

@Laura2592  Well look at you then you've thought of everything! I can't imagine why you're still having an issue with these guests. Simply madness!

[Michelle1851]

I just had an interesting experience with someone stating they had 6 adults and 2 under 2 . I explained that it would be rather crowded but they were just excited to come to Colorado and apparently kids under 2 don’t count.  I went around locking cabinets and childproofing everything,   Neighbors told me it was actually 7 adults and an infant, they turned out to be fine guests but I spent an entire day childproofing for a newborn and they  exceeded  my max number of people.  Ugh 

[Laura2592]

@Michelle1851  last year we had an IB request from a newbie who said it was two adults and two infants. Turns out it was two adults, a 5 year old and a 3 year old plus a dog. They were just trying to say the little ones were infants to avoid the extra guest fees. I suspect that happens fairly often. 

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  I don't allow anyone who can't legally buy alcohol in Germany (16). Never yet had a guest that stole anything from the booze cabinet, but I'm not very tall and I'm not about to move it to a place only my husband can reach. Also, some of the random pieces of art that friends have stuck on the walls feature (tasteful) nudity. And my dog is the gentlest creature, but she perceives toddlers only as easy targets to steal a Brezel from.

I'm a bit wary of the discrimination police, so it's possible that maybe some day if I get a request from someone who wants to bring a child on Saturday, I'll suddenly have an unexpected funeral to go to on Friday and block the date for 24 hours. If that funeral happens to be 5 months away...well, shame on you for not understanding my ethnic cultural traditions!

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Helen3 

Parents are responsible of children.
What about a bunk bed?

What about a high-floor flat where children can lean dangerously out of the window?

Host has to respect the usual rules (railing, baby fence etc...).
Parents care about their wonderful children.

Most of my guest are Amercican families.
The appartment is on the 4th floor with steep staircases (old building where staircases are less confortable than the modern one), there is a bunk bed.

It is written in the listing. 

They can choose a modern flat but they choose to come in an old parisian buiding (built in 1635) and i am not responsible if the child wants to plays at flying superman.

[Cathie19]

Everything @Nathalie-Et-Gilles0 is relative to its own environment. As much as I would like to trust all parents follow my preferred alertness, it’s about deciding what risk/s you are prepared to accept, including litigation. Your space sounds lovely......

We have lower ceilings and most houses in Darwin wouldn’t have a bunk bed unless a very large room, away from the overhead ceiling fans.

A child or even a teenager having a moment of not thinking, if they jump or lunge, can end up with a fractured skull. Most people know someone this has happened to across their life here.

[Laura2592]

@Nathalie-Ets-Gilles0 sadly some parents cannot be trusted to watch their children. On vacation and drinking a glass of wine with the TV on? Very easy for a curious and athletic little one to climb our stairs or have a tumble. Our home was never designed for families. It is a one room school house that was converted to a cottage. There were school age children attending in 1850 and the place was made into a home in about 1930. It is not up to local building codes and has historic significance in our area. The uniqueness attracts a lot of guests and our target market is a couple who wants a short stay/long weekend getaway. We are set up for older kids, but not babies, end of story. The risk is just too great. Glad you feel safe hosting families but everyone is different.

[Cathie19]

That @Laura2592 is what makes @Airbnb  an important platform. 

The fundamental uniqueness of the platform is to communicate and match hosts to guests and visa versa. Good matches and a variety of styles and choices is the key to the success. AIrbnb expecting you to take a bad fitting, and more importantly an unsafe match, is a very poor business plan and procedure. We ARE the experts of our spaces. No one else. That experience and astute decision making by us the hosts, is what helped achieve super host status. Our home, our rules but more importantly our local and in-situ knowledge.....

Your space would NEVER be a good match for the very young. Mine has been designed around children, as well as adults.

Example: I removed all real candles and raised the matches for the bbq, way up high, well out of the range of a climber!  Whilst cleaning the pool one day, I watched a four year old playing at the outside table, whilst sitting alongside a packet of matches, left there by the parents. A few inches away....

Even though I have a steel framed house, I live upstairs with wooden floorboards. Fires double themselves, every thirty seconds. Yes, they double their size, every 30 seconds.

Only LED battery operated (non-button sized batteries) candles NOW! Lol...

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Cathie19 

Most people know children can hurt.
But it is none of my responsability as long as furniture meets the rental requirements.
No judge in France would blame a host whose child's guest flew like Superman (except the landing).

But he would blame the parents.

Responsabilities are defined by laws.
I can imagine that laws might be different in your  country.

It is the same thing if the traveller is stolen.
I had the case. 
The burglar broke the door and stole a few things.

Guest's travel insurance repaid his stuff and my insurance paid to change the broken door.

All this is defined by the law.
So the best thing is to know your laws and complied with it.
If hosts cannot refuse children because it does not comply with housing local laws, he must find another solution ... or write to the members of the Parliament to change the law 🙂

With a bit of luck, they host on Airbnb!

[Anonymous]

@Nathalie-Et-Gilles0  Legal issues aside, the degree of attachment we have to the home has some impact here.  I think I'd feel emotionally affected by something bad that happened in my home in a way that I wouldn't if it was in, say, my workplace, or in public.  But if I was renting out properties that I never lived in, they would just be workplaces.

And while it's nice to know you have a winnable case if you were to ever get sued, we'd all prefer not to get sued in the first place.

[Nathalie-Et-Gilles0]

@Anonymous 

I agree.
But you can be sued for not applying housing laws when discrimating families!

Unless your max is 1-2 people, it is tricky to publish a listing suitable for 4 people and to expect not to have children in the group.