Extra Guests Again

[Cave0]

Yet another reservation where extras were ushered in in the middle of the night.

I called Airbnb, asked for the reservation to be cancelled in line with the information Airbnb provided to me in July when this last happened.

Not this time, 3 alls and 3 people later there was a point blank refusal to cancel the reservation even though there was clear photographic evidence of the violation of the Terms of Service and my House rules.

I decided to adopt a different approach and ask the Guest to pay for the Extra, as specified in my House Rules.  The Guest declined.

Eventually Airbnb decided to pay under the Host Guarantee, but that was only a contribution to the additional guest fee I had requested from the Guest.

After much discussion it appears that, a Guest can come along and break the House Rules and the Terms of Service, steal from the Host, refuse to pay for the theft and Airbnb still insists that the reservation will not be cancelled and there's no consideration of the breach of trust and confidence suffered by the Host.

Perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that it's my house.

[Colleen253]

@Cave0 I think this is mostly an issue of these call center workers just having NO CLUE about AIrbnb. They are just there to answer calls. They don’t know a lick of Airbnb policy. If one ever manages to reach one who knows anything about Airbnb at all, then it’s a miracle.

Catherine Powell’s endless promises to improve CS are empty and hollow.

[Brian2036]

@Cave0 

Perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that it's my house.

That certainly does seem to be the presumption.

I could be wrong, but it seems to me that if word got out that guests who blatantly violate basic rules can and will be immediately evicted, charged replacement cost for damages, and permanently barred from the platform, they would be more careful.

These people are telling you that they can do whatever they want in your house, you can’t do anything about it, and they’re right.

It seems to me that Airbnb would be far better off to tell guests like this to go patronize the competition.

Good riddance to bad rubbish.

But of course we wouldn’t want to do anything to impact this quarter’s bottom line.

[Cave0]

@Brian2036 

You're absolutely on the money here Brian.

I had a Guest 3 years ago or so and she brought additional people to my listing.  Airbnb cancelled that reservation and so the young lady had to go elsewhere.

Within a couple of hours, she'd posted on Instagrim "Kicked out of our Airbnb, again.  Not the first time, probably won't be the last".

And therein lies the problem for Hosts.  These people are intentionally making reservations for the least amount of people that they can so that they don't have to pay and have every intention of bringing more along, just because they can. 

With my latest episode, the Guest was told by Airbnb te send a mealy mouthed apology claiming that they didn't know they'd done wrong.  Clearly they think that makes everything ok.

The fact that the Host didn't get paid in accordance with the House Rules and Terms of Service seems to be a mere inconvenience to everyone.  Except the Host.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Cave0 We don't charge extra per guest and just charge what we want for 6 people staying. I suspect we lose out on the odd stay where we are too expensive for 2 people but I am sure this balances out with ensuring we get the full amount for our apartment more often than we otherwise would. It also means we don't have these issues with guests sneaking in guests having booked for a lower number.

[Colleen253]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Ditto. To avoid missing out on couples stays, I also created the 1 bed/2 max version of my listing as I can restrict access to the second and third bedrooms. That strategy, backed up with simple and explicit house rules and careful vetting of guests has worked fabulously for me.

[Brian2036]

@Cave0 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Colleen253 

Perhaps it would be effective to price for maximum occupancy, then offer a discount for fewer people.

This wouldn’t be helpful when people are planning to bring in more than the maximum though.

 I had one utter twit who went so far as to leave a couple of teenagers out in the dark somewhere down the road while she checked in the maximum number of adults.

Then she filed a complaint that I discriminated against her because I objected to the 4-year old she couldn’t leave out in the deep dark forest while the adults checked in. (It was an “infant” and didn’t count.)

***********

Within a couple of hours, she'd posted on Instagrim "Kicked out of our Airbnb, again.  Not the first time, probably won't be the last".

So that’s the attitude.  Haha, I’ve been kicked out of much better places than this before.

 I think that post should be sufficient to get her banned from the platform permanently.

[Cave0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 @Colleen253 @Brian2036 

Over the years I've priced for the maximum number I can accommodate, this does make things expensive for couples and at the moment, larger groups don't seem to be travelling so I priced per 2 plus extras which broadens the target audience.

Earlier in the year I had listings with a 2 bedroom option and another with a 3 bedroom option this year.  However, as hard as it might be to believe, I ended up having to get Airbnb to cancel one reservation shortly after it was made because of the abuse I was receiving from the guest who booked the 2 bedroom listing and then insisted that she was entitled to 3 bedrooms for all her Guests (which numbered 2 on the reservation).  She'd clearly found both listings and booked the cheaper option and then thought she'd try it on, admitting that her party was larger than the 2 for whom she'd booked.

Regardless, if the Guest brings extras no matter how many are on the original reservation, if the Guest refuses to pay for these, then the problem remains no matter what format the listing might take.

For me, the worrying part is the message that is being given to Guests by Airbnb - that it's ok to break the Terms of Service and the House Rules and Airbnb will do no more than have a quiet word and the Guest can carry on as before.  It's also slightly worrying that Airbnb doesn't seem concerned when the Guest declines to pay for the extras people, this exacerbates the issue with which pricing model Hosts should use. 

It becomes more difficult because the Extra Guest Fee has no flexibility in the extra Guest price and seasonal rates can't be applied to it.

[Lise120]

👍

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Yes,  this is a common problem everywhere and there is no universal solution for all.