Extra guest fee for an unregistered guest but same number of guests

[Peter2688]

If two guests check in but later swap, for example, 2 girls books a stay and 2 girls check in, but later on you find out that one girl left and spent the night at her boyfriend's but the other girl brought in her boyfriend (unregistered)  who spent the night in your property, should I be able to request and extra guest fee for the boyfriend even though only two people actually spent the night in the room?

[Gordon0]

Did they stiff you, @Peter2688, no, probably not. Were they disrespectful towards you, absolutely.

It isn't OK to bring home somebody to a shared listing. 

[Linda108]

I agree with @Gordon0 . What is your main concern?  Money or broken rule, if you have no unregistered guest rule, that is?  What was done would easily be done in most hotels, so it is not unusual unless your rules are explicit.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

I feel that there might be more to it.

@Peter2688 Were the two original guests booked and identified as guests through the Airbnb booking system or on arrival? If so, and one left - then you have a justified right to charge for the unauthorised guest.

@Linda108 Airbnb's are not hotels, they're somebody's houses. Respect should be expected from guests and if they can't show that, then indeed they should be booked in a hotel instead.

Disrespectful guests are the worst, and this is what these were.

There's so many complaints around Hosts 'bait and switch' tactics, that I fail to see any difference here, albeit from the guest side.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  I don't agree that all guests are being disrespectful when doing this- they simply don't realize that it isn't okay to have an unauthorized guest stay as long as they haven't exceeded the guest count they paid for.

It's one of those things that hosts need to make clear in their listing and their rules and in messages with guests-that only those guests on the original reservation are permitted to stay, and that if one guest should be substituted for another, the guest needs permission from the host for that.

[Anonymous]

@Sarah977 I notice that the rule forbidding unregistered guests is indeed stated clearly in Peter's listings. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

In a home sharing situation like this I would have thought it respectful for the guest to inform the host about any change in arrangements without just going ahead and doing it. And without reading any rules, if I was being accommodated somewhere I'd certainly feel uncomfortable and it wrong to be switching guests in any way.

It does breach safety issues having some unidentified stranger in your house, especially as I asked whether @Peter2688 may have records of who he thought should be there.

In a whole house situation, not as here, switching guests shouldn't cause so much issue as long as the numbers are within the amounts booked, so it just comes down to the rules and what the rules state. 

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  I didn't realize it was a home share- that wasn't stated in the OP. In that case, yes, it's just common courtesy not to bring some unknown person back to the house. But there seem to be so many people these days who don't have a concept of common courtesy that I think it's still important to let guests know what the parameters are. 

I had a female guest bring some guy home her first night in my house (In this case, it wasn't even a matter of guest count- I only rent to solo guests), at 3AM, drunk, laughing loudly, noisily clattering up the stairs, woke me up. I didn't get up and make a scene at 3AM but the next morning I was quite firm that that was not to happen again. 

I was pretty gobsmacked that she never considered that it was not an okay thing to do.

[Mark116]

@Peter2688  That's a tough one, if they were otherwise good guests, and left the place on time in good condition, it isn't that big of a deal.  OTOH, it is breaking the rules and is putting your property at risk by having random people whose identities you don't know staying on the property.  

I don't know that it is worth it to try and get an extra guest fee, and airbnb may not even back you up if the total number of people staying was always 2, even if not the original 2.

[Fred13]

If it changes the dynamics of the situation, then it is very relevant; if it doesn't what difference does it make? In my case, it makes zero difference and many of my guests do this, let me make that most do. I can imagine however that may not the case with true sharing types of situations.

[Anonymous]

@Peter2688 You might mention in your review that the guest brought an unregistered visitor into your home without permission. Most homestay hosts find this behavior unacceptable. But I don't see any advantage to opening a resolution request and initiating a payment dispute over one night's worth of an extra guest fee. It's justified in principle, but petty in practice.

[Linda108]

There are four private room listings.  Three have a rule about not bringing unregistered guests. One does not.  @Peter2688  does not identify which listing, but it appears the question is about charging extra not addressing any broken rule.  

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 I am totally in agreement with not bringing in unregistered guests as I also have private room.  I am not in agreement with automatically assuming a guest is disrespectful and acting on that assumption.  While it may be patently obvious to most people bringing a stranger into a private home should be communicated to the host, Air BNB markets to the uninformed traveler that may only have hotel experience as a reference and I think it is the host's responsibility to educate the guest.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Linda108 

Air BNB markets to the uninformed traveler that may only have hotel experience as a reference and I think it is the host's responsibility to educate the guest.

That's all well and good except that 'training' just ends up in conflict which the host will always bear the brunt of by way of a retaliatory review, and unregistered guests, should just not be there.

Apart from Airbnb taking responsibility for the guests they send and for which they get paid, they should ensure the guests are educated before booking to ensure they understand the rules which hosts have put in place and impose appropriate consequences otherwise. Too many times we hear of Hosts having these kind of dilemma's and they simply shouldn't exist.

[Peter2688]

Thank you all for your input. Just to clarify a few points not included in the original post. This happened in my "private room in a house" listing where I live. I also do have a no "unregistered guest" rule which was shared with the guests at check in. They were told guest can visit, but have to leave by 10:00 pm which is our quiet time, also included in the house rules. Its my home and so I believe this is beyond being disrespected.  My understanding is paid guests are covered my Airbnb's insurance, but if something were to happen to this "unregistered" guest, would he be covered also? That's why asking for payment for the extra guest makes sense as he then would be covered.

When this happened before when two guests (boys) brought in two extra guests (girls) overnight, I simply asked for the extra guest fees through AirBnb issue resolution center,and the guest paid without question. The difference this time is there was a swap and only two people stayed hence my question.

[Anonymous]

@Peter2688 Hypothetically, if there's an incident of damage or injury involving a visitor who's not one of your registered guests, this could be the basis for an insurance claim to be denied. So this is a good reason to insist that the full number people who will enter your home (even if not as overnight guests) are accounted for and named in the reservation. It's up to you as the host whether you actually charge a per-person fee for additional guests, so the money side of it does not affect this hypothetical coverage.

Based on your description, it sounds like you only learned of the switch after it occurred. If the stay is still ongoing, you may ask that the male guest at least supply his name and amend the number of guests for whom you're responsible. Or you may terminate the booking due to violating your House Rules. Both are things you have every right to do. If the stay is over, and there's no evidence of any damage, the matter of insurance isn't really relevant here. All you'd accomplish by requesting additional payment is sparking a dispute that will probably end in a retaliatory review. #