Guests Obligations when Booking

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

So much aggravation is generated by Guests not fulfilling their Airbnb Membership obligations set out in the Airbnb Terms of Service, that I've whittled the Terms of Service (Europe) down to a short concise format of action/consequence.

For those guests who have never read the Terms of Service or any other types of Rules on Airbnb might want to skim over this post. This is for your benefit.

Mostly it reads:

- Booking accommodation is legally Binding

- Read all the Rules including House Rules and adhere to them as they form part of the legal agreement

- Leave the Accommodaton in the same condition it was in when you arrived

- Damage must be paid for.

- Leave promptly on the agreed check-out time.

The location of these Terms is here:  https://www.airbnb.co.uk/terms#eusec201910_8

8.1 Terms applicable to all bookings

8.1.2  Upon receipt of a booking confirmation from Airbnb, a legally binding agreement is formed between the Guest and theHost,

subject to any additional terms and conditions of the Host that apply,

including in particular the applicable cancellation policy and any rules (House Rules) and restrictions specified in the Listing.

8.2.2  You agree as a Guest to leave the Accommodation no later than the checkout time that the Host specifies in the Listing or such other time as mutually agreed upon between you and the Host.

If you stay past the agreed upon checkout time without the Host's consent (“Overstay”), you no longer have a license to stay in the Accommodation and the Host is entitled to make you leave in a manner consistent with applicable law.

In addition, you agree to pay, if requested by the Host, for each twenty-four (24) hour period (or any portion thereof) that you Overstay, an additional nightly fee of up to two (2) times the average nightly Listing Fee originally paid by you to cover the inconvenience suffered by the Host, plus all applicable Guest Fees, Taxes, and any legal expenses incurred by the Host to make you leave.

11.1 As a Guest, you are responsible for leaving the Accommodation (including any personal or other property located at the Accommodation) in the condition it was in when you arrived.

As a Guest you are responsible for your own acts and omissions and are also responsible for the acts and omissions of any individuals whom you invite to, or otherwise provide access to, the Accommodation, 

11.2 If a Host claims and provides evidence that you as a Guest have culpably damaged an Accommodation or any personal or other property at an Accommodation, the Host can seek payment from you through the Resolution Center.

A Member’s right (Guest or Host) to take legal action before a court of law remains unaffected.

Lets make this Airbnb platform a place where Guests and Hosts are mutually respectful.

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 Thanks for that info!   

I've noted it and will include it in my Description. 

We try and accommodate "sneak ins' because we don"t have CCTVs, and at least they asked.,  Installing a CCTV has been on my mind for a while

Although the points you brought up are undoubtedly important.  People who do this are usually not worth the trouble. Although these people have been with Air BnB since  2016, they have only one review. Of course, they could have used another platform, but.

I want to ask what is your take on the Air Bnb's 1-. "a new tool that automatically detects an inconsistent review" ??

2-. "we've empowered our agents to remove these types of reviews, and guests and hosts who repeatedly violate the policy may face the consequences, including account suspension and removal."

From: Your November 2019 Host Q&A Recap

There are a lot of comments out there regarding irrelevant if not untrue remarks in the reviews, but I personally can't believe that their agents are empowered to remove these reviews. So far, it's all been about the guest.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Alex-And-Rhea0 

what is your take on the Air Bnb's 1-. "a new tool that automatically detects an inconsistent review" ??

I think its great. Guests will be found out to be lying in their reviews before a Host even gets to read it. If it automatically gets removed, all the better.

I'm sure there will be further discussion in the "Host Circle" forum about this rather than this public Hosting forum 🙂 .

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Thank you for your valued opinion- I myself being cynical wanted some feedback.   I have yet to actually experience this new tool as a tool that actually helps hosts rather than guests, basically because most of our reviews that are Australian or American are usually very generous. As I am married to a Japanese girl I am NOT racist,  but people from neighbouring Asian countries seem to consider the review an opportunity to criticize, overlooking all the good effort and goodwill we put into their stay. 

[Kelly149]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @Alex-And-Rhea0 yes, we aren't required by a govt, but by our conscience we require to know who is in our space. I'm just always shocked by how many hosts will hand over their keys and home to total strangers without knowing even who that person is

[John2406]

I don't know whether the legal position that "being ignorant of the law doesn't excuse/exonerate one from being guilty" applies in all Countries of the world, but I would wish to throw my hat into the ring re this topic.

In my humble opinion, the main problem - in fact, I would go as far as to say that the main problem in 99+% of instances - is that very few people take the time to both read through every single word, sentence, paragraph and section of "Terms & Conditions", "Privacy Statements", etc etc and even when the few do reach the final full-stop, it would be amazing if anyone actually understood what each document required of its readers!

When one considers that all Companies' T&C's, Privacy Statements, and all the rest were drawn up and worded for Lawyers and the like (to reduce any claims, should others' attempt to take them to Court, perhaps one can understand why such documents are full of what generally could be deemed to be legal jargon!

Personally - even though it eats so much into my time and energy - I scrutinise each and every word of all Companies, and won't sign to say that I accept those T&C's etc, until I know for certain exactly what it is  I'm signing up to!

As a result of my reading - and understanding - what is required of me, there aren't that many Companies with whom I would want to "trade", particularly "on-line!

On the other hand, I can fully understand (in a perverse sort of way) why the majority of Guests might just tick the box

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@John2406 

The very least a host would expect is that their House Rules are read prior to any booking. Much of what Hosts would write in their House Rules would be along the same lines of those core points I already pointed out:

- Booking accommodation is legally Binding

- Read all the Rules including House Rules and adhere to them as they form part of the legal agreement

- Leave the Accommodaton in the same condition it was in when you arrived

- Damage must be paid for.

- Leave promptly on the agreed check-out time.

I have no doubt that the full T&C's are ever read yet 'ticking the box' to accept them. Accepts them.

Those core points stand a very good chance of finding their way into my House Rules accompanied by  hyperlinks.

[John2406]

(Oh dear, sorry everyone, but I was just about to tap a particular key, when my finger slipped, and hit the Reply button instead! - hence my having to carry on from where I left off!)

What Guests' really need to have, are Terms& Conditions that are really simple to both READ AND UNDERSTAND, so that those who need to COMPLY with the Ts&Cs will actually do what is being asked of them.

Let's take what I've said, and simplify that even more.

Do Host's have their own T&Cs? I would say Yes, but a) are those T&C's simple to understand? and b) do Hosts' reinforce -but in layman's terms - what Airbnb requires Guests to actually do?!

(As I'm very tired whilst writing this, I hope that what's been written so far actually makes sense?)

It does seem to me that hard/harsh as it might sound/be, Hosts' should have a "Contract" of their own to which Guests' should not only sign to say that they fully agreed with the Ts &Cs presented to them, but also that the Guests' would have to pay a mandatory "bond" in order to "Guarantee" that the mandatory requirements WILL be undertaken before Guests' departure; the said Bond only to be returned to the Guest once the Host is 100% "happy" the Guest has fulfilled her/his/their part of the "Agreement"!

Of course, there may well be a "down-side" to such a dictatorial "Agreement", and that could well be a drop-off of bookings, so one would have to weigh up the credits against the debits before putting such an Agreement into practice!

One "flag" that - in my opinion - doesn't do anything/much for Hosts, is the ability to add to their prices, a charge for Cleaning (plus, I would suggest, where they're allowed/welcomed to stay; for dogs), for if one looks at such extra pricing, what Airbnb and Hosts' are - in essence - saying, is that "our price for your stay is xxx, but we have a Cleaner coming in after you leave, so as you'll be paying for/have paid for the Cleaner/clean, you (the Guest) can leave our place just as it is, because someone will clear away any messes you've made!"

Personally, each and every cost we have to incur is included WITHIN our prices, and in the majority of instances, we've had Guests who have cleaned before leaving.

One thing I would add to the above, is that we have always provided dog friendly accommodation, and besides not making an extra charge for dogs (and we've had 6 on a couple of occasions), dog owners' in 99.9% of instances, are the cleanest Guests of all, as they never want to leave behind any sign of hairs, smells or anything else, so do clean everywhere.

Hopefully all I've written will be food for thought, even if you think I'm nuts!

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@John2406 

Contained in the main Airbnb Terms of Service there are two relevant sections:

Terms specific for Hosts, https://www.airbnb.co.uk/terms#eusec201910_7

Terms specific for Guests,  https://www.airbnb.co.uk/terms#eusec201910_8

As Hosts and Guests are all members, the TOS apply to both.