Lack of Transparency by guest about having a Service Dog

[Micca0]

Hello Fellow Host,

Its my first time here and I'm so happy I found all of you. I've read a few of the past post but wanted some assistance as AIRBNB has yet to return my call about the matter and its been 3 days now.

Here is the run down... 

So as a Super Host I truly try to make my properties a home away from home. It's a pleasure to go above and beyond to accommodate each and every guest.  Feel free to read some of my review to see how guest feel about me and my property.

My home is listed as a full house and we DO NOT ALLOW PETS. Main reason is my severe allergies that are so bad I take precription meds. Being I'm the main person cleaning it would be nearly impossible to do due to pet allegiant.

On May 17, 2021 a booking request comes in. I don't have it set to auto book because I'm listed on other sites as well and like to make sure I don't get double booked. It's also a great way to make sure I have an opportunity to chat with guest first to confirm details about the requested stay.  This particular guest was requesting a stay of 4 nights for 5 people. Part of my standard process is to reply with these 3 questions: 1.) Please confirm the total number in your party will be..., 2.) How many vehicles will you have on site?, 3.) Do you have pets traveling with you?. This guest confirmed there will only be 5 of them and 2 vehicles. 

I accepted the booking and reached out 24 hours before the check in on June 11, 2021 to see if they had any special request or questions I could answer. The wife rudely rushed me off the phone and said she didn't understand why I would be calling them when no other host has ever called to welcome them before. I apologize that no other host had ever called her and asked her to please let me know when they would be checking in on the next day. As she hung up she said we'll get back to you on the portal.

Fast forward to the day of check in. No return calls or response to me on the portal. I messaged 2 more times to see if they had any info on what time they planned to arrive. After no response and it was nearing the 4pm check in time on my listing I decided to simply give the couple instruction for entry and even sent a welcome video tour of the home  to the cell phone on file and access info on the portal.  Still nothing, no response from them until...  

I must add that I'm a very transparent person so my listing states we do Have a Ring Door Bell at entry and exterior of the home. It also states we may use it to verify if a guest has checked in. 

My thoughts are they missed the info on my listing about the Rind Door Bell and arrived to check in and saw the my Ring Door Bell Sign at the front door entry because here is the exact message I received from them about 8:30pm on the AIRBNB portal. 

Guest:

Hi Micca. We made it to the house!!! Looks so nice. Recieved your message and texts with videos. Thanks so much.

Out of courtesy, I also like to let our host know that my wife has a service dog. AirBnB is aware and it is noted on our account. We are looking forward to our stay here in Cypress.

My issue with this is I asked weeks before if he would be traveling with any pets. I called 24 hours before check in and spoke with his wife the owner of the service animal and no one said a word to me before they showed up with the animal.  I'm sure the plan was to just bring the animal inside the home and not tell me anything because they saw my home was a NO PET house. The Ring Door Bell made them come up with an excuse. Thats my take on what happened.  

I know people with service animals and they would first make contact and let the owners know they have a service animal. They usually only stay in places that are pet friendly and not a home that says not pets. They would never be so rude as to bring them into a home that clearly states no pets. This guest even accepted the house rules that show no pets. 

So of course I was very disappointed in the guest and expressed it in my response. Being very professional about it. Here is his response to my concerns.

Guest:

I understand. However it is important you know that this dog is not a pet. It is a service animal and protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Please see Airbnb policy below:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

The interesting part is he believed he was paying me a courtesy by telling me after he brought the dog into my home.  This is just so unbelievable sad on so many levels. Unfortunately  AIRBNB leans more on the guest side than the host. I read info int he link and the only thing they do is suggest transparency. It should be required that guest state at booking that they will have a service animal on site. That was at least the host could be prepared. I would have had my carpet cleaner booked, left dog waste bags so they could clean up behind the animal and so on. 

So what I'm requesting of this awesome community is feedback on how to review him so other host can be warned. I also send out a list of check out requirements to all my guest and want you option on how my #1 item on the list look. I'm open to suggestions. I'm sending the first 3 items of my request so you can get a feel for what it would normally look like without an animal living in the home. Items marked #2 & #3 would normally be my #1 & 2 on a list with no animal. Also, not I'm using the lingo pet/animal/service because so no matter how he wants to refer to it I'm covered. Thanks in advance. 

Things to do before check out:

1.) Please be a responsible service animal/dog/pet owner and clean all dog waste, hair, and dander from the interior and exterior of the property before departing. 

2.) Load the dishwasher of all used items and start it before departing. We will put them away.

3.) Return any items you have moved or used to the original check in location before check out. EX: If you used a bike, games, toys, high chair, toddler bed or moved a lamp or chair.  Please put them back where they originated. 

Thanks in advance everyone and have an amazing week.

[Nate527]

Welcome to hosting.

Since it sounds like you understand how much support you will be receiving from Air BnB I will offer a polite suggestion.

When you leave your review I would wait to the final possible hour to leave that review. Unless your guest has left a review before that time it will increase the odds that you do not receive a retaliatory review.

So far my experience is that the platform could care less what your house rules are especially with pets. You could add a pet cleaning fee to your list of charges so that at a minimum you can re coup those added costs.

Good Luck !

[Micca0]

Good morning and thank you so much @Nate527!  Let me clarify...I've been hosting since 2016 but I'm new to the community center. 

This pet thing is my first major issue and I was looking for a place to get more info on how host have been handled these popup "service animals" (pets). Found this community and was so happy about it.

I have learned that trick about waiting until the last minute to do the review. Great advise!  

Also,  I do have a pet cleaning fee listed but with the service dogs/animals you are NOT allowed to charge them any extra fees. Its solely guest geared and no real help for us the host. Very Disappointed with the lack os support from Airbnb. 

Take care of yourself and thanks again for offering this valuable advised. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Micca0 I guess you should have asked if the guest was bringing animals rather than pets as they probably don't view a service dog as a pet.

[Micca0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 yes, I've leaned now and have changed the verbiage on my listing to state no animal of any type. I still think it should have triggered an honest person  to say I don't have a pet Micca but we will be traveling with a service animal. Better yet why not located a home that is animal friendly. I guess thats the most difficult part for me. 

Thanks for your time and comments. Take care.

[Lisa723]

@Micca0 so sorry this has happened to you. All hosts should really read the entire terms of service before listing but of course few do.

Maybe think about exactly what you hope to accomplish with that message. Do you really expect guests to clean up all hair and dander inside and outside? If so, how? It reads more like a passive-aggressive expression of resentment, to me. Re the review, be careful not to violate Airbnb’s content policy with any speculation about the guests’ motives etc.; stick to the simple facts. According to Airbnb’s lamentable policy they have done nothing wrong.

FWIW I too would be annoyed to receive an unnecessary phone call from a host. Maybe reconsider that practice.

[Micca0]

@Lisa723 Thank you so much for your response. Yes, you're correct we should totally read them and I thought I did but guess not as well as needed. 

Yes, very unfortunate that the guest just didn't locate another animal friendly home vs just showing up to one that doesn't accept them. The guest I've had stay in the past always say how much they appreciate my listing being animal free. Its just frustrating the steps we have to take to get this home back to animal free. 

Thanks for the pointers on the review. I would defiantly not want to host them again because a simple call, email or text to advise in advance they were traveling with a pet would have been reasonable. I'll see how to go about a review.

The goal of my request to clean up is I don't want to have to pick up animal poop from the yard and wouldn't want my next guest to step in it. I do supply cleaning supplies in the home (vacuum, mop, broom, disinfectant and such). The goal is for them to make an effort to clean up vs me having to do so without any extra cleaning fee that can be assessed.  

Finally, its interesting you say you wouldn't want any unnecessary calls from a host.  This guest was the first person that I've had in 5 years that didn't appreciate a host wanting to make sure they didn't need anything, had a question or just excited to have someone welcome them.  Being from the South and in Real Estate nearly 18 years it's always about providing that southern hospitality.  

Its great seeing other host prospective. Take care.

[Emilia42]

I would be really careful about mentioning the service aminal at all for fear that the guest would get the review removed by Airbnb. Because the service dog falls under a protected class it could be seen as discrimination. 

[Micca0]

@Emilia42 Thanks for your feedback. Just wish there was another way to help future host out. My feeling is they never planned to tell me but the ring door bell made them. Appreciate your time.

[Emilia42]

@Micca0 I would suspect they never planned to tell you because they don't have to. In their eyes, they were doing you a courtesy. Had they not said anything and you noticed on the Ring doorbell, the result would have been the same. You would have approached them about it and still received the same response.

[Micca0]

@Emilia42 Yes, in their eyes it was courtesy. In mind it was rude but hey not much I can do about it. Thanks for your super host feedback. Take care

[Sarah977]

@Micca0  A service dog is not classified as a pet. And there is not a requirement to disclose a service dog nor are they limited to only pet-friendly listings.

I'm not saying I approve of this policy, but that is the policy. And when he did let you know about the dog, there are 2 questions you are allowed to ask regarding a service dog, and that would have been your opportunity to do so.

Since you now have no way of knowing if it truly was a service dog or just a pet, I would not mention it at all in the review.

Not only could it be grounds to have the review removed, it could get your listing suspended or delisted.

[Micca0]

@Sarah977  thanks you for taking out your valuable day to respond. Totally agree it’s a lost cause on anything I can really do. It will be counted as a learning experience. 

[Sarah977]

Duplicate post deleted.

[Kia272]

@Micca0 So sorry that this happened to you. Considerate and decent people with a service animal would definitely have inquired with you before booking. This was pretty crappy on their part, and obviously intentional. I hope you can figure out appropriate wording for your review, but I would definitely check the "would not host again" button. 

My other two take-aways from your story: don't call guests, and certainly don't ask them to:

"Please be a responsible service animal/dog/pet owner and clean all dog waste, hair, and dander from the interior and exterior of the property before departing."

Personally, I think the calling is really intrusive. Really. At best, I would find it kind of weird and unnecessary, at worst, it's intrusive. It's always best to keep all communication on the platform. A welcome/check-in message is more than enough, and you can always ask them about any special requests (yikes! Pandora's Box!) or questions then. 

As to the cleaning you asked for, these guests made it clear that they are inconsiderate jerks, but in general, that's above and beyond what I would ever ask of a guest, with or without an outlaw dog. It's unrealistic and will leave a bad taste in their mouths, which will lead to a bad review. Best just to let this one go. If you really can't clean because of your allergies, pay a professional cleaner and eat the cost. It sucks, but that message is just not okay. 

You also asked that they put everything back in its place? They don't know your house like you do. They may have used and moved something with the best of intentions, and may simply not remember where it was to begin with. 

When you host and guests come stay, the understanding is that you will have to clean and arrange your house in the way you like it after they leave. If they treated your house respectfully, i don't think they should have to spend time during their get-away worrying about putting things back in order. That's your job. 

A considerate and conscientious guest will generally do these things before checking out, or make an overall general effort to leave a place neat and clean. I would really not like it if I received that message prior to checking out of your place. Kia