Reporting a guest

[Tami210]

Hi there, please can you share your opinion on this with me. I had a booking for 2 adults for my air bnb in cape town. The woman came with a toddler and said her husband was coming in the next few days. She said she was dropping the child off withher mom to get. When the man arrived she said they couldnt drop the child off anywhere. We were not told about the child nor is the place equipped for a child. The woman also looks nothing like her profile pic and joined air bnb in the past month. Do air bnb  check these things? they also arrived all not wearing masks. It seems like it is more hassle than its worth. I dont think air bnb get involved or assist. Any advice? is this risky?

[Anonymous]

@Tami210  No, Airbnb does not check these things. You can require that guests have verified ID in order to book, but there's no verification of the profile photo, which can be of anything. But it sounds like the guest was not in breach of any Airbnb policy that would merit an action against their account, so to "report" them would be a waste of your time.

When the guest is in breach of your rules, for misrepresenting the number and ages of people in the party, or for refusing to wear masks, you do have the right to refuse them entry to the property and terminate the booking. Had that been your chosen course of action, getting Airbnb involved would have been necessary. But since you've apparently opted to let the guests complete their stay, all that's worth doing is writing an honest review. 

[Debra459]

I had an instance today. I have a guest in my home (husband and wife) who instant booked Wednesday evening for yesterday check in. They booked for only seven days, as they said  is they had sold there home and we're waiting for the home they bought to close escrow. My home is SMALL pet friendly only, as I have no fenced back yard (my home is on a slope and backs to the greens) and I have nice furnishings. Today, the guest called asking for the wifi password. At that time I noticed quite a few motion detection notifications on my phone from my outside security cameras so I pulled up my camera app. Thumbnails showed 2 large breed dogs and a UHAUL van backed up to my garage with my garage door open--so I called the guest to discuss the issues. They said they would be willing to pay an additional pet security deposit. When I asked about the UHAUL van they said they had there things in storage and we're just bringing over clothes and laundry detergent, which made no sense, as you wouldn't need a UHAUL van to do that and they are only in my home for seven days. Anyway, they had mentioned that they were in another Airbnb prior so I asked them what there situation was--why their prior host didn't extend their stay seven more days? The guest said the hosts had booked the home out to someone else. They said they sold their home during covid and had moved in with some friends but needed to be out of their house by 12/1/20, as they were selling their home. I called airbnb to advise them if what was going on and to get their advice. I was transferred three times. The last representative I had to repeat everything to was Zachary.  He sent me an email so I could send screen shots of dogs and UHAUL van. He said he was going to speak to other Airbnb reps and would get back to me.

Followingis his response: this instance, we have two paths to choose from. We can keep the reservation or we can get him out. If we keep the reservation, he will need to pay a deposit and maybe have some restrictions on the time(s) the dogs can be out. If we get him out, then we would move the check-out date and refund him for the time not spent in the listing.

How would you like to proceed? With either route, I'll need to touch base with the guest.

As a host this response doesn't seem fair so my response was as follows:

Your two alternatives are not acceptible. This isn't just about being a member of an HOA. Brad broke my house rules. I accept small pets only because my home is small, it is nice with nice furnishings and I would like to keep it that way--and I don't have a fenced back yard since my home is on a slope. Therefore your suggestion about restrictions on when they can be out is moot. Moreover, to infer that it is okay for a guest to break house rules, by giving them a refund if asked to leave, is wrong and not fair to me as a host--nor would it be fair to any host since I must rent a car and travel 200 miles to prepare my home and change the lock code in preparation for the guest. Did you even attempt to talk to their prior Airbnb host to find out why they didn't extend Brad's booking? Did you contact Brad and ask him why he would need to unload the contents of a uhaul van into my home when his reservation is for only one week? It seems you are placing everything on me when I have done nothing wrong. I have acted in good faith. It appears Brad has not.

I called back and asked to speak with a supervisor but was told it could take up to 24 hours.

[Anonymous]

@Debra459 Your situation doesn't really relate to the original post, so it might be better to start a separate topic for it.

The operator you spoke to gave you sensible advice. It is not Airbnb's fault that you live far from your Airbnb, and it's entirely your own responsibility as the host to maintain control over the property and enforce your rules. Listing your property on Airbnb does not magically transfer onto them the burden of doing your job. You have a clear pathway to terminating the booking if it is unsuitable, and it really is as simple as that.

[John5097]

I've seen other listings more proactive and state in their listing that guest who bring children or more than one car will be asked to vacate the property immediately. I really depends on the host. As long as there is no damage I would try and rephrase your listing if its that much of a problem. I'm finding that its hard to predict which guest will be a nuisance. For kids I think you have to up your rates for more wear and tear. I'm no longer including a pull out couch for families but will have to wait and see, as I liked them, but they tend to do a lot of laundry, cooking, and more cleaning and washing on your end, and could be more prone to break something.