Some guest concerns

[Paul8467]

Hi everyone,  I have a guest checked in who I’ve had concerns would be a nightmare with some of the questions and demands upfront, and worried in particular that she will leave a bad review (judging by the tone of her messages), which will be inconsistent with all my other reviews. Whilst I’ve not heard from her since she’s checked in (so assume all is well for now) my concerns were spot on: the video doorbell has shown they’ve already broken the ornamental topiary tree at the door, have left the keybox open (with the combination visible to passers by), the door is left wide open for long periods (while they bring stuff in- I can let that one go), and to cap it all they have an additional child guest staying (I have max occupancy of 5, the reservation indicates 5 guests and the guest who hasn’t mentioned an additional child).... what should I do? Are they even covered by insurance if they’ve breached the terms of the booking by having an unauthorised guest? Or am I overreacting?

[Enri1804]

@Paul8467 @I don’t think you’re overreacting. I would be concerned. The insurance question is something I wish AirBnB would let everyone know for sure clearly.  They do say in TOS no unauthorized guests, but this happens far too frequently. If you are able to go there and check it out I would, otherwise it seems best to wait till they leave, leave their review, then you bill them for any damage. Double check my timing on all that based on your own rules there in the uk. I added an “over occupancy charge” to my rules and just may have to use it soon. 

[Huma0]

@Paul8467 

Out of interest, how old is the child? Do you think he/she is under two or over? The reason I ask is that Airbnb does not count 'infants', which it categorises as under two years old as paying guests. Even then, the guest should have disclosed it.

I'd be pretty mad by now about their behaviour and would definitely have brought it up. It sounds like you are expecting a bad one even if you don't challenge the guest on their behaviour/damages. However, I see that your listing only has nine reviews and I can understand why you'd want to avoid a negative one so early on.

If the stay is a long one, then I think you would have to mention something to the guests as they are clearly a security risk. However, if they'll be gone very soon, I would maybe just keep an eye on the situation and follow @Enri1804 's advice RE leaving an honest review/ratings and requesting payment for damages after they have left. As he mentions, timing is quite important for this. You want to leave the review and request for the damages as close as possible to the deadline so that the guest doesn't have much time to retaliate. However, if they go ahead and leave a review before, then it doesn't matter, you can just go ahead.