The old "extra guests" chestnut

[Cave0]

Here we go again with that time old trick that guests like to play.

I have 2 guests who messaged 2 days before arrival to tell me they were worried about Covid and they'd like to cancel but they'll lose all their money and they can't afford this, they're students.  Well, firstly it's not their money any longer, it becomes the hosts money if they cancel less than 7 days before check-in, however, students, maybe not the brightest.

Upon learning there's no refund, they decide to come and whilst they're not the tidiest, it matters not, they're on holiday albeit worried about Covid.

On day 4, still worried about Covid they bring some friends for a swim in my pool.

I contact Airbnb and tell them that the guest is breaking the Terms of Service - 2.4 Reservations for Experiences and Other Host Services "Except where expressly authorized, you may not allow any person to join a Host Service unless they are included as an additional guest during the booking process."

The reply, "Oh no Sir, that's not the case, if they bring more people you can just charge them if you want"

They went on to tell the guest "Contractually, if it is not prohibited in the internal regulations, you were entitled to do so."  The guest was French so I assume "internal regulations translates house rules"

That's not what the Terms of Service states.

This is very interesting, they told the guest that if my house rules don't state that additional people may not be brought to the accommodation, then it's ok.  When challenged, they said that the Terms of Service doesn't say what it says, however, if I wanted, they would cancel the reservation because the guest broke my house rules, which as it happens, does prohibit extra people being brought to the accommodation.

So there you have it, the Terms of Service are optional and don't state what they state. Clearly Airbnb feels it is appropriate to interpret the rules as it wishes and all of this was delivered by an agressive customer "service" person who was more interested in telling me that I was wrong and what I should do to "educate" the guest.

This from a company that up until a few weeks ago, had us running around in masks and washing unused crockery and so on and so forth in case we had our reservations cancelled for not complying with meaningless regime, all in the name of protecting our guests.  When the boot is on the other foot however..............

Perhaps it's a timely warning to ensure that house rules are up to date and hosts aren't left high and dry - again.

[Cave0]

@Elena87 

This article just goes to show that the kids at Airbnb live in Cloud Cuckoo land.

Firstly, if, as I do mostly, the accommodation is priced per night regardless of the numebr of guests, then there's no additional guest charge to collect since my understanding is that the charge is only added when the guest numbers exceed the host pricing threshold.  SImilarly, if the host prices the accommodation for 4 and takes a booking for 2 yet 4 turn up, my understanding is that there's no extra charge to collect according to Airbnbs system.

The article also suggests asking the guest to cancel and a refund according to the host policy will be made.  If the host policy is such that there's no refund, does Airbnb really think the guest and the merry little gang are going to forego getting any money back and then go on to book somewhere else?

Airbnb is certainly doing nothing to discourage guests trying it on, one would have thought that the initial stance should be that it's not allowed unless by prior agreement with the host, and for this there's a perfectly adequate change request feature that guests can use.  There's little excuse for just turning up with extra people completely unannounced.

At the moment, Covid laws and regulations prohibit anyone who does not have a valid reservation being on the premises, certainly that applies to my listings.  Given the song and dance Airbnb created about washing unused dishes, wearing masks when the local laws didn't require them, specified cleaning routines and so on and so forth, it's surprising that Airbnb pays scant attention to these seemingly inconvenient laws and regulations.

[Helen744]

@Helen 744

Its simple . Pay to play . Booking do not allow guests  or parties. All guests must be registered under covid rules .

[Cave0]

The reason for opening this topic was that Airbnb told one of my guests something that I considered to be at variance with the Terms of Service and I thought it might be useful to share it.

Since the original post, Airbnb has now come back with the following:

"The issue is complicated because there's a difference between unauthorized guests, and unauthorized visitors.

Unauthorized guests are people that stay overnight. That is not allowed according to our terms.

Unauthorized visitors, are people that enters the listing for a certain period but don't stay overnight. They are not considered guests.

This is where things get confusing, because we don't have an specific rule for visitors on our terms, we only have for guests. However, since in your house rules it clearly stated that "Additional persons may not use the accommodation and/or its facilities unless agreed in Writing. " We considered it to be a confirmed house rule violation, and we had to cancel the reservation."

So there we have it, the Terms of Service only contain reference to "Hosts" and "Guests" but to get around this, Airbnb has made up a new category "Visitors"! 

How can hosts possibly know where they stand in this when this kind of thing seems to be the MO for Airbnb?