Whats the host code for this?

[Laura2592]

Guests were messier than 2 people on the reservation. Its a couple but both beds slept in. Tons of coffee pods usedband beer cans left. Neighbors think they had another couple over but we didn't see it on the Ring. We don't watch it constantly.

How would you word a review to convey that you suspect this? Or wouldn't you? Would you question the guests about it or not? No serious damage. Just more clean up and a few other house rules broken. 

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   I notice you have a rule against undisclosed overnight visitors, but your listing doesn't appear to say that a party of 2 can't use both beds. So while this was probably a sneak-in rather than a Lucy & Ricky situation, I wouldn't make any implication that there were extra guests without analyzing the CCTV footage first - probably not worth the effort if there wasn't damage.

It sounds like there was more conclusive evidence that other rules were broken, and that seems to me the most relevant detail. "More than the usual cleanup" is always a reliable standby if you can't pinpoint the underlying problem without TMI.

[Laura2592]

 That is the coffee pot after they left it on when they checked out. Lights on too. Furniture moved. Seems like they had a great time....

[Laura2592]

The plot thickens. 

Our suggestion box had names and phone numbers with suggestions by 4 different people during this stay. I had just emptied it before they arrived.  There were definitely 2 extra people.  

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  Wow, if they left deliberate evidence like that, they must have had no thought at all about your rules on extra guests. 

Do you intend to pursue payment for the extras?

[Laura2592]

@Anonymous I asked if there were any extra people and I'll see if the guest is honest.  If so I'll let it slide and review accordingly.  They are new to Airbnb (one stay at a corporate rental) so ill give them the opportunity to 'fess up. If they don't im sure I'll get a poor review in anticipation of their poor review.  But let's hope it was a genuine misunderstanding.  

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  You say there were suggestions by four different people. So you know there were at least 4, so why would you even ask them? You have proof.

And I don't view ignoring your extra guests rules as a misunderstanding. They either didn't bother to read the listing info or they just ignored it, neither of which is okay.

I wouldn't even question them, which as you say, could lead them to retaliate in their review, I'd just leave the appropriate review- they had unauthorized people stay and left a mess.

[Laura2592]

I left a review right before the review period closed stating that the guest was nice but other hosts may want to verify the number staying with her. She has now contacted me over a week after that went up to complain and demand to know what the problem was...how is it a big deal if she rented the whole house? Should I bother to respond? We do have additional fees over 2 people. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Personally my tendency is to try to explain things to people as long as they aren't being rude or belligerent, but I know a lot of hosts would just ignore it.

So if it were me, I would explain that renting an entire house on Airbnb doesn't mean you can just have as many guests there as you want, up to the maximum, all guests staying must be accounted for on the booking, that many listings have an additional guest fee beyond a base number, as does yours, which is clearly mentioned in your listing information, and it's unfortunate that she seems not to have read the info thoroughly.

You might also mention that had they cleaned up nicely after themselves instead of leaving a big mess, you might have been willing to overlook the unpaid-for guests.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 I just sent her pictures of the mess, of the coffee pot with the smoking crud on the bottom, etc. and the below. She is threatening to remove my 5 star review. She can't. But she can have a crappy response. We definitely don't want her back, but I am trying to be as nice as possible. 

________

Hi-

I am so sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the review.. I think that perhaps there was a misunderstanding about the house rules.

We charge an additional fee for anything over 2 guests. Our counts are really important to us for insurance purposes and our cleaning fee is really low. With your stay we were billed an extra 2 hours of cleaning. 

Additionally, and I didn't want to mention this, but there was a safety issue. The coffee pot was left on with the coffee debris cooked to the surface of the pot. The cleaners reported it was smoking when they came in and sent pics. We had to replace that as well. We have a lot of wood in the house so its concerning when there is something that could potentially catch fire.

We try to be very easygoing hosts and I didn't want to embarrass you by leaving anything like that in your review but it sounds as though you were upset by what we did say. Its never my intention to make anyone angry. I hope you enjoyed your time and will find other great places to stay on Airbnb!

L

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Very reasonable and polite response. I'd just ignore her now. And the review you left for her was quite restrained I thought, not a "bad" review.

A guest can ask to have the review they left removed, as can a host. But I don't know if that also removes the ratings. So no biggy- her review wasn't anything special, extolling all the virtues of your place, and you likely don't need her 5 star review to bring your rating up. If she thinks she can change the rating, she is indeed mistaken.

As far as her leaving a nasty response, her response will show on her profile, not yours, so won't seen by future guests unless they have Air Review or cross-reference reviews.

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 I think it can only be removed if it violates the review policy. My review for her was--

"XX was a friendly guest and prompt in her communication. We had some confusion about house rules and future hosts may want to clarify how many people she is bringing on her reservation ahead of time. We thank her for staying with us."

I didn't mention the additional clean up or the coffee pot issue. And I really think this was a very kind review despite the circumstances. I did leave the appropriate stars but she can't see those. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  As far as other posts I've read on the subject here, either party can ask for their own review to be removed, it doesn't have to violate policy.  It has to violate policy if asking for the other party's review to be removed.

[Laura2592]

Ah ok. Well she can remove it. I don't care. We definitely don't need her endorsement to her friends to treat our place like a dorm room. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  Just because someone can ask to have their own review removed doesn't necessarily mean it will be, IDK. I remember a host saying he asked for his review to be removed and it was, because even though it was a really good review, the guest contacted him quite freaked out, because the host said "XX and YY were great guests..." but the guest was having an affair and YY was not his wife.