"arbitrary fees" + "vermin" - response and case resolution for pet fee

[Emily-And-Virginia0]

Hello,

We are superhosts with 1200 reviews averaging 4.9 stars.  (we're a small rural PM cabin company).   

I keep getting shut out of resolutions but I have an issue I just can't shake.   I wonder how this bodes for the future. If I should make a drastic course change.

We had a guest come and bring a pet.  they did not disclose they were bringing a pet.  (so we didn't request the nominal $45 fee)  We message multi times asking if you're brining a pet in addition to stating that you need to disclose to us that you are.

This pet guest greatly damage the property. we have photographic proof.

We sought minor remediation with guest ($200).   No luck.  We sought help from the resolution center.   They will not get involved because dogs are "vermin" and policy states they are not responsible for vermin.   Also, Airbnb resolutions will not help with even collecting the pet fee clearly stated in the listing description because they do not support "arbitrary" fees.  The guest has admitted in messaging that they brought a pet - since departure.

Here's where I feel the most anxiety - we are forbidden in terms of service from collecting pet fees outside of airbnb.  

How is this practice sustainable?    Would someone here in the community give me a reality check?  If the guests had had a rave we didn't approve of would airbnb just tell us "we are not responsible.  case closed."

This guest did not follow the rules.  They brought unapproved guests - in this case, furry -  the guest did damage.  

Look forward to some feedback.  Been tossing and turning about this for a while.  3x resolutions has shut me down.  I have a real bad feeling about this.  Not this one-off event per se, but how I'm strangled by airbnb's new treatment of me.   and lack of ability to invoice myself for arbitrary fees - such as pets, hot tubs, etc.

Kindly,

Virginia

[Colleen253]

@Emily-And-Virginia0 "They will not get involved because dogs are "vermin" and policy states they are not responsible for vermin". Um, what? lol. Current CS reps are pretty bad, but seriously?

Yes, Airbnb is notoriously difficult when trying to collect on damages. That is nothing new.  If I were you, I wouldn't even mention the dog. Guest did damage. Have evidence. Make claim. Done. You'll either win, or lose (more than likely, lose). Are you on other platforms that support hosts better in this area? If not, maybe you should be looking into that.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Emily-And-Virginia0 , this pet/ vermin/ ESA/ Service Dog conversation is an important one that has been like an elephant in the room that the Mothership refuses to deal with in any meaningful way.  Im adding @Catherine-Powell to this thread, it would be great if she could foster a meaningful discussion and resolution to these pet peeves,  Stay well, JR

[Ute42]

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@Emily-And-Virginia0 

Airbnb will not compensate You for the dogs damage. Not in this case and not in the future.

You now have 2 options:

• chalk ist up and continue to rent through airbnb

• leave the platform

As You said You have 1200 reviews under Your belt. If the average value of one rentalcontract was 400 USD, so far airbnb has generated half a million USD in revenue for You. Do You wanna give that up?

Many hosts on airbnb are unhappy with their policies, but 99% continue doing business with them. So why should they change their policy? It's as simple as that.

[Marcy1]

Quit allowing pets.  That's what I did. 

[Connor60]

But what about when guests do not disclose their pet?  That is the biggest issue a lot of people face.

Personally, if I have an issue that was clearly caused by an undisclosed pet, I simply don't mention the pet in the resolution request.

Let's say a sofa corner was torn to shreds, and there was a puddle of urine on the floor that then caused the edges of the laminate flooring to lift. If I didn't physically observe an animal doing that, I simply submit a request based on the damage, not on how it happened.  something like "sofa corner was badly damaged and the stuffing is coming out. Laminate flooring was damaged by a large amount of liquid which was not cleaned up"

My $0.02

[Anonymous]

@Emily-And-Virginia0  You don't have to go through the Host Guarantee terms with a fine-toothed comb to find in bold print that damage caused by pets is not covered (though thankfully it doesn't refer to dogs as vermin). And while I wouldn't call a pet fee "arbitrary," it is also true that Airbnb will not enforce added charges or penalty fees on hosts' behalf. 

These are two very good reasons to have a no-pets policy for your Airbnb guests. Some other platforms have pet fees built into the booking form and collect an actual deposit. if pet owners are a significant part of your business, I see no reason not to have a separate listing on an alternative platform that is specifically targeted at them. 

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Anonymous , no kidding, no pets is the answer unless you own a space filled with lawn furniture that you can clean out with a fire hose!   Parents of kids don't do the best job of making them mind much less pet owners who think their pet is the best.   Airbnb's policy is not a policy at all, its purely a disclaimer of any responsibility for pet guests that damage our listings even as they try to encourage us to accept them in our "opportunities" tab on almost a daily basis.  The mixed signals are less than comforting to small business's that aren't prepared to pay out of pocket to unscrew a place that Fido screwed up before the next guest arrives.

[Laura2592]

@Emily-And-Virginia0  we are a pet friendly listing and do not charge a pet fee. We had guests who came to our space to attend a wedding and left their dog locked in our laundry room for about 8 hours. The dog almost chewed through an antique door to get out. The guests went out and bought paint to cover the damage the dog did to the door and surrounding frame and then propped open the door with a piece of furniture so that it was not immediately noticeable. The cleaners did their job and we went behind them, wondering why the furniture was propped against the door...we found out.

The guest claimed she "wasn't responsible" and that her "dog would never do that." I sent pictures and estimates for the damage to Airbnb but they said they would not cover the damage as it was done by an animal. The guest got away with never paying a red cent toward the repair. I guess she thought that buying paint for a chewed up door was plenty....

If this ever happens again, there is no way I will mention pet damage. I will just mention damage. Guest X left my space damaged. Period. Dogs don't have bank accounts, so ultimately it doesn't matter if they were the ones who created the problem. Their human companions are responsible. Airbnb won't listen to anything else, so just strike "pet damage" from your vocabulary.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592 I wonder, though, if damage that had no plausible explanation unrelated to pets would pass muster? I think I'd have a hard time persuading someone that my human guest was in the habit of chewing doors. 

[Melodie-And-John0]

True words @Anonymous !  I think the right answer is what you said before, don't rent to guests with pets in tow- if you do and they chew or poo, its all on you (and your carpets and furniture)...   

Only we as hosts can proactively effect that which AIrbnb refuses to acknowledge as a big issue like their completely defective pet "non policy" and the poison clauses in the anti-discrimination policy that actually don't deal with a real animal effect in our pet free listings (Allergens, liabilities for damages and injuries if their animal attacks another guest or host/ children/ pet) in our homes that violates many of our completely legitimate "house rules".  Stay well, JR 

[Laura2592]

@Melodie-And-John0  sadly there is no way to ensure that a remote host won't unintentionally/unwillingly offer accommodation to pets. People lie so regularly about bringing animals, we decided early that we just would rather deal with potential damage than with trying to catch guests in falsehoods AND deal with potential damage. The emotional support animal/service animal policies that Airbnb espouses ensure that no host can ever truly be animal free. So, as pet lovers ourselves we just bit the proverbial bullet. I will say that the damage described above is certainly the worst we have suffered. We occasionally have a guest who doesn't clean up well in the yard. After about 100 stays now, we have found that families with small kids do FAR worse damage regularly than a couple traveling with a dog. There certainly are exceptions but statistically we find pets to be far less risk than groups with young kids.

[Laura2592]

@Anonymousin this case, we had a human actively and intentionally try to cover it up by painting and moving furniture. Had I been more experienced at that point, I would have stuck to the "guest painted without my permission" as we had proof of that. There would have been no reason to get into why unless the guest brought it up. We also ask people not to relocate furnishings without replacing them in their original spot, so I could have said something about that. I am sure I would have stood a much better chance of recovering some of the cost to repair. But as soon as "dog" came out of my mouth, Airbnb shut down.

As for guests chewing through doors, well, we have had some interesting ones....

[Ann72]

@Laura2592   Ghastly. 

[Laura2592]

@Ann72yes, they were the worst. It was so obvious what happened and they just lied and lied. I am sure they knew that they would not be liable for pet damage. Luckily they were from a state far away and only in town for the event, so the chances of them trying to stay again are very slim. And the woman was so defensive after getting called out I am sure she will steer far clear of our cottage. I just feel sorry for the poor dog.