Extra (hidden) guests

[Denise1145]

I have a guest who snuck in two extra guests (including a young child - our property listing states it is unsuitable for under 12yo). Our property is suitable for two guests only. There is just one double bed.  When she left we challenged her on this, (we live on the same property) and she apologised and said to invoice her for the extra guests. We did this. The next day she messaged saying she felt it was very unfair that we charged her extra as a) she treated our property respectfully and b) she had given us Instagram exposure (un-asked for). And was also upset as she normally gets accommodation for free in exchange for her Instagram posts. She never asked for free accommodation, and we never talked about or agreed to any deal around this.

The time has now expired for her to pay her extra guest charges. It feels like we've wasted enough time and energy on this already. Do we pursue the extra guest charge through Airbnb? It's not a huge amount of money. Do we just write her a bad review?

Grateful for your thoughts.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Denise1145 I vote for a balanced review stressing the positive that she looked after the place well but also saying that she brought in extra unregistered guests in excess of the properties capacity. How many stars? Perhaps 4 or 3 - Lets see what others think.

[Alexandra199]

Agree with @mike-and-jane...balanced review but please be honest so that future hosts know what to expect and so that this guest doesn't think she can get away with this practice.

[Anonymous]

@Denise1145  I'm not sure what method you used to "invoice" the guest, but if you pursued the (perfectly legitimate) claim via Resolutions, and the guest refused to acknowledge it, you can still escalate it to a representative. Whether the amount of money at stake is worth the effort is another story. 

If the issue here is more about the principle than any actual losses suffered, I agree that an honest review is the best way to convey that. Nothing gets under the skin of an influencer-wannabe more than being exposed for what she really is.

Star ratings are only visible to Instant Book hosts, and they can't possibly convey the nuances of a situation, but the one thing you can use them for is to prevent a problematic guest from IB'ing with a host who has set the filter for positively reviewed guests. This one believes that her Instagram account entitles her to disregard rules and boundaries and demand free stuff, and that alone should be a disqualifier. A 1-star rating is the best way to be sure she doesn't pass the filter.

If the property was left in decent condition, you should mention that in the review for the sake of balance, but all the content of the first paragraph of your post is worth putting in there too.

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

That's true in theory, but it didn't work for me. I've only once had a guest not pay for extra charges. She didn't dispute the charges which had been discussed with her, she simply ignored the request. When it become clear she wasn't going to respond, I escalated it and Airbnb tried to contact her. They then closed the case because they said they could not charge extra money to a guest without their permission, which they couldn't get if she didn't respond to them (despite the extra charges being specified on my listing and the correspondence showing the guest was supposed to pay for these).

I don't know if others have had better experiences escalating a payment request, so maybe this was just bad luck. Maybe with some other guests, having Airbnb rather than the host chase them has more impact, but this guest just didn't care.

[Pratish0]

@Denise1145  agree that there is no point leaving a very negative review. a balanced review with what went well and what could have been improved especially on the communication (e.g. if she was expecting some sort of benefit for an insta exposure, it should have been communicated earlier or be clear about the extra guests)

[Denise1145]

Thanks for your replies. They are very helpful. 

We did use the resolution centre on Airbnb to send the invoice for 'extra services'. 

We have never dealt with problem guests, so it is helpful to hear how to review them. 

We don't actually want her instagram exposure as it portrays our property in a different manner than we would like (that it's for groups, and for children - when our listing is for two people, not suitable for kids).

Thanks again

[Colleen253]

@Denise1145  Have you asked her to remove the Instagram photos that you didn't give consent to? That's a huge liberty taken. I haven't looked at your listing, but it must be attractive so you may end up dealing with this again. Perhaps add something to your house rules about 'no filming or photography of house or grounds allowed'.

[Denise1145]

@Colleen253 She (and her friends) had Instagram stories which disappear after 24 hours.  One friend has a post up (which is 'permanent') but I am ok with it.  Our place is very unique, and I am ok with people posting about it, just so long as they aren't breaking the house rules in the process!

But definitely something for us to keep in mind!

[Denise1145]

And on the instant booking - we allow instant booking- will guests not be able to of they have no reviews at all yet? I am not quite sure what it all means!

And what happens to the info when you as a host are asked if you would host the guest again (click yes or no)? I know it doesn't go to the guest, but what is that info for?

[Colleen253]

@Denise1145  Regarding instant booking, hosts have the option to require several things of guests before they can IB, among them is 'recommendation from other hosts'. Go to your booking settings to set whatever requirements you choose. Just know that it isn't foolproof. Instant bookings that defy your chosen settings can and do get through.

[Denise1145]

@Colleen253 thanks!

[Sarah977]

@Denise1145  As you say you live on the property, I'm not sure why you didn't confront the guest as soon as you realized she had snuck in more people, waiting instead to mention it when she was leaving. It's best to stop this sort of behavior in the moment. If someone arrives with more than booked for , you tell them "Oh, well you booked for 2 and that is the maximum number of guests we accept, as is clear from our listing. However, since you are all here, we'll just amend this booking right now to reflect the actual guest count and extra guest charges. Otherwise, I can only admit the number of people you made the booking for."

Then you do it- change the reservation and have them officially accept it before allowing them to enter. If you see them sneaking more people in after check-in, do the same, the only difference is that they are already in residence, so if they don't accept the change, you call Airbnb to get the rest of their reservation terminated. 

Sorry you got one of those narcissistic, entitled "influencers". 

[Denise1145]

This woman hid her extra guests. We welcome all our guests personally.  Only two people appeared to arrive.  She said she had one friend visiting the next day (not staying for both nights).  We realised extra people overnighted because of their instagram stories. And because they parked one of their cars about 600m away by the neighbour's driveway, which we had to ask them to move. We saw then a number of extra people (and children) in the house, there for dinner. 

We are not against people having friends over for a drink or whatever, how do we politely check that they are not staying the night? The third extra car did leave and didn't overnight. But the second car did not. The airbnb property is well away from our house, private. But they do have to drive right by our house. Obviously we don't sit at the window watching for cars going by. 

Anyway, some learning for us!

[Sarah977]

@Denise1145  Thanks for clarifying. While you say you don't care if guests have visitors, unfortunately it's quite common for guests to take advantage of that. It's really best to have a no visitors rule, which you could amend to say only with prior approval from the host. If you do give approval, then you'll either have to keep an eye on the house to make sure that the visitors do leave, or install outside cameras that will give you that information. And there could be a time-frame when visitors are allowed- say only between the hours of noon and 8 PM. But guests can take great advantage of that- it's one thing to have a friend over for a drink, quite another to have 6 friends or family members hanging out all day, using up your toilet paper, hot water, soap, coffee, tea, and whatever other amenities you provide, for free.

And if I were you, I would see if you can get that Instagram post removed. I know nothing about Instagram, but there must be a way to report things that are posted that the poster has no permission to post.