Guest missed the part about pet fees and now wants to cancel, threatening with a bad review.

[Linda677]

We have a guest that booked our property through instant booking, told me about the fact she's bringing 2 pets. We have the amount we charge for pet written clearly in the very first paragraph (summary section). I sent her the fee request for the pet fee, she came back not very happy, telling me she somehow "missed" that part. I gave her a 15% discount. She wrote back, telling me she's still quite upset at the amount and told me she wants to cancel the reservation. I told her due to the strict cancellation policy, and the reservation is for less than 2 weeks out, she would only be getting 50% back, and that we as hosts, can't cancel because of the penalties. She messaged me back and told me that she's talked to Air BnB and Air BnB will be in touch with me. (So far I haven't heard from Air BnB, but this conversation just took place late last night.) She asked me to ask Air BnB to "waive the fees", because after all, we would want a "good review". I'm absolutely appalled. We don't want anyone to stay there that's not happy, but to threaten us with reviews because she didn't read is just ridiculous. Right now, our calendar is blocked for the week and with it being so last minute, it's unlikely we'll get it filled. I feel like we are being punished no matter what we do. What should we do? Any suggestions?

[Helga0]

@Linda677, glad you are rid of her, it could only go wrong. 

From her side, she got away cheaper, as she looses the cancellation percentage only for 2 nights instead of 7. Some people play with that deliberately, but in your case, I guess airbnb told ger as a consolation to make her cancel. 

[John1080]

I guess this is the part I keep hearing about, where guests don't read! 

Related, I have put in my listing in a few places that we don't allow pets, but that my dog is at my listing when I'm there, so they should be aware of that in case of allergies. I'm hoping by mentioning it a few times, they will see it and try to avoid issues. 

From reading several posts, it seems it will be inevitable from time to time that a guest will not read thoroughly and miss something important like this. 

Any other tips on how to make sure guests read and are aware of these important issues? 

[Ange2]

@John1080  I've taken to adding things like this at the bottom of every message I send, a footnote of sorts with asterisks. Guests appear to take note, not 100% foolproof, but better than before.

[Fred13]

Wouldn't it be great if Airbnb would add the convention that in order to book, a guest must hit an  'Accept' button at the very end of 'House Rules'. Whether the guests bothered to read them or not is then a moot point,  the fact they accepted them leaves little room for claiming ignorance in the future.

Btw @Linda677 you did well, and I am sure you learned plenty from this 'event'.

[Sarah977]

@Linda677 As a new host, you might want to turn off InstantBook until you get more familiar with dealing with guest's bad manners, threats, weirdness and other problems. It will put you further down the search rankings and you'll probably get less views and bookings, but it's a trade-off that you have to think about. That way you will get an inquiry or a booking request and can ask the prospective guest some questions and get a feel for them. As long as you answer the inquiries and booking requests well within the 24 hour reply window, you maintain your response rate and can discourage guests who aren't a good fit for you or want to bend the rules from the get-go.