Extra charges for water and electricity

[Mireille9]

Hi

As a host, how does one go about charging extra for water and electricity when it is applicable?

Thanks

Mireille 

[Robert812]

Thanks Silvia, for the encouragement but I doubt it. They wont even speak to me about it. Its weird but with all the damage to the house caused by the guest running the heating on max I'm still bothered that he left with all the coat hangers. I dont really blame the guest, I kind of feel sorry for him that he doesn't realise how selfish he is, my problem is my treatment by Airbnb and I guess my only recourse would be to take down my listings which I'm reluctant to do whilst I try and claw back some the money I have lost.

[Silvia331]

Hi Robert,

For your own sake and for all the landlords's protection, please don't have pity for the guest and don't take out Airbnb responsability. If I were you I would insist on the matter with Airbnb, if they are not willing to help you with compensation from the huge Insurance that they have, then go public, on facebook, tweeter, newspapers, they don't like bad publicity and they have to listen we are paying them good comissions. Good luck. 

[Richard733]

airbnb com/rooms/9784206?s=51    Casa Sophia/ Marisa in Largos Portugal just wrote me she wants me to pay for the electric, the Internet, garden and swiming pool mantance.  How do i repond to that?  

[Marion352]

I booked 34 days in Pattaya on July 22. The host requested 4,000 baht for water and electricity. I asked if there was a metered connection or if we could negotiate the price. He replied "charges are for electric, water and internet and are fixed. If you are unhappy with the charges I think we should cancel the reservation as I thought this had already been agreed by you confirming your booking". My question wasn't answered originally. I have asked the host to cancel the reservation but he hasn't responded in over 20 hours. If I cancel, I lose my payment as the trip is for 34 days. What should I do?

Thank you 

[Letti0]

@Marion352  We're these charges listed in his listing and rules? If not he cannot add them on after the fact it's against AirBnB's rules. Just decline the request. If he doesn't like it to bad, he has to cancel. If they were listed in his rules you are stuck paying go to your reservation receipt the rules that were in place when you booked will be listed on it.  

[Marion352]

Hi Letitia,

Thank you for your quick reply. No they are not listed in the rules. I had sent him a message and his response included a statement about the additional charges. I sent a reply asking why so high and that I rarely use A/C. I have booked already - how do I "decline the request" at this point?

[Letti0]

@Marion352  Has he sent you a request for money? If so there is either an accept or decline option. If not how does he expect you to pay? He is also not allowed to take money from guests off of AirBnB. Do not pay him one dime over the booking price. He has to honor the price you booked at or HE has to cancel. DO NOT CANCEL.

[Marion352]

@Letitia3 Thank you so much for this information! I will not cancel. 🙂

[Letti0]

@Marion352  Use the flag on both the listing and his profile and report both. It's anonymous, so he won't know you did it.

[Marion352]

I clicked the flag on the email from him. Because I have a reservation I selected that it did impact my reservation. This was on Sunday. How long will it take them to reply?

Thanks Marion

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@Letti0 wrote:

@Marion352  Use the flag on both the listing and his profile and report both. It's anonymous, so he won't know you did it.

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[Anna2247]

Hello,

I decided to charge extra for the electricity in my apartment by the meter. I expect a deposit in advance to calculate and refund the balance at the end. All rules are described clear at the front. Would be nice if someone shares with me the form to collect this deposit or give me any advise on how to do it correctly. I change my rules to avoid the huge bills I was paying after some guests. It will be the first time for me and I don't want to do any mistake. Thank you in advance 🙂

[Rasheda0]

Hey everyone. I am going through this with a guest right now and it’s driving me crazy. We are in Arizona. It’s been about 103-110 every day for two weeks. When my guest first checked in (he’s staying 30 days) about day two I noticed he would be gone all day 8-10 hours but leave the a/c unit going. I messaged him and asked him if he would please turn it off when he is not there. He responded saying he works outside and when he returns the guesthouse is hot and he doesn’t want to be hot. He claimed it takes two hours to cool it back down. This is absolutely not true it’s 450 sq ft. It takes maybe 30 minutes tops vs 10-12 hours of wasted a/c. I feel like I never want to book a 30 day again for someone who abuses like this but I don’t know what to do. He already got a huge discount because he was my first of 3 booking and he also got the air b n b 30 day discount so I fear I may have to use my whole fee for his bill. 

[Alice595]

@Rasheda0  Install a smart thermostat such as Ecobee or Nest. You can remotely control it and no user can change it because you can set up a password.

It can sense the presence of people so that it turns on automatically. It is about $200.

[Jamie-and-Gustavo0]

Summers and winters in a desert climate have increased usage of thermostats. Save yourself the headache and either install a thermostat you can control/motion sensing, or assume every guest will want the home to be 73 degrees all the time and charge accordingly - or take the risk and suggest they turn it off when not there. They are paying for the use of all features in the home. Also, accept that your first few bookings are not going to make you any money after recuperating costs of furniture, initial purchase of basic essentials and cleaning products. Treat it as an investment so you learn for next summer. 

[David4394]

We had the same problem for our California property.  We ended up installing a smart thermostat with the Neome app (neome.co).  It limits how high/low the guest can set the thermostat and it automatically turns off the HVAC when the guest checks out because out cleaners aren't always good with that.  We have motion sensors so if the house is vacant for a while you can manually safely tuned down the A/C from the Neome app.  The energy savings more than pays for device and app.