Guest booked for 1 and 4 turns up

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

Hi

I had a guest whom booked for a month for one person. He turned up with 4 people. Our policy is 2 people included in the booking and each additional person charged a fee up to a maximum of four people.

I informed airbnb and they took  a long time to come back to me and in the end they said use the resolution centre, However they have suspended the account ( guest)so i can not message the recipient 'This message has been hidden because the person no longer has access to Airbnb.' Now it transpires that the guest is not the person who booked but someone else.

This guest is refusing to pay. Airbnb meanwhile sent me a message asking me to collect the additional fees directly off the guest. Which I cannot do as 1, I am not in the country 2, The guests says he has no money. He would owe around £400 for the additional guests after a month.

This was airbnb's last message.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

Upholding the policies and standards that protect our community is very important to us. We’ve given your case and its details careful consideration, and we determined that additional payment for the reservation must be directly requested to the guest.

We understand that this might not be what you’d hoped for, but we came to this outcome because additional payments can't be processed without the consent of the user involved.

Our review is complete now, and we won’t be able to offer additional support on this case at this time.

We suggest that you directly get in touch with the guest to request for additional payment, you can directly contact them by using this link:

Any advise on what I should do?

Andrew

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

@Richard531 

Wrong 

1 Guest made a booking for another person.

2 Host did check as soon as the booking came in ( same day) message asking to clarify how many        people were booked and amend If there are more than one guest planning to stay.

3 Host found out by know source as I have a co-host and security at the gate whom keep us fully informed

4 Host did not blame Airbnb but the person who booked 

This 100% is not on the Host however as I'm not in the country I will take a degree of responsibility.

'You also seem to angle yourself being "out of the country" like that's something to be proud of.  I'd keep that information to yourself (especially with CS).  Rightfully so, literally phoning in your property management across international borders isn't a good look when trying to portray yourself as a good host that has been somehow wronged.'

I'm not sure what your thinking, please clarify. I live in a different country from where the airbnb is, This is not illegal or strange or anything to be proud of, just a fact.

Thanks for your opinion.

[Richard531]

This is a new set of facts from what I interpreted in the OP.  No big deal.  

To address those: when the booking party (obviously) didn't confirm their guest count (especially on a same day booking) is when you get Airbnb involved.  If that goes nowhere?  You then decide if you want to cancel the booking right then and there.  If you don't want to cancel?  You can also withhold check-in instructions from the guest until you get the answers you're seeking. 

Always stay in control of your booking and your house.  

In the OP when you C/P'd the boiler plate "might not be what you’d hoped for" email from Airbnb (we've all gotten that message) it felt like you were blaming Airbnb for not offering more support.  My mistake.  

My comments on you discussing living/managing your property in another country: I'd simply keep that information to yourself.  It's not relevant and, once known, does nothing to help your perceived position in any matter related to your listing/hosting.  

[Gillian166]

---

@Richard531 wrote:

This is a new set of facts from what I interpreted in the OP.  No big deal.  

---

It's kind of a big deal, because you chose to interpret the situation in a way (whats the word? oh: incorrectly), and that then gave you justification for insulting the OP. 

 "no big deal", I think you meant "sorry mate, for jumping to conclusions"

[Helen3]

why haven't you arranged for your co-host to evict the trespassers @Andrew-and-Yvonne0 ?

[Sandra856]

@Richard531 Wow! How incredible rude and not helpful in any way. 

[David8879]

@Gillian166 I hear you

These are the choices every host has to make.

I prefer people to be greated by the real person who aside from checking their identities will welcome them and show around. And if guests are too tired to go through 15 minutes meet and greet - they are clearly informed that IF they will have questions "how to turn on the light" - they will be charged extra 20 euro for the visit. That ALWAYS gets their attention back.

Checkin from 20:00 to 00:00 will result in 25 euro charge - guests are made aware of that before booking accepted.

As well as there are no check ins past midnight. 

As I am saying - I am their landlord - not their friend (though I am a friendly guy and not as hard headed as I appear to be - for as long as they do not try to take advantage of me or play victims). These are MY properties - not faceless hotel

I'd rather have my places vacant than deal with ... (let see if special characters will get me in trouble) &$%#*@^ 

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

@David8879 

'I prefer people to be greated by the real person who aside from checking their identities will welcome them and show around. And if guests are too tired to go through 15 minutes meet and greet - they are clearly informed that IF they will have questions "how to turn on the light" - they will be charged extra 20 euro for the visit. That ALWAYS gets their attention back.

Checkin from 20:00 to 00:00 will result in 25 euro charge - guests are made aware of that before booking accepted.

As well as there are no check ins past midnight. '

I have a housekeeper as well as  a co-host, Every guest is shown around the apartment by a real person.

In addition we have 2x manned 24 hour security at the gate,  this is where all guests have to show ID on initial check in.

[Kelly149]

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0 Now that a day has passed, has abb paid for this stay???

also, many avoid same day bookings bc

1) payment problems don’t have time to resolve 

2) misunderstandings/shenanigans can be difficult to straighten out at such short notice. 

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

Yes this is correct, but not the extra guests as per the initial post.

The real issue here is:

1, The original person ( agent) booking did not explain they were booking on behalf of another person

2, The original person appears to have had his account restricted or they have been removed from airbnb so no longer contactable in any way. I cannot even see the invoice from the booking where it would have their number.

3, The actual person staying in the apartment has brought extra guests (after) they had checked in.

Thanks again.

[Frances3408]

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0. Firstly sorry to hear your troubles: its every hosts nightmare. Can I suggest that if you are going to remote host long term then invest in some technology and outsourcing to help (if you havent already). Start with installing a smart lock, external cameras with internal sensors and an alarm with back to base monitoring by a reputable security firm, with battery back up-where guests cant access either.  Most should run on apps to your smart phone to tell/show you everything you need to know. In this situation I would have wanted the guests gone so I would have contacted our security firm to drive there and provide the 15 mins warning for them to get out. The alarm could then be activated if they were slow to leave. I would have also cancelled their access code. If still necessary the security firm could then alert local police of tresspassers. You do not want to try and do this yourself even if you lived nearby imo. If necessary cancel the booking yourself rather than wait for Airbnb to attempt to deal with it. As others here have said this isnt Airbnb's skillset and ultimately its your property you need to protect. Take the financial hit and move on.

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

@Frances3408 

I do have a housekeeper and a co-host. In addition we have Cameras at the gate along with 2x security guards.

As the bill has been paid for 2x guests I decided to the let the guest stay, I have the housekeeper going in every few days to check on the house.

Your advice seems very sensible and I should follow this.

Ultimately if there are any difficulties the police will remove them to the police station. That is fairly certain. There are no squatters rights in Kenya as far as am aware.

[Huma0]

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0 

Although technically third party bookings are against Airbnb policy, I'm afraid that CS do not take them very seriously. Two different reps confirmed to me that, while it's against policy and the host will not be covered for any damages or other problems, it's up to the host to accept a third party booking or not. One of these reps refused to cancel the third party IB for me (guest had confirmed on the message thread that the booking was for someone else but also refused to cancel). I told her I was going to hang up the phone and speak to someone else, which I did, and the second rep cancelled for me penalty free. With CS, it's really the luck of the draw. It depends on the rep you get dealing with the case.

It sounds like you attempted to find out how many people were on the booking and the guest was dishonest about it. Who knows if they were suspended/removed from the platform because you informed CS about the third party booking or for some other violation.

If you haven't already done so, please write clearly in your listing description the fees for additional people and that this will be strictly enforced. Having it built into your pricing is not enough, because guests do not see this unless they enter the correct number of people. Even honest guests make this mistake because if they see the listing has a maximum guest count of four, they often assume it is the same price for one, two or four and don't bother to change the guest count in the booking. At least if you have it spelt out in your house rules, which you should get each guest to confirm they have read, then you might drive away some of the types planning to bring additional people without paying for them. Likewise, write something about no third party bookings. I put something like "Only guests on the booking and paid for will be allowed to stay," as well as something about no visitors without prior permission.

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

As part of my rules it clearly states that after 2 people there are additional charges and the numbers of guests must be disclosed at the time of booking.

Other things to note

Services provided:

Price includes 2 persons: Infants are non chargeable under 2 years of age. Additional fees apply per person after 2 people. 4 persons + Infants maximum no exceptions.

Also

Additional rules

-Check in is from 2:00pm on day of arrival - No parties allowed whatsoever. -All guests must be disclosed on the booking and paid for in advance of arrival. 2 people are included in the booking. Additional charges apply for 3rd and 4th person. A guest is considered a person over the age of two at the property, either staying the night or visiting. These persons will be considered authorised. A maximum of 4 people can be accommodated. No charge for Infants under the age of 2. - The management of Sheema Villas Ltd apartments has a requirement that all 1st time guests must produce Valid ID at the gate with security, Please understand this is primarily for the safety of all our guests and all residents at Sheema Villas.

[Inna22]

If you kick these people out, you do not loose the money. These are not the person who booked and that person is welcome to come stay. Have you called the local police?

[Kelly149]

But if abb has canceled the original bookers account @Inna22 then I highly doubt @Andrew-and-Yvonne0 is getting paid by abb anyway. 

so, update?? Everything working out??