Charging car, naughty or not?

[Andrew672]

Hi everyone,

through my my new security system I became aware my latest guest was charging his car for the duration of his stay.  I’ve put a claim in through the resolution center however my wife thinks it’s not really a big deal.  Would love to gain some of your opinions, naturally hoping you’ll agree with me that it’s kinda like stealing...thoughts??

[Jeff158]

Hi @Andrew672

I've banned car charging on health and safety, we don't have a dedicated charging point, no idea how much they are using and it could overload the fuse board. Its the fact they don't ask that annoys me, I told one guy I don't give other guests 5 gallon of petrol to get home and the same applies to his electric car.

[Steve143]

Hello @Andrew672,

I don't know how much electricity it takes to charge a car so don't know if the cost would be a significant percentage of your accommodation rate.

I do think it it's not really acceptable as he probably wouldn't do the petrol or diesel car equivalent of filling up and then driving away without paying.

Can a charger be pligged in using a normal 3 pin plug?Is there an external plug or did he have to run the cable through an open window or door? If so and it was left open over night I'd mention that in the review.

There is an EV charger entry listed and selectable in the "Facilities" section under "Additional" in the "Amenities" list. It may be worth checkiing that if you provide a special plug in point.

You could try the send or request money feature to request payment but there's not much you can do if he refuses. You could consider mentioning a charge for it in the description and house rules for future guests.

Steve.

[Carlo47]

I had exactly the same... walked up to our joliday cottage to let the gursts know that a rare owl had been seen regularly hunting in our fields over the previous days to find a very beefy cable trailing out the front door plugged into a standard 13 amp socket within the house.  I asked to "discuss" the matter.  aThe car owner explained that his (large) car was a hybrid with a small battery that cost about £1 to charge..  I explained that the hire rates did not include an allowance for guests to fuel their car, and as I really had no idea how much "juice" he was taking, I suggested that he left a "contribution" to cover the cost.  He left £5...    I was annoyed that he accepted fully that he should pay for it,

yet did not think to ask permission or offer payment in the first place...

My conclusions

a) no point in getting annoyed, we'll all be seeing more electric cars and have to put in policies and if neccessary, the infrastructure to deal with it.

b) I'll be recording the electricity meter from now on... with a small allowance for tupical use.  any extra will be charged.

[Ann30171]

I am in the same boat, we noticed a big yellow cord coming from the balcony, later we saw that they were charging their vehicle... I don't believe we should be footing the bill for this excess utility. This is something that should be asked permission for ahead of time.  No one fills my car up to go on vacation :(.

Airbnb needs to address this issue on their website. It should be an extra sur- charge if guests require this service.