Drought and fines!

[Rudi10]

I am looking to start hosting guest in Cape Town. We are currently experiencing a drought, with monthly water usage capped at 20 000 litres per household. There will be hefty fines imposed for going over this limit.

I have be reading some horror stories in the community pages of guests taking 2 hour showers and leaving taps running throughout the day. How can I protect myself from this? I have received suggestions that I should take water meter readings before and after guests stay and if their water consumption is outrageous, charge them for it. Is there a mechanism for such a thing?

Obviously I would like to avoid making guests pay for such things but the fines may make Airbnb unviable.

[Marzena4]

@Rudi10 With that unreasonable water consumption I observe in some guests, the only thing that comes to my mind is those pay-per-use macines on the pipe that they used to have is the UK.

[Jenni8]

There are water usage meters, they cost about R1500, not sure if it includes installtion. Dony know how you will get guests to pay , but that is not the point.  The point is to not use the water!

I have put up notices in my guest suite, supply buckets for capturing shower water and supply a separate small spring water tank in the kitchen area. I also supply waterless hand gel - 90% - better than soap and water for killing all germs. I also supply face wipes for removing make-up. 

Contrary to Airbnb recommendations - which I believe to be eco-irresponsible - I will not accept 1 night bookings.  The water consumption for daily laundering bedding and towels is horrendous-- 60-70 litres for even a short 15 minute wash.

I have even offered free cleaning to repeat bookings from local South Africans if they bring their own bedding and towels.

My first sentence on my page describes me as an eco-responsible host and I have also posted these house rules on the the pages, saying that I require (not request) guests to adhere to them.

So far so good, but it is still early in the season.  If I did'nt rely  so much on the income, I would not have guests at this precarious time.

[Linda108]

@Rudi10  I live in Southern, California, USA, in the desert and water consumption is always an issue.  I think you and @Jenni8 are great hosts as examples of Air BNB marketing, "Live There".  Being aware of water consumption and joining the community in dealing with the drought is more a living there experience than a visiting there experience. Bravo!!

[Jenni8]

Linda, what does level 10 denote?

[Jenni8]

Linda, what does level 10 denote?

pleased to make your acquaintaince.  You and your accommodation sound lovely.  I am a retied physiotherapist, so we have a caring nature  in  common.  I share  a love of quiet and wide open spaces, although I live in suburbia and  enjoy all our local amenities. Dont think I could manage wide open spaces frull time.

[Linda108]

Hi @Jenni8  good to meet you as well!  Levels on this site are related to how many posts you make.  I have posted almost 4000 times which really reflects that I have too much time on my hands...  Actually I see a great deal of value on this site and everyday I learn more.  Does not mean I am more experienced or smarter or anything else, but I do get to see trends in posting and that is very educating.

[Andrew22]

Rudi, did you get any advice?  A friend of mine's water consumption went to 24,000 litres when they had one person in their AirBnB.  Is there a mechanism for charging guests for over usage?

[Linda108]

@Andrew22   A host can add a charge for any utility or water usage as long as this information is provided in the description and the host has a way to monitor and provide usage.  Then the host would have to request money via the reservation and the guest would have to agree to the charge.

[Andrew22]

Thanks for this.  The problem is it isn't for a utility it is for a fine for over-use of a utility.  And the fine would be roughly 2-3 times my average payment for accomodation (~$1,000).  So I thought about putting it as a deposit, but no one would book if the deposit was 3X the cost of the stay.  If I were to charge for usage it would be a very minimal $1 per 1,000 litres, until they went over 20,000, at which point it becomes $1,000 fine, plus the cost of the water.   It would need to be kind of like a car rental where you agree to pay from your credit card any traffic fines and admin costs that come through after you've left.   The other problem is I would probably only find out if the municipality was going  fine me a month or more after they left. Any ideas on that?

[Linda108]

@Andrew22   If you want Air BNB to have a system of "fining" for various rule breaking, i.e., water usage, electric usage, etc, perhaps you should post in Host Voice to receive other host input and support.  If there is sufficient support the idea is forwarded to the Air BNB team. 

I am sure you realize this is a very complicated issue so perhaps it would be a good idea to find ways to control use at the time rather than try to prove over usage a month later and collect money.  One weakness of the current security deposit process is that the guest can cancel the credit card used to book and avoid access to the security deposit.