Extra Guests at Check-In, What do I do?

[Colber0]

We had a guests arrive yesterday to our house.

Initially all seemed well. They communicated and asked questions about the house, bedding and ironing facilities. Okay they didn't read the web page or house manual, but that aside, all fairly normal. 

They insisted on having an 11am check in following a 5 hour drive. They texted me at 7.30 to say they had left. They arrived 2 hours late at 2.30pm.

They said they had got lost, despite having a sat nav and the route being a straight line along motorways and a main road.

They booked for 4 adults and 2 children. Our home hosts 6 people, so no issue there.

They arrived with an extra guest.

The guest, who apparently was a grandmother immediately said to me that she was staying somewhere else. This made me more suspicious.

What should I do as a host in these circumstances?

I was worried that if I didn't hand over the keys that may cause a conflict, a risk to my security, my partner and young daughter who were with me, or to the house.

On the other hand, given their actions, can they be trusted with our home? Particularly as they are renting the entire house, we are not living close by, the risk.

I thought I would contact them and speak with Airbnb.

I messaged them through the Airbnb app to ask if they could confirm that they only had 6 guests. They did not respond.

I thought Airbnb would be able to help.

Despite queuing on the phone for nearly an hour and being disconnected, I rang back.The call handler could not help me, they assured me that they would flag my concerns as urgent and someone would contact me as a priority.

Twelve hours on. It's now 3.30 in the morning, the guest has not responded and neither have Airbnb!

Its been a sleepless night. I am worried and I am trying to analyse the situation.

It's been over 12 hours since I heard from anyone. So I try the message bot. It's a security issue. The message says get some help. Not helpful!

The Airbnb message system isn't working. I call Airbnb. The call handler is naive and robitic. She asks me to repeat the issue. By this time I am fully awake in the spare room under the duvet, in an attempt not to wake the family.

The call handler insists I go through everything again, despite it being logged on my previous call and bot message.

I asked what my options are. She says she wants photos. Photos of what? The guests arriving. Really!

I tried to explain again and ask what my options are. She says she is going to call the guest. Not a great response at 3.30 in the morning.

I ask again what my options are. She says I can go to the house to speak with them. How far away am I? I explain it's a 3 hour round trip on a Saturday morning and that I explain that don't want a conflict.

She announced that she is going to call them.

I said stop, I have asked for my options. The response is that this is your only option if you do not want Airbnb to call. I stay calm and say well you have not discussed the full range of options with me. She insists she has. I remind her that she has not thought about me texting or calling her. Are there other options? She repeats that she will call them.

I explain that I am not happy in her response and say that I want this escalated as an urgent priority to a more senior member of staff. She tells me she will do that but cannot tell me when I will get a response. I tell her I want to make a formal complaint against Airbnb customer services.

So, I have a problem at check-in. Airbnb are not available. They don't follow up. They don't listen. They are reckless in their responses and behaviour and the escalation process does not work effectively. Airbnb are not helping. They are actually making things worse. It feels like we're on our own. 

I am extremely unhappy with the poor customer support and customer service and I am no closer to resolving my concerns of a potentially untrustworthy guest who has the key to my house, extra guests and a very large van parked on the drive!

I would appreciate the advice of fellow hosts based on your experience.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Colber0 The thing to recognise is that Airbnb is really nothing more than a booking platform. Any issues and you have to sort them yourself.

I am not sure what you expected Airbnb to do. The guest has said they are staying elsewhere so unless you can prove otherwise then you are stuck. Now, if you can prove otherwise your only option is to cancel the stay and refund the guest for nights not stayed - A pretty poor choice I am afraid. Even then it is entirely up to you to deal with any issues Airbnb haven't got any feet on the ground to help.

[Colber0]

Thank you for your response @Mike-And-Jane0 .

I agree with you. My disappointment is based on the fact that I expected them to support me in some way. I have begun to accept that they are just a booking platform.

I am wondering what I should do next as I haven't heard back from my message to the guest asking them to confirm the number of guests through the app. Do I try a different form of communications with the guest, possibly a text message or phone call? Should I ask Airbnb to contact them or do nothing and hope everything is okay and discuss the extra guest face to face at check-out?

As you say whatever I do I will probably have to deal with it on my own.

[Brian1613]

Hi @Colber0 !

I’m a volunteer Community Leader in Florida. The guest should have made clear what they are doing, true. An extra grandmother is, relatively, far better than ten of their friends showing up to party, and tear up your place.

Airbnb’s customer service has been expanding very rapidly, and it clearly has a lot of work to do to fix inconsistent agent support.  

For your immediate problem, through airbnb text, contact the guest, and ask them if the grandmother is staying with them. If they don’t respond within a short period of time, if you have an extra guests charge set-up on Airbnb, you can assess them with a charge for the extra guest.

If they complain, then they will need to show written proof of where the grandmother was staying. The failure to respond is their own. You will have the written documentation to support the charge. If they complain to Airbnb, they will use the log of the official conversation to arbitrate the dispute, which usually resolves in your favor, as the record is clear.

Remote operation of an Airbnb, especially at your distance, is always an issue, if you do not have a local management company that can address problems like these. You will also find struggles with housekeeping, and addressing smaller guest issues that require immediate maintenance, that will affect your overall operation. I would recommend that you seek out either a chartered VR/STR management company, or perhaps a Superhost with a nearby property who could be contracted to help you deal with all of these irregularities that need someone on the ground.

Short of that, installation of three devices will help you verify how many people are there in/out. 

1. Cameras at the doors to the properties. BLINK or RING cameras can help you document to Airbnb how many people are in the building;

2. EERO wifi (Amazon) for the building not only improves the service, but it logs every cellphone, computer, tablet, etc that is in use there. If you connect your video entertainment TV to a web-based entertainment system, not cable TV (AppleTV/Amazon Fire/Chromecast) it will give you control of a very powerful part of daily life in VRs. Eero also allows you to control access of all devices, remotely, anywhere in the world. If the guest refuses to communicate, and you can clearly see that they are in violation of your house rules, shut down access to all entertainment, and all of their devices but a cellphone. You’d be amazed at how fast they start communicating with you again.

3. A Minut (minut.com) noise detector monitors ambient noise levels. Great for dealing with noise complaints, because it not only notifies, but logs issues, it’s also really helpful at providing printed logs of electronics equipment, that can be used to demonstrate that there are more people there than were agreed to.

With proof of violation, depending upon the laws in your area, you can have them evicted from your place by the authorities.  Typically this is more used when someone has decided to use your home as a party place.

For your particular situation, one extra person, you may have to just chalk it up to them being bad guests. DO flag them as people that you would not rent to again. DO NOT litigate this whole drama in your opportunity to comment on them, as it does not rub off on you well with future renters.

Charging extra is your best bet, but these are other resources that can help you prevent future problems, and serve your guests better when you’re that far away.

[Colber0]

Hello @Brian1613,

Thank you very much for your response and your advice.

If it's just the grandmother, you are right it's not a big thing. I think there's a broader issue of trust with the guest.

I am going to put a nest doorbell and I am going to look at the other devices.

Keep up the good work!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Colber0 Do make sure you declare the presence of the Ring camera in your listing or you risk being banned from the platform!

[Colber0]

Thanks for the tip @Mike-And-Jane0, I will.

[Helen3]

Do make sure you also have a local co-host who can be on hand for situations like this. @Colber0 

[Brian1613]

As long as it produces something that provides written or visual proof for Airbnb that you can upload easily, you’re gold there. 

Do you have someone who can jump in, and take care of issues that arise, if you’re hours away?  Even to get someone evicted, someone in charge of the property has to be there to make that happen.

[Colber0]

That's very helpful @Brian1613, thank you.

[Elaine701]

Doesn't Airbnb often penalise hosts with cameras? It's actually against the rules (sort of) isn't it? At least to the extent that it can be claimed to be a violation of Airbnb rules, when convenient. Say, in a claim like this. 

We've had more than a few who bring more than they booked for. Our tactic is to lock unbooked bedrooms. Surprise! You thought you could pay for two, show up with 6, and get 2 more bedrooms for free? Sorry. No joy. We can unlock them, though. For a price. 

It has a funny way of encouraging them to pay for it. The couch isn't a very comfortable place for one or more to sleep 🙄

We like simple, effective solutions. They're the best 👍

[Colber0]

That's a great approach @Elaine701.

[Sarah977]

@Colber0  While it of course isn't okay to show up with more people than were booked for, nor to lie about where the extras are staying, it seems like you are spending an inordinate amount of time and energy and stress on them bringing grandma along. As you don't have cameras, you can't prove whether grandma left or not- accusing people of things without proof just doesn't fly. And why would you bother to ask them how many people are staying? If they are the type to want to sneak in extras without paying for them, what do you think they are going to say? "We have 7 people staying and won't pay you for the 7th" ?

Just hope they leave the place decent, get some cameras, and forget about this. 

[Colber0]

Hello @Sarah977, 

Thank you for your response. This is a matter of trust and behaviour. 

If they admit to an additional guest, my understanding is that I have an option to make an additional charge if I choose to.

Either way as a relatively new host, it has demonstrated to me that some guests will take advantage and that this is deemed as acceptable behaviour by some hosts.

[Colber0]

Hello @Sarah977 , My understanding from Airbnb is that if they admit to an extra guest that u am entitled to charge under the house rules if I chose to.

I thought this may have been picked up by some of the hosts but it has not, so that has been some helpful feedback.

Yes I hope that they do. I believe a ring doorbell is an option but speaking with our security company, even external cameras would have to be listed.

I believe Airbnb have a tick-box for this. Have you had any issues using cameras?