Extra guests show up with a 2 person reservation

[Susan837]

I just had a reservation for two when the guests' parents also showed up with them. AND they had two dogs they didn't tell me about. I allow pets, but I expect people to be thoughtful enough to tell me just so I can prepare by having my animals locked up when they arrive, etc. So before they even walked in, I informed them it would be $100 extra for two people for two days. They ignored me and went in. Then they left for four hours with the dogs, who barked incessantly for the full time, in their crates without water. It was hot that day, so they were in 80 degree weather with no water! I went in and gave them water.

So, the people stayed the second day and left the dogs for five hours with the incessant barking in the heat, so I gave them water again. They were just puppies.

So I filed a complaint after they left that four people showed up and would not pay. Well, Airbnb believed their lies they made up about them having asthma and the place being "dirty" and not only did not get the extra $100, but refunded the original $85 dollars! I thought they cared about hosts at Airbnb! 

The most hilarious part was the dogs shed SO MUCH HAIR because they were too hot and it took several days to vacuum all the hair that floated throughout the space. So much for asthma. Plus it was the yearly very high pollen count in Oregon, June through July. Everyone in Oregon sneezes during these months.

[Purnima4 · Accepted solution]

Hi Susan, it is really an outrageous turn of events. More so considering AirBnB should not have trusted the guest's word over yours & definitely should not have refunded the amount without checking with you first. Meanwhile, if you do have any pics to share - with AirBnB for such cases, it usually helps! 

Anyways, I do hope AirBnB looks into the matter and resolves it appropriately - Cause such harrassment of hosts is def uncalled for.

[Susan837]

Thank you, Purnima. I feel better for telling the community about this situation. But I will never trust the Airbnb resolution center again. Next time some person shows up w. extra guests, I won't let them in until they pay. Period.

I thought the people would pay. I let them in because I didn't want to inconvenience four people and two dogs. I knew they wouldn't find another place nearby and they were going to a wedding. No more Miss Nice Lady.

[Sofia451]

Hi Susan,

This sounds like a really unfortunate series of events.  Do you have an instant booking or do you screen all the guests before you accept their booking?  I know instant booking increasing the number of bookings we get, but it does take some of the pre-screening away (I do not you can still cancel an instant booking afterwards, but we are all reluctant to do that).

A good trick for removing animal hair from your apartment is a clothes lint remover.  We wipe all of our property in between guests just to make sure there is no fluff or hair (human or otherwise) for the next guests.  It is very quick to do after vacuuming and leave the home looking very sharp!

Good luck with your next guests.

Sofia

[Susan837]

Sofia, thank you for your input. I appreciate it. When I started, I tried to turn off Instant Booking and was unable to. I haven't tried again, but as you say, I want as many bookings as possible in the summer. I also am afraid to cancel Instant Bookings even though they say you can. Are you allowed only a certain amount before you are penalized? It's not clear.

Susan

[Susan837]

Thanks, Sofia. You are very kind. It's really funny, but perhaps the best guests I ever had came right after this fiasco. It's funny how they even out. But I had never had bad customer service from Airbnb before this and now I am kind of thinking I won't report anything anymore.

[Mika8]

@Susan837  .. so .. customer service did a great job .. they prevent themselves (and therefore airbnb) for anymore work/costs

[Susan837]

I know. Not sure what kind of thinking this is, lol.

[Mika8]

@Susan837  .. just for your info, I handle such stuff very simple. Just at the check-in - before I really let them into the room - I sent the guest a changing offer (yes I know, from the date of the check-in only the amount but not the people are adjustable, but this doesn't disturbs me, in this case I only adjust the right amount and make in the chat text clear, that this amount is for 2 additional people, or for what else) .. and if the guest does not accept this changing offer, then the additional people have to leave .. and I show them the way to the next hostel, which has more or less the same price but is not central at all. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Susan837 

To say "I would do this... " in this situation would be ill founded as when you are in the position you were in you were just hosting with all your cards on the table and you expect guests equally to be honest and gracious. Whatever possesses guests to be so expectant and rude?

I think like @Mika8 I would have sent them a change request immediately, especially as there were extra people. At the least, and at that time, like you I would have pointed out the extra charge and sent it. @Mika8 's change request would be better than a payment request (that I'm more familiar in using) since to await payment from a payment request is painful at best because the system is so bad. I literally have to send a message to guests to inform them a payment request was sent and then where to find it. Some guests cannot access payment requests on their phone apps and need to use a desktop computer delaying the process even more. This is totally unacceptable.

When Airbnb don't have your back in situations like this and they refund your guests after they stayed another night in your home they claimed was unfit for them your only recourse is to give them the worst possible review you can muster and remember the ordeal that Airbnb dealt you.

All hosts need to learn lessons from this; Faced with guests who blatantly break your house rules or bring extra unauthorised guests despite your best efforts to be fair and hospitable... are always going to be a pain and they're going to give you a bad review - WHATEVER. Best advice, (or course of action) learning from the teachings of Airbnb in this situation - would be just to chase the guests off your property with a pitch fork, get a bad review, but suffer no aggravation, electricity, gas, water or cleaning costs.

[Susan837]

Ian and Anne-Marie, thank you for your suggestion. I've never seen "Change request", so I will look for it now. It is so hard to navigate the site I don't always find what I am looking for. I sent a payment request immediately to those guests that they ignored, so I would have to do something myself. Now, my inclination is to just kick them out immediately.

The thing that upset me the most is their leaving the puppies in that heat without water. I knew for sure that they were bad people at that point. (And then they complained to Airbnb that I went into my own property to give the puppies water). I not only got money stolen for the stay, but I got a lecture from the supposed resolution worker.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Susan837 

In the App on the phone there's "change reservation" that accesses Listing, Dates , Guests, Price. Each are capable of change.

On a browser there's "Change or Cancel Reservation".

I don't know the process after making any changes this way, all I do know is that if more people turn up than expected then Airbnb recommend to use the "Change or Cancel Reservation" procedure... I understand, that if you already have an 'additional guest' charge, then this can be utilised via this route. I also know, that if your maximum occupancy is two, and you have an additional guest charge of $50, then, in order to charge for four you would have to momentarily change your maximum occupancy to four in order to charge for them ( make sure you change it back again afterwards). I don't know how this works if you can already accommodate four and you have a tiered price structure, whether it accesses the tiered pricing or not.

We have a maximum occupancy of 8, but we have a £100 charge per night for additional guests if this should occur. The additional charge needs to be in place before a guest books so that it is appropriate to their booking. At the hosts discretion the additional guest fee might apply or the group is just asked to leave, their choice.

Next time theres a dog issue, call the dog care people and give them access to attend the dogs. If they need to be taken away - let them go. I would ask though, faced with the situation of not being paid and dogs barking, I think I would exploit the opportunity to inform the guests via ABB Messaging that the dogs were in distress, whether they had received the payment request (as no payment has come through) and whether THEY wanted YOU to attend to the dogs?

[Susan837]

They DIDN'T want me to attend to the dogs, but I cannot have dogs abused on my property, so if they are leaving them in 80 degree heat without water for 5 hours, I am going in whether they want me to or not. They are probably the stupid kind of folks that leave their car windows down a few inches in extreme heat not knowing it's 10 degrees hotter in a car with the windows all the way opened. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

I've had multiple irate guests not being informed about payment requests, and then not being able to find them when they know that they exist! Irate, I'll add because the Airbnb system doesn't work. I can fully imagine any guest wanting to ignore a payment request finding it REALLY EASY.

I have a saved message for this now which states:

If you don’t receive a notification, go to your dashboard then use the help facility and search for resolution centre, in there should be the payment request.

Maybe @Mika8  or another host who's used the change reservation process could say how it works in relation to guests and obtaining payment?

[Mika8]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 @Susan837  ... honestly I don't really know how it looks like on the guests side ... and I don't have such cases often, but in the past none of my guests claimed problems to see the changing offer/request (the last I had was last October) .. and just this weekend I sent a money request to a guest for additional service (I organized some birthday stuff/wine for his girlfriend) .. and the guest paid without mentioned any problems.

Anyway I guess in both cases the guests receive a mail with a direct button to the payment .. my humble opinion is, that such guests only like to circumvent the costs .. and protract the process

(the difference between changing offer/request and money request is, that there is no fee on a money request, which is fair in the case of additional extra service but not if people like to sneak in more people)