GUEST THAT BREACHES HOUSE RULES AND IS CONSIDERED INNOCENT BY AIRBNB

[Cezar11]

I have a guest who violated a rule in my house and even though the house rule is clear that there are fines for offenders, he refused to pay and even I involved Airbnb and I was disappointed in a way that I am thinking of removing my 5 Airbnb properties, let's take the case:

The guest, after confirming the reservation, asked me if I could enter the room earlier, I did not authorize because on the same day the room would be vacated at 10am and the girl who does the cleaning would have until 4pm to sanitize the room. But as a courtesy I would let him enter the house and put my bags in the TV room on the ground floor and come back after 4pm.

What happened was that he entered the house and the room before 4pm and only informed me that he had already arrived after 4pm implying that he arrived at the correct time of Check-in, therefore 4pm and onwards.

To his asar, he didn't count that I have security cameras in the TV room and in the corridor (cameras listed in the advertisement), and when analyzing the images I saw that he entered almost 40 minutes earlier. I sent a message to ale stating that he violated the house rules by entering the room early without my permission and for that he would have to pay a fine. He responded by saying that he knocked on the bedroom door and as no one answered, he deduced that the room was ready. Deduction in a place that does not belong to you means that you are taking any risk.

Finally, I involved Airbnb on the same day it happened and today it's been 15 days since it happened and so far I have not been able to assert my right to charge what is written in the rules of my house in my announcement. Airbnb simply claims that the host does not agree to pay the fine.

So I come to the conclusion that any host who arrives at someone's property, he can do whatever he wants, then just say that he will not pay because he will know that Airbnb cannot charge his card. WHERE IS THE HOST SECURITY?

[Rowena29]

@Cezar11 I can see that someone entering your home 40 mins early is rather irritating and maybe a little bit entitled,  or a bit naive,  but personally I think fining them for this is a bit of an over reaction and asking for trouble.  Especially as it was no real inconvenience to you - the room was ready - it didn't impact on you or your cleaner.  

My question would be, if you feel so strongly you do not want guests entering your space before the designated time, ( which is your right) why not have strategies in place to prevent them doing so?

Many hosts have smart locks with changing codes which are only activated at a designated time. You could set your code so that a guest cannot gain access  to his room before 4 pm, but would have access to the TV room

Its much less hassle to prevent things happening than to try to deal with them after they have happened.

Just my opinion

[Cezar11]

Thank you for sharing your point of view. The question is not the amount of the fine or whether you arrived 40 or 5 minutes early. The point is that there is a rule and if the platform offers the opportunity to put a rule, what is expected is that people will comply. These types of guests only make us more rigid. Unfortunately, Airbnb does not provide the necessary support. I had already said that I could not enter and that is enough. I am not an inexperienced host I have almost 500 reviews with an average of 4.9. Regrettably breaking the rule is becoming normal or tolerable.

[Katrina79]

@Cezar11 I’m not one for strict rules, but can respect that you are. I read through your house rules and there are a lot! I think it is fair for you to require guests to abide by your house rules. However, I’m not sure if very many guests read all the house rules in advance. IMO you should mention to read your house rules in your your first section, about this space. It may weed out those easy going free spirits from booking with you, and in return cause you less stress. 

[Gordon0]

Sounds like you're cutting your nose off despite your face, @Cezar11, and for 40 minutes? Like it or not (and it seems you don't),  we're in the hospitality business and our guests (quite rightly) expect some, well, hospitality. Rules for the sake of it don't really make sense.