Guest not observing house rules - Dogs

[Caroline356]

I had a guest check out of my place yesterday and when I went over to clean and prepare for my next guests I was informed by my neighbours that the people staying that week had a dog with them. Not a small dog either! I found dog hair in the house and the place was left a little shabby. I even found a rolled up ball of dog hair in the bin so they had obviously had a sweep around and attempted to clean up the evidence.

I adore dogs and we have one of our own but I do not allow pets at our place (clearly stated on my listing) for the simple reason that having a dog myself, I know how much extra mess they can make. I am also very mindful of the fact that some people have allergies and having dogs or other pets stay could cause an issue. If we ever stay at our holiday let as a family then we pay a lot of money for our dog to be looked after by his pet sitter in order to maintain the highest possible standards of cleanliness. We do not bring him with us! Our own dog has never set foot in our holiday let so the fact that someone has ignored my wishes and brought their own dog in for a week makes me very upset.

I am posting on here as I'm unsure of where to go from here! I haven't yet approached my guest as I'm worried he will deny it and then leave me a negative review stating that I have accused him of something he hasn't done (but I know he has) which won't look good on my listing! I'd love to put a claim in with Airbnb to withhold his £100 damage deposit for the sheer fact that he has been so dishonest and caused me distress and extra cleaning - however I can pre-empt that Airbnb will want some sort of evidence of receipts for extra cleaning bill or something like that (which I don't have! I do all of the cleaning myself!) I haven't left him a review yet - which I will be doing in the next few days and I will have to mention this. Has anyone else had a similar situation to this and had a resolution they were happy with? It seems the hosts are always the ones left in a quandary when things like this happen and to a certain extent we are pretty powerless. Meanwhile, as I work through the laundry pile from the house, my dog is happily snuggled up with a blanket he stole from the pile from one of my sofas - it obviously has a very doggy aroma!!! 😞

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Caroline356yes, this is frustrating, but it happens often.

Your options are limited and it depends on what would you like to achive.

If you want to get reimbursed for the extra cleaning then you should take pictures of the dog's hair, send it to your guests through the resolution center, and ask for xx$ . They can accept or deny or ignore and then you should involve Airbnb. What would ABB decide is impossible to predict.

In this scenario, your guest could leave you a bad review in retaliation.

If you just want to warn other hosts then you could and should leave an honest review and click on "wouldn't host again". It will also teach your guest a lesson and he will probably rethink the idea next time. This is what I would do.

[Caroline356]

Thank you for your help and advice. I totally agree with everything you're saying. The potential retaliation from my guest leaving a bad review is my main concern and something I could really do without. I think I'll just leave a review to warn potential future hosts. 

Thanks again 

[Alan1009]

I would have outdoor cameras and have "outdoor cameras" on the listing to deter them. If they miss that second part you would be able to see that on check-in and nip it in the bud immediately. I had someone bring a guest (ahem..ya know) and they said they didn't know the "one person" policy and yet the guest was extREEEMly quiet. but I saw it on the camera as they were leaving (they checked in udner the cover of darkness).