Guest overstay so i need to cancel next guest.

[Ben3256]

Hi, i have this situation, hopefully anyone can help me.

I have a guest that should checkout at 10am therefore i sent cleaner to clean at 10.30. When cleaner arrive, nobody in the apartment but all their belonging still there all over the place. So i contact guest by message and call, but no reply. So i ask my cleaner to come back again later. Because she has other unit to do, she said the earliest will be around 12pm. My next guest checkin at 1pm. So it only give a short time to clean. So i ask my wife to help cleaning just to make sure it ready for next guest. 

When my wife arrive at 12pm, the place still haven’t been vacant. 

So my wife call me at work. what should they do. I straight away call Airbnb superhost help. J pick up the phone and explain that i need to leave the belonging there, and Airbnb will arrange cancelation to next guest.  J also explain the overstay policy, that i will received double the rate that the guest stay as a penalty because his overstay has affected me to cancel my next booking.

He also mention that in this case i  just need to sent a message to next guest explaining what happen and when the overstay guest contact me, just explain the situation and penalty rate, if they refuse to pay, Airbnb will help.  And nothing else i need to do because Airbnb will look after all the cancelation process. 

I did message next guest and apologies, then just before 1pm the guest contact me. He want me to call him, so i call him. He apologised because he though his checkout is tomorrow. So i explain to him about the penalty rate. He was very angry and becamee a bit aggressive  and i explained that is Airbnb policy. And i ask him to contact Airbnb directly. 

When he contact Airbnb, Airbnb waived the penalty rate without my permission. So he can stay another night. Why ? That is a betrayal ... because now guest will think i am lying about the policy. 

So i contact J again. He said he will get the case evaluated . After couple of day they dismiss my case and said Airbnb and Guest not responsible to pay penalty rate. 

So i call again and spoke to C, i would like to escalate this matter because its unfair. I follow all the instructions that J told me.  She said she will get this evaluate and someone will call me asap. After waiting for 2 days i just got message that their decision is final. 

Their only explanation is because the guest able to book the place again. But the guest was able to book again because Airbnb help him to book and waive the penalty. 

What should i do? I think this is unfair to me. I did ask the link so i can get this case reported and open but no answer.

If anyone can help me or been in this kind of situation, i’ll be grateful.

[Ute42]

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@Rowena29, @Ben3256 , @Sarah977 

I started listing with airbnb 2 years ago. I have never called customer support and I don't intend to do so in the future. I am handling issues on site and I don't need anyone telling me what to do. No guest has ever complained.

[Rowena29]

I can absolutely see where you are coming from @Ute42, and it's rare that I contact myself - although I do shameless use airbnb CS to ring a guest if there has been no communication and "put the wind up them" - works wonders I find.  We pay enough in service fees.

However, you are a very active member on these boards - you have educated yourself, you have read and heard of a lot of  the things that can and do go wrong, you are very much "in the know"  Knowledge is power, and you've ensured you've got a great base of knowledge on which to make informed decisions.

There are a LOT of hosts who don't. They fall for the airbnb hype "set up your listing in 10 minutes" "we have the host guarantee to protect you"  "just ring us if there is a problem and we will help"   They really believe that. They completely trust airbnb has their back and is there to help and support them. They fondly imagine "superhost" means they will get special consideration.  Then they find out the hard way it's just not like that. 

I belong to a  couple of local FB hosting group and I have pretty much stopped contributing because they mostly think I am a B**ch.   I was ALWAYS contradicting people, posting links, saying "actually that's not how it works".  I have been verbally attacked on a number of occasions for merely stating what the rules and regulations actually ARE  (the surveillance rules were a particularly hot topic).  Some hosts just dont' know.  And frankly I have discovered there are also a lot of hosts who have absolutely no desire to learn, they just want to whinge about things not being the way  they personally feel they should be.   (I am not for a moment suggesting this is the case with Ben3256 , who I think has been treated appallingly)

[Norma160]

So typical of AIRBNB... They will ALWAYS take the tenants side and never defend the owner.  This is why I'm removing my listings.  I also tell everyone I know not to use this company.  I know about 5 other owners in my area who have all taken their listings down.  Save yourself the hassle and use VRBO, HomeAway, Trip Advisor and your own personal website.  

My personnel experience was damages to my home.  Despite witnesses, pictures, invoices they still would not give me the deposit money.

[Audrey218]

I send guests a friendly message via AIRBNB the day before,  or very early on the morning of their departure,  with a reminder of their checkout date and time.  Seems to work very well for me.

[Natasha370]

I had a similar experience with Airbnb and its terrible. In the end, Airbnb gave me $50 ( two weeks after the fact) for the late stay even though I was out over $80 and my time scrambling to find about cleaner so I could have it ready for the next guest. The stress of the situation and dealing with a guest who had overstayed and was being harsh. All in all, I was left a crappy review and in no way, did airbnb have my back in this situation

[Manasui0]

bad experience happen..

if I'm in your position..

I will double checked my settings and flaw with in me..

bad things will happen sometimes is unavoidable.. i usually allow small percentage to make mistake ..

you should be more firm, consistant, and less fear (help you be more honest) and also don't forget to breath

double checked your check in check out policy.. and keep it steady

never forget to be polite.. remind your guest in the morning for their plan and schedule for check out..

cause there are guest coming at 1 I have to start cleaning at 11.. don't send your cleaner home.. 

you are doing a business not sucking up to people. be firm and understanding.. but sometime no toleration cause of explain condition..

star cleaning with our with our guest ready to check out.. or clean it and store their lagage a side ..

you need to communicate before hand and be firm.. cause you have to lead both guest so none of their right is being violated.. yet they also have duties to follow..

flexibility can be tolerated if the condition is in favour..

but not when is crucially time constrain..

do what you must do to uphold most of your guest rights..

ask why airbnb do what they did..

communicate, find out.. and stay strong.. is not easy to deal with people.. but no body said is always easy to earn money as well.. so 

good luck..

buy time when things are out of hand.. be more creative.. 12%intention have another 99% ways to solve it.. explore your option through experience and creative mind.. calm down, and open up.. you only get better by accepting today mistake.. make sure to communicate in details.. but relevant..

that is my perspective any way..

is not right to take people's right.. and no point explaining some thing that is not your priority.. like telling Airbnb too late.. try messaging the say I cannot find my guest that needs to checked out and I need to prepare for the next..

don't let them manipulate about the different dates is all written in airbnb ..

but if the booking from different platform .. you might be in mistake of double booking..

hope it helps..

cheers

[Marina1284]

air Bnb should not let the client to book if you have the day book for other client.in that case they should pay you for losing the second client booking

[JoAnn1316]

@Ben3256

I have a different issue about overstays.  I am a host and have used Airbnb for 3 years. In metropolitan area NYC my condo and the law says cannot book guests for less than 30 days. So I have been following that rule with guests staying from 30-90 days 

now I find out that if I have a guest who doesn’t leave on check out day the law in NY and California say you cannot call police to get them out ..you have to get an attorney and file an injunction in court. But courts are backed up and could take a long time before a judge hears case and evicts and Covid of course causes extra barrier to actually getting the guest out.   
given this it is unfair to hosts to hold them to a 30 day minimum which in turn leaves the host vulnerable to potential attorney fees court delays etc.  In states that have this rule NY and Calif , Airbnb should add option for host to request a credit check or more background info on a potential guest. 
has anyone experienced this ?

[Snehal1]

My Guest Checked in One Day Earlier  i.e. 3 am  instead of 11 am ( This He had informed me ), After 2 nights, He continued to stay,   As He was not Answering my Phone  I Checked with Neighbor, and He Told Guest is still in the Homestay Villa.   At 6 Pm When I reached there for Cleaning and Sanitizing the Home, He was still continuing for 3rd day.  He had Paid for only one day.   Furniture from Ground floor was moved to first floor Varanda in Open,  Bottles thrown here and there.   Lot of Unused food in Refrigerator.  Again He requested for Over stay without payment.   I was one person, and They were 3, and My Farm House is in out of City in Country Side.   He did not have Vehicle, Now He told me to Arrange for Vehicle.  But My issue is that this Guest has very good Past Review on Cleanliness and Good Conduct. I found his behavior in contrast.   Then When I arranged for Vehicle, They went leaving the Place dirty.  Tea Cups, Plates and Other Utensils were uncleaned.  Lots of Food (They Planed for 4-5 days ) in Refrigerator.    He Told me Your next Guest can Eat it so I left there.  The Guest had come from Other Country to India.

[Mar125]

Airbnb policy about overstay rates are vague, however, it does say up to 2 times of regular rates. It will be an airbnb discretion of how much up to 2 times of regular daily rates.

Another good source will be your house rule. Add a late check out fee in your house rule, so you can at least implement it if it gets serious.

Cancelling contract with non accessibility is indeed an airbnb right. so for next booking, indeed, Airbnb doesn’t need to pay you. I’m not speaking for Airbnb, and I hate that too. It’s just how I researched policies and found out.

My suggestion is to forget about it and draft a physical damage claim and include a description of late check out fees. 

You won’t get much back, but you will get $0 to 1/4th of your requested amount in my experience after you submit tons of documents.