Guests charging their car

[Amanda660]

So we have some returning guests, this is the 3rd time they have stayed with us whilst visiting elderly parents in a care home nearby.  They always try and negotiate a deal

or messaged directly to try and cut costs.  Anyhow....

Tiday after check in I noticed the Dining Room window was open with a bright orange extension cable running out of it towards their car.  9 hours later it’s still there and I now realise that their car is electric  and they’re charging it overnight (very long journey).

I’ve not experienced this before - is it the norm for guests to do this?  Do you address the extra costs or let it go?  We don’t have many electric cars in the North if Scotland so be gentle with your replies. 

[Valerie192]

Hi @Branka-and-Silvia0 thanks for the correction - I think I need to go back in and figure out how to block a guest from a few weeks ago as I think you are right, me saying No may not have done the trick... 

[Donna1213]

Hello Everyone- I live in the US and don't understand your pricing. If someone could give an amount in US dollars, I would greatly appreciate it. I have a guest that is here for a week and is leaving her car plugged in the whole time she is here which is 7 days X ?  This is my first experience and with prices going up and some things almost double in prices. There is getting to be more electric cars and I agree with; we don't pay for gas in guest cars so why should be pay electric which is going to be a bigger issue as time goes by and more and more people buying them. 

Do the stations at the stores charge for fill up and if they do, does anyone know who much it cost? Maybe that will help with pricing. I don't know. 

I do know that I get less for my dollar now than I did last year because of amenities going up in pricing.

Hope to hear from someone on this or we will all be  earning less and nothing in life is free. These are businesses to make money and a living just like any other business. You can only give so much free  without it cutting into our income.

Thank you

[Gordon0]

I'd be dropping her a 'Due to the fact you don't think we offer value for money I'd ask you to look for alternative accomodation in future' note.    

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

LOL @Gordon0  😄  Love it

[Amanda660]

Thankyou for all your replies.

I did in infact send a very polite message asking why she gave me all 5s apart from value after getting a great rate and helping herself to the electric.  I suggested that as we were falling short of her expectations then perhaps alternative accommodation may be more appropriate for future visits.  I was waiting for the fallout but within 5 minutes she send a series of messages apologising profusely, said she had no idea that she’d given a 3 and then sent some screenshots of messages she’d sent to Airbnb requesting the 3 stars be upped to 5. 

My my neighbour did say that they do the same with the extension cable every time they stay.  

The guest apologised, suggested a charge was around £7 a time and stated  she was wasn’t aware that it wasn’t allowed.  It’s not that it’s not allowed it’s just that it’s not something I’d stumbled across before. 

I wonder if she’ll book again lol. 

[Celia160]

I am very interested in this conversation. We are in SW France and had our first guest with a hybrid and he plugged it in without asking. It wasn't in for long but he also came on a discount deal. Can I put a point in my details about charging for electric cars? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Celia160 I don't think charging of electric cars is actually against the rules in the same way as leaving lights on isn't. Given the growing likelihood that guests will have electric cars I am going to update my listing rules to say 'Electric cars may be charged, at owners risk, from a 13 amp socket provided guest pays for electricity used' and then use an honour system if they charge their cars.

[Nancy1786]

@Amanda660  Without asking permission or offering to pay,  my weeklong Airbnb guest has parked her car smack dab on top of our walkway and run 100’ of cord from her car down the walkway to the outlet on the outside of our duplex home every day. This is not just a financial issue, the cord is unsightly and a trip hazard and certainly would interfere with our lawn being mowed. I have now added no car charging to our house rules.