House Rule Support - Simple

Answered!
AngelicaMaría0
Level 1
Mazatlan, Mexico

House Rule Support - Simple

I´ve been looking for an answer to a simple question, but haven´t been able to find a simple answer.

Simply, does Airbnb support house rules?

An example, a rule on my listing says no parties.

If a guest has a party (extra guests, noise at 3am, etc.) what am I allowed as a host to do?

 

The story:

The condominium is pretty well all Airbnb hosts. Last weekend one of the apartments had guests that partied the whole time. My guest complained after the first night. I talked to the host of the apartment above and he said he would fix the problem. Same thing happened the next night. My client was extremely mad. I offered the two nights free - I would expect the same. I confronted the owner of the apartment that was causing problems. He said he wouldn´t kick his guests out because Airbnb didn´t support it andhe would get a bad evaluation. I got a new guest, and surprise the same thing again. Worse this time because they knew they wouldn´t be evicted. In the end the owner paid me for  the three nights I refunded my clients.

 

The conclusion is that this isn´t right. If guests break the rules, there should be no reason not to evict. No refund. No evaluation. Also, there are inherent rules. A host shouldn´t be required to set out every single detail of a rule (no parties means no extra guests, noise limits, etc.). When you rent a hotel room, you don´t sign a form lising every possible regulation..

 

Very Frustrating

1 Best Answer
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@AngelicaMaría0  I feel for you. The host apparently doesn't care about disturbing the neighbors, he's only interested in his profit. Maybe he'll have a group trash his house and then he'll change his tune.

Airbnb doesn't enforce house rules, that is up to the host. But he is wrong- if someone books for 6 and there are 20 people in the place, the host can notify Airbnb and eject the guests. He won't get paid for the nights they didn't stay.

I would suggest that your guests phone the police (make sure to leave them the number) to report noise disturbance if this happens again.

View Best Answer in original post

15 Replies 15
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@AngelicaMaría0  I feel for you. The host apparently doesn't care about disturbing the neighbors, he's only interested in his profit. Maybe he'll have a group trash his house and then he'll change his tune.

Airbnb doesn't enforce house rules, that is up to the host. But he is wrong- if someone books for 6 and there are 20 people in the place, the host can notify Airbnb and eject the guests. He won't get paid for the nights they didn't stay.

I would suggest that your guests phone the police (make sure to leave them the number) to report noise disturbance if this happens again.

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

@Sarah977 

 

This is happened to us recently but with only 8 guests instead of 6. Our local regulations limit occupancy to 2 guests per room so this is in our House Rules. 

 

When this happened, I offered in the message thread to have the extra 2 guests come as day guests with no extra charge for use of all amenities from 6am to 10pm which I felt was a reasonable concession. 

 

Airbnb said we had to offer a full refund to get them out.  So not to be subjected to the fines which I believe generally run from $8-$10K - we approved their demand.  

 

I pursued this as an invalid reason to reverse payment as it was clearly in contravention of our House Rules.   It took almost 6 weeks, multiple CS agents, a closed ticket that had to be re-opened s lot of patience and persistence - but we got paid out yesterday.  Only $450 but it was the principle that irked me. 

 

Perhaps having the legislation in the House Rules helped with our case. My next move was to tell them that an acquaintance asked if we had to break government legislation to get a payout for a standing booking....

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

Shoot forgot to sign, Lisa

@Jayesh5 

You did well to squeeze that $450 out of them Lisa! A minor miracle! Probably paid you out to get you off their backs :))Screenshot_20190513-194716.png

 

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

Wow, @Susan17 , that is shocking. All the guest has to do is not be amenable to the “amicable solution” that you suggest and they can get a full refund? Sometimes I wonder if these CS agents just make this stuff up on the spot.

 

Do you know what one of their offered resolutions was? I am still laughing about this - they wanted to pay 50% themselves and charge the guest 50% one month AFTER they had agreed to issue them a full refund!!  So the idiocy does not seem to be exclusively aimed at hosts!!  I gave them a bit of a piece of my mind about that as it does not seem an ethical way to do business. The extra 2 could have gone to a motel for about $140 for the 2 nights and Airbnb wants to blindside them with a $225 charge 4 or 5 weeks later?  Good grief. 

 

Funnier still is that I really only called when I thought hmm, I haven’t rattled their cage lately - except for the last instance when they called me. Get a load of this latest brilliance from the comedy club...  we have a 30 day super strict policy. Guests can pay 50% up front and the other 50% when it goes non-refundable.  So the guest 2nd payment does not process and instead of a full refund they are only entitled to 50%.  WTH?? This is not even our policy for crying out loud. They called to see if we would refund the 50% if the guest rebooked.  What??? They should have been able to do this outside the 30 day window and not have the guest penalised. 

 

They have some serious things to work out for BOTH the host and guest benefit. Lisa

@Jayesh5  I'm glad you finally got paid out. ($450 is a lot of money to me, nothing to sneeze at) but it's absurd that you had to fight for so long to get it. . Airbnb wants us to be these perfect hosts, catering to ur guests' every whim, then makes us waste hours of time and aggravation trying to get something that should be an automatic no-brainer. In the meantime, the $ sits in Airbnb coffers, collecting interest for them. Cute ploy.

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

@Sarah0, sorry, I can’t tag you.

 

I only call them when I am stuck waiting somewhere like getting my car serviced or when I am “trapped” somewhere anyway and this makes it much less painful. 

 

I hope hosts continue to persist with trying to educate them on the right way to do things. Remember the old days when you couldn’t even find their phone number? The changes are agonisingly slow but it is changing. Lisa

 

 

Jim554
Level 2
Oxford, MS

Jayesh5
Level 6
Hervey Bay, Australia

You are one brave guy Jim in Oxford. 

Cathie19
Level 10
Darwin, Australia

Glad it all sorted @Jayesh5. $450 is not breadcrumbs and principles are worth fighting for. Well done!

Jonathan6
Level 10
Mamaroneck, NY

@Angelica María Your problem is actually not with ABB, your problem is with your neighbor host, what if he had just had his friends staying over or gave it away to his church group.  Your recourse is with your association to create rules for the condo that allow for the peaceful enjoyment of your property.  They are the only ones that can take action against the host.

 

Next time this happens why would you not instruct your guests to call the police or you call the police and complain about the noise?  That is what you need to do to protect your guests.

This is B.S. When guests book our place they have to agree to house rules. That's a contract. Once a dollar is exchanged it is legally enforceable. One of these days, Hosts are going to have to organize.

But I agree with Jonathan - check the condo rules. There should be association rules that prohibit it. Also - our own city set requirements so you might check city regulations as well.

 

@Christine615 

I am 100% supportive of your contract claim. If the guest agrees to that which is written and is in agreement with your House Rules and Airbnb TOS and Airbnb are not supportive then I would personally pursue the issue legally.

 

To other hosts; Do not allow guests to stay at your accommodation anonymously. When things go wrong there will be only one way that a solution can be satisfactorily found - and thats by doing it yourself. Providing you have written agreements by way of Airbnb TOS and your own House Rules, and photographic evidence with receipts if necessary, then you'll be fine.

 

I wonder if in @AngelicaMaría0 's case whether contacting Airbnb directly with the address of the offending accommodation might help any?

Gema57
Level 3
Weatherford, TX

I am wondering the same thing with listing everything in my house rules. I literally feel that my rules are like a novel and I’m being a Natzi, but they do need to agree to the rules before renting. I have noticed that my rental frequency has gone down a lot, but I am trying to think if not renting it as much is worth saving the money on nightmare guests that would have otherwise broken something that I would not have liked to happen in what is my home part time as well. I have noticed that little things which are so minute, but still frustrating have happened since becoming a host: I’ve had a hand towel taken that I just bought and I have really nice plush towels that are not cheap and poor quality, and also another thing I’ve noticed is a cloth cubby thing which would hold books and other items but was empty, that I had in my dining room is gone. 
I have had a suspicion of my amenities being taken, like paper towels and trash bags, because I am going through those much faster than I should, and although these are really small things, I don’t know who did it and I don’t know how to keep track of my stuff when I am not there full time. 
I do have a neighbor I can trust who has agreed to tell me if he sees anything going on that shouldn’t be, but I have to rely on my housekeeper to keep track on the inside. It’s just a lot. Any suggestions would be great.