Swapping Guests

Susan1441
Level 2
Queensland, Australia

Swapping Guests

Hi, how do others feel about guests that have booked then swap people?  Eg: paid for 4 adults & 2 children under 12, then swap the 2 kids for children that are over 12.  They have also invited other people onto our property where i have stated its against Airbnb's policy & my house rules.  I'm so over people that when they leave I'm taking my property off for awhile.  It's easy money but the people that don't follow the rules annoy me lol.

9 Replies 9

@Susan1441  My answer is: NO.

I hate enforcing the rules but they are supposed to of read and accepted these rules before booking.  They're nice enough people but now i have to be a grinch!

 

@Susan1441 To me, this is unacceptable. 

 

I have some pretty strict language in my house rules regarding registered guests and occupancy limits. I also ask guests to supply certain info. If they haven't read my rules, then they don't supply what I ask....so I then ask them to read the rules and supply the info before I accept the booking. I also disclose in the rules the security camera I have. They know there will be 'eyes'. This seems to work well. 

 

Thanks Colleen.  The worst is, I didn't realise my bookings were open coz we didn't want anyone here & they managed to slip thru.  I think they maybe ignorant to the rules as they don't seem to be hiding the other people (we live at the property)  I just hate having to deal with this sort of stuff & if we continue on with Airbnb I will definitely make sure that any people in the future will know about these simple rules.  

@Susan1441  " I think they maybe ignorant to the rules as they don't seem to be hiding the other people". They likely are unaware of them. One of the reasons I ask for guest info in my rules is so I have confirmation a guest has or hasn't seen my unique house rules. I would say one in ten proves they've actually read them.

 

To be fair to guests, the way Airbnb display and word the house rule header, it's easy for guests to look at the header and think they've 'read the rules'. It says "this host doesn't allow pets, parties or smoking (click to get details)" Well, I'm sure the majority of people probably think they don't need to see details, as it's already spelled out right there. They have NO IDEA that your unique house rules are actually hidden in the link. I believe that's why so many guests don't read the rules. It's the same at checkout. They are asked to read and agree to the rules. Well,  the rules are again well hidden, in tiny fine print, behind a link. As far as the guest is concerned, they're already aware of the rules anyway. Why would they click and read?

@Susan1441  Nice people don't enter an agreement and then proceed to totally trash it by blatantly disregarding the rules and disrespecting their host's home and hospitality. You're giving these people far more credit than they deserve.

 

If you become aware of a situation like this before the check-in date, Airbnb will grant you a penalty-free cancellation on the basis of the booking not meeting your parameters. You also have every right to refuse entry to a party that does not match the group you accepted in the booking, or evict a group that breaks your rules. But it does help to come across as someone who means business - your House Rules make it sound like the outside visitor policy is totally negotiable, which guests of a certain mindset just perceive as a weakness rather than a gesture of kindness.

Hi Andrew, yes I think you're right.  We only have to put up with them for another 3 nights.  I'm more annoyed at myself for not making sure our listing was blocked out.  Have a safe & happy new year 🙂  

Kelly149
Level 10
Austin, TX

@Susan1441 this isn't a unique to you or unique to these guests problem. It is universal and my current line on this in regard to abb is "this is a feature, not a bug", as @Colleen253 mentions, the abb setup is quite obtuse about such things and in general the hilton doesn't care who comes traipsing thru the lobby so you are really the only one who can solve this problem for yourself. It really has to be so very, very crystal clear before the guests (& their guests) set foot on your property. As @Anonymous mentioned, your rules need to emphatically say No extras of any type, bc no one ever thinks their extra people are a problem:

"this isn't a party, we've been at a funeral"

"they're not spending the night"

"your total said you could accommodate 10, why does it matter that I only booked for 4?"

and so on and so on

Susan3690
Level 2
Coupeville, WA

That's why I'm here. I want to swap my gorgeous home on whidbey island, wa. It would be such an awesome service of Airbnb to set up a process for us. Someone mentioned a Facebook page but I can't get to it. Anyone know the name of it?