What can I do when my guests broke the rules?

Anna421
Level 2
Victoria, Australia

What can I do when my guests broke the rules?

I had 2 people book my place over new year.  I have a cleaner/co-host who greets the guests.  She told me a third girl arrived with a bag, and thought that it looked like she was staying there. She only booked for 2 guests, there is an extra charge for over 2 people.

 

Also, my neighbour emailed me today to say my tenants had a huge party with very loud music.  There were at least 4 people and they were all sceaming loudly and singing to the music, the noise echoed all through the stairwell. I have a clearly stated rule about no parties, no loud noise, no music after 10pm.

 

THe last rule was to turn the airconditioner off when leaving the apartment.  THe cleaner said it was left on when she arrived.

 

I don't know if I can claim re-embursement from the tenant somehow? And how do I prevent this from happening again? Im very disappointed.

24 Replies 24
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

When you knew about the third guest you should have contacted the main guest to confirm extra cost involved and raised a change in the booking confirmation.

 

With regards to noise did you raise it with your guest?

 

 

 

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Anna421 put in your house rules: "Only registered guests are allowed to use the apartment day and night." (you can also write on your entrance door: Only registered guests from this point on)

 

If they bring another guest you can:

1) charge them through resolution center for third person and they have to accept it before you let them inside

...if they don't want to accept it then...

2) don't let them in and contact airbnb to cancel their reservation on their behalf, without penalties because they violated your house rules

 

 

 

Buu0
Level 2
Austin, TX

Hi, 

 

   I just hosted someone over the weekend who broke two rules. She left the place smelling like weed and smoke (I clearly stated in my house rules that smoking was not allowed) and she stained my mattress and sheets with menstrual blood. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Should I file a claim or contact the guest directly? I'm concerned that she would give me a bad review 

@Buu0  What have you done about what you found?  Did you take pictures?  Did you contact the guest immediately advising of the damage?  If there is damage to your mattress you would have to have it professionally cleaned or purchase another mattress.  For the future, it is good to have a water proof mattress cover to protect your mattress.

 

If the guest does not agree to pay for damages, then you go through the Resolution Center.  There are very informative articles in the Help Center that will give you the proper steps to follow to make a claim.  If you do not have a security deposit, you will have to see what coverage applies to your claim.

 

As to breaking the rules, unless there is damage, there is no claim to be made, however you should write an honest review to warn other hosts.  The guest will know you are unhappy because you contacted them about the damage and may write a negative review.  Do not react defensively, but just professionally state that the guest was not compliate with rules and did not treat your space with respect and care.

 

Keep us posted about how all this works out for you.

@Linda108 Thank you for the advice! I'll keep you posted 🙂

Duygu3
Level 1
England, United Kingdom

Hello Linda, I have a question ragarding a statement you've made above. The statement is: "As to breaking the rules, unless there is damage, there is no claim to be made"

I have a property listed in Cuba where prostitution and drugs is strictly forbidden by the authorities. In the case of drug use the authorities treat the owner of the house where the drugs where consumed as a dealer for allowing the use. In the case of prostitution, the authorities punish the owner of the house with "pimping" statues for allowing your guests to engage in that behavior. In summary, we could have the property seized by the authorities if any of our guests engages in any of these behaviors.

Regarles of the serious implications, we wish not allowed any of these behaviors in our apartment.

We have also stated these rules very clear in our listing.

We have our co-host coming every morning to clean and organize the place. If we find a client have broken any of these rules, it would be already liable in the eyes of the laws. Ideally, we would want them to vacate the property immediately. However, internet access in Cuba is very limited and waiting until the guest access his Airbnb account might not be an option at that point in time.

What support does Airbnb provide in dealing with these type of issues? How do I proceed to cancel the remaining of the days in the reservation?
What are the implications for me as host of cancelling?
Do I claim the remaining time of the reservation as a loss?

Any other advise would be very much welcomed.

Thanks for your time.
 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

The best person to ask about this is @Duygu3 is Airbnb.

 

What sort of checks do you have on guests before they book?

 

Do you only take those with government ID?

 

In your situation I would not use Instant Book so you can check each guest out individually before they book.

 

If a guest breaks your house rules you can ask them to leave, so make sure your house rules cover issues around drugs/prostitution.

 

 

@Duygu3  If a guest breaks that law of Cuba, then the police need to be called first.  Then you contact Air BNB and request cancellation due to the law breaking.  You would cite that you had involved the authorities.  There would be no host penalties in that case.  

 

Of course, as @Helen3, has suggested, you should not have Instant Book turned on.  When vetting guests you might want to avoid renting to locals as the type of illegal activities you are concerned about would be more likely with locals than visitors from other countries.

Did you ever resolve the issues? I just got into a similar situation.


@Buu0 wrote:

Hi, 

 

   I just hosted someone over the weekend who broke two rules. She left the place smelling like weed and smoke (I clearly stated in my house rules that smoking was not allowed) and she stained my mattress and sheets with menstrual blood. Any suggestions on how to proceed? Should I file a claim or contact the guest directly? I'm concerned that she would give me a bad review 


Did you ever resolve the issues? I just got into a similar situation.

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Have a look at Airbnb Help Centre. It talks you through the process for making a claim through the Resolution Centre.

 

1. Contact guest and ask for payment for damages caused

 

2. If guest refuses to pay then go through Resolution Centre

 

@Aaden0

 

Gino26
Level 2
Virginia Beach, VA

I am going to pull my 2 listings from airbnb;  I had a guests who over loaded the elevator, flipped a switch that was supposed to be left alone, or they opened the inside panel door while the car was in motion.  It triggered a shut down ( saftey feature) and the guests called to say they needed it fixed right away.  The elevator company dispatched a field tech to fix the breakdown, and I was charged a $133 dollar service call.  I requested money from the guests, who denied having any thing to do with it ( even thought the elevator panel switch flashes a C2 error code --- ie, operator error) and airbnb was of no help in resolving this nor getting my money back.  They are clearly in favor of the guests and as a result, I will no longer host for them, as there are a plethora of other companies out there who will assist me in renting my home. 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hi @Gino26

 

You are right if you aren't happy with a service your receive and you know you can get all the booking you want from their competitors then by all means vote with your feet.

 

Personally I find despite some of the drawbacks other hosts have encountered their commission structure, operation and T&Cs work best for me.

Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

You should tighten up the costs on your listing by being more specific 

 

You should be crystal clear in house rules....absolutely no alcohol on the premises or gardens

absolutely no parties or events.

 

Maximum of TWO adults per bedroom.

Two bedrooms MAXIMUM of FOUR guests in total.

Three bedrooms MAXIMUM of SIX guests in total......you have to spell it out very clearly for the mathematically challenged guest!

 

so on and so forth to prevent such entitled behaviour.

Get security deposit to deter the rogues.

 

Now that you’ve p****d off your neighbours.....if any of them are still speaking to you, give them your phone number to call you, if an unauthorised party is taking place in your property.

 

This season some guest quality has been awful.......and that’s with me living at home, you are either brave or mad letting out a property that you don’t live in.....aid rather leave it empty or put it on the rental market as I would not rent it on air bnb.