2nd guest not paid for....

[Abby40]

Hi, this is my very first Air BNB experience.  I have a private suite attached to home, so private entrance.  My very first guest is here.  Via chat last week, she shared with me that she was coming in town to visit her homesick college daughter and that her daughter would be visiting.  No problem, I said.  However, I didn't realize she meant the daughter would be staying on property with the mom.  She didn't register a guest, which I have set as a $10 extra per night.  There are 2 more nights to this reservation....what do I do?  And what do I risk by speaking up & requesting payment for the extra?

[Kelly149]

@Abby40 many would say to forgo the $30 and use that as impetus to learn something about hosting. How could your rules or communication or pricing have helped you to have better prepared for this guest and to not have a surprise guest in the future? (oh how nice to be able to visit your daughter, will she be staying with you or coming over during your stay?)

Do you need to offer an extra bed or extra linens or something that would give you an entry to say " oh, I didn't realize that daughter would be staying as well. Is there something I can get you to make you both more comfortable? and btw I'm sending you an alteration request for an extra $30" Many hosts use the logic that ABB requires accurate guest counts as a reason for needing to make these changes when extras show up. Some would even say "I have to put your daughter into the system for the sake of ABB insurance and the charge should be $30 but since this is an honest mistake I can discount it to $20" or something that perhaps softens the blow.

Neither approach is necessarily wrong, up to you

[Clara116]

@Abby40@Kelly149 Great advice kelly! The way you would do this Abby is go to your transaction history or messages with this guest.....and it says change or cancel  in a box.... Pick Change or cancel and it will automatically do the math for you. change the number of people on the trip. I just had to do this as the person had just booked and I noticed it said one and she said with her husband. So she said OH I missed that. It will calculate and you send the request and when she okays it you are good to go.

I agree with Kelly that sometimes just let it go BUT always use it as  a great learning cause there is so much to learn and understand on the Airbnb Platform and the more we know the better.  Hope this is understandable. Happy Hosting, Clara

[Rebecca181]

@Abby40 - You will get lots of great advice here from experienced hosts, so it is wonderful you thought to ask the community for their advice. As for me, I would not advise you to 'let it go' unless you have your own commercial insurance. The fact is, this woman's daughter is staying in your place and not covered by Airbnb's Host Protection Program. It is unlikely anything will happen - But, if it did, you will not be supported by Airbnb at all, and you will not be able to make any claims for damages or be protected in any way without the Host Protection program coverage (example - daughter falls on your property and injures herself and holds you liable).

I let many things go with guests, but not this one. They need to be registered, and if they are not, I send an altered reservation request and have the guest pay the charges. I will not discount, either - It is a lot of extra stress and trouble for me to have to deal with such a situation and I feel I am more than entitled to my extra guest fee (extra linens, extra wear and tear, etc). This woman likely knew her daughter would be staying there and there's a good chance she hoped to avoid the extra fees. Why should you reward her by foregoing your fees, or even discounting them, when you are the one that was put in a very difficult position by her actions?

By the way, in my 'Additional Rules' under 'House Rules', I clearly state that unregistered guests are not allowed, and I do not accept 3rd party bookings. But it still happens. So know your boundaries, and stick to them. And, ideally, your boundaries will be based on what gives you the most peace of mind, and the most protection insurance-wise, and legally.

[Tonya16]

Hi Abby,  I am also having this problem.  As I don't live on the property I can't question how many guests are at our house.  

Our property managers have had to reset 3 bedrooms when only a couple and 1 child have booked to stay.  The guests said the child decided to sleep in every bed at the house even though the property managers had sited 2 car loads of people at the house.  It comes down to people being honest and booking the correct number of guest.  I have stated policies and safety reasons so many times and it is in every corrospondence I send out.  I really don't know what else to do but am now going to try locking bedrooms that are not booked for and see how this goes.

I guess use this as an experience and to be aware it happens.  At least you are onsite to be able to question number of guests staying.

Cheers Tonya