Advice on a guest review

[Alexandra316]

So I had a guest stay last night. They had 10 reviews, with an average of 4 1/2 stars. All of the written reviews looked fine. They booked for 2 people.  Communication was good, and they asked for early check in, which I had no issue accomodating: we don't charge extra for it. 

They arrived at 1:30 pm, while we were cutting the grass. They had trouble with the door lock, so my husband went over to help them. When he went over, he noticed that there were actually 4 people. We charge $10 for each additional guest after 2. They told him that they weren't intending to stay, just stopping by for a visit, and we gave them the benefit of the doubt. The extra people had their own car with a local licence plate, so it seemed feasible. 

Fast forward to this morning. We spent the night at our cottage, so our cleaners were scheduled to clean for us today. When she and her assistant arrived at 11 am, they found that the guests were still on site. I contacted the guest immediately, but they didn't end up leaving until 12 noon, a full hour after our check out time. Of course, all 4 people had also stayed the night. They didn't apologise, just sent me a note saying they had left.

I was mad, based on the lying and the late check out.They said that their friends only decided to stay after the wedding, but that obviously wasn't the case, as they were on site with them when they checked in. I've never sent a request for money before, but I sent them a request for the extra people, as well as a portion of the extra charges from the cleaners for the waiting time, for a total of $40. They did pay it immediately and sent an apology: "Sorry for the inconvenience."

So how do I review these people now? They did pay the extra without argument, but they were also dishonest and would not have paid for the extra people had I not called them on it. I'm at a total loss of what to say here. 

And yeah... I know that I've possibly opened myself up to a bad review. I'm okay with that. I was friendly and professional throughout, but I am not letting guests get away with stuff like this. 

[Kelly149]

@Letti0 that would be great if abb was actually doing anything to block bad guests. I can say from my end that I've had several thumbs down and 1* across the board guests and can say definitively that they still have active profiles and they have had further stays since those reviews were entered (maybe not IB, but also not removed)

[Letti0]

@Kelly149  I think it's probably more than 3 times myself based on how quickly they follow up on most things, but it does happen, so that's good news in a way. I still think it completely sucks that those without Instant Booking are denied the star rating until after they book a guest and they don't have the free get out of jail card an Instant Book host has either with the uncomfortable with this guest card, so it's much harder for them to cancel without penalty. AirBnB's logic just doesn't make sense more times than not to me, but as a former computer programmer (who never thank God worked for AirBnB) I am almost always all about the logic not the human side or emotional factors. It can make me come off a little cold to issues, but I am a black and white with a little grey matter type of person. I do realize this is a trait my mother tells me all the time is very bad I need more common sense less logic ;D

[Kelly149]

duplicate

[Victoria567]

Yes indeedy the wishy washy guest review written by the touchy feely host......such reviews are as much use as a chocolate teapot! 

[Sarah977]

@Alexandra316   It just amazes me how people perceive their own behavior.

"Sorry for the inconvenience"- not "Sorry we misrepresented how many were staying and didn't bother to mention that our friends stayed the night and didn't offer to pay for them until you requested the $"

[Alexandra316]

@Sarah977For sure! Or sorry for making the cleaners wait: I'm super lucky that they were able to wait and didn't have a clean after mine. If the guest had even asked in advance, it would have been fine. 

[Daniel1992]

More like "Sorry we lied directly to your face about them staying".

[Emilia42]

@Alexandra316

Factual and neutral:

“XYZ stayed for 2 nights. While communication was good leading up to their stay they neglected to inform us that 4 people would be staying in the suite while it was only booked for two. After the stay a request was sent was collect the funds for the additional two guests. It was immediately paid; which was appreciated. The guests did stay an hour after checkout, which resulted in paying the cleaning crew for their extra time.”

Low stars. Thumbs down.

[Alexandra316]

@Emilia42 Thanks for this. I made some small changes and went with:

Communication with * was good before check in, and we happily accommodated her request for an early arrival. Unfortunately, more guests stayed than were registered, and they checked out late without making prior arrangements, which incurred extra charges with our cleaners and caused scheduling issues. She did promptly pay for the extra costs after I sent a request, which was appreciated, and the space was left clean. I would only consider hosting * again if communication was improved.

[Fred13]

@Alexandra316 Well Alex you know my standard stock answer to these type of 'issues'; I would simply let it go because all turned out well. BUT I would think of the ways to prevent this happening again. One way immediately comes to mind:  'Only booked guests are allowed on the premises'. Simple, end of story.

[Alexandra316]

@Fred13 Yeah, I hear you regarding letting it go because it all worked out.

Not having unregistered guests is on my house rules already. We don't have many rules, but that one is in there after having too many people bringing extra guests without paying for them.

[Fred13]

"They told him that they weren't intending to stay, just stopping by for a visit, and we gave them the benefit of the doubt."   

    Bummer that when you give an inch, they take a mile.

[Alexandra316]

@Fred13 Yeah but sadly, that seems to be the way it goes... I should have known better. You want to think the best of people.

[Fred13]

Alex, I have done this 10x and 9/10 'Oops'. I still think the best of all people, I just don't trust them. Now, I still love them, as I say 'NO'. LOL

[Sarah977]

@Fred13@Alexandra316    I used to trust people until they proved themselves to be otherwise, now I only trust them after they prove themselves to be trustworthy.