Should children under 2 Free? I think Not!

Monica4
Level 10
Ormstown, Canada

Should children under 2 Free? I think Not!

I have hosted families for over three years. Children are the most work because they.....well...they are children. I just recently found out that my listing shows that children under 2 are free. My goodness....the spilled juice on the floors, the fingerprints on my glass doors, extra laundry, diapers in the garbage......all OK "if" I get paid for the extra work but it seems that Airbnb has decided that I should do this work for free? Sadly, the only way that I can stop this free promotion is to change my settings to "unsuitable" for children under 2 and now my listing will not show up when a family is looking to stay somewhere with small children.

 

Oh well, I had better go and check the other two platforms that I use.

171 Replies 171

@Jiw0 Airbnb wants to compete with Hotels.....hence the automatic filter (in some areas) with Instant Book "on" and twisting the arms of hosts to accept children under 2 for free. What Airbnb does not want to realize is that our listings are more than just "hotel rooms"....they have furniture, carpeting, personal objects and much, much more than a sterile hotel room would have.

 

That being said, I doubt very much that Airbnb will listen. They are making money from new hosts all the time....so what if a few experienced ones give up? There are many more listings than there are guests, probably!

Rosemary12
Level 9
Burnaby, Canada

Hi Monica

 

Well said!

 

I too was shocked to receive the latest Host News and see that you can't charge for children under 2! Love that this section of the newsletter was under "More control and fewer surprizes"......really???? Seemed like less control for me and a big surprize!

 

According to the new "rules", if you want to charge guests with a child under 2 you have to "collect the fee using the resolution centre". I thought the resolution centre was for disputes, not for additional fees. That's like saying your child was a issue and I want to be compensated!

 

I am happy to welcome children and don't charge for an infant under 1, even though it means setting up a crib etc. I charge $10 for a child between 2-12 because I offer either a crib or a bed in a separate bedroom. Doesn't anyone at Airbnb know that children take baths, use sheets, towels etc. and heaven forbid EAT! (I provide full breakfast for my guests).

 

Their discrimination policy has gone too far. It is not for them to decide who we charge and how much.

 

 

Jiw0
Level 10
Chiang Mai, Thailand

I didn't understand the newsletter at all, it said: 

 

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Where is that then?  I would actually like it if I can set the number of infants separately from the normal number of guests you can accommodate: because I can actually accommodate one infant easily in addition to the maximum number of guests.  And I charge for the entire place anyway so it's not too much bother to set up the cot/crib we have.

 

So I would expect that setting either here, or near the switch for accepting infants under House Rules, but it's not there.

 

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Or: 

 

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Debbie18
Level 5
St Just, United Kingdom

I have not been with AirBnB for very long, just since the beginning of the 2016 season, but I am aware that it has, over the past few months, begun to change from the homesharing platform that I thought I had joined, to a self styled hotel wannabe. It is forgetting that it is not a hotel, it cannot control the service that hosts offer, even if it can reward what it sees as best practice. It also needs to be aware that guests want different things from their space: for some a basic room at a basic price is all that is required whilst others want to luxuriate in top notch accommodation and pay the necessary costs of that.

 

But, if AirBnB want to keep its hosts, it must surely recognise their value to its business model. They are not offering hotel rooms, they are mostly offering rooms in people's homes and it must be left to the host to determine, within the law, what is acceptable in their homes.

 

To be required to accept, as part of the business of running a B and B, all genders, religions and so on is right and within the law. To be forced to accept, at no charge, additional guests that create extra work and costs is not appropriate. A 23 month old toddler is not the same as a 3 month old baby and should not be put in the same category. My house rules used to say non-walking babies were acceptable by arrangement - it has been changed without my consent even though the place is not suitable for a toddler. This is not about the charge - I have never made one for a baby. It is about the safety of the child.

 

Similarly with dogs. I have always been pleased to welcome dogs subject to a cleaning fee which I have claimed through a Special Offer. It has never been a problem. Now it seems that I have either to accept pets or refuse them unless I want to make a claim through the resolution centre - presumably after the stay.

 

I think AirBnB is in the process of killing off the goose that lays the golden egg. Or if not killing it, making it so unhappy that it will take its services, rooms and welcome elsewhere.

 

Debbie

I agree with everything you said. It is sad that they will lose great hosts by trying to enforce draconian rules. I have decided to say that my home is not suitable for children under 2 which is unfortunate but I refuse to be bullied and taken advantage of.

I'd love to see the data - specifically how many hosts chose "not suitable for children under 2" after reading the newsletter/reading about the issue on various boards.  We know that most guests don't read, and I'd venture to say that only 5% of hosts actually go through the help section, pay attention to the TOS, read the newsletters and participate in any kind of community.  I find most posts here to be the same nonsense so I go to other boards where it's more helpful and conversational.  Whether you participate here on the official forum or on some other forum, I think it's vital for hosts to share info.   

Maxine0
Level 10
Brighton, United Kingdom

Some hosts properties are suitable for children and if they wish to welcome under 2's for free that should be a personal choice not one foisted on every host and certainly not on those of us whose properties are neither designed to accomadate children nor safe for them. Airbnb do not own my property nor contribute to its maintenance nor pay for linens nor insure my property - so who are they to dictate to me that I should accept the terrible two's free of charge and put my property at risk, negate my insurance and accept others children for free.

Others have rightly stated here that a blanket policy all children 0-2 are free will likely lead to parents stating that 3 yr olds are two years olds and try to get away with that. Likewise if 0-2's do not qualify in the 'maximum' occupancy, there is nothing standing in the way of say two parents with an infant and 2 year old twins taking your property way above it's maximum. My insurance policy specifically covers me for my maximum '4' guests - not 5, 6 etc. So the child is not insured and infact any claim where 5 guests stayed would negate any claim through my insurance company.

Further airbnb's host guarantee policy, specifically states it does not apply to artworks and other works of art etc - my property is designed for adults and has high quality furnitures, soft furnishings, linens and quality artworks - which is a purposeful design choice to attract and accomadate a certain type of guest and provide a 'quality guest experience' - so if a couple's two year old damaged an artwork, the host guarantee scheme would not even entertain it.

Claims for extra cleaning costs are not entertained either if you clean up yourself - they only accept a claim if you hire a professional cleaning company and provide their quote on letterhead within 48 hours of check out or before the next guests checks in - so if you have a back to back check out 11am and check in 2pm - you have just 3 hours to put in a claim with quote and photographs - and actually to also get the work done by the external cleaning firm before the next guest checks in!

Overall, the key issue is safety. My property is accessed via a flight of decending steps making it problematic for mothers with baby equipment like pushchairs (and likewise impossible access for a disabled guest), I have floor to celing blinds with engineered pulley ropes - kids would love those, a retro style electric fire, regency fireplace with removable coals, a walk-in power shower far too strong for little ones and no bath nor baby bath. I have no beds suitable for children under the age of 10 and neither do i want to risk a child of bed wetting age doing so, regardless of mattress protectors, the cost of laundering it, the mattress topper, the bedding etc which could occur more than once during a stay. I have white carpets and high quality wool rugs including in the dining area that would cost far too much to have steam cleaned - and no time between guests to do so anyway.

This repeats I guess many points so many other hosts have made and over and over again to airbnb but they do not listen and i would argue that they are putting children at risk by insisting hosts take them in properties that the host has advised it simply not suitable for children. So if a child was harmed - who would take responsibility if the parents decided to make a claim for an injury? Airbnb forced the child on the host due to it's policies so it should accept full liability and likewise unequivocally for any damages and extra cleaning caused due to that child policy.

What their decision will lead to it's 000's of hosts now switching to a not suitable for infants and toddlers option - I already have that selected and I know so many other hosts are now switching not necessarily due to not being able to charge but due 0-2's not counting in the maximum number of guests count. And due to parents therefore having bed wetting age children share the expensive adult bed and quality linens provided. By including 'age' in the discrimination policy, hosts not allowing children could arguably be de-listed regardless of the safety and suitability issues of the listing itself and the invalidating of hosts insurance policies where numbers of maximum occupancy are exceeded.

End of rant - sorry.

Hm, I admittedly didn't fully understand the claim procedure, and that you can't get anything if you clean up damage yourself. Is this true even with security deposits? I'm considering removing my listing from being pet friendly. I was trying to be accommodating to different types of guests, but it is pretty risky, and I want to be compensated if the dog pees inside the house (without having such restrictions as to when or how I get it cleaned).

 

Also, I thought we could still send a special offer with the appropriate fees tacked on, before the guest comes to stay? Do we really have to resolve it afterwards? I clicked on the resolutions center link and it went to describing how to change a reservation, so I figured I could still do special offers...

 

I already have my listing as no 0-2 YOs (since my home is not kid-safe), but I think I might take the pet option as well =( I've only had 3/24 reservations being with pets, so I guess not a huge loss, and probably worth the reduced risk. The person with a cat sure did appreciate it though 😉

Hi Maxine

You have made some very good points! I hadn't thought about insurance but this is an issue. Your place sounds lovely and I can see why you are not suitable for small children. It just boggles my mind that Airbnb think they can dictate who stays in our homes and what we can charge. I had to laugh at the picture with the host newsletter about this issue showing a toddler with useless swim bands on, standing by a pool with the parents fully dressed....no safety fence! Pretty much sums up how much they know about children and safety!

I changed mine today.

Me too Rosemary.

Well said.

Well said Debbie. I have now listed elsewhere, STAYZ, something I had never thought of doing before AIRBNB introduced the Free Infant policy.

Frances18
Level 2
New South Wales, Australia

I just found out about this by accident, trying to see if there was a way around the 'price per guest' policy, rather than price per room, policy after single guests have started requiring not just their their own beds, but their own (double) rooms. I had no idea this had been implemenented and immediately rang the rep - who said she hadnt heard any hosts complaining about it!! joke!

I changed the settings so that my house is now not suitable for children under 2, (something I didnt want to do because its set up fior families) but the changes have not 'stuck' and up to 5 infants can now stay for free! I know of no other company that effectively imposes an 'infant charge' (because that's what it is - a mandatory free service is a charge in reverse) on its customers  without notifying them. So I'm what else can they do under their terms of service - without notifying hosts?

 

I'm gone... they make too much money out of my listing in service fees for me to accept such draconian actions without my consent. My large house may end up as a childcare centre and I wont have any choice in the matter. 

So here is a big question, if you set the switch for not suitable for children under 2, what happens when they show up? Can we as the host have AirBnB cancel them with no penalty on us, since they are in violation of the listing? Can we charge extra and allow them to stay, What does AirBnB expect us to do?

 

I've set my selection to not suitable for under 2, I have text in my listing to say that all persons staying are in fact persons and need to be listed, and once I get a message that I have a listing, I send an email thanking them, and conforming how many will be staying. Even with that, I've had a couple groups show up with more people and they get upset when I leave a bad review of them that identifys that they didn't follow the house rules.

@David641 I had similar situation this month, they booked for 3 but 5 of them showed up and another group booked for 5 adults but 4 adults and 1 child showed up.

I asked in the community center and directly to ABB and find out that we can cancel at the arrival, without a refund. We don't have to let them in because they are violating our house rules.