Hi - I hope someone in the "home office" will read this because I don't think there's anything that anyone else can say or do about it. So, here's the thing...My city/town Petaluma, California, requires me to pay a 10% tax. I would appreciate it so much if Airbnb would add this onto the charges and then send the tax directly to the city. As it is, I give this information in my listing and ask that guests add on the 10% and leave me cash or check. Out of 90 booked nights this year, only TWO guests have left me the 10%!! I'm actually not surprised because no one reads the listing! People ask questions for which they would have the answers, if they read the listing. I put the info at the beginning, too. I don't blame them! When I go to Airbnbs, I choose by location/price/pictures - I don't read all the stuff either.
I discussed this with a rep and they suggested I ask the people for the money. He said it was their fault for not reading the whole listing and they shouldn't be upset or surprised because they chose not to read the whole listing. Haha. NO! I am not going to tell people when they request a reservation (haha, by the way, add 10%!) and I'm certainly not going to surprise them after they've already committed to the price that they thought was The Price. They might still choose not to pay me and I would get a bad review for surprising them.
I also don't want to get the money by raising my price. I've considered increasing my cleaning deposit but I'm not crazy about that idea either...
So, Mr or Ms Airbnb policy-makers - please consider adding my city tax onto the charges and sending the proceeds directly to my city.
Thank you!
Marilyn