Dishonest Guest - Wondering How To Review

[Alexandra316]

Hello all, 

We had a guest stay last night. Our primary Airbnb will accomodate up to 4 people, but only 2 people were booked. I know that at least 3 people were there, possibly 4, but I don't know if I want to get into it with the guest. Everything was okay: the flat was left in okay shape (not great but okay) and they checked out on time, generally weren't much trouble, etc. They only stayed one night. I don't have any "proof", but I could hear at least 3 people talking in the unit both yesterday and today (they were loud talkers), they used three mugs, and they said they were a couple but two of the beds were used. 

I don't care about the money: it would only be an extra $10 or $20 fee (depending on how many people it was, and with it being Christmas, I probably would have just waived it if they told me they ended up having an extra person). It's more about the dishonesty. I'm contemplating doing one of three things: 

1) Asking them about it and asking them to amend the reservation. I'm not crazy about this option, because I don't really want to trigger them to write a bad review. It's just not worth it to me;

2) Not asking them about, but mentioning it on their review; 

3) Not asking them about it or mentioning it in the review, but putting it into the message space for Airbnb. 

Any thoughts on how to handle this from other hosts?

Thanks,

Alexandra

[Marzena4]

Hello @Alexandra316. If you don't want to risk prompting the guests to write a bad review, I would go for option 2. 

Or you can request the money for the third person. Then be prepared for the guests denying the fact.

[Clare0]

@Alexandra316 May I assume that you are talking about your Entire Home listing?  

Many times guests don't realize how important it is to indicate the exact number of guests when booking as they assume that it doesn't matter.  Of course, some will "cheat the system" this way but I think most just don't understand.  

The best thing to do in this situation would be to simply ask the guest how many guests stayed at your house since you see that there seems to be evidence that more than 2 guests were present.  Do this through Airbnb's messaging system.  Once the guest confirms, you can go to the Resolution Center and request extra payment for the 3rd guest.  

Definitely tell Airbnb privately about the situation when you write a review.  Your comment may be useful later on if the guest habitually lists fewer guests than the number that actually stayed.  

Depending on how the discussion goes about the 3rd guest, you can choose to talk about it in your review.  If they confirm the additional guest and are willing to compensate you, then I would not bring it up in the review.  

Keeping in mind that these guests are able to Instant Book, you might consider a "Thumbs Down" to prevent them from booking instantly for fewer guests with another host and instead will be required to send Instant Book hosts a Reservation Request so that future hosts can ask them to confirm the number of guests. 

In the end, do what is right for future hosts and what you are comfortable with.  Since you don't have proof, it is a touchy situation. 

[Isabel203]

@Alexandra316, inviting unregistered guests to stay in a rented space is one of the biggest no-no's guests can make. Was this the guests' first stay with AirBnB? If so, they may just have been unaware how big a problem this could be. If not, they probably know better. In either case, future hosts will want to know about this so that they can be clear about the rules with these folks and be prepared in case they try to do the same thing again. You can basically say what you said here: Ackowledge what they did right; say that you are not sure they had unregistered guests, but that you hear extra voices and, based on how they used the space and the amenities, you believe there were at least three people in the space rather than 2. In your private feedback to the guest, you can explain why this behaviour would be a concern to hosts and that some hosts would immediately cancel the reservation if they found unregistered guests in their home. 

[Alexandra316]

@Isabel203It was not their first foray onto Airbnb, so I do suspect that they were avoiding an extra charge. Thanks for the feedback. I think other hosts do deserve to know: I'd like to know if a potential guest isn't honest. 

[Ikenna2]

I definitely understand how you feel. I think other hosts deserve to know about your experience. If you were a potential host of theirs, I imagine you would want to know of something like this. Trust your instinct that if you believe there were three people, there probabaly were. Since this was not their first Airbnb experience, they most likely were aware of the extra charge(s) for additional people. If I were in your shoes, I would leave an honest review about things they did right, and mention what you've told us here; that you do believe there were 3 instead of 2 guests like @Isabel203 said. I hope your future guests are more honest than this group.

[Fred13]

I would take this vein: ~IF~ you are sure they brought an extra guest, then yes worth mentioning it (in a most diplomatic way), to be fair to you and helpful to others. Oftentimes guests are quite spacy about the concept of extra guests, and when informed of it, they are most willing to pay the extra fee.

[Jann3]

@Alexandra316, This *may* sound strict, but I think the following: Too many hosts feel that they don't want to "get into it" with a guest or "risk a bad review" but this simply enables this behavior when this guest books with other hosts. It hurts everyone. AirBnB is not just a money-maker for hosts. It requires their active participation and hosts that do not wish to enforce their own rules might as well simply change their rules so there is no extra fee for the extra guest.

I would confirm that you know another guest stayed, offer to waive the fee, but require that they amend the (current?) reservation. This will perhaps trigger a bad review BUT you can always respond to their review stating that they brought an extra guest.

I would always risk a bad review for the truth...Karma gets them in the end.

Just my two cents...

Jann

[Helga0]

@Alexandra316, for a one night booking, I would not do much about amending the reservation after checkout. You could have sent a message during the stay, when you heard them. 

I would write in the review, that they booked for 2, but as they seemed to have a jolly good time, I heard 3 different voices and found unwashed dishes for 3 persons. Otherwise, they left everything in an acceptable state. 

In the airbnb feedback I would write it as well and mention, if I suspected it was deliberate. 

No private feedback. 

[Alexandra316]

Thanks @Helga0, I didn't try and address it at the time because it was midnight when they returned and they had been drinking (no issues there: it was Christmas day and they got a DD to drive them home).

Thank you for the input: your response sounds good. 

[Helga0]

Maybe they fet away with it regularly, as most hosts would be reluctant to address the matter for one night, on a special day, late in the evening or when they hear their guests are not completely sober. I would not either. But it’s not nice, so a a small poke in the review seems necessary 😉

[Huma0]

If they are experienced Airbnbers + they clearly specified two people and told you they were a couple without mentioning the possibility of a third person, I'm thinking it was either a deliberate attempt to avoid the fee, or they simply brought a friend back after partying having not planned to in advance. People often 'crash' where convenient after a night of drinking.

It is possible that they didn't realise they didn't need to either pay or get permission for an extra person to stay, but I doubt it. I frequently get requests for a second guest to stay and have to remind them there is an additional fee. Or, I get requests for a third person, even though my listing clearly states maximum two people per room. However, every time, the guest asks first if it's okay. They don't just bring the extra person along without informing me.