First pre-reservation

[Jennifer1354]

I have my listing done and think I covered all my bases. In my listing it does say no babies or dogs. And my first inquiry is a couple with good ratings but they have a 2 year old and 2 dogs! They want to come just to sleep so they can get rest and right back on the road. I want the guest to stay but what if the dogs pee in my house? What if they let them outside and they come back in muddy?

I live in my home, all my belongings are here and I will sleep down in my basement master suite and out of sight, but I worry about the dogs and the young child messing with my things. I have quite the collections in my home.

I see that there is a deposit of $200 but what happens if one of the above things happen or things get broken?

I'm super excited to start. I plan to use the money to make more home improvements.

I can't believe I got a request so quickly!!!!

Any tips for a newby?

[Ava30]

If you have not accepted the reservation already you can decline it. And put the reason that you do not accept  dogs or children. It isn’t your fault that they didn’t read the description. It doesn’t sound like your listing is it all suited for either. It’s not worth the stress. Other reservations will come along.  If you have accepted it, you could get in touch with Airbnb and tell them that they booked but they have a child and a dog and you don’t accept either, and see if you can get AirBnB  to cancel it with no penalty to you. Explain that you are new to all this. Good luck and welcome to the world of hosting!

[Sandra126]

I read on the listing that you accept children 2 and up.  I don't agree with Airbnb's cut-off points. They lump every child 2-12 in one group. Big difference, maybe they don't know any children?! I have ticked the no children box but state that schoolage children are most welcome.

Your home seems very unsuitable to have a 2 year old in. Babies are better, under 4 months anyway. That is when they start to move!

[Sarah977]

@Sandra126 I'm with you on the child age designations and that whoever thought this up has zero experience with children. 0 to pre-walking stage, walking-6 and 6-12 would be more realistic categories. Some kids walk at 9 months, some not til they're a year and a half, so age in that range is immaterial to the amount of damage that can be caused, or the amount of danger to the child if the listing isn't set up for toddlers too young to understand what areas are off-limits.

[Jennifer1354]

I changed it to no children under 12. But am doubting my decision to do this. I'm so afraid someone will steal or break something.

[Sarah977]

@Jennifer1354   Guests who don't bother to read your listing description and policies or read them and then ignore them and try to book anyway are not likely to be good guests in other ways. All the things you fear could happen are not that far-fetched and are not even the worst case scenario. Dogs pee in the house? How about poop in the house and chew your furniture and scratch your door, how about you find the mattress urine soaked from the baby, who negligent mom or dad didn't bother to put a change pad under? I'd decline these guests or get Airbnb to cancel them for you.

It's too bad, when you were so excited about having your first guests, but better that your first guest experience be one from a guest who has actually bothered to read your listing, and respects your rules, rather than those who want you to accomodate their needs and disregard your own.

[Robin4]

@Jennifer1354

That is unfortunate that your very first guest inquiry should turn out be a less than satisfactory guest.

There is a golden rule when excepting guest inquiries or reservations Jennifer....they either want to stay on your terms...or they want to stay on theirs! And generall, when they want to stay on theirs, they will turn out to be poor guests. They drive their own agenda and don't take any notice of your house rules, they adapt everything to fit themselves.

As much as I would like to see you off to a flying start, if I was in your situation with the experience I have now, I would decline the inquiry or, if it has progressed to a reservation I would call Airbnb and have them cancel the reservation for you. Don't cancel it yourself, you will be penalised if you do. Explain to CX that the guest wants to break two of your house rules and you feel uncomfortable proceeding with this reservation. They will either refund or re-house the guest and you will not be penalised.

I am including the link where you will find a lot of useful contact information including the US phone numbers.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Contact-Airbnb-A-Community-Help-Guide/m-p/16165#M18763

Jennifer, hosting is a wonderful experience and I hope it brings you as much joy as it has me. I have hosted over 200 bookings, almost 500 people and there is only three I would not welcome back onto my property again.

Good luck, and all the best for your future.

Cheers......Rob 

[Joanne246]

Don’t do it.  I have a no children policy but I accepted a couple with a baby as my first guests.

(my apartment is suitable for couples.) 

This couple ended of complaining in my review about all the things I didn’t offer them in regards to the baby.

[Sarah977]

A couple with a 2 year old and 2 dogs who just want a place to sleep for the night before getting back on the road should just book a pet-friendly roadside motel. I can't imagine why they'd want or need to book a STR.

[Jennifer1354]

and an infant!

[Jackie148]

Hi think about why you didn't want dogs or babies in the first place, take note of others advice I would decline you will be walking on egg shells. 

[Rachel0]

@Jennifer1354 Please don't do it.  If you start off by breaking your own rules you will pretty soon find that guests are taking advantage of you and that you are left with no control over your own space.  You put those rules there for a reason - ie to make you feel comfortable - and having your first booking is stressful enough without this added problem. I hope you get more suitable bookings in the future.

[Jennifer1354]

It was a pre-approval or something so I declined it due to my rules stating no dogs.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jennifer1354

they didn't read your house rules before sending you an inquiry.

Or, the did read but don't care.

Either way they are bad guests.

We had a family with 2 kids , 2 dogs and a cat just ofr one night. They left more mess then other guests in 2 weeks. And his kid peed in bed and they said nothing. We had to pay for proffesional cleaning of the mattrass, had to wash a duvet, pillow, mattrass protectors...  and they were mad when we sent them a bill and paid just a half of the cost.

I had enough and they were our last guests with kids. (ALL other kids before them also peed in bed. )

No thank you.

[Jennifer1354]

That's what I'm afraid of. And all the dog hair. She mentioned in her message to me "1 dog does not shed!" So that leads me to believe the other sheds immensely.