Guest sneaking dog into house, should I confront them?

[Kevin557]

So I’ve only been hosting for two weeks and today found that our guest snuck a good sized dog into our place for 6 hours. The dog belongs to a family member of theirs who lives locally. We clearly state in our house rules no pets are allowed.

The guests are checking out in the AM, what recourse do I have, what would you recommend? 

Confronting them will likely lead to a bad review, which is deadly for a new host.

[April435]

How do you handle a service animal in your property?

[Alexandra316 · Accepted solution]

@Kevin557 If there is no damage (fingers crossed!), you still have the opportunity to address the behavior in your review. I would rate them down on following the rules and mention that they had an animal on the property, violating your rules. 

[Paul904]

@Kevin557, you have a valid complaint. If your house rules explicitly state no pets then guests should honor that. It is a respect thing. They have signed that they read your rules and regulations (they don't all read it though). They are liable and you should note their negligence in rating them and I would communicate with them as well. Of course be tactful. In addition, I send house rules and a one pager to them after confirmed booking. Without rules, there is chaos. Hey, we were all teenagers. If you gave me an inch, I took a mile. Many adults still act as teens these days. 

I have a camera directed to the driveway/walkway to the front door and have also caught additional guests and pets coming in and staying the night (I can accommodate 14 at my executive rental). I have to keep that place to the highest standards and I will charge for guests trying to be sneaky like that. It's wear and tear on the house, utilities expense and blatant disregard of my rules. I want all guests to have am amazing experience and will do anything to make that happen but it goes both ways! 

Now, at another beach house listing, I furnished it inexpensively, it has tile throughout and is more or less "tenant proof." More leeway there. I'm not as strict. Case by case basis...

I hope this helps...

All the best,

Paul 

[Kevin557]

I also have an exterior, flood light  camera (disclosed in my listing) that is pointed at the gate and guest parking space. It’s meant to provide a little extra protection for their vehicle as well as helping me monitor that no one enters the property who shouldn’t be there. 

After I notified the guests that I was disappointed to see them sneak a dog in yesterday, they apparently unplugged the network this AM. Perhaps they felt I was spying on them, but I got a notification of movement by their car at midnight and when I checked I saw the dog.

oh well, I felt I was nice in the way I brought it up but they seem unapologetic.

[Renee291]

I had guests sneak in 3 medium size dogs (3 room house).  I do not allow pets. The neighbor saw them alone in the house, barking and jumping at windows and doors.  The tenants were gone for over 2 hours.  I called the guest and she tried to tell me they were service animals.  Of course service animals are never left alone in the house, and why would 2 adults have 3 service animals?  She then said they were training the 3rd dog for her child who was not with them.  I just asked her to leave that day by 6 pm and I wouldn't charge her.  I was busy, so my husband went to the house and watched them leave and checked for damages.  Thankfully there were none yet, but I guarantee there would have been, given more time.  They did empty my k cup pod holder (20 pods) but I'll take that over what could have happened to the home with uncontrolled dogs left to their own devices. 

Shortly after they left my place, a review from a stay prior to my listing popped up and that host had similar issues.

I don't understand how hosts with allergies or guests with allergies are protected by Airbnb (they are not) and I can't stand the abuse of the service dog policy by guests.

[Jenny]

Hi @Renee291 

Sorry to hear about that.

I checked the Airbnb Accessibility Policy and it states that while service animals are allowed at listings, some Hosts would be eligible for an exemption, if the animal posed a risk to their health or safety.  I would expect that this would include things like severe allergies and would urge any hosts with such allergies to contact Airbnb about an exemption.  The rules are more flexible for Emotional Support animals and I'd always advise reading over the policy if that scenario was to occur.

The policy also states that service animals shouldn't be left alone at the listing without prior approval, so although I know you queried the legitimacy of their claim that these were service animals, they still went against the policy by leaving the dogs unattended.

Hopefully the policy will give you a better idea of where Airbnb stand on the issue. 

Ultimately, it sounds like you were able to resolve it peacefully (aside from the k cup pods!), but I'm sure you'd have preferred not to have to worry about it in the first place!

Jenny

[David8879]

@Jenny exactly

I make it very clear in my house rules plus I follow up with "pre-booking" emails that I am severely allergic to pets and walk with epipen in my pocket as well as I provide the link you posted.

So, not only will I NOT allow animals in my property, but I will use any legal means neccesary to make certain that guests who will attempt to bring one will never attempt to do that again.

This is one of the reasons I do not have instant booking - I'd rather have no guests than die. 

[Fred13]

@Kevin557You are new, could use good enthusiastic reviews and this is the time to not be theoretical but pragmatic. You will have plenty of time to be 'exacting' in the future, and to make your contribution to others, now is not the time.

  I would not mention the issue openly, since the dog was only there 6 hours, with people. If you do not see anything of importance (likely), should mention it to the guests in private about being more conscientious ~in a friendly manner~.

  Your public response is not the place to get into minutae regardless, but thankful and cheerful, the type of hosts people would like to book with, the no-hassle types.

P.S. I have only had one cup of cafe so a bit emphatic, after the 2nd I promise to be less direct. 😄

[Kelly149]

@Kevin557 sneaking in a dog is one thing, but unplugging a network cable is vandalism. 

Their review from me would be: Thumbs Down, 1* on Rules. And I hope you don't find any problems after checkout!

Btw, guests who are busted for rules violations (and/or get charged for damage) rarely feel like writing up nice reviews and often write really terrible reviews. So, dealing with rules violations is a tricky dance. Please read up now about how to write a bad/difficult review so that at least the review that you leave for them will be allowed to remain on their profile.

Oh, and, can't tell you how many guests think that anybody extra is fine so long as they don't sleep there. So, no, it wasn't a party and they didn't 'really' bring a pet. Those were just a bunch of Visitors, and why are you so cranky?  (insert host angry face here)

[Lisa6263]

Our first guests got loud and the neighbors complained, so we nicely asked them to quiet the music a bit, it's also a violation of the city ordinance to have loud music.  They seemed fine with it and we gave them a good review but they wrote a scathing review.  I contacted Airbnb and they took their review down because they complained about things that were in our house rules that they had read and they complained about needing to turn the music down.

  I don't know if that helps, but it's worth a try when you get an unfair review.

[Helen3]

Why would you leave guests that upset your neighbours with loud music a good review ? @Lisa6263 

[Joe-and-Tara0]

I am dealing with a bad situation at this very moment and am not getting any support from Airbnb. The guest remembered to ask me about where she could keep her flowers for her daughter’s wedding but failed to mention her pack of dogs and horses. I’ve called Airbnb support and waited on hold for 1.5 hours for the person to tell me she was sorry but couldn’t tell me when a customer support supervisor was going to call me back. I’m very frustrated and am not happy with customer service on this issue. The guest sent me a message earlier demanding an early checkin and now this.  Any feedback will be much appreciated 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Joe-and-Tara0 

If the dogs and horses are not allowed to be there, go and tell the guests the dogs and horses need to leave. Where they go to is up to your guest, but they can't be on your property.

I would message Airbnb to tell them that you're going to do by informing the guest the animals need to leave because its against your house rules, then message the guest telling her the same. Be apologetic but firm, if animals are not allowed, they shouldn't be there.

[Diana1861]

That is totally nuts!

But do not expect anything in the way of support from AirB&B in relation to the bad behaviour of guests.

Remember, they have their money.

And that is if you have hours on the phone to wait for your call to be answered, and to have to repeat the story on each occasion you speak to someone (no, they didn’t call back, as promised, you called them ahmgain, 4 times) who is completely new to the complaint.

it is not surprising that they have yet to turn a profit!

[Laura2592]

@Kevin557 the first rule of hosting is don't mention the outdoor camera. 

The second rule of hosting is don't mention the outdoor camera. 

You don't need to. It's disclosed in the listing.  The only reason hosts mention it is when they have caught guests doing something they should not.  The guests invariably strike back by reporting you to ABB for "spying". ABB closes the listing for a few days to weeks to "investigate."  The Washington Post just published an article on how to find hidden cameras in your ABB. Lots of paranoia out there right now.  So always keep mum on the amera-scray. Best to say "a neighbor mentioned they saw...." whatever it was.

So what to do here? You recourse is the review. If the stay is almost over and the guests have been alerted to your displeasure,  they won't hold back in theirs, so be honest and factual in yours.  Something like:

"Guests were pleasant until I mentioned that I realized they had brought a dog into my absolutely no pets space. Then communication broke down. Additionally,  guests invited visitors to the space and tampered with the security system which is  also a violation of house rules. Extra cleaning was needed to ensure the space was allergen free for the next guests.  Not guests we would have back."

Then below 3 in each category and "would not host again. " That way they won't be able to book with you. 

We had a woman throw a Bachelorette party in our no parties space.  She got an honest review.  She was also caught on camera (I didn't say that) . She cleaned up well but was angry that I mentioned the party in my review.  She gave us a nice forward facing review but low stars. We still communicated well during her stay but as soon as she was called out she tanked our rating as revenge. Anyone who is just going to be a jerk and think that rules don't apply to them is the kind of person who gets angry when they have anything other than glowing feedback.  Just know that when you are composing your review.

AND wait until the last minute to leave a review. Even if they leave theirs first. That way you at least have time to stack up a few better ones on top of theirs if you have additional stays.