Guest with pets

[Brandon250]

Hello fellow host. I have a scenario for you guys. So if a guest has pets and they are service animals. What's the solution to keeping your property and furniture  insured?  I was told by Airbnb support that we cant refuse guest with service animals. The situation stems from a guest who didnt give notice to the host that they had a pet. 

[Robin4]

@Brandon250

Brandon this whole area of assistance animals is becoming a problem which Airbnb are going to have to address soon, as too many guests are using the current rulings to their advantage. Here are the current rules regarding assistance animals ....

https://www.airbnb.com.au/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

The host does have the right to refuse to take a service animal only if there is a medical condition, (possible alergic reaction) involved, but Airbnnb will require proof of this before granting an exemption.

At the moment Airbnb's reaction is, if a guest exploits the ruling where service animals are concerned, this will be taken care of in the review system which will affect a guests future ability to book. But this doesn't help the host who has to suffer this exploitation.

Read through those rules Brandon and that may give you a biot of clarity on the matter!

And just for even more clarity on the matter!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7HFXgyTya0

Cheers......Rob

[Sam397]

@Brandon250 I would get a second opinion on what the customer service said about not being able to refuse people with service animals because that's not true. Of course you can refuse somebody with a pet, service animal or not. Because of allergies, you don't even have to be allergic to pets yourself, you can do it in case someone stays that is allergic to them. I have done it several times, and not once has the person complained.

@Robin4  I don't think you have to provide proof of it either. 

[Robin4]

@Sam397

What I did state Sam, was from the current Airbnb rules ...........

And this was also backed up in the support guidelines we were expected to adhere to when I was in support! If your guest just accepts what you say then fine, the problem disappears as you say. But if there is any contention and the prospective guest makes a complaint the host will be required to justify the reason they will not accept the assistance animal, just as the guest may be required to prove the legitimacy of the assistance animal status. 

There will always be grey areas Sam, but what I quoted was from Airbnb's rules. There is need for a revisit of these rules by Airbnb though, because too many guests are abusing the rules to suit their own ends!

Cheers.....Rob

[Sam397]

@Robin4, to be honest, I don't think BnB put much thought into the matter before they came up with their policy, or at least the allergy part of it.

I am by no means an expert in this area, I have no allergies and dont know much about the whole topic, but I have seen what happens to someone with severe allergies towards animals and it's not something I would wish on anyone. I won't go into detail but I will say it has to be pure hell to go through, maybe even life-threatening. 

So if someone asks about bringing an animal I tell them they are not allowed for allergy reasons and they understand completely and that's the end of it.

There is something I was wandering Rob, in your last post you stated "And this was also backed up in the support guidelines we were expected to adhere to when I was in support! "

did you used to be a customer service rep for AirBnB?

[Robin4]

@Sam397

I understand totally what you say about allergies, and as the rules say, an allergy to pet hair is a legitimate reason to not accept a service animal.

I have also seen the effects of an allergy, where the person went 'port wine' red all over their body including the soles of their feet, and their face blew up like a football with the eyes just little slits, another few hours without treatment could have been fatal. Allergies are not just a runny nose, they are serious!

Yes, I spent almost all of 2017 getting paid to answer Airbnb users questions as part of what was known as the 'Experts' group. We were a lower level of support than  phone CX and were paid for our advice rather than our ability to effect changes to users accounts. As a group this level of support are really successful being able resolve between 92-96% of enquiries. Those that we could not satisfy we would instantly pass onto the company CX. It takes a special person to do that sort of work Sam, you are constantly under pressure to make things right and in most instances the person on the other end is experiencing difficulties and the challenge is to keep a lid on things and be as helpful as possible. 

Sam, it is not something I would go back to, or recommend to others! It's hard work, you see so many problems, after a while you begin to doubt yourself and you begin to look for the worst in people rather than the best.

Just things like this Sam! It is 4 hours since you posted your last response....that was at 4.00am here, and here I am at 8.00am on a new morning repsonding to it. The computer age does not take into account we live in a global community. Many times I would log off at 1.00am  and when I lgged back on again at 8.00am there would be some angry response...."where are you, what do I have to do to get some help around here"!!

Support is thankless Sam and I try to get that across to the community all the time, be patient and most of all be pleasant, it makes everyones life much easier!

Cheers......Rob