Guests who don't know when to stop!

[Robin4]

For years I have been saying I do not except hagglers, people who ask lots of questions. But every so often you do get caught.

Current guest booked for 2 adults........it was one of those sort of bookings I accept in a heartbeat....just pay and stay... "Coming for a wedding, can't wait to stay'!

That was at the start of September, great.......Second message, (3 months down the track) all of a sudden there is a couple of kids, she was just making sure she booked....nope not showing up here so I ask how old the children are and she says 4 and 6! Now coupled with the fact there is no profile photo this is where I should have pulled the plug...particularly as she has waited 3 months to tell me this bit of information, stay is less than 3 weeks away, how much of a pri*k do I want to be. I said ok I will make arangements for the sofa bed to be used, this not Japan, I could not imagine 4 humans sleeping in the main bed! 

See, I am breaking my rules all the time!

Fast forward to this Tuesday just gone and look what pops up in my inbox......

Low and behold my reservation booked and paid for two guests has turned into FIVE!

Now every bit of logic under the sun sun says at this point....cancel them!

But two days before the stay....why did I not act on the advice I have given others here for years....because it sneeked up on me.

Well the tribe are now here, the kids are running around trying to rip the tail off the dog, I have put myself out with a bedding scenario right out of 'Captain Snooze'  and I have now been informed that this last interloper may actually have to stay till the weekend!.....Sunday to be precise!

The problem with this whole thing is, the woman has not said a word to me since her arrival, it has all been left to husband to break the news and I can see what is coming a mile away. When the review process comes around she will forget all about the fact that she booked for 2 and turned up with 5. She will only remember how squeezy it was and how it did not suit their needs.

My own fault, I have broken all my rules and this one will no doubt be a learning curve for me!

The only good side for me. it is bloody hot here today but, I ran an air conditioning business in my working life. Here are the current temp stats currently at 7.00 pm.......

It is still 37c (98f) outside but it's a nice almost chilly 20c in the cottage.

I hope they remember that come review time!

Cheers.....Rob

[Pete28]

Rob - Not sure about your locality, but here we have strict limits on number of people allowed on a single property. I would worry about neighbours calling city if you have 5 people running around 😞

[Robin4]

@Pete28

No Pete, I host in a country town of 32,000 people in the wine region of the Adelaide hills about 30 minutes by freeway from our main city. There are absolutely no restrictions on what I can do here. The local community are firmly on Airbnb's side here with the amount of money that verified Airbnb guests spend in this area.

Pete, it's not the fact that I have 5 guests here.....one way or another I will accommodate them, it is that I have been screwed into it along the way. I am in a difficult situation here, my house rules state that there is a $15 additional nightly charge for each guest above two!. That amounts to $180 above what the guest has paid for the 4 night booking for the 3 additional people. The guest has simply said...."I hope this is alright", on the assumption that I will just suck it up and be the good guy and say..."Oh sure that is quite ok"!

I am not a charity Pete, but with this bloody crazy Airbnb review system, I could lose my superhost status right here if I rub these people up the wrong way. 

Sure I can get on the phone and have these people out of here within the hour, but what good will that do me in the long term?

I am just a fool for letting it get this far and now is when all those diplomacy skills I brag about are going to be put to the test!

Happy new year to you Pete, I am rooting for you mate with your pricing conundrum!

Cheers......Rob

[Alex-and-Vaughan0]

I've had this occur.

Immediately request the full names of ALL guests. Issue a booking change for the additional guests. If the request is not accepted then contact Airbnb Support, tell them (not ask, tell) to contact the guest and advise that they accept the booking for the correct number of guests or the booking is cancelled.

Conduct all conversations thgrough the Airbnb message system so the support people can track see what's happening.

Regarding Superhost status: what comes by itself goes away by itself. We lost ours recently because we didn't accept enough reservation requests. I had guests that stayed for a total of nearly 4 months continuously, but booked about a month in advance, so I had to cancel requests from other guests during the period.

[Rosemarie9]

Robin, this is the classic example of guests taking the you know what, and kind hearted hosts feel put over a barrel due to this whole ridiculous review process as it stands. I only saw this post today as I had an enforced break from hosting due to an extremely negligent guest late last year, who cost me the better part of two months lost income. I am not new to this, but three years on I have pretty much had enough of treading on eggshells with some people! Just getting back on my feet and this weekends guests from London managed to burn a rug, melting a space heater, and scorching the floor. It was a miracle they didn't set the studio on fire. Do you think they left anything as compensation? No, I am now chasing money through the resolution centre. This guest had previous five star reviews so no red flags. Honestly, I am wising up and concentrating on my whole house rental, and not bending over backwards like I have in the past. We all get stuck in these positions where we should just get airbnb to cancel a booking, and I am now scrutinizing every booking request. I just feel sad that I am getting more weary of this whole system, it doesn't make our jobs easy when we fear writing an honest review, and having our great review records stuffed up due to badly brought up individuals.

[Sandra126]

Oh @Robin4! It is something going around I think! I can count on one hand the issues I have had over the last ten years but December had probably seven issues in a row, several of them were bookings for two which arrived as six (have a legal max of five), two small kids included. No advance notice. So you are not alone.

I wish you a happy new year! Let it be happy, and full of all the good things including respectful guests who read listings!

[Nutth0]

When I accepted a reservation by instant or pre-approved, I always send a confirmed message to checking a number of guests. Most of the time it works well as a guest will message back if they do wrong in number of guest but even that sometimes a surprise guests showed the classic reason I got from a guest is we thought children are free. Hope you pass it in good solution.

[Robin4]

@Sandra126

Hey happy new year to you too possum. I would love to have used you in my New Years cartoon post because I wanted to use the old original contributors but your face image did not come up well enough......

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Happy-New-Year-see-what-a-talented-bunch-we-are/m-p/9038...

Have the best year Sandra, would like to think we might be able to talk over a cuppa one day!

Cheers......Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4   ajaj 😞  you are too nice

May I as why didn't you immediately send them the booking alteration for additional kids... and nephew????

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

This hasn't happened by accident Branka it has been planned, I am going to struggle to get any sort of reasonable review out of her anyway and if I complicate things  still further by hitting here with the rightful additional charge, that will guarantee I get nailed in the review system.

I will be diplomatic with this lot, they are here until Sunday. 

I have already spoken with CX and opened a ticket telling them 2 has turned into 5 and my house rules are being trampled all over, I am doing my best to keep things on track but if I need to call on them, do I have their support? And Angela has assured me I will have, and thanked me for being patient.

If this was just a simple oversight, and accident that they would take responsibility for, I would send a booking alteration Branka, but I know what the outcome of that would be, and it's not worth it!

Cheers......Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4

yes, I see now is too late.... but why you didn't alter their reservation as soon as she told you she will bring kids and BEFORE they checked in?

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

We are all the time in a situation where our boundaries get pushed Branka.

Many times I get 2 guests who, for one reason or another, want the use of both beds. Airbnb do not allow me to charge by the bed, just by the guest!

OK, decision, I can tell them "thats an extra 15 bucks for the use of the second bed", hit them through the resolution centre.....or I can just suck it up and as Lawrene put it so well, don't nickel and dime them!

Same thing here, her comment was, "the kids can sleep in the same bed as them". There are times when we have to be a host Branka and accept a few balls out of left field. 

You must remember these 'little' alterations came out at intervals along the way.

Had this woman been up front to start with and said, we are in a bit of a bind, we like your listing but is there any way you can accomodate us, our two kids and one other person, then fine I would have made the decision, don't accept the booking or cancel the IB as it was in this case. And this  was simply an IB......."Coming for a wedding and can't wait to stay'! 

Or I could have said ok, I will do my best here are the costs involved, but these extras just dribbled out over a 4 month timeframe...in isolation I was fine with Branka.....put them all together and , it's a disaster!

Cheers.....Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

eh, no good goes unpunished , right @Robin4  ? 🙂

[Mariann4]

Ah well @Robin4... I always try to tell myself that advice comes easy. Keeping them is a much bigger effort. So: send them a request for money through Resolution. They have offered. You have high maintenance guests to begin with and the risk of a less than stellar review is already high. If you don't stick to your guns... bla bla bla yaaadi daaa....

Best of luck for your dog!

Happy new year!

Mariann 🙂

[Lawrene0]

Ugh. I got into one of those this summer, @Robin4, with a couple, then couple plus parents, then couple plus parents plus sister plus dog. All at no extra charge because it happened in stages, like yours, and I didn't want to nickel-and-dime them. I should have. Lent them a tent and made all of them breakfast and got dinged for value. 

But I do have an opposite tale of a couple who got saddled last-minute with a difficult nephew for their weekend here. The boy calmed down so much when surrounded by nature that they left me a "tip" for more than my extra person charge. 

Hope you and your lovely dog come out of this unscathed.