Hosting disaster. Guests brought 4 extra people. Instead a family of 5 I have 9 people!

[Maya94]

Hi, Im having a hosting nightmare. I checked-in a family of 6 (two adults, two kids and two infants were declared at the time of booking).

My booking settings are clear-I charge an extra 5 euros for an additional guest after 4. It was a long-term, 1 month booking. My booking policy is set to STRICT AND THE TOTAL CAPACITY OF MY APARTMENT IS SET UP TO SIX PEOPLE.

At the time of check-in I saw only two adults with two kids (around 12 and 2) when checked them in, they said the other babies are in the car sleeping. As it happened they brought 3 kids (around 3, 5 and 12) and only one baby. It makes 5 guests already, not 4 as declared.

My mother lives next door and she informed me immediatly same evening. But I did not ask my guest anything and was ready to let it go.

But the next day, on 01.08 another party arrived-the guests sister with her 2 other kids (definetly not infants, big kids!) Another 3 undeclared guests!

 My mother met them in the hall as they were bringing their massive luggage! My guest didnt deny that they plan to stay all together. They said they even brought their own inflatable matrasses so its not a problem for them!!!

SO in a two bedroom freshly renovated flat instead of party of 4 guests and two babies I have a camp of 8 people and a baby around two (she is allegedly the one infant, cant say her age exactly)

At my request the Support center answered that I can OFFER or REQUEST money through the The Resolution Center where I can create a thread and discuss an issue and "upload photos and share experiences". 

BUT IT SEEMS THAT THIS OPERATION WAS PLANNED CAREFULLY BY MY GUESTS (SEPARATE DATES OF ARRIVAL, HIDING THE OTHER KID) AND I DOUBT THAT THEY BE WILLING TO PAY ANYTHING! They had everything planned, too bad my mother lives next door and cathched them. 

Im having huge problems with my neighbours already and the best solution for me if the other party would just move out. But if they insist to stay what should I do? I can request an additional money but what happens if they dont comply or simply wouldnt answer or ignore m request? 

I want to know what are my rights as a host in this case? 

Will I be obliged to return money if I cancel the reservation and ask them to leave? Its a peak season and its a huge loss for me!

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Kelly149]

Maya, if you are going to continue hosting then you must do a better job at screening & supervising your guests. Abb is not an agent, they are just a connection & a money pass thru. You cannot count on them to verify guests or solve problems, that is solely on you. 

So, 1. Reiterate everything —“ so glad you’re coming to our house, my mother is next door, she’ll be so happy to offer you help while you’re here.” “Mary, thank you for booking, who are the other two members of your party?” “Good, I have prepared for Mary, Tom, kid 1 & kid 2. Please remember that no other guests are to be on property at any time. “

2. The time to know you have a bad guest is BEFORE they are inside your house. 

3. And in truly dire situations (way too many guests & middle of the night yelling are dire situations) the order is: 1- get your guest under control & secure your home. THEN 2- inform abb or let the guest sort it out w abb. 

Waiting for abb to solve a guest problem is an exercise in frustration. 

Better for you to have the guest arguing with CS about how you didn’t let an extra unpaid arguing group of 5+ stay than for you to ask someone across the globe to solve your problem thru a telephone. 

But also  keep in mind, if the guest leaves so does the money. In this case I’d rather give up the money & the guest. 

[Mirjana-and-Peter0]

I have the same situation but luckily they were only 4 days here. It is very clear in our house rules that we are not accepting children under 12 , also they were having extra 4 people . They didn’t want to check out with me but they were making a big drama insulting me that we are sick to the point that guest started tretining me and at that moment I left. They sneak out with extra guests. Unfortunately Airbnb until now didn’t do anything, they even have a review ready. I am still waiting to see if someone will call me back