Misleading bookings

[Robyn14]

Hi Airbnb community helpers,

I am just wondering if any one has had the problem of a guest booking for one person, but in actual fact the wife or friend arrives separately and stays without paying the extra guest price. 

This has happened twice now, where the bookings have been for 4-6 weeks, and where an extra person has arrived at a later date and stayed for at least 2 weeks. Airbnb doesn't seem to have a facility to add extra people who may stay some of the time. However, unfortunately, in both cases I think that the 'oversight' was quite deliberate. I accidently came across this recently. Should I say something to them via email? or just let it go?

Any ideas?

Many thanks

Robyn

[Robin4]

@Robyn14

Hi ya Robyn, yeah a bit frustrating because sometimes it is quite innocent, they just don't realise it makes a difference and other times it is quite deliberate! It is done to save them some money,

You can apply for a change of reservation request with the guest and this is the rules regarding that.....

Now Robyn, the trick is to get the guest to accept the alteration!!

At the time you can explain that having an additional number of guests who have not been recognised by the Airbnb system affects your ability to claim on your Host protection Insurance in the event of any insurance related occurence. And this is a risk you can't take! This why we have insurance, to protect ourselves!

This statement is nonsence of course but, it does sound feasible, and the guest will accept it as a reasonable statement and not just a grab for extra money on your part and in nearly all instances will say  ...."Oh, I am so sorry I didn't know that" and they will agree to the alteration.

This whole hosting thing is reading the mind of the guest. If you just put your hand out for money it will be a negative come review time. If you offer them an explanation and make them feel guilty they will reward you at review time....and you have still got your extera money.....OK!!!

Cheers....Rob 

[Robyn14]

Hi Robin,

Thank you for you post. Yes, it is tricky. My reviews are very highly rated and I do go out of my way to make things pleasant for guests. My prices etc are made very clear. Your ideas have helped me a lot. Now to do some thinking! 

Thank you,

Cheers,

Robyn

[Gina32]

@Robin4 No not Ok, I did this recently and still have not been paid the extra. I tried to request more money through the system where it says "request money" I sent an explanation of why children cost extra. and not recieved the money and not a word or assistance from ABB. ( I sent them a message too)

[Robin4]

@Gina32

Yes Gina, I don't know the circumstances of your case but it sounds like maybe the guest has rejected the request! This is why I have said to 'get the guest onside' with a reasonable explanation because it makes obtaining what you feel you are owed so much easier.

Sure some hosts like @Alice & Jeff say it works for them just fronting up for additional payments, but the reality is we see so many posts just like yours where requests for additional amounts are frustrated by rejection, lack of response or unreasonable delays.

I don't have an answer for you, I can't tell you why it works for some and not for others!!

If you feel you have enough evidence and that the amount is worth pursuing then you can request to have your case escalated in the Resolution Centre.

I hope you can get some satisfaction or (a bit tongue in cheek) maybe contact Alice and Jeff and ask them what their secret is in successfully dealing with these money issues!

Cheers.....Rob

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

You can also use the Resolution Center to request the additional fees for the extra person for the dates they stayed.  Tally it up and request the full amount.  You can still do that now for the previous guests that had people stay "inadvertantly".  You have an extra person fee of $20/night and at 2 weeks of staying, that's an additional $280 the guest owes you.  Using the Resolution Center also provides you with the opportunity to get Airbnb involved if the guest refuses.  

[Robyn14]

Hi Alice and Jeff,

How interesting. I wasn't aware that I could use resolution centre for this. Thank you so much for responding. I will have a think about how to handle this!

Cheers,

Robyn

[Scott80]

Another approach is to just price per room and not per person. The reason I don't charge extra for extra people is that if the room is occupied by one person or four I have the same costs. Also since I usually never see guests it would be impossible to enforce per-person pricing, so I just list the total capacity 4 people in two double beds and charge the same for one person or four. 

This question comes up quite a bit, here is a thread from last time and as you can see there was not a consensus and lots of confusion: https://community.airbnb.com/t5/forums/v3_1/forumtopicpage/board-id/new-host/thread-id/18122/page/2

[Robin4]

@Alice-and-Jeff0 @Robyn14

Yes you can do that, and in 60% of cases the guest will refuse and you are back where you started, because these days Airbnb will side with the guest rather than the host....and the 'Resolution Centre' is not so much for resolving things, it for damage minimisation to the company. And to boot if the guest is still with you, or has just left, you get a poor review!!!! Not a good path to go down I would think. More and more we are learning you have to fight your own battles where additional monies are concerned.

As it stands Airbnb look good as far as the guest is concerned...and that is exactly the way Airbnb want to keep it. The moment Airbnb asks for additional monies they become the bad guys, not just with this guest but everyone this guest associates with. Remember Airbnb got where it is because of word of mouth, and they realise this also, and for this reason will side with the guest rather than the host! 

That is why I suggested a more diplomatic option. It is far better to have a resolution that makes everyone happy than one that mearly antagonises, where the chance of success is no better than 50/50.

Sure, go to the Resolution Centre, but be prepared for the outcome!!

Cheers....Rob

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Robin4 - Airbnb provides services to their hosts and discouraging people from using them should be done cautiously.  Making sure it is done dipolmatically is definitely a skill and one that needs to be honed.  Hopefully when Robyn needs to do this, she will reach out to the community again for support and reassurance at her phrasing and tact.  

@Robyn14 - We've used the Resolution Center dozens and dozens of times and have never, not once, had a guest decline.  These money requests have included when the reserving guest added a last minute friend or child and a 2nd person who doesn't stay the full reservation so adding the extra person to the reservation is not exactly right because you can't pick how many days to charge for 2 and how many days to charge for 1.  Plus, it's right in your listing that there is an extra guest fee so you're entitled to collect it.  Airbnb is encouraging people to use the Resolution Center for all additional service fees.  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/52/how-should-i-choose-my-listing-s-price

[Robin4]

@Alice-and-Jeff0

Yeah granted you have a point there Alice. It is not as simple as adding a guest because of differing lengths of stay and I can't find anything in the rules covering that, although it does say on just about every page to go to the Resolution Centre!

I am glad you have brought up the fact that you have had success in dealing with the Resolution Centre in that way, because all we ever see here are complaints about dealing with them and after a while you begin to convince yourself that nothing good comes from dealing with the resolution centre!

But I am still of the opinion, from a hosts point of view, the Resolution Centre is only a good tool as long as the guest is happy with their judgements.

Cheers....Rob

[Helen3]

Hi @Robyn14

It sounds as if you are a remote host?

Do you have CCTV at your property. If not I would recommend installing it and have realtime viewing.

You will then be able to see who is coming in and out of your property.

Also make sure in your house rules you say something like 'only people who have booked and paid can stay in the property. if additional guests  are found to be staying, it can be grounds for cancellation of the whole booking'.

I also say in my rules that 'if a guest wants to have someone visit I am happy to consider this as long as they let me know in advance and that they leave the property by 10 p.m.'

If you find extra guests are staying, send them an amendment to cover the extra costs and remind your guest that if the extra charges are not accepted within 12/24 hours, unfortunately you will need to consider asking BNB to cancel their booking.

[Robyn14]

Thanks Helen,

The particular case in question is tricky, as throughout the whole booking process (and I always correspond a bit prior to booking and hosting) there was absolutely no mention of mother staying as well. In fact the I was led to believe Father travelled on his own and justed wanted a place to be close to his daughter who had married an Australian and now lived in Sydney.

It was accidently leaked by mother-in-law who accompanied the daughter to collect the keys from me. Apparently Mother was arriving on another flight a week later. When I said I was confused about exactly who was staying and questioned it the daughter quickly changed the subject. She noted a conversation we had when she 'inferred' that she might stay the occasional night and that as an extra guest I had said it was okay. I don't actually remember this, but may have agreed to the daughter staying with her dad occasionally. I didn't know the extra guest was actually Mother who would be staying a full two weeks. To cap it off, mother-in-law asked if they could get some extra keys so they could both come and go at different times? ...NO!!

I am grateful to everyone who has responded and I now have a clear idea of how I might tactfully go about this. It's not the money. I feel strongly that the daughter deliberately deceived me (and I think her Dad). She has been operating his Airbnb account.

Thank you again for your response,

Cheers,

Robyn