Pet fee

[Mark1723]

I HAVE REPEATEDLY REQUESTED THAT AIRBNB INCLUDE A PET FEE FIELD IN THE GUEST REGISTRATION APPLICATION.

WHY THIS HAS NOT BEEN DONE IS A COMPLETE MYSTERY TO ME!

AS IT IS, THE ONLY WAY TO COLLECT PET FEES IS THROUGH THE "SEND OR REQUEST MONEY" FEATURE IN THE RESOLUTIONS AREA.

FIRST, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF THE GUEST IS BRINGING ANY PET(S)?

NEXT, HOW IS THE GUEST SUPPOSED TO KNOW TO PAY THE $10/NIGHT PER PET FEE I WISH TO CHARGE?

PROSPECTIVE GUESTS RARELY READ HOUSE RULES AND SIMPLY DON'T SEE THE PET FEE INSTRUCTION!

I CAN'T, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, FIGURE OUT WHY AIRBNB HAS BEEN SO INTRANSIGENT ON SUCH AN OBVIOUS NEED THAT IS SO INCREDIBLY SIMPLE TO RESOLVE!

_PLEASE RESPOND!_

[Sarah977]

@Mark1723  Why have you reposted this all caps yelling rant? The responses you got the first time you posted it weren't to your liking?  What good do you think it's going to do to keep posting this?

What do.you mean "Please respond!"? This is a discussion forum for hosts and guests. Airbnb doesn't respond to posts here.

Airbnb does not want to add a pet fee- they have made that quite clear, as thousands of host requests for a pet fee for years have gone ignored.

[Sheron10]

What's the purpose of this discussion board if Airbnb doesn't acknowledge it? Makes no sense. We're looking for answers. 

[Anonymous]

@Mark1723   There may be some contexts where throwing a temper tantrum in public gets you what you want, but this is not one of them.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mark1723 TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS

1) PUT IT IN YOUR HOUSE RULES THAT PEOPLE NEED TO TELL YOU THEY ARE BRINGING A PET

2A) PUT THE PET FEE IN YOUR HOUSE RULES AS WELL

2B) IF YOU CARE SO MUCH AS TO RANT ABOUT IT PUT ALL THE ABOVE IN YOUR DESCRIPTION AS WELL

3) DO NOT GRANT ENTRY TO GUESTS WHO TURN UP WITH AN UNANNOUNCED / UNPAID FOR PET AND CANCEL ON THEM FOR BREAKING THE HOUSE RULES.

Annoying when people shout isn't it.

[Buddhas0]

Mark, I agree and I feel your pain. To give the guests 72 hours to respond to the resolution request for a 48 hour reservation is beyond the pale. Then when they have completely ignored or pretended not to have received the request "you may choose to involve airbnb". VRBO has a simple box to check, Airbnb is as usual a miserable business partner.

[Jeff761]

>> I HAVE REPEATEDLY REQUESTED THAT AIRBNB INCLUDE A PET FEE FIELD IN THE GUEST REGISTRATION APPLICATION.

Why so confused?  Air's POLICY is "PET DAMAGE IS NOT COVERED".  Obviously, they will never do pet deposits.  Please stop whining and create your own solution.  Get a channel manager and do your own deposits. 

>> FIRST, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW IF THE GUEST IS BRINGING ANY PET(S)? NEXT, HOW IS THE GUEST SUPPOSED TO KNOW TO PAY THE $10/NIGHT PER PET FEE I WISH TO CHARGE?

Well really good news for you.  There is this brand new thing called COMMUNICATION.  Here is how it works:  After a guest books you SEND THEM A MESSAGE, and validate the # of guests, # and type of pets, confirm that they read house rules, AND SO MUCH MORE!

Or ... shall we look forward to a repeat tomorrow.  Same time? 

[Jeff761]

Or, charge $10 more per night and assume that every guest brings a pet.  Some guests a pet.  Others not.  Some bring two.  And you don't have to care. 

Regardless, Air does not compensate for pet damage.  So, if that is a concern then rewind to "get a channel manager and collect your own security/damage deposit". 

[Sheron10]

What's a channel manager?

[Sarah977]

@Jeff761  You win funniest post of the day for that first one. Thanks for the laugh.

[Mark1723]

@Sarah977, @Anonymous, @Mike-And-Jane0 i, @Buddhas0, @Jeff761

Well, I've read all replies to my "rant" and I've found none of them responsive or acceptable solutions to the problem!

I posted my message here because it was a CC of a post I sent via the incredibly unresponsive "feedback" link. I  have been badgering AirBNB for _2 years_ to add a Pet Fee to the guest registration form.

My hope was that others would weigh in and, if we make enough noise, the bureaucrats might get off the dime and take action on what is an obvious and needed upgrade!

A number of responses don't seem to get it. My "rant" was in all caps out of frustration at not only getting no response from anyone after dozens of requests, but because no one at AirBNB has even attempted to explain WHY they refuse to make this simple and sensible improvement!

This has _nothing_ to do with pet damage! It's a Pet Fee! It's not much different from an extra guest fee, or a cleaning fee, which are already options in the guest reservation platform!

VRBO offers this simple solution! WHY won't AirBnB?!

The pet fee is needed because pets often generate extra work for housekeeping.  All pet friendly locations know this.

The resolution center is a pitifully inconvenient, inefficient, and tedious method of addressing this issue for the reasons I stated in my initial post.

Increasing nightly fees is also a a poor solution. We are in a competitive market. Why increase fees for people with no pets? It just makes us less competitive! 

Now, if any of you are experiencing the same unresponsive and frustrating refusal by AirBNB as I am, please follow my lead and make some noise! Adding this feature is a total no-brainer for anyone who knows what they're talking about!

[Sarah977]

@Mark1723  You still don't get it, even though you have been told this many times by other hosts- hosts have been "making noise" about having an easy to use pet fee for years. Do you really think you're the first and only host to have given Airbnb feedback on this? Airbnb obviously isn't interested in doing this- they have ignored it for years.

What part of that don't you understand?

[Leah16]

What is wrong with persistence?

[Mark1723]

HAH! I love it when I’m right!

This is for all the naysayers that moaned that we’ll never get pet fees added, while I posed the theory that “persistence overcomes resistance!”
I was right! this just arrived in my email!

New pricing tools and pet fees

Preview your listing price as it appears to guests, easily include a pet fee, and customize your cleaning fee with our new suite of pricing tools.

Explore what's new

[Amy1089]

Thank you for being persistent!  I too, have requested a place to charge for pet fees instead of having to send a separate request AND keep track of guests bringing pets so I don't forget.   VRBO makes this so much easier!  I don't want to lose out of revenue by spending extra time cleaning up after pets but at the same time we want to allow responsible dog owners to bring the fur kids.