Remind guests to put the CORRECT number of guests

[Nai1]

How many of you are getting reservation with 1 guest and ended up with 2 or more guests when you ask them in the message EXPLICITLY?

This usually follows with tons of argument like these:

- Guest: But on your page it says maximum 4 guests, why can't I come with 4 persons.

Me: Yeah but you have put only 1 guest for your reservation.

*repeat*

- Guest: Can you not charge us for the extra guests?

Me: NOPE. Please cancel your reservation if you do not agree to our terms and conditions.

- Guest: This doesn't make sense.

Me: Which part did you not understand?

and this usually requires lot of back and fort conversation end up with a cancellation and a manual full refund because we have a strict cancellation policy.

We even had a bad review after cancellation because it took us more than 1 hour to give them a full refund!

Total waste of time and energy.

I think Airbnb should inform the guests explicitly what the number of guests means, and not trying to cheat on the total number of guests.

In certain region of the world some guests actually think they can just book one apartment and fit as many guests as they like in it.

Unfortunately I'm at the epicenter of this region.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Nai1
in different parts of the world hosts face different problems. It never happend to us except when guests few times made an error in booking, unintentionally. So, the best is to make them confirm in your first message how many guests are comming . Some hosts asks for name and age of every guest .

If they booked for 1 person and 4 of them are coming then you don't have to cancel the reservation, you (or they) can change it and they (or you) should accept proposed change.

[Nai1]

Thank you Branka & Silvia for your input.

I wish it was that simple in our cases. A lot of times they will argue with us it's not logic because the maximum occupany is 4 persons so why can't they come with 4 guests and we have to go through the lengthy process of explaining everything again...

When we ask them to cancel, they will ask us to cancel because they don't want to lose 50% based on our cancellation policy. I always refund them fully if they cancel but this gets frustrating when more and more guests doing this.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Nai1 uh, I know, it is frustrating... but I am affraid there is no other way except to explain them that the base price is for 2 guests and every extra guest up to 4 guests is charged extra 10€ . And you need to know how many guests are coming because you have to prepare exact number of beds and towels 

Maybe you can write it somewhere on the top of your description, then in house rules and then again in welcoming message (in case you have IB) so they know it before they book.

The other solution would be to set a price for maximum number of guests (4)  but it would affect your booking rate . 

Hm.. maybe the problem is escalated because extra fees are not visible on listings any more. Until recently it was visible on every listing, along with amenities, description etc...  the price for extra guest after x guests,  how much is cleaning fee etc... but it seems it is gone now, I can't find it any more.

[Nai1]

Thank you for the suggestion!

I will definitely put them in my house rules and welcoming message as temporary solution.

[Marzena4]

The problem has become more sensitive since Airbnb removed the pricing for any guest above X (here number) from our listings, @Branka-and-Silvia0 and @Nai1. I think we should start a campaign to get it back - it is indeed confusing. 

[Nai1]

Oh I didn't even notice the extra guest charges on listing page was removed...

No wonder I've so much more similar cases recently.

Is there a way to escalate this issue to Airbnb in this community?

[Fred13]

Nai, suggestion.

-Yes, best that YOU make it explicit that you do need to know how many are coming. Forget Airbnb, they are not mind readers either.

-Secondly, rethink your approach, a listing which says 'maximum 4 people' will cause people to think that they can bring up to four (4) at the last moment (reality), the prove is that it is happening. So hmm, is there a way you ~could~ accomodate up to four at the last moment? If so, charge for it and do not be shy on that, it would be a great (and profitable) accomodation on your part.

[Johnny-And-Jenny0]

We're new to Airbnb. We've had 6 bookings so far and a number of them did not enter the right amount of people. 

I think too that explicitly writing it in the rules would be good. Maybe also a warning that if the entry is inaccurate it could effect their communication rating. 

[Deb125]

Happens all all the time! Hate it, people figured out they have to pay for more guests, so they say one person will be staying, then say they can’t wait to come with their spouse and 3 kids!  Peeps don’t want to pay for nor understand sleeping arrangements,  linens, state laws, nor respect them!  

[Jill1199]

I still consider myself new to hosting...Started in July of 2022.  I have a max of 8 guests but I don't charge for extra guests or anything. Maybe I should?  But I've noticed that guests rarely get the guest count right. I'm currently hosting a family where the reservation was made for one adult but there are 2 adults and 1 baby and 1 child.  Not a big deal but should it bother me?  I did have a guest tell me that she didn't like that I didn't have enough paper towels for the number of children she had.  I quickly informed her that her reservation only listed one child.  She quickly apologized.  In that case I had to be on my toes but should I otherwise bother?  Happy to hear thoughts.