“Service Dog” has been left, unnattended in a no pets home

[#1]

Hi Everyone,

My guest is staying in our private room that we rent out in our home. Because we already have two territorial dogs on our property, we have a no pets policy, but we obviously make exceptions for service animals.

My guest arrived, and it was immediately clear that she only is calling it a service animal to use the loophole that hosts must abide by. This dog is clearly not a service not and does not behave like one.

In the agreement, that we discussed ahead of time, we let her know as long as the dog is with her at all times and not left unnatended she would be permitted to have this "service dog" stay with her.

Today, we discover that she has left the dog unnatended, not crated, alone in the room for hours and hours on end while she attends a wedding somewhere. I have attempted to contact her numerous times explaining that she is in breach of our contract and house rules. I have reached out to AirBnB and there is an open case, but no resource assigned at this moment.

My question here is what do I do now?? There has been no response from the guest and the poor puppy (the dog is an untrained puppy) is crying at the door. Do we have the right to terminate this guests contract and go in and let this dog out to at least relieve itself and to ensure it isn't doing damage? Can we kick these guests out for lying and violating the house rules and AirBnB rules regarding always keeping your service animals with you?

What are our next possible steps.

Thank you in advanced.

[Stephanie]

Hi @Austin150 ,

Oh my goodness, so sorry to hear about his rough situation. I feel for you and the pup. I see you've reached out to the CS team about the scenario, I just wanted to let you know that I have also shared this with the team. I hope you get a favourable outcome soon.

Thanks for sharing with the CC and to those that have shared great advice on dealing with this case,

Stephanie

[Austin150]

Another update: 

The AirBnB representative called me and let me know that there would be no penalty against us for asking this guest to leave, since I had a paper record of asking the guest to return as they were breaking our house rules for over 8 hours. She was very nice and very understanding. 

As for charging the guest, she let me know that I should provide an invoice in the resolution center for the carpet cleaning service. 

All in all, the lesson learned for us, is number 1 use the messenger app to record conversations when a guest is violating rules, it truly is the only way for the AirBnB team to have insight into the happenings when a guest goes rogue.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Hi @Austin150 

This offence took place on Saturday, its now Wednesday. Did you ask the guests to leave prior to them staying over with you on Saturday night or was this left until Sunday? Your last update on Monday said that you ended up kicking them out, so what day did that happen?

If Saturday, did Airbnb accommodate them elsewhere and did you retain your full booking fee? You should do for guests breaking rules, so I'm just wondering if that in fact was the case?

Four days for Customer services to get back to you with any sort of solution whilst leaving you in the thick of this is appalling.

[Mark116]

The most important question though is whether the guests will leave a revenge 1 star review, which would probably end up costing more than the carpet cleaning fee, and what, if anything will airbnb do about it.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mark116 The moment that @Austin150 said "I have attempted to contact her numerous times explaining that she is in breach of our contract and house rules..." that retaliatory review was on the cards with magnitude unknown.

Like all retaliatory reviews they're given by expectant guests defying House Rules and being called out on it. This guest is no different. They might have just as well stated: "The venue won't allow our dog, so we're just dumping it here for you to deal with whilst we have a good time".

This really does need to change and since @Stephanie has been involved here maybe she will help in doing something about this too?

[Sarah977]

If these people would have simply spent the $ to leave the pup with a dog-sitter, or a doggy daycare, the dog would have been happy, and this whole scenario would have been avoided. I don't understand what is wrong with some people.

[Zappa0]

Document ANY with Photos. Record the dog crying. All evidence is useful. Submit a claim for damages. 

[Sarah977]

@Diane752  You know, there are many reasons a host would decline your reservation having nothing to do with your disability or your service dog. You have no reviews whatsoever, you have no verified ID listed, only an email address and a phone number, and your written profile is quite sparse. Hundreds of guests all over the world get declined soley for these reasons by hosts every day. And when a guest's profile says they've been a member since 2017, but have no reviews, that can send up red flags for hosts as well, although the reasons for this may be completely innocent. 

So getting a booking request accepted will always be easier for a guest, regardless of whether they are disabled or not, by taking the time to write up an informative, personable profile, and making sure that you have uploaded verified ID. These things are especially helpful if a guest has no reviews for a host to go on.

[Diane752]

Thank you for the comments on allowing service animals in your home.

Your host  names/properties were submitted regarding your responses.

Airbnb is committed to inclusive properties with welcoming hosts.  

[Sarah977]

@Diane752  I guess trying to have an open dialogue with you regarding this issue required punishment in your eyes. No good deed goes unpunished. What a mean-spirited thing to do, considering that none of us has turned down a booking from you.

[Diane752]

No ma'am. This was an evaluation question to establish how hosts respond to renters with questions about service animals.

The 1st post just requested feedback.

Hosts who did not adhere to policies, or became aggressive were reported.

[Sarah977]

@Diane752 So you were purposely misrepresenting your intentions here? Trying to trick hosts who took time out of their day to answer?  I'm speechless.

[Mark116]

@Diane752   No one here said they wouldn't rent to a service animal except one person who has family allergies.  Many people  tried to explain to you what the ADA law actually says about private homes.  I have  no comment on reporting people for engaging in a discussion about a sensitive topic on a thread that was started as a result of someone with a fake service dog. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mark116 

It was all a fraud and phishing for entrapment. There was no attempt at booking anywhere and all the facts were bogus in an "evaluation question to establish how hosts respond to renters with questions about service animals". 

It was fake. The bookings were fake and the purchased 'federal service dog registration' card is a bogus legitimisation for wanton pet owners.

[Diane752]

Thanks again for participating Ian, entrapment is something law enforcement does to catch criminals.  

Partner/host research for AirBnb and VRBO as it relates to service animals being welcomed by hosts is what I was doing.  I tried to book with 3 hosts, was turned down by 2, accepted by one and she just cancelled today due to concerns about a 'pet' in her space,  w/ 24 hours notice before labor day.  That's discrimination at it's best.    

I am permanently disabled, I have a service animal and I know the law and Airbnb rules.  That is why I was a good person to run the marketing research.  🙂   

The US has multiple options for purchasing your Service tags for your animal, I provided you with a site where people register their dogs to have appropriate tags for uneducated people like yourself.  The US doesn't not have a central location like the UK, different entities train Service Animals based on the individuals need...ie blindness, PTSD etc.  There are 5 registries in the US where products are available for service owners. 

Thank you again for your angry responses when you found you were wrong.