guests adding extra people without permission

[Lynn1109]

Hi all,

The last 3 people who checked in have had more people than requested and paid for. Each time, I have mentioned it to them and sent request for the extra guest. Each time, these guests have given me bad reviews. Never of the house, or me, but find a way to give me 3 or 4 stars. One gave me 3 stars because the road to cross the street to get to beach was "dangerous." The next guest said my neighborhood was "sketchy" because my neighbor is having their home worked on. The 3rd guest said it was a bad neighborhood because it was noisy, it was bike week in Daytona. All gave 5 stars for cleanliness and raved about my the new kitchen. They docked me because I caught them bringing in extra guests. Anybody else have this issue? I like the way the other short term rental does it, no comments, just number of stars. And now, Airbnb is giving huge penalties for low reviews. I can't win on this app. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Fred13]

   Suggestion? Yes, limit the number of guests. Besides allowing the first 6 to stay in such a nice place for a mere $199 is bad enough, but allowing another 4 is why the place has 'party' written all over it. There are at least a thousand posts in the last few years here on this interesting human behavior.

   In other words, get out of the big-group controlling business. Good luck.

P.S. Whenever you feel particularly gutsy, go to $250 for 6 guests (maximum). 

[Lynn1109]

Thanks Fred. I have each guest tell me who is coming, their ages. I also go over the bedding to make sure they understand the sleeping situation. I have never had a party at the house, so far. It has been multigenerational families. I did add the language that only people allowed in the home are the ones who have been registered.

[Elaine701]

@Fred13 

Yep, that one should limit the number of guests AND raise prices. 

I really hate this business of booking for 2 and bringing 6, as if they're going to get 3 bedrooms for free. It's pretty clear in out description and house rules. But they still do it. 

What I've found is that the types of guests who are willing to do that, are the very same ones who will give you lesser reviews on the basis of petty things like finding a spider web in some remote corner, or just made up nonsense.

Raise your price. Limit the guests. Make it clear in every way that there's a penalty. You're better off scaring thrm away before they book it. 

[Sarah977]

@Lynn1109  Do not try to cram 10 people into a 3 bedroom house with 3 beds. As Fred says, change the guest count to 6. 

Nor do you mention anywhere in your listing where these extra 4 guests would sleep. Three or four to a bed?

Put wording in your listing description and house rules that says "No visitors not accounted for on the booking will be admitted to the property. Failure to comply may result in eviction with no refund. No day visitors allowed."

Remind guests of this when they book in a message.

Also, your wording about the washing machine is repeated twice in your description.

[Lorna170]

@Lynn1109   As an owner of both large and small properties, the minute that you go over 8 persons you are opening yourself up to those who do not include children in their counts, or feel that they can use every couch as a bed, or will bring sleeping bags, etc.  I would not mention the sleeper sofas at all, and in your description of the two living spaces for "larger groups" you are definitely going to attract the party crowd and bargain hunters.  Raise your price, reduce your count and enjoy better guests.

[Dale711]

@Lynn1109 

I’m totally agree with @Lorna170, has point out correctly,

                                “ I would not mention the sleeper sofas at all, and in your description of the two living spaces for "larger groups" you are definitely going to attract the party crowd” 

                                 “  Raise your price, reduce your count and enjoy better guests.”

l am so sorry to hear your unpleasant experience with your guest and  understand you’re feelings frustrated.

Of course, the guest will left a negative, untrue or a revenge review for the host.

Yet, it is out of your hand!

Letting you know that review are the backbone of Airbnb's community and in order to maintain that structure. Airbnb have guidelines in place that ensure all reviews are fair, honest and relevant to the  travel and experience. Airbnb's default position is not to delete, censor, or edit reviews.

If you would like to dispute a review, do report a review that you believe goes against the policy.

With that being said, in rare cases Airbnb may remove a review only if it violates the Airbnb review guidelines.

You had done it well ! You had post a public response to the reviews that guest leave for you, but you can't remove the reviews.Reviews are only removed if they violate the Review Policy.

You may click the link below for more information:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/13

Airbnb Review Policy 
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673

Airbnb Review Content 
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/546

I do hope the HAB members will keep looking  into the lack of the Airbnb review system.

Happy Hosting 

[Jenny838]

@Lynn1109 I’ve had the same issue. The only less than 5 star review I’ve received was from a guest who tried to sneak in her child. My listing accommodates 2. My house rules state maximum of two persons and no visitors without our permission. We meet all guests upon arrival and she and her husband tried to hide their child in the car. They looked just as surprised as we were when he got out! We were accommodating, brought over extra sheets for him to sleep on the couch, and did not say anything or make a big deal about it.  I figured it wasn’t worth the bad review to call her out, but I got one anyway. Her wording was great, just a four star overall. 

[Laura2592]

@Jenny838 did you mention it in her review?

Some people will do ANYTHING to skirt the rules. 

[Alexandra316]

@Lynn1109 Just some advice about replying to guest reviews. Remember that the responses are for future guests: the guest who left the review will likely never see it. Other guests can't see what star ratings you received from any particular guest, so don't mention it in your response. If there is anything they wrote in the body of the review that you feel that you should address - safety issues, cleanliness, etc. - mention that, sure, so future guests have some context/your side of the story. 

The response that you left regarding the guest who gave you lower stars on value isn't ideal. Value is a very silly category and doesn't contribute to your Superhost stats anyways... it's really pretty meaningless and open to interpretation. 

[Laura2592]

@Lynn1109 you will allow 10 people at $291 a night. That is $29 per person. You are not going to get fantastic guests who only pay that much. I suggest a much lower guest count and a higher nightly price over the number of individuals who you are actually targeting. Our house can sleep 6 but we limit our place to 4 guests with a nominal additional charge per night over 2. We still occasionally have the stray booking who refuses to pay that or adds more people than we want. We ALWAYS mention that in the review. "So and so was great, but future hosts may want to verify the actual guest count prior to the stay as we noticed additional individuals beyond our capacity limit."

We also took off mention of sofas or air mattresses after it was clear that these were giving the message that we allow extra people. Our dining table has 4 seats and that is another visual cue that we can only comfortably host that many guests. 

We also ask before check in "Just verifying that your guest numbers have not changed from your original booking. You have a reservation for 2 adults. Is that still accurate?" If they say "oh we are adding our friends" I ask them to go in and send an alteration request.  

[Emilia42]

Pull-out sofas are not beds ... Pull-out sofas are intended for that unregistered friend who doesn't feel like driving home or that last-minute addition who can "come along and sleep on the couch." I think hosts who have high guest counts and advertise unlimited pull-outs/couches/air mattresses are continuously going to run into this problem. 

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42 absolutely. We don't advertise sofas or air mattresses and we still run into people who just know we can fit extra guests. Maybe we could but we don't WANT them. Nor do we want to send the signal that we are okay with that. So we only list the actual beds in the space.