Guest has not paid the 2nd person fee

[Valerie192]

I had a new to Airbnb guest that did a same day booking and on her way to the house said she was bringing her girlfriend and would that be OK. I said it would, except I do charge a $20 2nd person fee. She was surprised, and at first was thinking to cancel which I said would be fine with me (I even gave her airbnb customer service # and said she could plead ignorance being new to Airbnb and likely get her airbnb fee back too). Then about 15 minutes later she said that it wasn't worth the trouble and she would be ok paying the extra $20. Since the reservation had already started we were unable to change the # of guests (at least I have yet to figure out a way to do that) so I said no problem, I will just send you a separate fee request.

Fast forward to the next day and I had said thank you for staying etc. and in Airbnb message I asked if she could please pay the fee that day. A couple days later I sent one more friendly reminder, she replied and said she would "look for it." Now we know those automatically get pushed by Airbnb and since she got all my messages I know she also got the fee request from Airbnb. It has been 10 days now.

I don't care about $20 -it is more on the principle. And she was otherwise a nice and communicative guest. Airbnb offered to call her but I thought that seemed quite heavy handed for $20 and may result in a negative review for me. I am waiting until day 13.5 to write my review to give her the full time to pay me that fee but I have zero confidence now. How does the following sound:

"XXX was a friendly and communicative guest. Only notable concern is that the reservation was only for one, and as of the writing of this review, the second guest fee for her guest has remained unpaid."

Would this 'neglect to pay the extra guest fee' make it into your review of her?

[Laylee0]

@Valerie192 yes I would definately mention it in her review. You were nice enough to allow her the extra guest, so for her to agree to pay and then not bother is disrespectful. As a host I would want to know about it.

After my problem with a guest recently I realised that “nice and communicative” guests don’t always make great guests. My top criteria is wether they respect me/my rules and the space and how considerate they are of staying in my home with me and other Airbnb guests. If they don’t tick either of these boxes I’ll mention it in the review. If it’s something minor, like maybe they accidentally forgot to set the alarm or turn the heating off one time, I would say it in a private comment to them. But for something like not paying a fee I would mention it in the public review for sure. It’s your business after all, not a doss house. 

[Valerie192]

that's a very good point! @Laylee0 

[Sarah977]

@Laylee0  Yes, I think that "nice" is a highly overrated virtue. And I wouldn't consider someone who agreed to pay and then shafted me to be nice, anyway.

I haven't had problems with my own guests, but I property manage a small place next door to me that rents privately, long term. It's amazing how many "nice, communicative" people there are, who assure me, oh so sincerely, with hugs and air kisses to boot, that of course they'll always have the rent on time and keep the place clean, only to always be 2 weeks or a month late with the rent, live like pigs and leave the place a disaster when they move out.

[Valerie192]

haha thanks @Sarah977 always appreciate your commentary on here!

[Kath9]

@Valerie192, I agree with @Sarah977 and @Laylee0. Definitely mention it in your review - what you've written sounds perfect.

Just for future reference, there is a way to change a booking. Either you or the guest can send a 'change reservation' request and you should be able to change the number of guests there. That way, she would have been charged for the second guest before her arrival. Also, I don't think she would have been charged the Airbnb fee for cancelling as she would have cancelled within 48 hours of booking. 

Like you, I wouldn't bother getting Airbnb involved over $20, but as you say, it is the principle and hosts are tired of guests taking advantage of them. I would not only mention it, but also select 'no' on the 'would you host this guest again' question so she can't instant book in future.

[Alon1]

Others have simply answered your final question.

I would rather address it by initially aligning your two comments:

'she could plead ignorance being new to Airbnb ....'

'Since the reservation had already started we were unable to change the # of guests (at least I have yet to figure out a way to do that) so I said no problem, I will just send you a separate fee request.'

Please note you can make an alteration to an existing booking. 'CHANGE or CANCEL RESERVATION'

Click and under the 'Change' option you'll see

What would you like to do?

Change ReservationChange dates, listing, number of guests, or price.

Consequently, you can hardly plead 'ignorance', less so as an experienced SUPERHOST with over 100 Reviews. And had you  executed this simple procedure you would not have ended up in the situation you found yourself in, chasing your Guest's tail. If she hadn't already paid the extra $ 20, Airbnb would have deducted it from Guest's payment method. 

This satisfactory outcome would obviously affect your Review.

Therefore, please consider that your Review should as well include an admission of your ignorance of the Booking procedure..

@Valerie192

[Valerie192]

Hi @Alon1  and @Kath9 I did actually endeavor to change/alter the reservation following those exact steps, and the app wouldn't let me. I can't remember exactly what it said, and the guest also ran into the same issue. And she was literally 5 minutes from my home so I did what I thought best in lieu of the reservation alteration function not working. I will see if I can re-create this tomorrow in the midst of a newly arriving guest tomorrow and post a screenshot. 

So while I appreciate your listing the steps, they did not work for me. I have successfully altered reservation of guests prior to their stay, but this did not work and think it was because the reservation was already "Active."  Thank you both for your feedback and perspective.

[Kath9]

@Valerie192, I wondered if that might have been the case (although I think that normally you can change a reservation mid-stay so not sure what happened there). Anyway, please don't put me in the same category as Alon because, unlike him, I wasn't attacking or criticising you, I was just trying to help 🙂

[Alon1]

@Kath9 

I always find it interesting when a highlight of factual issues is interpreted as 'attack or criticism'.

Please note it was Valerie who used the word 'ignorant'. I simply reflected it in the right direction! (i.e. inviting her to look in the mirror).

My 'criticism' here would really be at Airbnb for handing out SH status like confetti and attaching the word 'Experienced' to Hosts who clearly lack that very commodity.

Airbnb would do well to introduce an initial short test to all new Hosts to ensure they know how to execute all the basic functions related to the website's booking criteria. 

[Sarah977]

@Alon1  I'm not sure what you get out of harshly criticizing other host's abilities and behavior, and acting like you're so much better, but it's not pleasant or helpful. I think most hosts out there are trying to do their best, none of us are perfect people.

[Alon1]

@Sarah977 

There's no point arguing with you or anyone else.

I simply have a different perspective of knowledge and its application.

I believe a Host before starting - let alone after 2 or 3 years - should know what they are doing. Instead they end up blaming Guests. 

[Sarah977]

@Alon1  Yes, I agree that hosts should familiarize themselves with the workings of the platform. I'm always somewhat shocked when new hosts write in and say they just hosted their first guest and how will they get paid? Or claim there's no way to contact Airbnb when the contact info is posted hugely on the first page of the help forum. I spent 2 days reading through everything on the site re hosting and setting up a listing and made sure all was set the way I wanted it before I submitted my listing. But there's some things I've never had to do before, like add extra guests, as I only host solo travelers, and I've never had to cancel a reservation, and many other things. So I wouldn't know off-hand the correct way to do those things, I'd have to check on that if the situation came up.

I appreciate your extensive knowledge of the workings of the platform, I just think that this forum is meant to be helpful and it's possible to guide other hosts or straightforwardly give them the info in a kind or neutral manner, without judging them to be stupid or incompetent. 

[Kath9]

@Alon1, you may have highlighted factual issues, but I think you need to take care in how you say it or it can come across as patronising and critical. As @Sarah977 said, no one is perfect (including the Airbnb platform) and it may well be the case that @Valerie192 could not actually change the reservation (it sounds like she went through the exact procedure we both described). She is an experienced host and from other comments here, it seems that it may not have been possible for her to do this. Valerie acted on good faith, as we hosts have to do all the time, and was let down by her guest. She reached out to the community for support and telling her that her review should 'include an admission of your ignorance of the booking procedure' is simply not kind nor helpful.

[Valerie192]

No worries! I gotcha! 🙂