Guest who cancel because of pet allergies - Looking for your opinion as a host

[David2189]

I have a place where we allow pets in our house - My first line in my bio is "I love Dogs" and my profile pic is holding a Dog and it states that the place is pet friendly.

I always message the guest to let them know that the place is all set up and ready to go and to have them contact us when they get there to make sure everything is good as we are remote hosts. We get around 20% of people with pets and 80% of people without pets. 

Guests ended up checking in at 11pm and didn't message us and in the morning they sent a message stating that the house had pet hair and their son was allergic so they had to leave. I told them that we have cleaners each time to clean and I was there to clean as well as I was painting the attic. I told them we have a strict no refund policy and let them know I could send the cleaners back to clean and they rejected the offer. 

They were upset and then said the house was full of pet hair and now it smelled. 

We are superhosts which means you have to be pretty much perfect as you know with Airbnb's star rating system. We are upset because the cleaners and myself put a lot of time preparing for the guests. I started reading the posts in this community and its getting pretty obvious there is a ton of issues with their system and now we will get a bad review. 

What would you do in this scenario? 

Thanks

[Ned-And-Laura0 · Accepted solution]

I have pretty bad allergies and so does my son, especially with cats.  I have found, outside of airbnb, that when I go into people homes, I can tell immediately if they have pets, no matter how clean the place is.  Dander is everywhere and unless you steam clean the entire place it will never be free of hair and dander.  As a host we started off allowing pets and after the first guest brought pets we changed our policy.  Pet hair EVERYWHERE.  We had to wash everything and it took forever...couch cushions, rugs, chair pillows, etc.  Just your basic vac, mop and dusting would never be enough for people with allergies.  That being said, they knew ahead of time this was a pet friendly place and they also knew their son had allergies, so they should have booked a place that didn't allow pets.   But to avoid this in the future, maybe you could put something in the listing: Allergy Sufferers Beware - Pet Friendly Location...we always do our best to have the place very clean before every guest arrives, but if you have sensitive allergies...etc"  Kinda like they do at restaurants that serve seafood.

[David2189]

That’s a good idea thank you

[Rebecca160]

I just do not understand how people can book a place that has or allows pets, when they have dog and or cat allergies. Do they not read the description or look at the pictures? This is really frustrating, especially as we want to keep our super host status.

You could negotiate with these folks for an acceptable medium. Maybe refund half? That may keep you from getting a really awful review. Or, you could just wait until the review, respond to their review with well, they knew we had pets there... Or contact Airbnb support and explain the situation and ask that their review be removed. Not likely, by it has happened.

To prevent this from happening in the future, I am going to revise my house rules to very explicitly state that the guest must agree in advance that they like, tolerate and are not allergic to dogs and cats.  And make sure that they agree to reading the rules before arrival. Airbnb does seem to enforce guests to follow the house rules, so this may or may not help.

[David2189]

Thanks for the feedback. I’m still deciding what to do but your comments help. Thanks!

[David2189]

These guys want all their money back. I’m just gonna have to deal with a bad review. 

[Allison2]

One bad review won't do you in. Worse than a bad review is refunding all their money and STILL getting a bad review (it happens).

If they leave a poor review, just send an even-handed reply to the effect of "We are a pet-friendly listing and there's no doubt that allergens aren't completely eliminated in the thorough cleaning we do between guests. I'm sorry your child's allergies made this listing a poor fit for your stay" This is really meant for other guests and a warning for allergy sufferers to book elsewhere.

[David2189]

Thanks I will include that type of response, but to say one bad review won't do me in is not true. One bad review does have enough strength to have us lose superhost status and with rating requirements that are going into effect and airbnb plus you get buried in their listings. 

Thanks,

Dave

[Vasiliy2]

This last weekend I stayed in a place that said not word about pets in the add. I get there and the person is like "I hope it is okay that I am dog sitting this weekend?" Thats how it happens

[David2189]

Thanks for the feedback but contact Airbnb support? Lol your joking right.

We haven’t decided what to do about this yet but whenever issues come up I’m definitely just going to post to the forum and ask what would you do. 

Thanks

[Mike340]

@David2189

i am in agreement with the community who suggest that your guests knew that the place was pet friendly and knew their son had an allegy.It also counds like they didntadvise you about their son in any communication and didnt ask you to ensure it was really suitable.

I put most of the fault on the side of the guets on this one

You might suggest to the guests that you have asked the Airbnb community and show them the types of answers/responses that you have been given

[David2189]

Thanks for the response. Bottom line is we get a bad review they get a bad review and lose our superhost status. Great system they have for superhosts. 

[Helen3]

Why do you think you would lose your superhost status. You aren't cancelling they are.

It is ridiculous for them to book to stay in a listing which has pets when there son is allergic.

Message them back and say you are sorry they have decided to cancel as their son has a pet allergy. And that it is shame they booked a place that has pets knowing their son's allergy.

Confirm that you were there when your cleaner cleaned the property and know it was left spotless. And that you even offered for your cleaner to return, which they refused.

In your situation I would advise the guest any cancellation will be in line with the policy.  However as a gesture of good will on your part, if you receive another booking for the same  period, you are happy to consider a partial refund. 

Make sure you call Airbnb and log this issue with them so they are aware of the situation. Stress how clear you make it that your listing has pets and that you were present when the cleaner, cleaned the property to her usual great standards.

[David2189]

Hi,

They didn't cancel, they left expecting their money back so they have the ability to leave a horrible review.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@David2189

You should inform your guests that they are leaving because THEY don't want to stay so it is THEIR responsibility to cancel - refund is up to ABB to handle according to the refund policy. Whether you refund in addition comes AFTER all the cancellation proceeds according to the rules.