Guests brought small kids without notice

[Janice14]

My last minute instant book guests showed up last night with two small kids, 1 and 3. Their reservation was for 2 adults, no mention of kids. My 2nd floor space is not kid friendly and my listing notes no kids under 12. We have ungated stairs, a balcony and glass tables. When I realized they had little ones I confronted them about it politely and they said they didn't actually read my listing or think they needed to mention their kids but were desperate for a place to stay for 2 nights. Their car is piled high with junk, I don't know how they got their kids in there. They promised to watch the kids carefully but I know there is going to be a huge mess up there when they leave. The thumps and bumps from the guest suite are concerning. Should I have refused them when they arrived? Would that have been within my rights since they never mentioned their kids? In 8 years of hosting I've not encountered this before. 

With people as sue happy as they are now I'm afraid if a kid falls down the stairs they could hold me liable because I fell for the sob story and allowed them to stay. 

In the past Airbnb has suspended me temporarily for cancelling a booking under extenuating circumstances so I felt i had to let them stay or be suspended again. 

[Gwen386]

My fear is that she won’t leave. I truly hope that will not be the case. 

[Jenny]

Hi @Janice14 

This sounds like a bit of a challenging situation.

How is the stay going so far?

I thought I'd tag @Robin4 and @Clara116 who are some of our most lovely, experienced Hosts, to see if they might have any advice about how to handle things.

Jenny

[Janice14 · Accepted solution]

The situation resolved itself. They didn't stay the second night. Frankly I don't know why they booked in the first place. They live an hour from here according to her and they decided to just go home. I think i may have made them uncomfortable with my concerns for the kid's safety. 

I did impress upon her that it is important to list an children as some listings are completely unsuitable for little ones. I suspect that they were not listed on purpose in order to get a wider selection. 

Here are the facts- They booked at 11:37 pm the night before arrival. I was long in bed by that time and didn't get the notification until 7 am. I'm used to last minute bookings so didn't think anything of it and prepared the suite for 2 adults as that was what was listed on the booking. 

I did consider quickly typing up a waiver when I realized they had 2 little ones. She assured me they would be quiet and would be watched carefully and it appears that was the case. The first night was quiet. She claimed the husband was a pastor and they were here to check out a church in a city nearby. It should be noted that her husband didn't want to talk with me. She did all the talking. Odd. She seemed very young, early 20's at the most. Although their car was packed with junk I doubt they were homeless. The homeless don't have credit cards to reserve Airbnb's.

After they left last night I did a quick check of the suite and all seems to be fine but they did leave a mountain of laundry as they had used all the spare pillows, blankets and sheets to make a pallet on the floor for the 3 year old. Thankfully they didn't put him on the sofa. 

I will chalk this one up to one of the stranger bookings in my 8 years of hosting.  I have some pretty wild stories of "memorable' guests but by far our guests are well behaved and pleasant to host. 

Thank you for your comments. I will type up a waiver of liability for future use if this ever happens again. 

[Lorna170]

@Janice14   If you are concerned about small children, be aware that AirBnB does not count children as guests, hence the request for 2 adults only.   Many guests think that any child under the age of 12 is FREE and does not count, and very few will read a listing to discover that children are not allowed.

My property is licensed for 4 human beings.  I state that all human beings, including infants and children of any age must be included in the request.  If adult guests arrive with children that have not been included in the booking count, I DO NOT accommodate them.  I would not provide a waiver either -- unless you have one that is rock solid and written by your attorney.

[Clara116]

@Janice14 @Jenny  

I am so sorry that you have this situation where you felt in the corner. 

I do hope these folks are not homeless.

Ok, I would immediately write on the message thread and on paper that the guests arrived with 2 children...and your property is not safe for children. They must read your listing and be aware of all your property offers and also their responsibility as guests. And your top concern is the safety of those children. It is important since the guests understand your concern that they assume all liability and responsibility for their children at all times during their stay. Also they assume total responsibility of any damages. Put dates of booking. 

I would make sure they sign something like that and if they refuse I'd say sorry you must leave now... Call Airbnb and tell them you are uncomfortable and can not accept that responsibility. And if you get that tossed back at you - keep us all posted and we will do our best to support you. 

This is another reason I don't IB instant book. Guests haven't even read your listing...they were desperate and if it was very inexpensive they grabbed it. I think having a conversation/ message with guests to make sure they have read about the house... before is now important for all your guests or anyone books and you have challenges. 

So sorry I'm sure it's stressful but if we have house safety requirements we must stay with them. Tiny babies can't do much. But little children with unprotected stairs is an accident ready to happen. 

Keep us posted. 

Stand strong. 

Clara

[Clara116]

@Janice14  if those babies are sleeping on your sofa you might quickly put two mattress pad protectors on it ....or it will be wet and ruined...I have seen this happen and you will have to replace it...

Ask where are the babies sleeping? Get it in writing. Sorry Janice 

[Robin4]

@Janice14 

Sorry I am late on the scene here and your issue seems to have resolved itself, they have left without causing you too much heartache.

I understand you want to be a good accommodating host but, you did take a big risk here by allowing this stay to proceed. If that 3 year old (who should have been declared with the booking) had injured themselves on your non kid-safe property it would have come back on you because you allowed the stay to proceed. Airbnb are always open to a neutral cancellation provided you can justify it!

As for children under 3, Airbnb considers infants to be like suitcases! They are just some inanimate object that sits in an out of the way corner, which of course is an utterly stupid, but that's the rules so you have no option but to accept that. Let alone allowing them, you can't charge for them, but you have to accept them!

I am happy that you got away with this Janice but, you should have let Airbnb cancel it as a neutral cancellation.....you had enough grounds for that to happen and it would not have affected your stats!

Use this one as a learning curve Janice, when there is any hint that a hosting might deviate from the rules in some way, (not enough to create a dangerous situation like this one), get on CX, you have a rapid response being a Superhost and get them to open a ticket, so it's on file. They will ask you if you want to cancel the reservation but just tell them...... 'Not at this stage but I want Airbnb aware that this guest has not adhered to 1 or more of my listing requirements, I suspect that certain of my house rules may be broken and, although I will accommodate this guest, I may need the assistance of Airbnb at some point with (or subsequent) to this hosting!' 

Support staff do not like open tickets, particularly prolonged open tickets but, whether they like it or not, it's then on file, Airbnb are involved at that point and if something does go wrong you will have a support resolution in your favour.

All the best Janice.

Cheers........Rob