Guests taken advantage of pet policy

[Erin6941]

Hi all! We are currently hosting a family who told me from day one that they would be bringing one dog, who is a support animal for the husbands ptsd. She didn’t ask me to waive her pet fee ($30) because of this, but we are still new as hosts so I thought the *kind* thing to do would be to waive it since she stated it was a service animal. All communication between me and the guest has been open and friendly. 

However, upon checking in, we have seen on our security cameras, that they haven’t just brought one other dog, but TWO additional!! It seems as though the two others belong to guests/family members who are visiting/staying a night or two with the ones that booked (she told me they were having family over, but never any mention of additional pets). 

Advice on how to proceed?

I am thinking of waiting until their stay is concluded and then charge her for the extra pets, as opposed to letting her know now while they’re still there that we’ve seen them. My fear is that they’ll be pissed off and damage something intentionally. 

thanks for any input! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Erin6941 I suggest you wait until the end of the stay then review them and hope they review you before the end of the 14 day period in which you can make a claim. As a new. host the last thing you need is a bad review

[Erin6941]

Thanks! Do I initiate a charge for the additional pets or does Airbnb? I would imagine only Airbnb would pay for any damage to the property, but it would be up to me to request a fee such as pet, cleaning, etc

[Fred13 · Accepted solution]

@Erin6941  Forget Airbnb, in time you will appreciate why I say that. It is best for you as the owner to address any issue yourself and on the spot.

You sound kind-hearted (and gentle enough) which suggests you will not in all likelihood come across too 'heavy' by mentioning the fact they brought unexpectedly 2 extra dogs and ask ''Hey folks I see you brought 2 extra dogs and is it cool by you to pay a bit extra for them, Lord knows takes a lot more cleaning with animals. It is just 'X' amount.". 😎

Two more steps are left after these folks leave, regardless of what their position  is:

1. Make sure you spell out in your description somewhere/somehow that you do need to know how many people/pets are coming before guests arrive - so this doesn't happen again.

2. Best not to divulge how you know they brought extra dogs, but this brings up a reality: the best way in hosting is to meet the guest when they arrive, in this way you can bring up any pending issue before they walk inside the door. Always with in a light manner.