Guests violated our “no pets” policy, What should I do?

[David-and-Annie0]

Hi all, need some advice: we are new to this and our second set of guests is there now. We have a “no pets” policy.

This guest messaged me a few days ago asking if they can bring their two dogs—one little and one boxer size. I said that although we love dogs, the answer is no. One of our own dogs tends to pee inside if she’s smelled that other dogs have been there. I explained this to him. He said he understood. 

This morning on our surveillance cameras, I see a little dog walking out the front door and coming back. I feel surprised and disappointed. 
Now what to do? I am thinking of messaging him, saying I know he brought a dog—at least one—and that I can either ask him to leave for violating this rule, or he can send me a pet fee of $150. 
Doubly frustrating is that these guests are renting our place at a very low rate (before I understood that “smart pricing” was not so smart!)—but that’s a different story. 

[Helen3]

As you don't want dogs because of the impact it has on yours and you made it clear to the guest before they booked not to bring their dogs this is a clear violation of your house rules which the guests blatantly ignored. @David-and-Annie0 

Personally I would not want a guest who straight out lied to me to remain at my place.

In this circumstances, I would contact the guest to say that you were sad to see contrary to your discussions where they agreed not to bring their dogs that at least one dog is at the property and that you have therefore no alternative but to ask Airbnb to cancel their booking.

I would then call Airbnb and ask them to cancel. They will probably try and persuade you not to. Send them the clip showing the guest had brought a pet.

[David-and-Annie0]

Thank you for your response. I do feel violated and upset that they lied, but they are checking out tomorrow, and I don’t want a huge fight on my hands trying to get them out. (We are not local, either)

Also, I know it shouldn’t matter, but we are brand new and have no reviews yet. I worry about retaliation in the form of a negative review, or even worse, what if they take something from the house? 

I don’t want to just let it slide. I’m thinking of telling him to pay a fee or get out (more nicely stated), but I just hate being in this situation of conflict. 

This is only our second set of guests and so far, we’re 0 for 2; the first guests brought an extra, unauthorized guest. Man, I’m quickly learning how deceptive people can be!

[Rebecca181]

@David-and-Annie0  So sorry this happened to you. This is precisely why Airbnb established a punitive (toward hosts) review system: Hosts avoid standing up for their rights with guests due to their fear that the guest will leave a derogatory (and unfair) review. This is a classic example of how hosts are put into a 'double bind' situation ("Damned if you do; damned if you don't") and 'bad actor' guests continue to violate hosts' rights. 

If it were me, I would send the guest a message to the guest via Airbnb saying that you must now thoroughly clean your unit (to prevent allergies, etc) and also 'de-flea' your unit due to dog(s) being snuck in, which violated your house rules; say how much it will cost; then send them a bill through Airbnb. But some hosts would not do that, as the priority is to get the good review no matter what (and of course, you have no idea if the guest will leave you a positive review). Which I do completely understand; some hosts entire income depends on getting lots of bookings through Airbnb so they avoid doing anything that might piss off the guest and/or result in a retaliatory review.

[David-and-Annie0]

Thanks for replying. I went ahead and told the guest to pay a pet fee ($100, but wish now I’d said more) immediately to keep his reservation. He did it immediately, but with no explanation, no apologies. I’m sure this will sour their experience and he won’t leave a good review (despite how nice I’ve been—allowing late checkout with no extra charge, a cheap rate to begin with, and going out of my way giving directions, warnings about snow and chains, etc,) The best I can hope is that he leaves no review, and I always worry people will retaliate by taking something or just being hard on the house—even though he was completely in the wrong to begin with. 

[Rebecca181]

@David-and-Annie0 Well done! If it were me, I would not leave a review UNTIL the night of the 14th day. Then you can leave an honest review and he may not have any time to leave one if you do it right near midnight. If he DOES leave a retaliatory review,  you can call Airbnb to request it be removed; you also can respond the review to tell your side of the story.

[Thomas4167]

Your host review cannot be seen until the guest leaves a review or the 14 days expire.  The "retalitory  comments" are incorrect.    You should feel free to speak freely about the violation.  The host community deserves to know about this bad guest.  I know you want to be nice, but they violated a clear rule.  And yes you should charge a lot more. However, do not start a conversation about the issue in the OTA email.  Then you could get a retalitory negative review. After being in your exact situation and playing nice with the guest, not charging them at all, I lost the next booking when the guests said they smelled pee.  It was a 7 day booking and I lost $3,800 plus I had to ozone, steam clean all the furniture, and run charcoal thru all the vents. Just like you I want to provide a No Animals Property, there are plenty of pet friendly properties.  Your guest was in the wrong not you!

[Alexis681]

How did you request the $100? Was it through Airbnb or venmo/ cash app? 

[Rebecca2487]

How did you collect the fee?  Through air b and b?  or a different payment method?

[Emilie]

Hi @Rebecca2487, 

I'm tagging @David-and-Annie0 here for you so they get a notification of your message and can come back to share more insights. 🙂

As this is a conversation from a couple of years ago, I'd recommend as well that you start a new conversation here 👈 if you'd like more advice from other hosts on how to manage fees like this!

I hope this helps, 

Emilie

[Michelle53]

My experience has been that guests who know they are in the wrong look for something about the host to complain about anyway. Whether or not you did anything wrong.

Maybe because they expect the host will say something about in their  review.   

I'm of the opinion that one should always leave an accurate review. This after some years of being scared of getting bad guest reviews.  One can say things in as factual, and non-emotional way as possible. It's the only way one can let another host know what is really going on.  I got some tough reviews when I first started, but some were a helpful learning experience, too.   I would take the opportunity to write a comment under the guest review, addressing any issues they might have had. 

[Linda-And-Richard0]

@David-and-Annie0   This guest knew fully well you did not allow pets and blatantly ignored your house rules.  Yes, he will leave some sort of negative review because he has been caught.  Be sure to state the pet situation in your review of him.   I would turn away any guest that showed up with a pet after stating animals are not allowed.  Stand firm and stick to your guns. 

[David-and-Annie0]

So, yes, if this ever happens again and we turn them away/kick them out, do we still get paid for the reservation/days? And can they still leave a bad review? 

[Emilia42]

@David-and-Annie0 No, you will not get paid for any nights that the guest does not stay, even if it is a for a rules violation. And Yes, they will still get the option to review. 

[David-and-Annie0]

That’s disappointing to hear. Makes me less likely to want to follow through with kicking people out if they violate rules...