Hello--I recently had a really horrible experience hosting (I have hosted over 9k people in my home over the last 9 years...and I rarely have any issues! 99% of the reviews I leave are excellent reviews and I truly enjoy all the people I have in my home) and I would like some advice.
My property is no pets because my daughter has serious animal allergies. A lady booked and said she was bringing her service dog (a black pug). Knowing I cannot refuse a service animal, I asked that the animal not get on any furniture and she said her dog had to sleep in the bed with her. I felt I had no choice with her demand, so I asked that the dog just only get on the one bed and not all four. During their stay, many things led me to think this dog was not a real service dog (or very poorly trained)--she barked in the house, she was walked by multiple guests, and she never wore a vest. After they checked out, I came up the most disgusting cleanup--thousands of dog hairs over all four beds.
I wrote an honest and negative review consisting of the facts that this service dog did not follow any of my guidelines--it caused 4 extra hours of cleanup and put my family in danger because of my daughter's allergies (and future guests' allergies who book my place upon the promise that no animals come here).
My review was taken down by Airbnb because I mentioned "service animal" and that is apparently a private matter. I am not allowed to charge them a cleanup or pet fee (since it's a service animal). What do I do in the future to avoid this disaster? It seems as if anybody can book a "service animal" (I'm not allowed to ask for paperwork, or charge a fee, or even write a review if The dog is terribly misbehaved). I feel that people can completely take advantage of booking a popular, clean property without paying any additional fees and imposing their poorly behaved dog with no consequences. Has anybody else had this experience and how can I prevent this in the future?
