Hosts having Guests Charging E Cars

[LeeAnn104]

I am a rural host with a small old cottage on our property, we wish to have guests stay that would like to see cows, sheep and horses as well as have an outside fire to watch the stars.

Recently I have had a guest charge his e-car for two days, after I said I would prefer he did not connect his car to our power. He left without leaving any reimbursement for using the electricity.   He washed down his car on the driveway instead of on the grass. They did not follow house rules but what is worrying me, is the usage of power to fund his trip fuel for his weekend holiday. 

I have contacted Airb&b but nothing can be done as he has refused to reimburse to cost of charging his car. I feel this is stealing on his part, as I could not take a hosts diesel or petrol to fund my trip.

Does anyone have the same problem or experienced this happening to them.

[Alicia753]

@LeeAnn104 

Hi LeeAnn,

It sounds like you're dealing with a frustrating situation. When it comes to handling guests charging electric cars, one of the best approaches is to outline specific rules regarding EV charging clearly in your house rules, so it's addressed before the guest arrives. You could also consider installing a dedicated EV charger with a usage fee or explicitly stating that EV charging is prohibited unless pre-arranged for a fee.

For this particular situation, since Airbnb can't enforce additional charges unless they're part of your house rules, it's important to adjust your listing and perhaps add a security deposit or create a specific section about electricity usage to protect yourself in the future. You might also consider a guest review that highlights how they didn't follow house rules, as this can be useful to other hosts.

It would be helpful to make future guests aware of your policy on EV charging both in your listing and during booking confirmation.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Upfish Management

[LeeAnn104]

Hi @Alicia753 

thank you so much for giving me a few more ideas but I had said to the guest by phone before he came, I did not want him to charge and also had in my house rules on line no recharging. But you have given me an idea of maybe giving guests a piece of paper that states definitely no car charging when i greet them so i know they have received it 

I also believe that I couldn’t just take a hosts petrol so maybe the same should be considered for a hosts electricity. We as host don’t make a lot of money so it is driving costs up if the power bill goes up. 
Thank you again 

cheers Lee-Ann 

[Laurelle3]

@LeeAnn104 I like your idea of getting them to sign the document. If you live on site or meet guests you can do this. 

However, as you have said it is in your rules and the guest has broken them. The only evidence and your support for your complaint with Airbnb Support is a photo of a lead to the car electric input plug. 

Then you have to be careful that you are not trespassing on your own property when guest staying if you don't live on site to take a photo. You could have a camera near driveway and state you have one for your accommodation. This could help support you evidence.

You could possibly increass your nightly fees approximately $10 and if guests  use the power it should cover it. When power isn't used it is a bonus. This is going to be a topic mentioned more in Australia.

[Luana312]

@LeeAnn104 

If it is on your house rules Airbnb must refund you! He broke the rules. He created a damage? Please guys… I’m new here! What is not covered under Airbnb air cover? 
maybe it is one of the items!? 

[LeeAnn104]

Hi Luna

I totally agree with you , the fact he broke the rules as a guest and I discussed this with him and I said no, but he did charge anyway.
I went through Airb&b support and they refunded me though when they talked to him he stated that he wasn’t paying for the extra. His quote to me is “it’s like plugging in a toaster”
The guest also told me he couldn’t charge at the cottage if it was raining well it was raining all weekend, he just parked the car closer to the cottage wall under the window and used his cable to charge, for two days as the cottage is solar and grid. They didn’t go anywhere they just left the car plugged in. 
I do not wish to put anyone into a bad comment but the guest was told there was a charging station at a nearby town and he wanted electricity for free. 

[Rebecca]

Hello @LeeAnn104, 

I am sorry to hear you've been having some difficulties with guests. Hopefully all the advice and suggestions that other hosts have shared with you were helpful! 

I wanted to tag @Luana312 here for you, so they will receive a notification of your message and can hopefully come back to share more insights. 

Quick tip: To tag someone, tap "@" and select the host's username from the dropdown menu 😊

[Greg2406]

@LeeAnn104 

If you have no recharging in your HR's, you should have the guest sign the HR's on arrival, or you can use a service like DocuSign to get them to do before Check-In.  

Also, you can add (and all Hosts should) a Smart Sense meter into the electrical panel box.   It shows the usage by all appliances and total usage by day, week, month.   EV's are here to stay and this usage issue will become an important part of the cost of doing business.   Ultimately Hosts may have to add surcharges to the booking fees.   

[Frances3408]

@LeeAnn104. Hi LeeAnn, you were too nice. 

You could make the old cottage run on solar only so when a rude guest like this uses all their power up to recharge a car it may run out or if you want to keep doing this long term spend the money to instal a second meter and take a photo before each check in and after and add to your House Rules that usage above a certain allowed for daily kW will be charged at x cents per hour or $ per day.

If its a combined meter you would have trouble getting reimbursement from a tenant under most state rental tribunals if it went to a dispute resolution, not to mention it was all done via a phone call. This is also important- put anything discussed into messages, even if its straight after the fact. Aircover is about damages, not cost over runs.

Bottom line is I think you need to increase your nightly rate: you can always reward considerate guests with a discount return rate and a rave review . Speaking of which, I note your 2 in October have no negative comments re this so are you yet to do your review? Please be honest as yes, this is a problem for all hosts.

[Robin4]

@LeeAnn104 

LeeAnn, as hosts we all walk a fine line striving to get good reviews from our guests to keep that future business rolling in.

I come back to a point I have made many times here on the CC.....we are playing a numbers game!

Lets look at the practical aspect of dealing with EV charging in your area LeeAnn.

You are located in Gabbin in WA, about 250 Kms  North East of Perth so, assuming you do not have solar generation on the property and are entirely reliant on the power grid, your buy price for electricity will be about 42c per Kw/Hr. Also most guests will want to charge their EV at night when solar will not be of any benefit.

Now the average EV has a battery capacity of 75Kws which means that charging from your domestic power outlet it will cost $31.50 AU  ($21.00 USD) per charge. That is a substantial cost for you to absorb in your regular listing amount. 

It would be prudent to assume that most guests traveling with EV's will have used  most of their battery storage getting to your listing, so this is a reference figure that I would use for costing purposes.

Now LeeAnn, it's a fact of life guests do not like extra charges so, the way I would handle this, on this occasion just take the hit, be pleasant to the guest and don't make any comment about the EV charging cost. The guest no doubt knows exactly what it costs to charge his car and if you remain diplomatic he will think he has dodged a bullet and will reward you for it in the review process.

I would then go to your listing editing page and increase your nightly listing charge by $3 per night. It is safe to assume that at this point in time you will not average more than 1 guest in 30 that has an EV which they will expect to charge. That means that every 15 hosting nights will more than cover the cost of covering that 1 guest in 30 who expects it.

On the surface of it, it might sound a bit unfair on that other 29 guests having them subsidize that 1 guest, but LeeAnn, no guest is going to quibble about an extra $3 per night when they don't know what it is subsidizing.......it's just a part of your nightly charge. 

Give it some thought LeeAnn, you will find it is the best solution and you can always modify it if you find the ratio of EV guests increases.

Cheers........Rob.

[Christopher47]

@Robin4 

Probably the best and most sound advice here thus far… Agree 💯