Pet fee

[Lisa8154]

Hello all,

I am fairly new to hosting, started in April 2023. I recently had a guest book for her daughter and daughters friend, who had a dog. The guest did not inform me upfront that she would not be staying and did not pay the pet fee. When I realized the pet fee was not paid, they had already checked in and I requested the fee through air bnb. The guest never paid the fee. The girls that stayed left poop filled bags on the porch and next to the front steps. I have not provided a review because I don't know what to say. Any advice is much appreciated. 

[Inna22]

@Lisa8154 

Shows how stupid some people are. They were trying to hide the dog, so not to pay the fee yet they left poop bags everywhere.

Do you give any check out instructions to your guests? Are they expected to take the garbage out? Did they leave the house in good order otherwise?

I know there is a section on Airbnb to put down the number of pets when you book but people don’t read or maybe they’ve decided to bring their dog later. Make sure that you state that there is a Pet fee in your listing.

Based on this limited information, I would say something like: xx brought a dog however refused to pay the pet fee. They also left a significant amount of unsanitary garbage around the property.

Make sure that you pursue the pet fee. Even though they refused to pay, you can escalate it through air cover. I’m sure you have already cleaned everything up and I hope you took pictures before you did. 

[Lisa8154]

Hi @Inna22 , Thank you for the feedback. I took one picture of the bag of poop on my front porch, next to my front door. The woman that rented my place did so for her daughter and daughter's friend. The friend owned the dog. The woman that rented from me asked if she could use the crate I have. I should have looked to see if they paid the pet fee at that point. I did not go into the reservation until I had to message her telling her to tell the friend not to leave bags of dog poop on the property. I then realized she had not paid a pet fee and requested the fee from her. 

[Inna22]

@Lisa8154 if I understand your response correctly, this woman rented your place, but didn’t stay there herself? If so, this is called a third-party reservation and it is against Airbnb rules. Both parties forfeit air cover. Please keep that in mind for next time.

Some hosts strictly prohibit it, some don’t mind. It is for you to decide. Most guests don’t realize there is such a rule even though there is not a hotel that would let one person into another one’s room. 

[Lisa8154]

I had no idea she was not going to stay here. My husband ran into her daughter and she told him. The best part of this is this woman gave me a 4 star review. I have received all 5 star reviews until her. 

[Ana2038 · Accepted solution]

@Lisa8154 , please leave an honest review based on facts. It is a disservice to other hosts when less than honest reviews are left or worse not posted at all. No one wants to host a guest(s) that fails to abide by host(s) house rules and/or Airbnb rules/policies.

[Lisa8154]

Understood @Ana2038 ! Thanks for the feedback.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Lisa8154 , 

Did you happen to notice Ana and Inna's suggestions or have dealt with the situation with an honest review in the meantime?

Do keep us posted if you left any reviews for this guest or got in touch with them further.

[Lisa8154]

I just responded, thank you.

[Lisa8154]

Hi,

I wrote an honest review stating what happened during her stay and Airbnb removed it. 

[Deb216]

@Lisa8154 

This is priceless!

Thank you for sharing with the rest of us.

[Jennifer3640]

Hi 

I am wondering if you tried the resolution center folks at Airbnb. The guest who stayed last weekend brought a chihuahua and never paid the pet fee, hasn’t yet paid it and hasn’t responded to any messages in the app that I sent. About the dog and any of my other scheduled messages. Hasn’t responded to the Airbnb help person either. And the help person can’t seem to tell me what happens next. I’ve sent the help person photos of the dog onsite. 

I feel like nothing is going to happen, and wanted to see how yours got resolved?

So irritating. 

[Jennifer3640]

Update to my email. Here is the response Airbnb sent to me.

Hello Jennifer, I have tried to call the guest before I messaged you here, but he's unresponsive, and he hasn't been checking any of my messages too.

I have exhausted all means to communicate with him but no response coming from him, What I did, I left a message through his voicemail instead.

One of the options you can is to directly message and call him if you have a chance.

We recognize that this is not the outcome you were hoping for. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for understanding.

[Joan2709]

Hi @Lisa8154 

You may also wish to add a fine to your Addl Rules for undisclosed pets. This will then allow you to go thru the resolution center to obtain the fee/fine if guests don't disclose they are bringing a pet on the reservation. I would make it higher than your regular pet fee of $100.

Not sure why Airbnb removed your review unless it violated their review policies. It's possible the guest was trying to claim this was a service animal? In any case, you can leave a public response to any review I believe up to 30days? You might do that and just be brief and factual. Thank them for their stay and whatever they did correctly, but perhaps next time they should advise the Host if they are bringing a pet (something like that). Be careful what you say, as you are not able to edit the public response to a guest review once you post it.

Post a Public Response To A Guest Review

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/3048#section-heading-5-0