Too many guests

[Rick6499]

Hi, I'm looking for advice.  We have current guests booked for 10 people.  The maximum capacity we allow is 11.  The current guests have shown up with more people than they registered and more than our capacity.  In our pre arrival messages we clearly call out no unregistered guests and a charge of $50/night for extra guests.  We have a camera overlooking the parking area which is clearly called out in our Airbnb add and our guidebook.  

How do I approach this, without seeming creepy, but we do monitor who arrives.  Also they have 7 more days and access to our property so I don't want them to get angry or retaliate.  

Thanks for your thoughts 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rick6499 They will retaliate so is it worth doing anything other than slating them in your review?

Also your capacity is either 11 or it isn't. Charging $50/night cannot increase the capacity of the property unless the limit is just a made up number.

[Helen3]

Hi @Rick6499 

A few questions how many did the guest book for and how many have turned up .

I have a different approach to @Mike-And-Jane0  in that I do call out guests who try and sneak in extra guests without paying . But I'm a long established host and a few negative reviews if this happens won't affect me so much.

i say something like 

'dear x 

we note xxx number of guests are using the property but only xxx are on the booking. 

As per our check in message we do need to record the correct number of guests are on the booking so we are covered by our insurance and so we provide the right bedding /coffee/gift pack etc.

Please can you adjust your booking to reflect the number of guests who are staying today and I will accept the request. 

(sometimes Airbnb doesn't accept a change mid stay so perhaps check with Airbnb first as they may need to send a request to amend the booking to the guest which the guest will need to approve. 

Going forward if a guest books under the max for a property I always get them to confirm by message the numbers staying . 

[Lorna170]

@Rick6499   First step for me would be to remove any references to extra guests in my advertisement. I state in my ads that the property is ZONED and LICENSED for X number of persons, period.  If you still want to charge in the event of extra guests, make the fee for those guests VERY large, like $250 per guest.  That will deter most scofflaws.  

As to the current group, what is the makeup of the group?  If there are children, many guests believe that children do not count towards guest totals.  If this is a group of unrelated adults, they may not care that they have exceeded occupancy and will undoubtably respond negatively to you requesting funds for the extra persons or asking them to leave.  They may also say that those extra persons are there to "hang out for the day" and are not sleeping on the property, thereby justifying why you cannot complain.  They will also claim that the extra people are not there "for a party" so they are not in violation of the No Party rules.

What do you do right now?  Two choices. 

One: Go to the property and ask the guest to leave early or at least evict the extra persons.  (Know that asking AirBnB to cancel the guest does not mean that some Green Hulk is going to arrive at the property and kick the guests out).  You have to do it yourself.

Two:  Take a deep breath and plan on what to do when the group leaves.  Alert your housekeeper to the fact that there were extra people and cleaning may require additional staff.  Have someone there taking pictures.  Save the footage from the driveway camera to verify the number of cars and persons that were there.  If the property has been disrespected, determine at what dollar amount of expenses incurred will cause you to make a request for payment from the guest.  It is highly probable that a request for payment will result in a negative review.

Lastly, in your own review of the guest, based on what you find after the guest leaves, chose your words carefully and be brief.  "The guest exceeded occupancy of the property with unregistered persons and violated numerous house rules."  End of review.

[Rick6499 · Accepted solution]

Hi Everyone, thanks for the advice.  We've decided not to mention anything to the current guest and simply deal with it in the review.  We are also going to update the listing to a strict 11 person limit with no extra $/night options.  This will keep it much simpler.    Truth is, we've had some larger groups but they've always been up front about it, asked permission and everything works out.  

We appreciate the support and advice from everyone

[Bhumika]

Hi @Rick6499 , thanks for sharing and I hope the advice from fellow hosts have helped! 

I am tagging @Lorna170 @Helen3 @Mike-And-Jane0 so they can see your thank you note as well as the update on how you eventually chose to deal with the situation. If you need further advice and support, please don't hesitate to reach out to the community.

Regards,