Unexpected pet

[Phil3544]

Hey friends just looking for some thoughts on this scenario 

we have some guests that just arrived from Greece. Super friendly and respectful.....but, they showed up with a dog. Our listing says we don’t allow pets, but I’m guessing they just didn’t read the rules. We live right next door (also stated in the listing) and they def aren’t acting like they are trying to hide the dog from us. The dog seems very mild mannered btw. Not a puppy or aggressive breed etc 

I feel like this was probably a misunderstanding, and I wouldn’t kick out an international traveler over it, but wondering how other hosts would proceed. We are new and still trying to build our base of 5 star reviews. First time anyone has neglected a house rule

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

-Phil

[Emiel1]

@Phil3544 

Guests are aware of the  "no pets" rule, as they have to confirm the houserules when making the booking.

"’Im guessing they just didn’t read the rules" is not the right attitude to tolerate violations.

Be strict and bring the subject to the attention of the guests, in a polite manner.

[Phil3544]

Yeah I’m definitely going to bring it up. Im a little stuck on what to do from there though...charge an extra cleaning fee?

I could technically end their reservation but  given that they flew in from overseas i really don’t want to do that

[Phil3544]

And thanks for the reply!

[Lisa723]

@Phil3544 This is a tough one, especially since Airbnb makes it trivially easy for a guest to call a pet a service animal, of which they are not required to even notify you and and for which you are not allowed to charge extra or require documentation. (I do wonder how they arrived on an overseas flight with a dog unless they are calling it a service animal.)

And the fact that you are still building up a base of those critical first reviews also matters.

It's good to decide on what outcome you want before initiating the discussion. If you don't want to end the reservation but do want additional compensation you could frame a friendly message letting them know that you don't customarily allow pets but will make an exception for a modest fee to cover extra cleaning costs. But do be prepared for them to play the service animal card.

I think in your shoes I would probably just let it go, and note in their review that they brought an animal to a no-pets listing, without notice.

[Phil3544]

Lisa thanks so much for this thorough reply. It really helps us think thru it. I think you are right about the service animal scenario

i will take the friendly message approach. All we are looking for is to be able to reset the place at our normal cost after this stay

thanks again! We’ll you know the outcome 

[Loni56]

@Phil3544. a resposta de Lisa e um bom 

deixa passar 

sp depois vc relata o fato nos comentários

abraços

[Loni56]

@Phil3544. bom dia!

em seu lugar simplesmente deixaria !

não ia estragar algo que começou tao bem com excelentes hospedes!

boa sorte

[Gordon0]

It's incredibly unusual to take a dog from Europe to North America, and quite pricey too. Are they there on holiday, @Phil3544?

[Colleen253]

Guest profiles are usually way out of date. Possible they lived in Greece years ago.

Guest profiles tell us nothing, really. They don’t even have to have their real name on their public profile.

[Huma0]

@Colleen253 

Yes, that is often the case.

This week I got an IB from a guest with three reviews, but none of the reviews was for him. Turns out they were for his parents.

In the past month, I've had a guest who tanked me in the ratings but left a good review/private feedback. She had several positive reviews and a 5 star rating and her reviews to other hosts gave no indication of any problems. The red flags that were there were all in the communication. I wish I had listened to my initial gut feeling about that guest but, again, she IBed and I decided I was probably being paranoid about her.

I've had numerous problematic IBs, requests and enquiries over the past few weeks. Some had red flags on the profiles/reviews (so these can sometimes be useful) and others didn't have any, but it was clear from the communication that something was amiss.

[Lorna170]

@Phil3544   More and more guests are ignoring the Pet or No Pet status and just bringing them on vacation.  I have a lovely couple staying with me now, but they brought two dogs without notice and refused to acknowledge my pet fee as their pets are "ESAs".   It is not a case of the guests not reading the rules; they do not care to abide by them if it does not suit them.   

While you may not or cannot choose to do anything about this particular guest, make sure that you clearly list in your description what your pet policy is and repeat it in your booking confirmation message to every guest.  Do be aware that there are certain persons out there who will target your No Pets listing and insist on bringing their ESA with them as they are militantly convinced that everyone should accept animals with no respect for the health or preferences of the host.

[Colleen253]

@Lorna170 Airbnb has been breeding this kind of “I’ll do as I well please” guest behavior for a long time. Now they’ve ramped up their efforts and have made it even easier for guests to bring pets and simply claim them as ESA’s. 

We do have a few tools in the box to fight back. One is the review. No mention of the pet should be made when a guest claims ‘ESA’, but referring to lack of following house rules would suffice, and allow the review to stand. The other is being aware of what rights we have under the Assistance Animal policy, as ESA’s are categorized as assistance animals. 
@Phil3544 

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/1869/assistance-animals

[Phil3544]

just like you guys said, when I talked to them about it they said it was an ESA. Thanks everyone for the heads up, it made me better prepared for the convo

I said no problem (what else can I do) and just asked that they clean up after it. apparently you can just buy a ESA cert for like 70 bucks online, the whole thing is a joke

Gave my cleaner a heads up to come early and tipped him 20 because there was fur everywhere when they left. Fortunately it was a older dog that just laid on the rug all day, didn’t cause any damage or headache. it worked out that they were super grateful we let them stay, and left us a great review. 

I think I’m going to update my listing to say we are a bad fit for animals (no doggy door, no yard, kids running around etc) and try to discourage people with ESAs from choosing our place. 

[Colleen253]

@Phil3544 “…apparently you can just buy a ESA cert for like 70 bucks online…”

Airbnb doesn’t even require documentation. 

Be sure not to mention the animal in your review of them, as it will be removed if they complain. Only mention failure to observe all house rules and lack of communication. Whether ESA or legit service dog, number one it would be better to select a pet friendly listing, but at the very least giving the host a heads up is plain courtesy. That they didn’t do that deserves a mention.