too many guests

[Josephine201]

We have an issue with a current reserviation.  They booked for 6 people which is the maximum occupancy of the property.  We had to enter the property yesterday (with the guests knowledge) for a maintenance issue and noticed that the furniture had all been rearranged and that there were blow-up mattresses in the rooms (visible from the hall).  Obviously there are more than 6 guests.  We are not comfortable with his for many reasons - damage to property, they have already burnt out the shower, health and safety and public liability.  I have reported the guest to airbnb but have received no reply.  There reservation ends in 4 days.  We would like to ask them to leave.  How can we do this without it affecting our superhost status? 

[Roberta2]

Hi @Josephine201 

Message the guest via the app and tell him that extra people are not allowed, that they will not be covered by insurance.

Make sure that you message via the app, and inform airbnb - if the guest leave a retaliation low review you can try to get it removed.

You may have to weight that against possible loss - how long are they still going to stay there?

[Julianne55]

Great idea to tell the guest that they won't be covered by insurance if they have extra guests!

[Helen3]

hi @Josephine201 

What did the guests say when you called them out on it. I would contact them via Airbnb and also call the guests.

Say you are sad to see they have brought in additional guests that exceed the maximum numbers allowed for your house. (presumably against your house rules).  Say that you will be back to make all the additional guests not on the listing have left within XX hours. And that if this doesn't happen or the additional guests return you will ask Airbnb to cancel the booking and they will all have to leave.

It sounds like the guests were able to sneak extra people in because you don't have CCTV - a must I would say if you are hosting remotely.

I don't agree with @Roberta2  we should never allow ourselves to be held to ransom and allow the guests to get away with bad behaviour for fear of a bad review.  The guests should be more scared of the review you leave, then you, of theirs.

Do leave the guests an honest review.

[Sally776]

Our Nest cameras went out just before they arrived 3 days ago and didn't come back on until this morning when the guests were packing to leave so we see could see the extra cars and people. Our Nest thermostats are 100% reliable but the cameras often go off but usually only for brief intervals. The guests clearly declared 4 adults and 4 children on  their reservation and the house rules clearly state that extra guest fee is $20 per day per person. We only have 4 bedrooms, 2 with king size beds and 2 with 2 twins each...so sleeps 8. We are inclined to ask for $480 via the resolution center on a $1050 rental. We have pictures of all the cars and people leaving...incontrovertible proof. Are we nuts?

We been with AIRBNB FOR 4.5 years and have worked hard to go from 4.1 stars to 4.9 star superhost status and don't want to risk a bad review. 

[Kimberly523]

We have cctv but once they are in it is very hard to get out. We should be able to submit proof to Airbnb and they should contact quest and stand behind the host 

[Brenda1083]

I agree with leaving a very honest review , I had a girl that had a party in my no party chalet and I said I would never rent to her again, and I told the reason why . Very honest and to the point so we host understand that this person was trouble.

[Kelly149]

@Josephine201 

"We would like to ask them to leave.  How can we do this without it affecting our superhost status?" 

You can ask them to leave. No way to protect yourself from a 1* review. SH is always vulnerable when you're bickering with a guest.

btw, you need more evidence of excess guests, like you actually seeing too many people, air mattresses are just air mattresses, maybe they don't like your beds (that's not the reason, but do you see the difference?)

oh, and you know you have to give back their money if you kick them out, right?

[Kelly149]

"We would like to ask them to leave.  How can we do this without it affecting our superhost status?" 

You can ask them to leave. No way to protect yourself from a 1* review. SH is always vulnerable when you're bickering with a guest.

btw, you need more evidence of excess guests, like you actually seeing too many people, air mattresses are just air mattresses, maybe they don't like your beds (that's not the reason, but do you see the difference?)

oh, and you know you have to give back their money if you kick them out, right?

[Kimberly523]

I so agree. Airbnb has not figured out without hosts they do not have a business and one bad apple coming through should not cause a year of happy people to go down the drain. Yes we need guests but not at the cost of damage and being scammed ! 

[Sarah977]

@Josephine201  If hosts are afraid to enforce the rules in fear of losing Superhost or getting a bad review, then guests will walk all over them and hosting can end up being a stressful, fraught-with-problems affair. 

Don't be afraid to enforce your rules or cancel the booking if guests refuse to comply. Superhost and review ratings are behavior modification tools that Airbnb uses to scare hosts into tiptoeing around problem guests and making yourself into a doormat. Don't fall for it. Your home, your rules.

[Sally776]

A 3 night booking just checked out. Their reservation beginning March 11th showed 4 adults and 4 kids. Perfect for our vacation home with 2 king size beds and 4 single beds. Our neighbor reported 6 cars with 16 people + an infant(specific cars and # of people in them noted). Our listing shows $20 per person per day for each person over 8. What do we do now. We've never asked one dime for guests with a few extra people but 8 over! We don't want risk a problem or bad review but... HELP! What would you do?

[Julianne55]

I just had the same situation last week and Airbnb is NO help whatsoever.   I claimed $50 per day per person for extra guests who I saw with my own eyes.   they actually put up a tent in my yard for extra people. 

Airbnb wants proof of damage with written estimates from contractors.   what the hell? 

Why do we even have limits on # of guests if there is no way to enforce the rules and no way to be compensated for that?

What a joke!

Sorry you had to go through that.   Did Airbnb ever do anything for you?   

[Julianne55]

I just wanted to reply again to your post here.  After a month of back and forth with Airbnb over my situation when 10 extra guests showed up, I was paid a sum by Airbnb which seemed like reasonable recompense for the situation.  It wasn't the original amount which I had claimed, but is was about half of what I claimed.  I'm not sure what Airbnb's process is for extra guests, but it seems that they do have one after all.   I hope you had a similar experience with at least some satisfaction from Airbnb. 

[Helen744]

@Julianne55  Its not up to Airbnb to take extra guest charges for you . Thats the hosts job . In your dashboard there is an area where you ask the paying guest to please pay for the additional guests by accepting the modification on the reservation that you send through. Its easy but do not preface this request with anger , simply send a 'message ' to say ;we have become aware that extra guests are staying ,who are not on the reservation and fifty dollars per person to me sounds a little too much .It is always wise to ask for IDS of all guests before they arrive and to check with the guest who booked a number of times as to the actual number of guests staying . If they say four , then suggest that they may wish to cancel and choose one of the 'lovely ' places that are available for four .Also state that any change in guest numbers must be flagged and that people not on the reservation are not to visit unless you are notified .,  H

[Sally776]

It's not like we're cold hearted. We waived all cancelation fees at the last minute last week for a serviceman who's leave was cancelled. This current group were driving 2 Land Rover Range Rovers, a Corvette, an Audi SUV, a Toyota sedan and a dually Ford pickup truck...not poor people, just people trying to cheat.