Extra charges demanded on site

[David7156]

I have just made a booking and received an email from the host (an agent) which says:

"Mandatory costs (paid on-site):
- Final cleaning 8 EUR per. pers. per. stay, minimum 35 EUR
- Other consumption costs excl.

Optional costs:
- Bedlinen incl towels 10 EUR per. pers. per. stay"

This is - I think - expected to be paid in cash when we arrive. It was not stated in the price breakdown but I have now found a reference to it in the listing if you click "show all" on the house rules (i.e. not on the main page of the listing). I have used Airbnb a dozen or so times and have never seen anything like this - just cleaning fees that are clearly stated in the price breakdown. I also - perhaps wrongly - imagined that a house would come with sheets and I am completely unsure what "other consumption costs" we will be expected to pay.

Is there anything I can do - or do I just swallow the extra cost?

[Ricardo85]

@David7156 

Airbnb ToS

"...

7.1.2 You are solely responsible for setting a price (including any Taxes if applicable, or charges such as cleaning fees) for your Listing (“Listing Fee”). Once a Guest requests a booking of your Listing, you may not request that the Guest pays a higher price than in the booking request.

..."

Ricardo

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David7156 I suggest you

1) report the host prior to going on holiday

2) pay the additional charges as I am sure they are small relative to the cost of your stay

3) leave a review warning future guests of the additional charges

4) request Airbnb repay these additional costs but enjoy your holiday!

The terms of service suggest this is not allowed BUT as it was all disclosed in the listing its not cut and dried. @Anonymous is the expert on such things.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Please. Before suggesting that a guest starts reporting a host for merely adhering to Airbnb's acceptable options, check your facts.

'Bed Linen' is an optional amenity that a host has the option of offering. It is not mandatory. There are even options as to what type or make the bed linen will be. This can be clearly seen in your own dashboard, and would have been an option you decided to include.

Likewise, leaving a negative review and requesting Airbnb to pay for the additional costs are wildly inaccurate.

If Airbnb had left the information about the listing easily available then this situation would probably not have happened. This information, being readily available would maybe have encouraged @David7156  to read the listing details rather than just assuming any sort of inclusions.

There was a lengthy discussion here on the CC in 2018, https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Clarification-on-essential-amenities-Hosts-can-ch...

in which @Lizzie played an active part. That must have been most welcome then, in having some sort of feedback on the input of hosts on policy matters.

@Emiel1 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 And the off-platform cleaning costs? Are they allowed????

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

And the off-platform cleaning costs? Are they allowed????

Of course they are! The host is only charging once for them!

If you read what @David7156 wrote, not only did the host write this in his house rules, it was sent to him in a direct booking email stating:

I have just made a booking and received an email from the host (an agent) which says:

"Mandatory costs (paid on-site):
- Final cleaning 8 EUR per. pers. per. stay, minimum 35 EUR
- Other consumption costs excl.

Optional costs:
- Bedlinen incl towels 10 EUR per. pers. per. stay"

The guest, @David7156 has no obligation to pay the optional costs (bedlinen) as he can take his own. Cleaning fees are outside of any service fees that Airbnb might want to charge - so where is the host going wrong? Nowhere. Agents such as these have Airbnb commercial managers, you can be pretty sure that the agent will be fully advised how to maximise their profit using the Airbnb system and this would be fully condoned.

This email from the host would be sent within the 48 hour cancellation period. If @David7156 is not happy with anything, he can cancel for free.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@David7156 

You will find that Airbnb have hidden the hosts' House Rules and as you confirmed, "show all" displays these.

In those House Rules the host has listed those additional charges, so making them plain to see. What is deceitful is Airbnb hiding them from your view. House rules are an important part of booking an Airbnb and if Airbnb choose to hide that important information - where previously it was blatantly obvious - then it would be beneficial to all hosts and guests if you were to complain to Airbnb for deceitfully hiding these from view.

You are not booking a hotel when you book an Airbnb, you are booking (generally) a private residence which has individuality reflected in the whole listing, additional charges for various options - and these are not provided for by the Airbnb pricing options. In your case your host seems to have identified these prices as much as he can.

Without access to the booking you made, it might be possible for you to still pay for these options by requesting that the host sends you a 'payment request' keeping the transaction within Airbnb. This might, already, be the way the host handles these things.

I don't know where you booked, but holiday camps in France have similar charges. Often families take their own bedding rather than use or pay for provided linens. At '10 EUR per. pers. per. stay' that's probably at cost price.

[Emiel1]

@David7156 

It is allowed for commercial renters (like holiday parks), if the charges are in their terms and similar as for other guests, booked directly with them or via other platforms. Allthough there are options in the pricing section of a  listing to charge for extra's, like bedlinen, resort fee, etc, they useally do not fit (like the charge for bedlinen is not per person).

Offcourse it must be made clear in the listing, prior to booking.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Sarah977]

@David7156  There is only so much space for text on host's listing page, which is why you have to click on "Read More" and "Show all", everywhere it appears. That a guest failed to do this isn't the host's fault, it's the guest's.  

"Read more" and "show all" aren't for extraneous things that the guest need not concern themselves with- they contain vital information. It isn't host's fault that Airbnb does this to our listing info- if it was up to hosts, all would be immediately visible without guests having to click on any other buttons.

[David7156]

Thanks for the range of helpful comments and suggestions.

@Mike-And-Jane0 Thanks for the suggestion which seems to be the best course of action for now. I suspect if we refuse to pay cash when we arrive, then we will be told we can't stay and left in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday night. So it makes sense so cough up whatever is requested and take it up with AirBnB.

@Ricardo85  Thanks for the extract from the TORs. This is in line with how I expected it to work and how it has worked for me in the past - charges for cleaning etc. clearly itemized. 

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  and others - I understand that listings vary greatly, but I don't understand why you wouldn't just include an itemized cleaning fee in the price breakdown when that is clearly possible to do.

I can also see you might have to pay for bed linen on a campsite, but - in a fully furnished house - I'd think it would be better to make it very prominent in the listing that this is an extra - rather than putting it in nearly 7000 words of terms and conditions under the "show more" section of house rules.

As for the consumables, I am assuming this will be a charge to use water and electricity - but who knows how much? Or what else might be included.

Above all, it being asked to pay cash on site that seems distinctly dodgy to me.

Maybe this is unfair, but I will be very reluctant to book a property that is marketed through an agent or company in future. Our experience of individual hosts has been universally excellent.

[David7156]

Thanks for the range of helpful comments and suggestions.

@Mike-And-Jane0 Thanks for the suggestion which seems to be the best course of action for now. I suspect if we refuse to pay cash when we arrive, then we will be told we can't stay and left in the middle of nowhere on a Sunday night. So it makes sense so cough up whatever is requested and take it up with AirBnB.

@Ricardo85  Thanks for the extract from the TORs. This is in line with how I expected it to work and how it has worked for me in the past - charges for cleaning etc. clearly itemized. 

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  and others - I understand that listings vary greatly, but I don't understand why you wouldn't just include an itemized cleaning fee in the price breakdown when that is clearly possible to do.

I can also see you might have to pay for bed linen on a campsite, but - in a fully furnished house - I'd think it would be better to make it very prominent in the listing that this is an extra - rather than putting it in nearly 7000 words of terms and conditions under the "show more" section of house rules.

As for the consumables, I am assuming this will be a charge to use water and electricity - but who knows how much? Or what else might be included.

Above all, it being asked to pay cash on site that seems distinctly dodgy to me.

Maybe this is unfair, but I will be very reluctant to book a property that is marketed through an agent or company in future. Our experience of individual hosts has been universally excellent.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@David7156 

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  and others - I understand that listings vary greatly, but I don't understand why you wouldn't just include an itemized cleaning fee in the price breakdown when that is clearly possible to do.

That's the hosts prerogative, and based on local economics - that's the way Airbnb works.

You were provided all the information in the House Rules before booking, and you booked accepting those without reading them. The host then sent you the information again that you neglected to read, to evade any possible issue with guests not reading the House Rules. Good for him! You are provided with a free cancellation for up to 48 hours you are capable of using. If you don't like anything, you are free to cancel without liability. You may question the host in that period, and confirm details to your own satisfaction. There is nothing 'hidden' in the contract that I can see, the host has provided the information to you twice.

Booking where you did was your decision, and not cancelling was your decision. This cannot be the fault of the hosts or agent.

[Sarah977]

@David7156  I'm glad you've had good experiences with hands-on private hosts before. Best to stay away from those property managed listings, as you say.  Although Airbnb told you what they are doing is against policy, it sure seems to me that Airbnb is the one who should have told the host that, not told you to. 

The thing is, many of these property management companies have so many listings, and bring in so much money to Airbnb in the form of guest fees, that Airbnb tends to turn a blind eye to what they do, even though they'd delist a small time host for the same shady dealings.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David7156 Thanks for coming back with your thoughts and do let us all know where it end up.

One last piece of advice. Write out a receipt for any charges you pay for and get the host to sign it before you hand over the money. That way at least you have proof of the cash payment.

[David7156]

Thanks @Mike-And-Jane0  - that's good advice. I am not 100% sure of this - but I think they would be breaking the law if they didn't provide a "ricevuta" in Italy for a cash payment. But we will definitely ask them to sign something if they don't.