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I have a huge issue with this. Essentially, getting some money for cleaning just means the rate for smoking is higher. We rent out our vacation home for up to six people and stays are typically a week. Rates start at around $400 US per night. So, if they get to smoke and turn my home into an ashtray and only pay $150, each person only pays $4 US per night. What kind of deterrent is that?
So, my house rules say they will be evicted for smoking. Will AirBnB support me on this if I get guests that just don’t give a s&&t about my home and stink it up? Or will I have to cancel on them and take the hit? I do give a warning first and the few smokers I’ve had decided to smoke outside instead of risk being evicted.
And thank you for participating! You can tell we’re excited to have you join us.
I think the best would be to confront the guest directly. If they don’t want to leave just involve the police and they should remove the person immediately since this is your property. Unless they have been at your home for over 30 days because they get tenants rights and you will have to go through a unlawful detainer lawsuit. That’s how it works in CA at least.
Thanks for being a proactive host! IMO, yes you should disclose the cameras just in case a guest wants to complain to support about them. Simply go into you listing and edit house rules and state something that goes like “please be advised, as I do not have cameras in or near my listing I personally monitor, my community may use security cameras in all common areas of the property and I have no control over this.” Once you put a statement such as that in your listing, you are 100% covered.
Fun Fact: Hosts can (and do) have cameras inside their home in common areas such as kitchen, living room, backyard, ring doorbell system, etc and it is fully acceptable as long as it is noted in the listing ad prior to the guest booking the reservation. Imagine the videos and stories those hosts have LOL.
Touchy question. I agree with the frustration you’re showing first and foremost.
Ok official agent response… although we understand the frustration in your guests smoking in your unit, we must ask for documentation/evidence that positively proves your guest is smoking inside your listing. Breaking the house rules you’ve placed on your listing can result in eviction (a good agent will do it as CBG) but you must have proof of such or get the guest to admit they were actually smoking inside your listing in order to evict them.
My response: The $150 I mentioned is AIr taking a DL (direct loss) in an effort to make the host happy when a smoking incident occurs. The resolution center is your first step in getting a guest to pay anything to you for any sort of damage to your property and you MUST wait the 72 hour period before Air involvement. Therefore, unless you get a guest to admit they smoked and have the agent cancel of behalf of the guest, you would have to do a CBH (cancel by host) if you chose to kick them out ultimately. Smoking is the hardest thing to prove as a host because it’s hard to gather physical documentation/evidence that the guest is actually breaking the house rule and smoking inside your listing.
Im sure this isn’t much help, but it’s policy, my advice, and there isn’t much more to touch on regarding smoking. I absolutely hate this topic because it costs hosts so much damn money with very little Air support in the matter.
document, document, document. If there is no valid proof of a guest having additional guests in your listing, nothing will be done. If there IS valid proof then the agent does have the option to CBG and you can remove guests from your listing at that time. That is a BIG if when it comes to the agent’s opinion of the situation and how he/she wants to address it. They will, most every time, ask you or the guest to do a mid-reservation alt and add fees for the additional guest (if you have the additional guest fee setup) or the agent can advise that the reso will be CBG and go ahead and remove the guests as you wish. Going further, I also recommend an airtight house rules policy stating no additional guests without payment AND no visitors that way any proof (ring doorbell or whatever pic you have) will be enough “proof” of the guests not listed. The guests can play the system and state they are visitors if you don’t have a no visitors policy at time of reso. Do NOT kick them out prior to showing you’ve tried direct communication with the guest prior to getting an agent involved, offering a mid-reso alt (even if it is against your policy in some aspects), and the agent tells you it will be CBG and gives approval to remove guest however you feel is necessary.
The screenshot you shared doesn’t seem to show the full review; is there more? Also, from what I see, there shouldn’t have been a violation. Now im very curious.
Thank you so much for replying. If I call airbnb next time aren’t they suppose to upheld my cancellation policy since they break my house rules? Because I will not accept an alteration or extra guest fee. This is what I have listed in my house rules : " Only the guests you specify in the reservation can stay in the property. No visitors allowed. The maximum occupancy for the room is two people - no exception. Reservation will be cancelled immediately if more than 2 people are coming and a $250 fee will be applied."
This actually really pisses me off, to be frank. There is NO violation of the review content policy. I would love for you to show me the email/message thread response support sent you after they removed this. It is most likely a generic macro the agent used and didn’t provide a detailed response but this is VERY clearly not a violation and is simply your opinion. The ONLY thing that may have gotten it removed is the mention of police which Air frowns upon and may have removed it or the guest said is was defamation of character then they’ll remove it instantly even though that’s subject to opinion.
Yes she probably did say it was defamation of character because she actually told me she would sue me for this… still waiting for the court hearing date …
For some weird reason, the airbnb support sent me a response only by email, it’s not showing up anywhere on my inbox in my airbnb account…very strange.
Here is her first message :
Then I asked her why it was removed exactly and she didn’t give me any specific explanation. Probably because it doesn’t violate the content policy then ?
Simple answer: a lot of repetitive violations in similar nature will result in a host or guest being “ghosted” from the platform. Secondly, I’ve (after a few drinks) decided to test the system and create five different accounts all using the exact same information other than my email address. Most new hosts will not add the requirement to have a guest’s identity verified prior to booking due to them thinking this will result in fewer resos and ultimately less revenue. An experienced host that have experienced just how shitty some guests can be have made sure their listing requires the identity 2.1 verification to be done (uploaded gov. ID and selfie pic match) in order for a reso to be booked by request or IB.
Just safeguard your listing and make sure you require all identification requirements are met by all guests. The system will recognize the same information by a user and block the additional accounts if you do this; otherwise you’re asking for the same bad guest to book your listing under a new account.
They pulled the constructive line on you. They pulled the review because you mentioned you “would” call the police, etc etc. This, to Air, is shown as not constructive and based on your experience with this guest and may scare away future guests from booking your place therefore hid your review. This is one I wouldn’t have agreed with if I was the assigned agent to respond to the review dispute the guest obviously created but that’s the perk of Airbnb… the policies in place can/will/are subject to change at Airbnb’s (the agent’s) will.
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