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I’m out in left field with my opinion, so here goes.
Recently a new to Airbnb brought a 3rd guest (rental max 2). I called the guest: my ring doorbell shows they arrived at 4:15.
Are you settled in?
Any questions? Need anything?
how many were staying?
3 is more than they registered & confirmed. The unit is priced & set up for 2 people. What should we do?
They volunteered to pay extra for the extra guest & apologized for breaking the rules.
We worked it out so I didn’t include it in the review & would gladly host them again.
I’m having a difficult time understanding if your experienced co-host didn’t handle this or provide guidance. Is this person actually experienced?
Addressing this scenario seems like what an experienced co-host would provide assistance with or counsel.
I’m zipping back over to left field & wondering if you have the best co-host given your level of experience. Would a stronger co-host make things easier for you?
Of course this group is here and will gladly share information.
I had the exact same experience & handled it the exact same way, but I deducted stars on house rules. They were 1 person over capacity & left the house mostly good. Because of cleanliness & they apologized, fessed up when confronted & paid up, I’d host again. They left a 5 star & private note thanking me for being understanding.
And, I have cameras around my entire front perimeter for security (house vacant at times so I need it) & headcount confirmation & say so in my listing.
And personally, if I’m not going to penalize bad behavior in progress (like sneaking in extras - which I consider super shystie behavior) , I’d not say a word (no point) and leave an honest and fair review, definitely stating the facts of what they did. @HudsonNY is spot on.
For the ones I do confront…I take a contributors advice to disagree w/o being disagreeable & hope they’ll review me fairly. So far so good, but you never know. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Thanks for all the suggestions and advice on ALL the issues. Nice to get an alternative view aswell from some responders. It sort of balances out my thoughts and gives me a few pointers on where we want to be and what sort of hosts we want to become.
We will definitely include a reduction in stars for breaking house rules
Our paragraph so far
Sadly we cannot recommend this guest on the basis that she and her party broke several fundamental house rules including excessive number of guests sleeping in the property, additional visitors using our property on the final morning and tampering with our security system.
The property was left clean and tidy in a very good condition with no damage, it’s just a shame they pushed the boundaries of the house rules, otherwise they would have received 5 stars.
“We cannot recommend this guest. She and her party broke several house rules including excessive number of guests sleeping on the property and additional visitors using our property. The guests tampered with our security system.
The property was left clean and tidy in a very good condition with no damage.”
thanks for your suggestion - if i kept my original, would you as a host be pre-warned against them? that was my intent of the text, whilst pointing out the actual issues to be aware of and at the same time trying to be reasonable by pointing out the positive experience as opposed to just the negatives.
PS apologies to the OP as this seems to have morphed into a thread other than one about CCTV disclosure !!
Forum admin means they moderate the forum, and they volunteer their time to do so. It doesn’t mean they are there to patently explain things to those who haven’t bothered to read information about how Airbnb works.
Fine to ask questions if you’re unclear about something you’ve read, or are having a hard time locating the info, but asking before you’ve bothered to read the policy info for hosts on the Airbnb site isn’t any different than guests booking a place without bothering to read the listing description, house rules, etc.
I suppose the easiest option for them and you then would be to have ignored my post completely instead of choosing to scald me like a naughty puppy, I don’t mind a good spanking every other Sunday though … But I’m not dressing up for you like last time …
But I suppose you think you have played your part by stepping in, bravo to you, well played …
Looks like the horses are very high this time of year … and a few people feel like riding on one …
Of course she knew you’d see & know but if the cameras were not disclosed at booking then unfortunately I don’t see it as a infraction and I even wonder if it should be mentioned in the review. I hate it, but there it is.
And consider putting them out of normal reach if possible. Mine are too high up to be adjusted w/o a big ladder & cannot be turned around.
Now, if disclosed, I’d have to give someone the option to get their behinds out of my house over this…because they’d have been informed upfront & I’d consider this folks planning mischief.
People try to put their hands over the video doorbell to be ornery but I have others to do my headcount. I wish I didn’t need them but I have to protect my place & my neighbors…need to know who I’m bringing into the community (nice, quiet, family-oriented place). I have people show out right in front of the cameras….don’t even care - smoking weed, cursing each other out super loud, making out, half dressed, puking, etc in front of the house for all to see…no specific rule broken but not what I’m trying to turn my neighborhood into.
thanks for your constructive comments - some of your points are valid especially about siting/fixing a camera so it cant be ‘adjusted’.
the cctv is specifically mentioned in bot the listing and the ‘guide to using the property’ (which is sent to all guests prior to their arriving) in this instance they only received it four days before their booking, which i dont think is acceptable, it needs to be at least a week prior in my view.
i am aware ( though i need to tread carefully in case we have another pot shotter who deems it necessary to not really add anything productive - anyone fancy some popcorn while we’re waiting? - but decides to add their tuppenceworth anyway - anyone remember the good old days when you could feed the birds for tuppence a bag? cor blimey guv’nor ) of the airbnb policy, which in summarising says that should cctv be introduced or notified of AFTER the booking has taken place then the guest can cancel without penalty but in this case the camera that was ‘moved’ was on the listing and notified to the guest prior to their arrival. they had the option even on arrival to raise their concern with the co host, nut chose not to.
i applaud your attempts to ensure your neighbourhood stays decent, its something we would also wish to strive for and i appreciate your comments and suggestions, thanks
Dear Ms Cat - i apologise for not sending this privately - mainly because i dont know how to do lots of things … but here goes …
scalding
/ˈskɔːldɪŋ/
adjective
very hot; burning.
“she took a sip of scalding tea”
Similar:
extremely hot
burning
blistering
searing
red-hot
piping hot
boiling (hot)
sizzling
intense and painful or distressing.
“a scalding tirade of abuse”
it appears to be the latter definition to me - but i do love the fact that you picked out the most relevant part of the thread (in your mind the english language must be sacrosant ) to respond to …
