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I’m a big fan of honest reviews but I think they have far less power than we imagine. I’ve posted multiple times about the woman whose IB I cancelled. She has multiple bad reviews but keeps finding people to host her.
Also there are hosts like me who don’t require good reviews to IB. So he could book with me but I’d cancel after I saw your review. Many hosts wouldn’t though.
Wait! What is the steam iron trick for water spots?
Sorry, not much help here, but venting also: my security camera proves about 80 percent of my guests lie blatantly about guest count. They are aware of my rules, fines etc. as current guest also proves, she red them, provided me without being prompted the guest count, names, etc, then instead of 4, 7 march in under my security camera witch they are aware of.
Its my biggest pet peeve! They know i know and they don’t care! I’m evaluating the morals of humans a lot lately. Should i start a quarrel (“resolution center request”) and review honestly and block 80% of my business who will also review me back, i would be the first host with 2.5 stars?!
There must be a better way!!!
That’s a lot. My first thought here is that if 80% of your guests are doing this then you are either extremely unlucky or there is a problem/issue with how (and why) folks book your place.
In my experience the vast majority of guests are trouble free and abide by house rules. It’s only a minority who cause problems.
JF
Yes, my problem is that i have a beautiful, spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bath place, that i allow couples to book, then i charge $15 for every guest after that. We know airbnb guests are mostly cheap. This is why if i invest in more airbnb properties, i sworn i will only do 1 bedroom or studios only: “here is your cheap place, try to fit 10 in it, if you can!!!” deal
At least i wouldn’t feel as ripped off.
You would say i could charge more: i say i already know the price i can book for and keep my calendar full to make the income that i want/can, and again my place is just too good for what they are willing to pay unfortunately.
There is also: “i paid for the place, i can bring whomever i want” mentality.
I have a $300 fee for any guest over my limit of 6, just waiting for someone to try and sneak in a guest or few and get the resolution request…
Lol
RR
I always say that a repeating occurrence needs change from the host side. For example, if your guests book for x and always bring y, then you need to either be ok with Ys coming, and change your pricing to work for you, or look to your description and charges to make sure that guests do not even think that more guests are appropriate.
Your place may be ‘too good’ for airbnb…
I’m with you Helsi. Always respond to unfairness but in a balanced manner of course.
I like your response too @Allison_H!
Good on you for moving on although you took a small hit and thanks for helping out the community with your honesty so fellow hosts can avoid cheaters like him
No, the problem is that you aren’t the boss of your rental. For a home that is 2 beds, 2 baths you should have a charge higher than $15 for extra people. Put a reasonable limit for your space with a price for 2 then at least $25 per extra person. Then put a clear rule about the consequences violating the limit or not declaring them in advance. Then, enforce it. Be calm and non-emotional. You aren’t starting a quarrel, you are following policies. When they pay for 4 and bring 7 say, "I see you have 3 additional guests, here is the charge of $75. If it it not paid within 1 hour your reservation will be canceled. " Then call Airbnb.
I don’t know that at all. I know that 80% of my guests are outstanding. I also know if there are hosts who don’t set clear expectations and follow them consistently that encourages the undesireable behavior and makes it harder for everyone on the platform. If hosts quit letting guests get away with this nonesense then they will stop.
Well, I can tell you my way, which might be right or wrong for you.
The first thing is to evaluate how much those extra guests are costing you. (And by the way, if it’s rented to a couple, I’d lock the other bedroom). Extra guests cost me very little in the way of extra cleaning. We have only one bed (sofas though for extras to sleep on if they must) and I supply no extra linens or towels. Sure, an extra person will mean extra water usage but ours isn’t metered anyway.
So there might be an extra bit of cleaning but that’s not often as people who sneak in extras usually leave the place in great condition to cover all traces.
So once a host evaluates how much an extra guest (or two extra guests depending on what’s normal for you) costs then add that to your nightly rate. No extra charge for extra people. Occupancy limit of 4. Then, if you see that a couple have booked or are enquiring, give them a ‘couples discount’ and they love you already. 
My belief, others think differently, that showing a two bedroom house at a rate that’s for two people then charging extra is actually preventing couples from finding your place when they search.
You just don’t want these people so message them early in the process to tell them that you have security cameras and extras will not be tolerated. Even if you use IB, ask them in the message system to confirm the number. That way you have a record.
I truly don’t agree. I charge a lot more than you do for a 490 sq. ft. apartment. I’m surrounded by cheap places that have dissatisfied hosts and way fewer bookings.
I like your review and your response. Both give valuable information. I had a “surgeon” correct me once too and I replied, “oh I didn’t know surgeons weren’t doctors!” LOL!! He didn’t know what to say 
I’ve found the opposite to be the case: almost all my guests are honest about how many are in their group, which I think is why Mr “Doctors Without Boundaries” bugged me so much.
In 4 years and almost 200 stays I’ve had about 4 issues with guest count; two of them were just oblivious and easily resolved with no hard feelings on either side.
I didn’t meant to impose on your thread, so i haven’t responded to everybody that gave their insight, so thank you.
Since our results are so different, i don’t know what to think, but maybe luck, and different rental environments, demographic.
“All people staying in our home must appear on the reservation, including any children.” is the front of my house rules, included in the questions when they book, included in my welcome message, that i send the entrance codes in, in my guest book on site, printed near wifi passwords, printed and laid on the office desk etc. so they “know”
When caught, or confronted this were my results: “oh, is there a fee, we don’t have money, (insert sob story) then booked another day (found money, i guess, because " your place is awesome”. Aftermath: extra kids peed the beds/comforters, pillows, i clean up, guests raves with 5 stars, i move on.
" Oh , those extra people are not spending the night",then extra people march in with sleeping bags, mattresses at 10 pm, as my 3 beds aren’t enough.
My doctor arrived with an extra guest also a few weeks ago.
Those who got caught personally by me at the door: the extra guest almost run off with suitcases in hand, and the booker, visibly upset, just mentions, plans change, when i tell her, there are more of them, and i should live with it, i guess. I sent a resolution request, they agreed, but Air couldn’t collect, and they weren’t even on the situation until i called. Then air called the guest several times, until they could reach them, and they finally paid up, no reviews resulted.
This begging guest to pay up later, even with proof, is bovine excrement. No good feelings go with it on either side, and obviously in guests eyes, airbnb asking for the money or charging would/does have a bigger impact.
Most guest don’t care about the owner, they think air and such owns the property and the whole process.
Karmacasa you are right, until air controls the payment process and reviews, i’m not the boss of it.
Jaquo, it’s not about the money as much i guess, as the principle. I guess i,m the host who will take a 5 star review to grow the business, instead of fighting and collecting a $100, then begging air to remove the retaliatory review, i can’t spend time on such things, as its not worth it. The good ones will pay for the bad ones, this is how all businesses operate today. I wish i wasn’t so unlucky, or didnt care as much, i guess. When i’ll have more properties i will not have time to watch those dang cameras so closely 
No worries on piling onto this topic; I think we’ve exhausted my issue
Perhaps I’m just lucky to be surrounded by honest midwesterners! I also don’t get many families; there does seem to be an extra “kids under X eat/fly/stay free” culture to work against.
It definitely sounds like you’ve reiterated your rules enough times!
Two things occur to me: One is that you might change wording from “all people staying” to “Only registered guests are allowed on the property”. I’ve found this eliminates the excuses about “oh they’re just stopping by for a bit…” Some people think it’s fine so long as they’re not “staying” overnight. Like “No, dude…they can’t even walk into my house if they’re not registered”
Second, and this is just spitballing, but how extensive are your messages/rules? I could see someone skimming over things if there are a lot of details. The gang here helped me whittle mine down from “War & Peace” to “Great Expectations”.
I think Karma’s point was that you DO need to be the boss of your rental. My message the week of their stay specifically asks them to confirm their guest count and let me know their approximate arrival time. When they skip over confirming guest count in their response I’ll ask again. If they still don’t respond, those are the people I meet in person at the door. If they’re too many I get on the phone w/ CS right then - they don’t stay without paying. I’m pretty good at being sweet while still being a stubborn pain in the ass, so haven’t had any bad reviews from doing this, other than this a-hole doctor. I’m fine not getting referrals from him (he can take all his birds of a feather somewhere else!)
“If hosts quit letting guests get away with this nonesense then they will stop.”
My first ever guest, when i started this business, was a guy who organizes marijuana/cigar parties with de-virginization, resulting in bloody sheets, walls, everything, burned carpet, destroyed kitchen. Keep in mind, everything was new, as he was my first guest, starting from carpets, hardwood floors, paint, towels, sheets, comforters etc. Police were called as i entered the unit several hours after check out with naked strangers everywhere.
Handled trough the resolution center, the guest refused to pay, supplied false pictures, not even taken in my property, to prove messiness, etc., and requesting money from ME!
Finally air paid up, removed his retaliatory review.
I left my detailed review of him and it’s still up. I also asked air to ban this type of guest. He is still not banned after a year.
I look back after a year, to see his reviews, and beside a few good reviews, all his other reviews are saying the same thing i said in my review, party and blood all over.
The guest is still active and a valued member of the airbnb community. He is black,so the inclusion rule protects him i guess, as i see no other reason to this, other then air not caring.
What i found more baffling, that he is still rented to, accepted by hosts.
After another guest who brought animals, and broke into my locked cleaning closet, used up gallons worth of cleaning solutions, then filled them up with water, and used rock shining solution, (basically glue) to clean up my newly installed laminated floors from the dog and cat hair, and another marijuana party, that forgot their black cat in my home, witch i discovered hiding under the bed after two days of heavy ozone treatments, and poor ill kitty pooping on dressers, and bath counters, locked into my rental. They taped grocery bags over my smoke detectors. Left several worn out, bad clothes over my home, that screamed, homeless people. This guest was banned by air and is not active, i suspect the reason being fraud, as it looks like, everything else flies.
So i decided then, i need to install an entrance camera. since then i caught blatant lying, prostitutes, guests with stolen cards, weird nighttime activity, jerking off quietly sitting on the stairs under my camera. Unauthorized guest not being given the code by the booker who fell asleep, and them banging for half an hour on the door, almost breaking it down in the am hours, and waking neighbors.
I do not provide check in at the door, and if i had several properties, it would be impossible anyway. i can see how face to face “check in” might work wonders.
Hotels face the same extra, unauthorized people all the time , they charge for parking, and all other fees to recoup this expenses, but the guests can’t squeeze in too many anyway in a single hotel room. On the other hand Airbnb guest Do take advantage of bigger properties. As you see i’m not fussing over stained sheets and towels.
My solution is to offer smaller in the future, as i can’t change human behavior.
Like you said to Jaquo on another thread, “continue doing what you know best.”
I really have no idea why some hosts seem to have so many problems and others so few. I’ve hosted over 500 people with no major problems. Then again, I live here and it’s not a whole house. There’s no point in me speculating on what you could do differently since I know nothing about your rental and your mind seems to be made up anyway.
I sincerely hope your luck improves.
We’ve hosted about half as many as you but have also not had problems with guest count (that we know of anyway). But our place only has one queen sized bed and one twin sofa bed, for a maximum count of 3 people. We charge after 2 people. One other major difference with others that have issues may be that our listing states that we prefer to meet our guests in person whenever possible, so maybe they don’t think they’ll be able to get away with anything? 3 people means that an extra set of sheets, duvet cover, etc. will definitely be used, but then again sometimes two people aren’t a couple and use both beds, so same amount of extra laundry. We have had guests ask if they can bring a 4th person a few times and we can make that work with a cot or floor mattress. It’s quite cramped which I point out but people like to save money. We don’t have cameras as we live in the building next door, personally check-in 75% of our guests and often see them during their stay. I figure we charge enough to cover if someone sneaks in extra guests. It then becomes about principle, but one thing I’ve learned over the years is there will always be folks that “work the system” or “cheat to get ahead”. I can’t dwell on those folks. As long as they don’t destroy anything I just don’t let it bother me. But honestly I can only think of one occasion where I had a slight inkling that someone may have brought an extra guest.
My one bedroom and studios never have problems, but the two bedrooms give us all the issues you have mentioned.
At least he was not noisy about it.
RR