Were they instant book or requests to book?
If they were requests to book and they didn’t mention the kids in their request then it was clearly a calculated deception.
Just saying…
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Every time we feel sorry for people and bend the rules, it does not work out.3 extra people taking showers, flushing toilets is a problem for us. Guests think only in terms of how many bodies can sleep there.Also, we don’t want crowds of people coming and going in our quiet residential neighborhood.They support us and we want things to stay that way.So no more than 3 people means no more than three. We don’t even give the option of paying for extra guests.In three years, only once did extra guests show up. We called them the Irish Wedding Party. Nice kids actually, but way to many people.2 people booked, 6 people showed up. We had to grin and bear it!!! Lucky they were friendly, happy people.
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I’m so glad I don’t have your mother involved in my business. Agree…very sweet but not business minded. Letting your personal feelings for guests factor into business decisions is NEVER wise.
My opinion is you did way more here than you really needed to have done. I would have handled it this way. When he suddenly revealed his intention to bring three additional humans to a room with a two-person max, I would be done with him. The response would have been “I’m sorry. Our listing clearly states that we can accommodate a maximum of two guests. I recommend cancelling this reservation so you can find More suitable accommodations. Please be sure you understand our cancellation policy. Best of luck with your travels.”
Done. This is what cancellation policies are for. So people can’t screw you over. He did something deceptive and needs to pay the price. It’s not your responsibility to clean up his mess. He got himself into it. Don’t let people like this get away with this kind of behavior by negotiating and going back and forth. I guaruntee you this is the type of entitled, deceitful person who will only turn around and write a scathing review of your place saying things like it was “cramped” and “not family friendly” and you were “not willing to accommodate”, etc. Just let Air cancel it. They clearly were willing to in this case since he was ready to violate the terms he agreed to when booking.
I hope this was a good learning experience for you. Next time tell your dear mom, thanks for your concern I’ll handle this. Safe yourself a lot of heartache.
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I learnt the hard way, this some what happened to me and they were second ever guests.
I recieved a request from a Portugese lady (I’m in the uk). At the time I thought her English didn’t seem that good, but oh well. I thought she was coming to stay with her friend. We airbnb our spare room out and share the bathroom, common spaces etc.
She turns up Friday night with her mother and teenage son (19ish). We only have a double bed and are pretty minimalist people - no extra duvets, blankets etc. My other half check them in and was put in a very awkward position as it was quite clear there English was bad and they couldn’t afford to stay anywhere else (we were charging £25 a night at the time). They asked how much for the extra person and where he could sleep. My OH said the sofa, instead he must have slept on the floor in the bedroom and for the whole weekend I never saw the Mother or son.
What would you do in this situation?
I didn’t leave her a review.
I am sure many people pull smth like that n hotels, and they try in airbnb. I never had it happen to me so I was not actually put in a situation with extra adults. I would turn down with a child that’s for sure as my house is plain dangerous for toddlers with sleepery marble steps and stairs.
After reading so many stories w/ people doing it I was thinking of May be put in in big letters in your description: only 2 people?
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I too would like to know if this was instant book or a reservation request. And if it was a reservation request what did say in his initial message before you accepted? Airbnb prompts the guest to disclose who will joining you as the guest.
Still not fully following. He didn’t want to cancel because he didn’t want to lose the 50%. Yet he says he refuses to stay if his kids can’t stay for free. That doesn’t make sense to me. If he really refused to stay then at what point did your mom have you email him to say she would send him a check for what Airbnb sends you?
And if you are going to refund then you should deduct the 3% that Airbnb charges you. Do you get a lot of last minute bookings? If so, I hope you explain to your mom that you lost the potential income from someone else that could have book the room.
Make sure that money has fully hit your bank account before you do any kind of refund. And I would postpone for as long as possible to dissuade him from leaving a review. Just tell him you are waiting for the funds to clear first. Then try to slam him in a review at the last minute where he can’t leave you one. If sees a review come into his email he is going to know right away that you left a bad one. And then that will prompt him to write a negative review. Honestly I would be afraid to even take a chance of leaving a review, and then he has time to leave one for you. I think this guy learned his lesson and we will not be trying to pull this stunt again. I think he will be disclosing to future hosts all the kids he will be bringing.
Jackulas: Great advice! I did call Air back and they cancelled it. I appreciate your feedback.
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I took your advice and called Air back. This time, I got a great receptionist. She walked me through it and cancelled on his behalf and allowed us to send him a refund. This will never happen again. Next time somebody tries to deceive, either they are going to cancel willingly or I will cancel on their behalf and they will lose all their money. Thanks for your advice!
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Yana, I just updated all 4 of my listings to stay that if they have more than 2 guests, they must discuss with us before booking. This sound be common sense, but I think this guy probably does this all the time. I got Air to cancel it on his behalf. As we told him, Air is refunding him and now he will not be able to leave a review. The review part was my biggest concern. This situation will not happen again. I thank you for your advice!
The good news is that this guy now has no option to leave us a review as I called Air back and had ti cancelled on his behalf.
Best advice ever! Thank you, I like the way you run your business!
Requests to book, but didn’t disclose the 3 kids until exactly 2 minutes after booking.
So glad to hear the great news!! So what did he say in his initial booking request? Just a “Hi, we would like to book these dates”?
The initial message said he was coming up the area and wanted to stay by the beach. Then he asked us to drop the rate from $80 to $60.
“The other place came through, but we’d like to stay with you guys-would you let us stay for sixty + the service fee and a great review if we have a nice stay?”
That was his message and that was before ho booked and disclosed his 3 additional guests. I bet he’s the kind of person who also stays and then complains and tries to get all his money back. I ignored the message about dropping the price. I thought it was ridiculous. Our rooms are 175 feet from the beach.
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So, even though he’s getting a refund (and I think he knows about it since Air got in touch with him yesterday), he emailed today to ask us to mail him the check. I ignored this message as well. I think he is manipulative and evil.
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That is exactly it! These people only look at this situation as places to sleep. That is why he justified that 3 sleep in the queen size bed and then 2 sleep on the floor. It’s the expense of the water, etc.
What a snake!!! He thought you would fall for him pitting you against another property. Like he was really choosing between you and someone else. Some people just have balls!!! I cannot believe he would try to get someone to agree to a discount and then mention his three kids. IS your additional person fee listed on the site as $10 per person? I wonder if he was just getting you to discount and then assuming he would be asked to pay the $30? So he was hoping he would come out paying $90 for all of them?
I took your great advice and called Air back. The woman was able to cancel on their behalf and we are refunding him the money. Now he doesn’t have the option to leave a review. Today, he emailed asking us to send the check to his house, even though Air is refunding him.
We will never deal with this BS again. I even modified my listings to state that these rooms have a maximum occupancy of 2. Prior to booking, you need to discuss with us if you have more than 2 guests.
In some of our rooms, we have 2 beds, so we may allow 1-2 extra people, but very rarely. If this guy had just been up front to begin with, i would not have pre-booked him. He greatly inconvenienced us. I really, really appreciate your advice yesterday to call Air Back and the problem is now fixed. Best of all, he cannot leave a review since he never was a guest. I wish there was a way to let other hosts know about him so they may be warned.
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I have 2 listings for our motel rooms. I believe that the listing he clicked on was not offering the $10 for each extra person. So, he just thought he could get away with it. We do not have large motel rooms, they are small and quaint. Here was his response when I told him we could not accommodate any more than 2 guests:
“Yep-that’s just what we’re looking for. Our kids sleep on the floor on a foam mattress and the baby sleeps with us in the queen.”
Then when I reiterated again, that the room is especially for 2 guests only, he said this:
“…reject our confirmation so we can book elsewhere.”
I then told him about the $10 pp/pn. He agreed to it in the message, then changed his mind in a later message.
Lindsey, you also have an option to charge extra for an additional guest after 2nd, and limit amount of guests. It’s not right for anyone to just show up with extra people that they didnt book for.
The way he approached you initially with another accomodation and then promising you a good review, I really wouldn’t take him in.
Even if he left bad review, what would he say? That he showed up with 3 kids without you even knowing it and then didnt want to pay for them? Good, then readers would know that they can’t do it to you:). And you can always publicly answer, and explain. Hope that was your first and last incident like this.