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I recently accepted a booking for a guy with good reviews. Stating they had a home on the same lake as us and needed to for family to stay as they were having a gathering.
From the door bell camera I can see that the first night a single woman stays. Second night she comes and gets her things arguing with a man about something, but stating she wanted to stay. They leave and two hours later (1am) another couple comes WITH A DOG.
The guest put down that 6 people would be staying. So it’s not the people changing it’s the dog.
How do I address this? They are leaving today. I have not seen the state of the house, but I’m anticipating by the footage of the hyper dog, it not to be great.
The guys who booked it did not stay himself, but it’s still not following house rules.
Should I have a “if you bring a dog fee”? Even though I clearly state I don’t allow animals?
By the time I saw the footage it was 6 am and the dog and guests had already been in there for 6 hours. I just saw them letting the dog out and the guy covered the doorbell camera with his hand.
The guest that booked it did not stay nor reply to my check in message, so I’d assume he doesn’t really care. I have not come across this or had to deal with abb regarding a guest at all. I don’t know what the proper protocol is.
I’m still asking why did you not deal with this the moment you saw the issue? And why did you allow a third party booking to continue (or even start) knowing that airbnb does not allow them?
Reading on this forum will educate quickly, and of course you should know the Airbnb terms of service, etc. New hosts, often get these kind of guests, and take advantage of the fact that the host does not really know how to host yet.
Should you have a pet fee if you don’t allow pets? No.
As soon as you see guests breaking your rules, covering your cameras, etc., you should address it immediately. If the guest doesn’t answer messages, you try phoning or texting them. If you still don’t get a response, you go over yourself (with back-up if you feel too intimidated to go alone).
And not a bad idea to contact Airbnb first so they have it on record. “I have a no pets listing and I see on the doorbell camera, which is fully disclosed in my listing, that they brought a dog. They also tried to cover the camera so I wouldn’t see that. The dog is running around rambunctiously, so it clearly isn’t a service animal. The booking guest isn’t answering my messages or phone calls, so I am going over now to tell them they need to remove the dog, or leave. I want this documented with Airbnb, in case they refuse.”
Some hosts accept 3rd party bookings, depending on the circumstances- like a guest with good reviews booking for elderly parents who aren’t tech savvy, but best you don’t accept 3rd party bookings until you get more experienced at vetting guests.
But 3rd party bookings are against Airbnb stated policy, so I would suggest you read through all Airbnb policies, including the service animal policy, so you are better prepared the next time a guest tries to get away with things.
I don’t, but I am homeshare host who only hosts one guest at a time, so I would know immediately if the person who showed up wasn’t the person who booked, because all my guests have had clear face photos.
And some guests will tell you in their initial message who is coming- “My wife and I are looking forward to a much needed holiday”, but with others, it’s never a bad idea to reiterate your house rules and any possible deal-breakers (like potential for noise) and make sure the guest knows that 3rd party bookings aren’t allowed.
Decide what your goal is here. As you haven’t seen the condition of the property yet, concentrate on the dog and the fact that it was a third-party booking.
Once you become an experienced host, the chances are that a third-party booking won’t bother you but it’s wise to avoid them when you are new. You allowed the guests in without challenging them so that means that, unfortunately, you ‘permitted’ the third-party stay.
So what is it that you want to achieve regarding the third-party issue. (Personally I wouldn’t waste time with it - I’d just move on to the next guest but you decide what outcome you’re looking for.
Regarding the dog, you should have dealt with this was soon as you realised but it’s too late for that so again decide what you want from the situation.
If for example, the house is left in a bad way due to the dog then you might be able to claim from the guest, via Airbnb, for the damage.
By the way, for years I was happy to accept dogs (as have many other hosts) and never had a problem.
I do feel though that the current trend of doing away with the meet-and-greet and the house tour is responsible for these types of issue.
If you’re not able to meet and greet guests have you got a responsible co-host? So many problems can be avoided if guests are shown personally into the rental.
Hi, you’ve gotten some good advice here and you’ll be ready the next time to do what you feel is right and comfortable.
Just to let you know it happens to even experienced hosts (been one for more than 5 years) I just had a guest bring in an animal AND WE ARE ON PROPERTY!!! They snuck it in right under our eyes and we only knew because it chewed the shower curtain liner, shower mat and a bath mat. We are guessing a rabbit, ferret or pet rat. We didn’t find the damage until after they left. So not serious damage and we’ve replaced it all, but sooooooooo annoying. But I’m not even really mad…doesn’t do me any good. I’ll just review them honestly and block them from staying again.
It doesn’t matter how “seasoned” the host is – if you have problems with a 3rd-party guest you are guaranteed no help from Airbnb. I eight-years seasoned, and I will never allow 3rd party bookings.
Well, many hosts also do direct bookings, for which they aren’t “protected” by Airbnb anyway.
If I had a good guest who had booked with me before, and said they wanted to book for their parents, who weren’t tech savvy at all, I wouldn’t be opposed to accepting it. But I wouldn’t accept a 3rd party booking from a guest I didn’t know.
I’m one of them. BUT I’ve been doing the STR thing since long before Airbnb was invented. (Long before the internet was invented. ) This means that I’ve got more experience than I know what to do with, have faced just about every conceivable guest situation AND I’m insured up to the hilt with great STR insurance.
I think it’s important to point out that relying on Airbnb’s ‘protection’ isn’t wise for anyone and especially for new hosts.
I’ve never even tried to use Airbnb as protection but many, many others have reported how time-consuming and frustrating it can be. And evidently there’s no guarantee that a host’s time and stress in dealing with them will have a satisfactory conclusion.
I firmly believe that new hosts should have their own STR insurance (expensive but it helps hosts to sleep at night) and should trey to learn as much as they possibly can about how to run their STR business themselves.
And this forum is a great place to learn.
I love it when people say that. That’s what we’re here for.
I’ve seen that lots of hosts accept dogs, but I can’t get past the hair/fur. It penetrates linens and you find it everywhere no matter how much you vacuum.
The house was left in fine shape, except the dog hair all over the duvet. With the exception of the dog hair, they didn’t touch anything. Didn’t even shower. Just used a make up towel. So, I think I’m going to make sure I get a confirmation from future guests they won’t be bringing any animals & just move on.
I was surprised (and relieved) to find the house was nearly untouched. Only 1 bed was used and it has dog hair ALL over the duvet. Other than that all they did was use a make up towel and drink some bottled water. I’m by no means happy about it, but feeling pretty lucky considering how it could’ve ended up.
) This means that I’ve got more experience than I know what to do with, have faced just about every conceivable guest situation AND I’m insured up to the hilt with great STR insurance.