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@KKC “Some people don’t feel that good about getting a double payment”
Exactly. I have had three cancellations - the first a very very tragic medical situation (refunded quickly so they didn’t have to deal with EC on top of everything else), the second was a dingbat that drove me bonkers while WE were on vacation (no refund) and the third is this family, who has a new baby and lots of expenses from the hospital that they didn’t expect. Not my problem, sure, but if I can help, I will. I remember being there.
I do not consider it undermining other hosts. I don’t have to refund, none of us do. If I don’t rebook, I certainly won’t. Each hosting situation and house is different. What works for me, doesn’t for others, and vise versa. I have to be happy with my own choices at the end of the day.
It’s likely the norm in your market so it does make sense to stick with it if it works.
I don’t make anyone book my apartments, it’s totally up to them, pets or no pets
We have a small fee but it only covers sending the linens out and maybe a little bit of supplies. We only ask the guests do clean dishes that they’ve used but nothing else. Some guests leave dirty dishes anyway. No guest ever has been good at washing dishes so we’re thinking of dropping that anyways (it’s informal in our house manual, not in the house rules).
Maybe my non-pet guests are just particularly messy but my pet-guests are overwhelmingly less messy - they actually sweep and lint-roll and everything.
The differences are really interesting. I’ve seen discussions about guests not cleaning because they are paying a cleaning fee. I wonder if there is something similar for pet fees? Like, if people who pay pet fees feel entitled to leave pet hair all over the place but guests who don’t pay pet fees feel obligated to clean up?
Not my experience. I seldom allow pets—only 2 or 3 times a year. I haven’t ever charged a pet fee (because my policy is no pets but I do, on rare occasions make exceptions) but they did not clean up after their pets. There was pet hair everywhere after the last pets. They said they had dog beds but, judging from the hair on the quilt, they allowed the dogs to sleep on the bed.
You’re talking about being competitive with pet owners, I’m talking about being competitive with non dog owners. If I raised my price and removed the pet fee I almost certainly would make less money. I like hosting pets but they don’t make my job easier.
Maybe my room is just too small. There’s no kitchen, no lounge. When I have pets there is a lot of pet hair on everything. It takes longer to clean. Even things like pet hair in the mini fridge. And I have to do a lot more lint rollering, even though I provide a blanket. I also have to mop twice. I do different prep if people have dogs like putting in rugs and taking them out. I could easily stop accepting dogs and be better off but like you I like to provide that service. I also figure dog owners will be more tolerant of the dog boarding going on. I’m surprised sometimes it hasn’t hurt the Airbnb biz at all.
Ultimately it is your call to make. Personally, I use a 3 month window.
It SEEMS that you do not think that you would get it rebooked 7 weeks out. Ok well we do not know your space so I’ll take that at face value.
I do not like being pushed - I push back. Here is what I would do, if it were me: Call Airbnb, put them in the middle and have them CALL her with a One-Time offer - only good for 24 hours: She cancels the reservation by Friday night - and you agree to reimburse the PORTION of the 50% that gets rebooked.
Otherwise, she’ll be on the hook for 100% soon enough, and it seems like she won’t be able to actually come anyway - especially if they live far away - if that’s the case, maybe you can double book using a different site, etc.
There is a host in my town that does this. He says in his listing that if you don’t bring pets and you leave the house clean he will refund the cleaning fee.
I do not charge a pet fee or a cleaning fee. All of my guests have cleaned up after themselves - some better than others, but leaving nothing worse than crumbs on the floor - and my pet guests have been cleaner than my non-pet guests.
They always use the blankets I leave out to cover beds and couches. Some bring their own blankets or dog crates. All clean up in the yard and house before they leave.
It’s not any different in our little studio which I believe is smaller than your apartment. I think there must be a different issue. We talked about this before but I think that I get people with dogs who travel with dogs a lot and people from big cities with who are used to cleaning up their own small apartments daily. Because of your location I bet you get more people who have their dog with them because they’re moving or taking a long car trip but not necessarily experienced with taking their dogs everywhere. Maybe?
Do you provide your guests a lint-roller? They are cheap and re-fillable at Ikea.
This seems like a lot of extra work. Does it really add up for you? We have all wool rugs and I don’t remove them. Wool cleans up easy. Is it like the broken-window-theory? Maybe people clean the hair up off my rugs because they are nice rugs? I don’t know but I am having a different experience.
Your status with so many reviews and such a high rating should mean something, it should make your job easier, you’ve earned it. I understand that it may not but I’m just saying, dammit it should.
But I am sure you work hard to do that. There’s some hustle with that. You’ve described it and it sounds like you work hard to keep your occupancy rate. I think you should get something for that hard work. If a guest cancels too late for a full refund and you still want to refund them so be it but at least keep a portion, some “re-booking fee” or something to compensate you for your time and effort.
Edit to add: I’m not going to get all Norma Rae but most of us wouldn’t stand for the same treatment from employers, being taken advantage of. Just because it’s a business doesn’t mean you have to take advantage of yourself.
Yes. But it’s under the bathroom sink. I mention it in the Pet guide though. I don’t use IKEA though. I tried one and didn’t like it. I like the 3M brand and I stock up when Costco has them on markdown.
All I can say is yes, you are having a different experience. Just like I don’t understand why it’s so easy for me to get all 5 star reviews and other people just can’t. I try to share what works for me but I think there are just too many variables.
Yeah, it means being booked up 86% at a price that’s higher than average for similar listing and doing it with no guest screening and still getting good reviews. Like I said, it’s not broke.
Oh, I could leave the rugs in there but in my dog boarding business I’ve found that dogs much prefer to pee, puke or poop on a rug compared to a floor. So removing the rugs which are just runners on the side of the bed is easier than vac and lint rollering and then spot cleaning. Plus dog smells cling to all textiles and I can’t wash the rugs.
I misunderstood. I thought you were putting different rugs in for the pet owners. This makes sense. (It’s been a long day).
I did recently have a guest with a dog that was less than ideal. The dog went on a rug so I removed all of the rugs that I could as soon as I found it (I was checking on the dog while the guest was out. This is the reason I offer to do that I’m probably going to ask for help with the review soon.
I always wonder if this is why guests leave my house so clean - it is super clean and well organized when they arrive, maybe they feel bad about messing it up?
THIS. So if you no longer want to host this guest, and she isn’t going to cancel, you have to do it. She’s called your bluff, and now the ball is in your court. Cancel her now, lose the money (which you wouldn’t have received for another seven weeks anyway), but you have almost two months to rebook the room. Be thankful that she didn’t wait until seven DAYS before, because she still would have forced your hand, made you cancel, and your chances of rebooking the room would be considerably lower.
This is a really long thread so maybe this question has been asked and answered. Are you talking about ‘stand-alone’ accom or will she/they be in the house with you?
In my experience, and that of many others, it’s a waste of time communicating in writing; it’s an excuse not to respond. You need to call them ASAP, ask the CS to read through the message thread, and work (nicely) to get them on side.
That said, when she said that she’d end up staying, after asking to cancel because of partners shift patterns, did she do so on the platform?
I’m probably going to ask for help with the review soon.