Fortunately, the convo apparently was not on platform, and readily (and honestly) explained: âI became very uneasy after the guest sprang this plan on me, checked local laws, and had to tell them I really couldnât accommodate a party situation.â
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Or âchecked with my insurance companyâ. Just as good. 
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Very good point - I state that my home is limited to max of 6 registered guests and no others are allowed on the property or in the house. If this woman is indeed a host, them shame on her and she is taking advantage.
However, I find that guests often donât think a âdinnerâ or family events are parties. I had a woman inquire about dates, then asked several questions, eventually declaring that my property would be perfect for her needs. When I further queried about her needs, she told me that she was having a baby shower - family only - for 15-20 people. I promptly declined and sent her info on our local catering facilities.
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Thank you everyone for your comments. I believe she was trying to take advantage because she was my first guest. My husband and I own the property and as I said she didnât mention having the dinner at our Airbnb. I wouldnât have had a problem with it as long as it was ONLY with the registered guests.
I have texts telling her it was a no go after she secured the keys and I found out her true intentions during a more indepth conversation. She decided she didnât want to stay, which let me know she got it for a âdinner partyâ of 20 give or take, people. When I brought it to her attention she registered 6 people, she tried to say it was ok because the the additional people werenât spending the night. Again, I told her it was a no go and she was welcome to stay w/ the original guests. She chose to leave!
I contacted CS the next day, explained the situation and that she chose to leave. They said if she asked for a refund, I would be contacted to get my side of the story. So, my call is on record. To date, she hasnât filed anything regarding a refund.
The good thing is my husband and I live directly across the street from the Airbnb, so we can definitely monitor our property. My next door neighborâs house has been an Airbnb for over two years and she does well. Most guests will be friends of neighbors or relatives directed to the site, other than people who find the property on the Airbnb site. We are part of a National Park so a certain number of people are coming for the history of the community and events held during the year.
Again, thanks everyone, I plan to step up my vetting process!
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I do. $20/authorized person/night over the one who booked at bases of between $37 & $65 w/ cleaning fees from $20 to $62.
I also have a $50/unauthorized person/instance.
I have had moderate success in collecting the $50 and until my current guest who cleared out of the listing today under the supervision of a county sheriff deputy, had not had a problem obtaining the $20. I made the mistake of not requiring payment upon arrivalâŚI should have known, given her âdonât worry Iâm not gonna scree you overâ at check-in I thought was supported by her dozen glowing reviews. And unfortunately AirBnB stopped responding altogether last evening.
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The âper instanceâ is a nice touch, lol.
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Unfortunately, an unauthorized guest who keeps coming and going within a 24 hour period is coming in unauthorized more times. They could easily change themselves to authorized (in my house rules, by providing me their first and last name and full payment. And most of the time I only charge half price if they self report and are not staying the night. And when it is a respectful guest I have even been known to let them be authorized for free, and thank them profusely for just being an honest guest, and what a rare gem they are!
I actually recently got a booking from a first time new guest that indicated explicitly that he wanted to pay full price for his visiting guests to ensure they could freely come and go (and asked for confirmation that he was right in this assertion). I told him how much I appreciate him right out of the gate! We have even joked back and forth a bit and I will likely ask if they would like a hug!
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Why do you think they are ghosting you?
RR
They will just close the case without action, as they often do. Because they can!
How many cases a year do you open? When I read your posts I get the idea that you are opening a lot of cases, I would think they would flag your account and be cautious with a hosts that is always opening cases.
I have been having some issues with my self cleaning model lately, 3 out of 5 guests are not following the check out instructions and I had been dinging them in the reviews, I have not opened cases asking for cleaning fees even though itâs in my rules. I figure if something keeps happening itâs something I am doing wrong. I am trying to be more communicative about expectations.
RR
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Yes, quite a few unfortunately. I do follow up with my house rule violations though instead of letting them go. I definitely wouldnât get anything if I didnât at least try.
Wouldnât it be easier to try and have fewer violations? What can you do, not the guests, to get compliance? Are all your rules and fines really needed? Or do you want the rules to be broken to collect fines?
I am truly baffled by as to why you are willing to suffer bad reviews over fines for dog poop and the like.
In my market ratings matter, lower ratings means less bookings. I always look at these things as what is in the best interest of my business? A cleaning fee fight that will end up with a bad review will cost me more in the end.
RR
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I would love fewer (like none!) violations which is why I impose the accompanying fines.
If someone is going to disrespect me and my house and house rules they are not going to do so without me requesting the compensation that they know goes along with it. Most of the things should be common sense. I do love it when I get the occasional guest who follows them so well and in the intended spirit. I reflect it in their reviews as well.
Off to look at preventing guest access to my routerâŚand adding a new rule with accompanying penalty for violation.
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Crowds flocked to observe the sentence carried out on the guest who switched off @Militaryhorsegalâs router:
Honestly, he cried, I was only resetting it because Netflix froze!
JF
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So thatâs it right there, you take this stuff personally. I frame everything related to my businesses as business decisions.
Donât get me wrong, I do take it personally when I walk into a mess, i cuss and yell WTF is wrong with these people! Then I clean up and move on. NEXT! heads in beds.
RR
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JF you are on a roll today!
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Heads in beds. Heads in baskets. Everyone has their own style. Isnât it beautiful? 
Itâs an interesting discussion that you guys are having @Militaryhorsegal and @RiverRock. One thing that strikes me is that you both have fines (RiverRock, once you made your cleaning fee an âonly if you donât cleanâ fee, it effectively became a fine, not a fee) but one of you collects the fines and one of you wonât. I donât have any fines because I donât want the extra-work of collecting them personally but am empathetic about where you are both coming from; however, it makes more sense to me to only have fines that you are willing to collect on. If you arenât comfortable collecting on fines (because of the review-monster) it seems fruitless and perhaps a regular old-cleaning fee would serve you and your guests better @RiverRock?
By the way, I donât doubt for a second that some of guests believe that you wonât collect the fines because you want a good review and take advantage of that. Riverrock, you prove them right. Militaryhorsegal, you shock the 
out of them, which is probably better for the community as a whole but is surely causing you extra grief.
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Hi there, I hope you donât mind that weâve hijacked your thread.
As for your rental I suggest you book friends/relatives/people you trust directly once you are established. For now you need to take advantage of the new host boost, get some nice reviews on your listing and ride any momentum you generate. But at some point giving Airbnb 15-20% of the total just for processing payments doesnât make sense. If you are finding and booking in these guests, pay yourself. Make sure you have adequate insurance (Airbnbâs isnât to be relied upon) and have a way to take payments (Venmo, Stripe, Zelle etc. )
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My pleasure.
20202020
JF
My bookings have increased since I dropped the cleaning fees and the place is being left clean, for the most part, just not as they found it.
I do not fine my guests, that is punitive and not good for my bottom line. And if you look at the reviews I have left messy guests you would not think that I just let it go. My typical review for a guest who does not clean up, empty the trash or whatever goes like this:
Guest stayed 2 nights, guest either did not read or ignored check out instructions. I think that conveys what it needs to for fellow hosts and puts guests (who read) on alert to follow check out instructions.
Bottom line for me is my bottom line, what is best for my business and bad reviews would not be good for my business.
All of this said, I am trying to figure out how to avoid this to start with, more communication is likely going to be the answer.
RR