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We just discovered via our Ring doorbell that our guests brought dogs to our PET FREE home. We have not contacted them yet and are not sure what to do. I am new to this forum, and would LOVE the help of more seasoned folks!
We are pet lovers, but our rental has been pet free due to the fact that furry companions when traveling always leave their ‘mark’.
Any IMMEDIATE input would be appreciated. We did read the laws about companion/service animals and feel like we might be out of options.
If yes, so all is documented via Airbnb messaging state, “I am concerned. This is a no pets allowed rental. One reason for no pets allowed is to provide a comfortable and safe rental for guests who have have pet allergies. My ring doorbell recording shows you bringing two dogs into the rental. How would you like to resolve this?”
If they want to stay and keep dogs, you could
Enforce your house rules, contact Airbnb and let Airbnb find them a pet friendly rental and kick them out for breaking your house rules (I think you will lose the rent for the nights not stayed)
Offer them a one time exception to the rule, if they will pay a pet fee to cover the additional cleaning ($200) And they must approve the additional charge in the next 30 minutes.
If they claim service animals, there are threads on this forum that may be helpful.
The dogs are already there now so you are going to do the extra interior cleaning and probably yard clean up so you may as well get the money to pay for clean up.
If you use a co-host, you might want to speak to him/her to see how this happened.
I deal with any breach by going to the apartment and confronting the guests. If you’re not nearby then have your co-host do this at once. I believe that guests should be confronted as soon as possible if they are behaving inappropriately. Don’t let them get away with it any longer.
Great advice from @Annet3176 - but don’t rely on Airbnb to resolve this. If the guests claim their pets are service animals, end of story. Deal with the matter yourself and quickly. (But as @Annet3176 says, leave a record on the message system.)
Call the guests and tell them they have to leave. Then call Air and tell them the reservation is cancelled. Don’t sit around wringing your hands, do something. Otherwise you are accepting it.
If they have companion/service dogs they’re not required to tell you and Airbnb will side with the guests. At this point, wait until they check out and inspect the home with a fine comb and take pictures of any damages and contact Airbnb immediately, since it’s a time sensitive issue.
If the dogs are not service dogs, then you have the right to kick out the guests but be ready for a nasty review and if you are a new host, it will take you a long time to bring up your review rating.
I had someone bring their emotional support dog and luckily there were no damages.
What nasty guests! We would kick them out ASAP, regardless of what happens after. This is also why we do in-person check-ins if at all possible. “Oh what a cute dog” … sorry but you aren’t coming in and your stay is cancelled. Smile for the camera.
Perhaps time to also add to house rules. Perhaps something like.
Violations of House Rules will result in immediate cancellation of your entire stay, WITHOUT REFUND, at SOLE DISCRETION OF HOST. Guest further acknowledges that if their stay is cancelled for House Rule Violations, Guest AUTHORIZES Airbnb and Host to revoke their right to review the host.
Good day! My name is Michael from Airbnb. I’m one of the supervisors. I hope this finds you well. First of all, I would like to thank you for being one of our amazing Superhosts here in Airbnb, Christine. We’re really lucky to have you hosting with us.
Thank you for reaching out to us regarding this matter. I will help and look into the concern you raised to us. We want to apologize for any delays as we are having a high volume of emails and messages from our users. Rest assured that we are doing our best to address all queries that are raised by our users.
I’m sorry to hear that your guest Aaron brought a pet in your listing. We know that you don’t allow pets as stated in your house rules. If you decide to cancel the reservation you’ll be getting your payout as stated in your Moderate cancellation policy. You can also save the reservation and get full paid, and you can request for an additional payment from your guest for a pet fee.
Please let me know which option would you prefer, so I can reach out to your guest to inform him about your decision. Thank you for your patience and understanding on this matter, Christine.
Your friend here at Airbnb,
Michael
Thanks Michael, we contacted the guest and were told it is a service animal and he is sorry that he never told us. I think because it is a ‘service animal’ we have no ability to ask them for either of your suggestions…correct? We cannot charge extra monies, nor can we ask them to leave. Correct? Thank you so much for your time. Christine
Also, we would prefer that you do not, DO NOT contact our guest since we have already done so. Thank you so much Michael
That’s correct, Christine. Thank you so much for being on top of this and for giving your guest a chance. Thank you for your time as well, and have a nice day!
Hi EVERYONE…thank you so much for attempting to help me. I copied and pasted the AiRBNB’s supervisors (Michael) message to me.
WE HAVE NO RIGHTS as hosts as soon as a guest claims emotional support animal! I am not allowed to kick them out…It is so, so crazy.
I did greet them in person (guests) and NO DOGS were to be seen. It was only later that they suddenly appeared on camera. UGH, sneaky guests! Makes me crazy!
Just wanted everyone else to be aware and thank you, I WILL change my rules immediately.
What F***ing LIARS. No WAY would they have 2 or more service animals. Also, Service Animals are always with their owner. They obviously hid them when you did in an person check-in.
Air requires service animals to be with the guest at all times - their words. How many times have they violated this?? Catch that on camera ONCE and you get to kick them out.
@Fooey, sorry about these total scumbag guests. Have fun writing up the worst guest review of your life. Make sure you hit “No” when asked would you book again.
We used to accept dogs (the HOA put a stop to dogs on the premises but not cats, strangely) and have never had any damage or extra cleaning because of them.
True, I once found dog hairs in the tiny kitchen sink (I say ‘tiny’ because it was too small to bathe a dog) which was a bit weird but no big deal.
I completely understand why some hosts won’t accept animals but I just wanted to say for the sake of any new or potential hosts reading this that pets aren’t necessarily a problem.
Over the years we had many dog-guests until the HOA put a stop to them. No damage ever
Sorry @fooey, my ire was directed towards the guests, not you.
I personally use an “alias” because this is a public forum that guests as well as hosts can access. If you google anything related to airbnb, this forum is likely to come up 1 - 3 in search results.
I’d rather remain incognito to my past/potential/future guests for obvious reasons! (eg. my last post to you!)
@Fooey Read the Aibnb policy on service animals. Those animals are not allowed to be left alone in the house (so keep an eye on your ring doorbell to see if you catch them going out without the dogs), they must be housebroken (so if you find evidence of urine, or defecation, they don’t qualify) , nor do service animals do damage, like scratch doors, chew on furniture legs, etc.
