Guests sneaking in pets

[LetsShareThoughts]

It took me a minute to get my head around the issue. I have not asked anyone to leave. I have been honest with reviews but did not “out the lie” or even mention it person because it has been my experience that guests are irrational about negative feedback, and Airbnb is not supportive (at all!) to hosts with retaliatory reviews left by vexed “bad actors.”

I now just politely tell them that their puppy cannot be left unattended in the unit, because that is when the damage occurred in the past. We just had this come up recently…and they turned out to be great guests, lying aside. Made me wonder if we should just start allowing pets with clear guidelines to follow.

@SleepingCoyote

Almost all our dog guests have been cleaner and better behaved than some of our human guests.

If we didn’t have a STR I would agree with this…since I tend to like animals more than most humans. lol

[SleepingCoyote]

@LetsShareThoughts

It took me a minute to get my head around the issue. I have not asked anyone to leave. I have been honest with reviews but did not “out the lie” or even mention it person because it has been my experience that guests are irrational about negative feedback, and Airbnb is not supportive (at all!) to hosts with retaliatory reviews left by vexed “bad actors.”

This is really interesting. For awhile now I’ve thought that most people do not like saying anything negative in reviews. This applies to both guests and hosts.

If that’s true, then it’s kinda like grade inflation. Everything is actually a little worse than the reviews suggest.

With the pet sneak, I would message the guest on the platform and say, “Did you realize when you reserved our space that this is a no pets home?” If they answer yes, then I would definitely say in the review, “We are a no-pets accommodation but even knowing this, these guests brought a puppy along with them.”

I would also go with “Would not host again” when the survey question pops up.

AirBnB has a newish policy that they will remove retaliatory reviews. I sat in on the Zoom meeting where execs discussed this. I personally have confidence in the policy.

[Rolf]

@SleepingCoyote

With the pet sneak, I would message the guest on the platform and say, “Did you realize when you reserved our space that this is a no pets home?” If they answer yes, then I would definitely say in the review, “We are a no-pets accommodation but even knowing this, these guests brought a puppy along with them.”

Why not simply tell the guests to pay your pet fee?

[SleepingCoyote]

@LetsShareThoughts

As I stated, I did review them honestly just didn’t make an issue of the service animal lie. Sorry I wasn’t clearer.

Reading this makes me really, really glad we welcome dogs at our place without a pet fee. This is just one more time consuming hassle that I don’t have.

Dogs don’t dump nail polish remover on a daybed cover! We just had a dog that ripped a sheet but the guests happily paid up.

[januaryanna]

I put in RING cameras in all my properties so I request the pet fee along with pics. $100 is pretty standard - if you board a dog it’s at least $40 PER NIGHT… and you don’t get to have your pet with you! I also have to pay my cleaner significantly more for pet hair everywhere.

[Tranquility_Base]

@LetsShareThoughts

Claiming to have a trained service animal when you do not is now a crime in most states [in the US],

But how does one go about “proving” that, when we are prohibited from asking anything but the 2 proscribed questions?

[LetsShareThoughts]

There are telephone numbers and ways to report suspected service animal fraud in each state, so don’t have to prove it, just report it.