How Dirty is Dirty

Guests that just left are not getting a 5 star review. I was just wondering if you thought 3 or 4 is appropriate.

They stay went basically ok, they checked in and out on time. Communicated ok. The issue is they snuck a dog in. I didn’t see it until they were leaving, and found the evidence of it being in the unit after they left. This really bugs me when they do it as I allow pets, they go to the trouble of sneaking it just to avoid the extra $25 fee.
Then, it was a large black dog that was shedding. Dog hair everywhere, and, they allowed it to sleep IN the bed. Its going to take at least an extra hour of cleaning to make sure I get all of the dog hair out of the bed and off the floors.
So, I was thinking 3 for house rules and 3 for cleanliness. But, really the only issue was the dog (and eating in bed, but, I’m beginning to think everyone does that so I don’t even notice it anymore… I just pretreat and wash everything every time), so, I wonder if 4 wouldn’t be fairer.

Thanks for any feedback.

Not a house rules issue, as you allow pets. It’s a communication issue, as they didn’t disclose the dog.
I’d give 3 for cleanliness if it was otherwise left clean, 1 for communication for sneaking in the dog.

4 Likes

But they didn’t pay the required fee and that seems like part of the house rules. So I’d slam them on all three.

It really bugs me too. I allow dogs and I don’t even charge a fee but I require advance notice and it really ticks me off when people sneak in a dog. I think it ticks me off more than it would if I didn’t allow dogs.

The last couple who pulled this with me got 3 stars for communication, 2 stars for cleanliness (there was dog food everywhere, under the bed, in the vents, etc) and 1 star for house rules because I have a rule that dogs must be disclosed. To me, house rules are either a 1 or a 5. They either followed them or they didn’t. Besides I only have 3, how hard can it be, lol.

6 Likes

I guess it would depend on whether pet disclosure and the fee was included under house rules, rather than just mentioned in the listing info. Just as if a host doesn’t say no visitors or unregistered guests in house rules, and they sneak in an extra guest but don’t exceed the max guest count, they haven’t really broken a “rule”.

Technically, the pet fee has to be in the house rules for the host to collect it (unless it’s automatically collected in the settings) so that’s another possible issue too. However, it is accepted that star ratings are subjective anyway. At least Airbnb says that about the ratings guest give. Location, lol.

1 Like

I would give just one star for house rules and cleanliness because they were not honest about their dog. I would also mention the dog in the review.

5 Likes

1* communication
1* house rules
1* cleanliness
would not host again.

"X stayed for Y nights. Poor communication and didn’t follow House Rules. We allow pets with a fee; however X snuck in a dog for the stay to avoid the pet fee. Dog hair everywhere, including the bed, food crumbs in bedroom and kitchen left messy. "

I would want to know that these guests felt they could flaunt the rules and not clean up after their pet. Poor dog.

7 Likes

So what happens in a case like this if after the bad review and rating, the guest then claims that it is a service dog, which they aren’t required to disclose or pay for? (I think you can now charge for extra cleaning, though, even for a service animal?)

Why can’t you charge a pet fee for a service animal? Seriously curious, not stirring the pot (although there’s a bit of that going on today…).

Call it an additional cleaning fee for a non-human.

Hey, I didn’t make up the service dog rules, Airbnb did.

They did NOT communicate ok. They failed to inform you of their dog. A lie by omission.

3 Likes

More important than what you rate them, follow any of the suggestions here, is your public review:

“We welcome pets, but guests did not disclose dog as required and did not pay our very reasonable pet fee, which would have partly compensated for the extra cleaning to remove all the dog hair.”

This alerts future hosts not only of the guest’s dishonesty, but also that their dog is a big time shedder.

Did you try sending a request for the money through the Airbnb resolution process? Worth an attempt. If they don’t pay, you can add:

“The guests didn’t even respond to our ask for the pet fee after the fact.”

9 Likes

That’s a 1 star from me. No hesitation

Some guests are really not that bright. Why risk potential damage to your reputation over $25?

5 Likes

1 for communication
1 for house rules
1 for cleanliness

Would not host again, and the following review:

I would not host guest again, they snuck in a dog, allowed it on the bed and furniture and it shed long black hair everywhere.

5 Likes

First of all it is really important to write and honest review and mention sneaking in the dog and not paying the dog fee as well as the the hair and extra hour to clean so other hosts know what to expect. If I had to spend an extra hour to clean, I would rate a 1 on cleaning. I would rate down on communication and you could put something in your house rules about the dog fee must be paid upfront and if excessive cleaning is neccessary they will be billed an hourly rate for cleaning of an amount you think is worth an hour of your time.

1 Like

I would think those are appropriate scores. I would be livid if a guest this. I would definately put in their review about the dog. Letting hosts know to look for a dog.