I"m afraid that they can figure out that you didn’t recommend them, and they can come back thru client support if they fall on the right agent they can make you miserable.
Also what would stop this person from just shutting down her account and setting up a new one with a new email, credit card and psuedo.
I don’t know. I haven’t attempted it, some here have but they don’t seem anxious to share the “how to” information. That person is, of course, a new guest with no reviews and that might hurt them with some hosts. Airbnb is supposedly looking at creating a superguest program so maybe that will encourage people to behave and build a good reputation.
As I already said, that seems like a terrible and ultimately unworkable way to run a business.
What a lot of trouble for accommodating pets! I have four dogs, which I feature in my listing, but I don’t allow my guests to bring pets, and I don’t allow my dogs in the guest space. Do you feel like you’re getting more guests by allowing dogs? What about the people you’re losing because of allergies? I show a photo of my dogs, but state that they are not allowed in the guest space. I do this to attract dog lovers, who are generally good guests. If they want to meet our dogs, they are welcomed to come in the yard where the dogs are. Some do, some don’t. It also discourages people who don’t like dogs from booking.
I definitely get more booking a because I allow all pets, no breed or age or size restrictions. Heck, I even allow horses at my farm (I don’t allow the horses at my separate house listing as there is no facilities, save the half acre fenced yard). Anyone with severe enough allergies shouldn’t stay at any of my listings because where I live I have many animals and used to live at the single house listing with lots of animals. I will say that the problem people with their problem pets are problems not because of their pets. It may be extra work but I am an extreme animal person so seek to accommodate others who do the same. I still get quite a few bookings without pets as well at both locations so being pet friendly (again, with no restrictions) makes my offerings very valuable to some. I often get dog people going to sporting and working dog competitions within an hour of the house as well. They appreciate. It just pet friendly but pet experiences and pet knowledgeable. I also gain dog boarding or doggy Daycare or even some training clients during their stays. And families that are there for a month or so between houses or between military duty stations with pets love booking with me. It’s definitely not for everyone but I enjoy it and sometimes even prefer the pets to the people!
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So, I waited until they wrote the review and then waited a further 48 hours so it was past the deadline for them to edit their review and then sent a request for the pet fee. I used @KKC words and sent a request for the pet fee. Although I wasn’t happy with using the softly, softly approach, as they couldn’t have missed my pre-booking message and house rules about only pets only accepted by prior approval.
I hope you enjoyed your stay, I see you brought your dog. I’m sorry there was a misunderstanding about the pet fee policy, it’s normally due in advance. I’m submitting the request for the pet fee now.
Silence until I involved Airbnb after the 72 hour mark and then miraculously they paid! Now it’s time for me to write my review but I don’t want to do it immediately as that will make it very obvious what I was up to, as the review is not going to be nice. Please chime in on your thoughts on my review. I gave the house keeper the choice of me blocking Christmas night so she didn’t have to clean or I would give her a $50 bonus to clean Xmas Day. She said she could fit it in between her family functions.
- Guests that broke a number of house rules, including bringing a dog without checking if this was ok and they had trouble respecting the check out time. The house keeper was very upset that on Christmas Day of all days our villa was left in such a state that it took her an hour longer that normal to clean.
I’ve posted this mulitple times elsewhere but I think you missed it. When you submit a request via the resolution center it seems to be very hard to find. I know it’s not visible in the message thread or on the reservation anywhere. Airbnb does send an email with a link for it. I literally stood with a guest who was trying to find it anywhere on the app and we could not find it. I told him to check his email but he never got it paid before checking out. That’s how I learned just a smidge of patience with the process.
So now when I send any resolution request I explictly tell them to check their email for a link to the request. These guests may have been deceitful or negligent. But in our business I think it pays to take the high road when possible and assume the best, even if for no reason other than it makes us look like the good guy if an Airbnb CSR takes a look at the message thread.
As for the review I like fewer words and more directness a la Ken. Had trouble respecting the check out time = checked out late. As for the housekeeper being upset on Christmas, I don’t think guests care, especially not at your high season “luxury villa” rates. Being honest here (you’d expect nothing less from me, right?) you are managing investments. If this were your family home and you were an hour late sitting down to Christmas dinner because the guest left the guest room down the hall a mess on Christmas eve perhaps the feelings about it would be valid. I’m all for respecting and validating housekeepers but that’s your job as the manager, not the guest’s job. If I had a housekeeper they’d be getting a more substantial bonus on Christmas. I’d be remiss if I didn’t add that I still think it’s a mistake calling your listing a villa. 
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Then you are really in a specialty niche. How wonderful. I love animals, too and would love to what you do!
@beneluigi. Definitely. I just had a young couple that checked out of my spare bedroom listing at my farm this morning. Although they don’t even have a dog they were staying with me while visiting her dad who lives about 5-6 miles from me that has a German Shepherd and a Chihuahua. They are interested in becoming clients of mine based on their daughter’s glowing praises of me and my dogs and my home and my set up. It also helps when my dogs are well behaved and then people seek my help for training theirs as well! I already have several clients in their gated community and I enjoy serving those there. Win-win here!
Thanks, when I post something on the forum asking for advice I do expect to get it, that’s why I do it. I did wonder whether it was worth mentioning the xmas day thing and I will now take it out. I have also added the bit that they will find my request for the pet fee in their email to my saved “dog accept” message. I had followed up with a message at the 48 hour mark on the platform asking him when he was going to pay as it was close to getting Air involved and he hadn’t answered.
I don’t read all threads on the forum, only the ones that interest me, so yes, I could easily have missed it.
As a guest I have never been sent a request for extra payment so don’t have the perspective of the other side. Being a guest is where I often find better ways of doing things. I find it amazing how after 4 years, so many guests, so many times I have stayed as a guest and the fact that I read so much about Airbnb I am still constantly learning new things. Which is why I shake my head at guests with 3 reviews who tell me they know how Airbnb works.
The internet is full of descriptions of what a villa in Australia means. As we have discussed before it’s very different from other countries and as I have few overseas guests I have never had a guest not understand that an Australian villa doesn’t come complete with an “Arturo” @Icklemiss.
Here is one of many descriptions from google on an Australian villa:
The difference between a townhouse and a villa is quite small. Townhouses tend to be 2-storey properties whereas a villa is always going to be a 1-storey property. If we go ahead and have a look at the villas here, we can see that they’re all one-storey. But, villas are similar to townhouses in that they are a part of an overall complex.
OMG, yes!
I know. I’m going to PM you.
The historical landlord tenant relationship with deposits has just about been completely erased by airbnb. I agree with above that a real deposit should be taken at time of reservation AND the HOST SHOULD HAVE 100% CONTROL over the deposit. If host asks for it, we get it. The guest has to agree to the charges, are you kidding!!! Imagine if all tenants had control of their deposits. What would happen? Its lunacy. I have recently had a couple people sneak in dogs and leave dog poo on the exterior stairs and yard. I have in my house rules that “if a guest brings an unapproved pet that his not previously approved in the airbnb message center that they forfeit their deposit.” As well as, “$100 per poo pile.” Airbnb will not enforce this and simply allows the guest to pay the pet fee after the fact. They say well there isn’t any damage, Really what about my time involved in having to chase the guest, upload pics, and pay extra cleaning charges to assuage our housekeeper for having to deal with someone else’s S**T. Hosts need to control the deposit. Any host that abuses this will get trashed in reviews. Airbnb could easily monitor any abuses of the deposit and if a host was regularly requesting deposits, there is an obvious problem. This would also save airbnb time as many resolutions will be handled without airbnb having to be involved. Without the ability to control a deposit, how are we hosts to have our house rules respected or enforced? I’ve posed this question to airbnb and they have no answer when the answer is obvious. Give the landlord control over the deposit. It’s a novel idea that has been in place for hundreds of years.
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I agree. And I think AirBnB could actually make some serious dough by actually collecting and holding it for the duration before refunding it to the guest if the host doesn’t claim against it. I know the big problem will be that guests won’t want to pay to have that basically tied up on their credit card for immediate bookings nor pay it even if it is refunded after the fact.
Airbnb is a payment and booking platform. If you want to have complete control over everything, control it! Use a different platform.
You keep using the terms host and landlord interchangeably. STR guests and tenants aren’t the same thing. If you are hosting short term rentals that’s one thing, if you are a landlord that’s another thing. Airbnb shouldn’t be used for long term rentals and don’t be fooled by their promises. Who doesn’t know this at this point?
Airbnb can barely handle the stuff it’s trying to do now and you want it to do more for you?
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Airbnb says they are taking a deposit. It’s a box you check and then fill in the amount. It’s very misleading. They will only pass those funds on the the host if the guest agrees to it. Needing a way to enforce house rules is basic. Weather or not you label us landlord or host, short term or long term, the relationship is the same; use of premise for a given period of time for compensation. In the rare instances when guests behave poorly, there needs to be a reliable mechanism for resolution. Currently airbnb’s stance is that unless there is physical damage where the host has to pay to have something replaced, they are not compensating the host. I have asked the resolution center this question at least three times, “If a guest dumps a dump truck load of dirt inside the home, but after days of cleaning, nothing is broken, the guest is not going to be charged for the cost of the extra cleaning?” They have yet to answer the question. They also have yet to charge a guest for the removal of dog feces. Really? It’s ok to s**t on someone’s property and there are no damages, even when there are stipulated damages in the house rules for excavating poo? Give the host control of the deposit. This is not asking airbnb to do more. It’s asking them to do less. if the host abuses this it will be obvious, and abusive hosts would be immediately exposed by the review process.
You know, you’re not telling anyone on here anything they didn’t know before, you’re just doing it angrily.
Oh, and paragraphs here and there really do make things easier to read.
Chill.
JF
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I get guest who see i accept pets , but , do not read the details in my listing .
Small non shedding dogs on approval only, then I make them feel guilty and I mkae sure I get a 5 star !
What I’m hoping for is a reliable method of enforcing house rules. My limited imagination is only coming up with a deposit and rules with stipulated fines. Without penalties rules are meaningless to the rare guests who are bozos. Are we supposed to just accept that as hosts we are subject to the vagaries of the public and forget about rule enforcement?
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In theory, guests “agree to house rules when they book”. So, one can write up whatever there.
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For it to have teeth, one should collect a Direct Security Deposit. The loophole is that any “software connected host” is allowed to use one. So, if you have a Channel Manager, then it qualifies. So, for $9 / mo, one can use yourporter.com or various other channel managers.
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Then, you have that control, a direct security deposit that can be applied to Rules and/or Damages - if House Rules are written thus.
One method is to greet guests on arrival and cancel the reservations of guests who bring dogs without permission. Don’t let them in, change the door code and move on.
Or tell them they will have to board the dog elsewhere (get the number of a nearby kennel or send them to Rover.com) and if you find them sneaking the dog in their reservation will be canceled.
It seems to me that what you really want in a method of enforcing house rules where you bear none of the work or costs.
When you enter a public facing business you are, in fact, subject to the vagaries of the public. Let me give an example from my experience in retail.
Decades ago I worked in US convenience stores. A common problem was the “beer run.” Someone comes into the store, takes a package of beer and runs out. Store policy was the write it up but not call the police. What about rule enforcement? Doesn’t that just encourage theft? But the reality was that the youngsters are unlikely to be caught. Policy was also to not try to chase or stop them in any way. Don’t leave the store unattended and and don’t chase the perp.
Once the police were watching the store and the kids were caught. Guess who was called to appear in court for their proceeding? Who had to miss class to go? Who didn’t get paid to do so? Me. The cost of enforcing rules was partially displaced onto me.
The truth is that rule enforcement has costs. Who is going to pay those costs? The host, Airbnb, the guest, the taxpayer (some people call the police on guests)? Businesses build in costs to their price structure so that they make a profit more often than not. A host should build their business the same way.
Some guests will be dream guests: checking in late, checking out early, hardly using anything, leaving the place pristine, sometimes even leaving early and not asking for a refund. Do they get a rebate of their rates? Yet the guest at the opposite end has to be charged and societal norms enforced! Order must be maintained! The host shall not be mocked!
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