How to charge smokers?

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TLDR: Put a clear penalty in your rules/house manual, and Airbnb stands a better chance of backing you up.

I recently collected $250 from people who smoked in my cottage. When they arrived, I noticed that they reeked of tobacco smoke and made sure to emphasize the smoking policy, pointing out where ashtrays were on the porch and in the courtyard. Of course “NO SMOKING” is one of the rules they agree to, but there is also specific language in my house manual (online on Airbnb listing) and in my house info binder:

“SMOKING: I can’t emphasize this enough: there is absolutely no smoking of any kind (even vaping) allowed in the cottage. If you break this rule, we will know, and we will have to charge you $250 out of the security deposit. We really don’t want to do that. There are ashtrays in the courtyard. Please dispose of cigarette butts and ashes in the outdoor trash bin.”

We share a courtyard with these guests, and they were out there a lot, smoking pack after pack. So I kind of knew what to expect, although I had hoped they’d honor my rules. Sure enough, the smell was bad, and they had obviously smoked inside. I didn’t find cigarette butts inside (they did take out their trash as directed) but there was some ash in and near the (gas) fireplace. It didn’t show up very well in photos, though.

I called Airbnb and was lucky to get the CS person I did. She accepted my claim immediately mentioning I had been very clear in my manual/rules/online info.

The guest did end up paying, after sending me a nasty message. Oh, well.

I was really lucky – I had 2 days before the next guests to air the place out and wash everything I possibly could. If I had had guests arriving that day, it would have been a much bigger problem.

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42

Glad this worked for you.

I’m confused about the security deposit. I didn’t know that there really was such a thing with Airbnb. Am I wrong about that?

Rebecca

43

If the host has a security deposit, the guest has agreed the AirBnB can charge their card up to that amount up to 14 (?) days after checkout.

Along with having the property check-boxed in the listing setup template as non-smoking, and explicit “no smoking indoors” in the House Rules field, our house manual, whether enforceable or not, says:

  • No smoking indoors. Adults may feel free to responsibly smoke while relaxing on either porch or the deck. Do not litter. Dispose of your butts in the receptacle, we have provided a bucket on the back porch and numerous ashtrays. Please ensure every butt makes its way there when you are done with it. Smoking indoors and/or littering cigarette butts on the grounds will result in forfeiture of entire security deposit.

  • Smoking indoors and/or littering cigarette butts on the grounds will result in forfeiture of entire security deposit. We know, that is repeated. Want to make sure you understand we will keep the entire security deposit for violating what we feel is a reasonably generous smoking policy.

I dread the day we have to find out if we would be backed up on this. From everything I have read on this forum, I would be shocked if we were to be supported in collecting the damages.

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