If I were in your situation I would have canceled their reservation as soon as they violated my rules if they refused to pay. Allowing them to stay until Friday and then trying to get the payment just creates more entitled guests who abuse the system. They refuse to pay and then maybe Airbnb covers it. Then this family goes on doing the same to other hosts. You have to control your property, Airbnb can’t do that remotely from an office.
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Yes it caught us unawares…and on Christmas Eve with NO accommodation availability in our city. Not that this should be our problem.
We have certainly changed our listing to make sure it is VERY clear in future, both on unauthorised guests, and people staying.
We have talked to HomeAway and have a case reference. We have camera footage as well. They have recommended we seek the extra payment through their site.
We are thinking of going there today to talk to the person who did book. Something tells us she will obfuscate and it won’t achieve a thing, except that she will realise she is going to be hit for extra payment … so won’t clean up before leaving?
That’s a worry with more guests due later the same day.
Even if guests do clean brilliantly before leaving, it still takes me at least three hours to turn over one bedroom apartments. I wouldn’t feel comfortable without a few hours to prepare the place.
Just wondering why you didn’t do this as soon as you were aware of the problem?
Not all hosts here use Homeaway so are unable to help or relate their own experiences.
We have been paid $600 cash today which goes part way towards recouping the money owed, and I personally copped a heap of aggro from the guest (some captured on webcam!) She feels very badly violated on the basis that she can do whatever she wants with the property if she has paid for it. Apparently I have NO rights. She maintains the additional guests “slipped her mind”, nothing more. She also resents the outdoor webcam and claims it is illegal.
She insists the apartment will be in mint condition upon her departure tomorrow. I’m less confident and hoping the $500 security bond will cover any major issues.
It is absolutely not illegal (and all the folks who think they have privacy outside anywhere, anyway are maddening.) However you do need to disclose it on your listing and I advise putting a picture of the cameras. After reading so much nonsense here I’ve recently added a sign on the front of my home and am going to put this picture as well. Edit to add: you have to disclose it on Airbnb. I don’t know if you have to on Homeaway but all listings should disclose any cameras.
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Yes it is written on the information sheet I send the guest prior to arrival. It is written in the description online. The camera is mounted directly above the key safe that guests need to access. No surprised!
Keep us posted as to how the place is at checkout and if you get the rest of your money.
Clearly she had worked very hard, the three beds were made (totally a waste of time), used towels all folded in the sink… they only accessed two towels for this additional 6 people, yuk!
I suspect she had vacuumed and tried to eradicate small finger marks from eg glass coffee tables. We did shampoo the main living room floor, but could not shampoo the fabric couch we think children slept on. It took that much longer to clean given 7 people had been using one bathroom all week. I had to clean finger marks from full length windows which really meant all windows had to be cleaned.
The used up all my clothes washing detergent and a lot of toilet paper of course.
The bin was the shocker, overflowing with nappies and Christmas wrapping and packaging. They hadn’t sorted recyclables despite clear instructions about the two systems. SO she did keep her word and left it as tidy as humanly possible but eight people in an apartment do take some cleaning up after and the bin issue was very annoying given we have guests arriving today.
So I have to think what I will claim I will lodge with HomeAway.
In Spain, we have strict tourist registry laws and I am required to record every single guest over 16 in the police registry database and take copies of their ID.
It would be illegal for people to arrive here if I didn’t register them.
I guess that would be a good law for you guys to have! It’s a lot of red tape though.
Having shared that I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask for the identities of the people who are staying in your home. They know who you are, where you live, and how to introduce complaints or other issues thru airbnb it’s only normal you have the same information about them.
I also have an extra guest fee which I enforce, although many guests do not comprehend.
I have found the amount of damage, cleaning, utilities, problems increases exponentially with the number of guests.
I had a booking request once, the person was looking for a “large apartment” because his family was reuniting in the area for a month.
They were all staying in different places and he had his own 2 BR apartment but reading between the lines, I understood he would be using my 3BR apartment, community pool and garden for his 20+ people daily gatherings, intensely using the kitchen and taking up all the pool chairs, for the month.
You have to make it clear in the house rules that the property is only for people who are booked on the reservation and people from outside cannot be invited in.
No guests, no gatherings in the property garden or apartment.
Plus, it was for the highest season month of the year AND he wanted a discount. Ha!
Having said all that, if I had a 6 bedroom villa renting for 6000 a week I would expect to have people doing family gatherings there. So the key is being clear in your listing descripiton, property rules, and communication with the people.
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Yes thanks to this forum, I have amended my listing to make it very clear who is allowed on the property.
i have outlined the likely scenario if the terms are breached eg that they might find their stay ’terminated’ and all parties removed with no refund.
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did you ever terminate anyone and how did that go?
maybe it’s just a case of being very clear at the outset and you avoid having a bad situation.
I’d be interested in what is possible…it has been suggested I should have “put my foot down” the day I discovered the 6 extra guests and removed them all. What does this look like in reality?
How do you physically extricate 8 people from your property?
It is highly unlikely to happen again, and “being very clear at the outset” is my new mantra. Still, who has managed to actually get a party out and how did they do it?
I had a couple w a baby book and then had unauthorized guests and dogs. I told them that they could either pay up or leave. They left. Airbnb backed me up surprisingly. And then they left with towels but willingly paid for them. Truth was it was the boyfriend/husband who refused to pay for the unauthorized so they left and the booking Guest was apologetic and paid for the towels.
Well I was refunded the full $500 security deposit, no questions asked. I’ve realised that the minute the guest books, they are bound by the maximum number of guests. I will vigorously defend this if ever confronted with such a situation in the future. However it is good to know the hosting platform “has my back” and wasn’t influenced by the guests appalling lies and excuses.
@Maxine_Paul - You need to think of HomeAway in a different way than you do AirBnB. HomeAway does not get between you and the guest as much as AirBnB does, so saying HomeAway “has your back” is not really right - they let you handle it.
But you have to understand the laws of your country/state/city, etc., more on HomeAway than on AirBnB. In some states, you can’t use the security deposit for additional person fees.
If you are renting out through HomeAway and don’t have a good rental contract already that the guests must sign, get one now!