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So it was bound to happen, after two years I caught a guest with a dog in my no pet listing. This is a VRBO booking so I took a few minutes to research to see my options. With VRBO if a host cancels a booking it is up to the host to refund or not, and for a rules violation it can be cancelled without penalty.
Also I found out yesterday at check in that it was a 3rd party booking, daughter reserved for Mom. This does not bother me so much. So at 9:05 last night I texted Mom and daughter that I was cancelling the reservation because of the dog and they needed to leave. Daughter texts me back that she was just visiting with the dog (they are in another STR close by) and she did not know the dog could not be there blah blah… So I told her under no circumstance is the dog allowed in my cabin and I would not hesitate to cancel if it happens again. She agreed and told me to have a nice Thanksgiving.
The thing is I have not seen them leave with the dog, nothing from the from door camera or the driveway camera. I suspect that the daughters rental starts today and they stayed the night… Although sometimes I have gaps in the camera coverage so I am not sure. So far the chain smoker has been outside this morning but nobody else. I am going to drive by and count cars in a few and see what I can find out.
Another interesting thing about VRBO is if a host cancels there will be no review, So if it turns out I do not need to kick them out today I am going to cancel on Saturday morning before check out to avoid a bad review. I talked with a CS agent last night about it.
Also VRBO is hands off, you handle it they do not get involved. I like this.
I could, or according to my rental agreement which the guest acknowledged I can kick them out, OR keep the security deposit at my discretion.
Yes, me too I know I am going to find all the butts once the snow melts. This is also a rule violation the checkbox for smoking on VRBO says no smoking ON THE PROPERTY
So I just drove by, just the one car so the dog and dog family must have left last night.
I really tried to get VRBO to block reviews because I know I am at risk for a bad review for confronting them last night and they said they had no other way except to cancel penalty free. So for now its on hold, if the dog does not come back I will cancel a couple hours before checkout for the dog and smoking. I will not keep the deposit, $250 unless there is a big mess or damage.
I don’t use them but I would like that too. Although I am very happy using Airbnb, they do tend to treat hosts as though they are children sometimes.
You know me, I wouldn’t bother with the pretense. If anyone is doing anything that’s not to my liking in either of our apartments, I’m there. (I have a HOA to keep happy).
I know it’s unlikely that you’ll change but under “heads in beds” rules, dogs have heads. I’d have a hefty dog fee and allow dogs. People can pay up. I’m not convinced dogs cause more problems than humans.
Unfortunately, if you have someone whose asthma is triggered by animal hair they may disagree. Love dogs, OH loves cats, unfortunately we can have neither in our building. Nor can we have horses; not that anyone has asked to bring a horse with them, yet!
I have set up my new cabin with dogs in mind, I still have not listed it yet because I want to get a sidewalk in so the guests, both 2 legged and 4 legged are not walking through dirt/mud. The snow on the ground does not help. Hopefully we get a break in the weather long enough to get the forms finished next week and pour the mud. Will see, its frustrating because the place took over a year to build and it is really nice, furnished and good to go but we just do not want our early guests experiences to be anything less than 5 stars!
I love dogs, I just do not want to have them on my nice stuff in the big cabin or peeing on my wool rugs, the new cabin has vinyl floors, what few rugs there are could be hosed off on the driveway or replaced cheaply enough if needed. Maybe once I get my dog legs under me with the new listing I may consider opening up the other to dogs. I know it would put more heads in beds.
Ok so here is the update, power went out twice during the stay, they left this morning, a day early. I think the plan was to leave today all along, I had a 3 day minimum for the holiday, likely they could not find anything for two nights.
Communication after I was going to boot them was all good, I did apologize for being abrupt about the dog. When the power went out yesterday I was asking did they need anything, help with getting a fire started or anything else. In the end, the daughter was stuck in the snow at another rental and asked ,me for phone numbers to get help which I gave them and they got dug out.
I am not worried about a bad review, and my guests for tomorrow night were originally planning to go on a overnight hike but I figured with a foot and a half of snow that was not happening so I called them and gave them a deal on tonight;)
I’ve about decided that a knowledgeable and flexible host can handle just about anything. And if you aren’t sure we are here to bounce ideas off of. I’m glad things worked out.
I agree. And hosts can certainly manage situations far better than Airbnb CS. It’s a shame that so many hosts, at the first sign of anything out of the ordinary, run to call Airbnb. I don’t know what they expect them to do by remote control. Much better to deal with things using our own resources.
For me the moral of the story is to be firm about your rules. Guests are like children they need boundaries established. I am less worried about something like this happening again, and in the future I will more likely go knock on the door as opposed to texting.
Glad it worked out. I remember the last time I did a drive by like you did and the guest lied to me straight on the phone that all these other cars weren’t there… I didn’t end well. lol
Oh and the other thing is that the power going out twice in the last 24 hours with guests in the cabin has pushed me to go ahead and order the back up generator that will power up all 3 buildings. The infrastructure is all in place, I wired in the transfer switch and I ran the propane line with the new cabin so all I need to do is buy the generator and hook it up. This happens all too often up here especially when we get a lot of snow, trees knock out the power lines every winter.
Well that and I won’t be giving out free nights when someone complains to Air that an essential amenity is missing. I really want one at my house, but being a block away I can always go to the cabin, likely one or the other will be available for me.
I will put it in the description, I think it may give me an edge.
Snow is too deep right now to even think about installing it for awhile, another thing waiting on weather…
What a drag! Best of luck to you with the issue of the dog. Personally, I would have NO problem with walking up to the door and greeting your guests with an “Is everything okay” kind of question. They violated YOUR rules. Party Foul! Keep us posted.
I rent out my spare bedroom. Pretty modest, small house. I charge 25 in the week & 27 at the weekend. $10 per night for a second person. I take pets. I have dogs & dog owners are my favorite guests. I don’t charge a cleaning fee or pet deposit. Should I charge $10 for a pet? What if it’s a couple with a pet? That could potentially be $47 per night & you can get a 2 bed guest house here for $45 a night, pet friendly, no cleaning fee. Perhaps only charge for the pet if there is one guest? Charge a $10 cleaning fee for pets as I do clean more after pets, wash rug etc? Thanks everyone
