What he said^^^^^^^^
RR
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To be totally honest, if during a stay we inadvertently, or unknown to us, broke a “rule” that had an associated “fine”, I’d tell the host to stick it.
If they then tried to enforce it via the resolution centre I can guarantee that they would, financially, be the losers.
It’s one reason why we tend to look for hosts that appear to have a similar philosophy to us. We check not only their reviews, but also the reviews they leave for their guests, which are often a better insight as to the type of hosts they really are.
JF
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Good point but if you don’t intend to follow through on what you say, just don’t say it, is my thought.
Not really. Worst case, financially, would be a zero gain (and zero loss). Best case would be AirBnB would pay it for you. I have had this happen several times since it is in the House Rules.
Worst case the guest gives a terrible review, on AirBnb, trip advisor, google. That can cost the host bookings. Also the hosts reviews of guests can cost the host bookings from a good guest.
I do not run my business fearing a bad review, but it does factor in.
RR
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Neither do I. But yes, it is a factor (see cockroach thread!), however… we have a good product here, as I’m fairly sure you do, and when you have confidence in that product the “bad review” is not at the fore front of your mind on a daily basis.
You’re always going to get the odd nutter, like we did a couple of years ago who set our BDC ranking for one (recently added) apartment spiralling by leaving an extremely harsh review. Was it warranted? No, absolutely not but it was his opinion and his right to express it in the review.
So the awareness, rather than fear is always there. Someone tries to extort a fine from me on Airbnb then they’ll soon realise that it is a mistake. Nuff said.
JF
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What I meant is that the names of all a guest’s family members who happened to be part of the booking is immaterial. And the booking guest is contractually responsible for the behavior of their group.
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I no longer get the bad reviews becuase I wait you til at least 48 hours after they review or the 14 day period is up. I did get them in the beginning though.
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I don’t extort with fines. They agree to the fines when they book.
Or like you said, they don’t book.
I actually just dodged a bullet for exactly that today!!! I thanked her for letting me know all the reasons that we were not a good fit for each other! On her end she had several issues but the biggest one was after discussing her “love” (her dog) and finally directing her to read the rules That I also described pet fees to her in the thread, she then came back w “oh I forgot to tell you he is an ESA.”
It’s an interesting situation. On one hand, we would not care at all about mom “lighting up” on the front steps while on her way out. How they sleep - that’s part of the game.
As to the review, I believe but am Not Sure, that a Guest can change their review before your post yours. Someone here will know better than I if this is the case. If so, I would not ask for money (if that is the direction you would take) until after posting yours.
Otherwise, it seems to me that you would probably want to host them again, and do so directly, and just let this go. If you really want the cash at this point, IMO you should cover your butt first with a review and perhaps not be overly harsh considering there is no damage or indoor smoking etc. In our case, we would probably want to give them a decent review as “what harm was done?”, especially IF there is a good chance you can get future bookings from them (and they may tell friends, etc).
Bottom line - what is best for your business? Only you can decide this.
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Only within 48 hours. After 48 hours they can’t change it. This is what @Militaryhorsegal is referring to in her post 2 above yours.
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Maybe it wasn’t anything more than a spontaneous change of plans – and not realizing it was a big deal. Not necessarily anything devious or deliberate… could be, but not necessarily. After all – they didn’t sneak the “extra” person in the door – they told you they would be there. It might be a simple case of “This place is so nice, there’s extra room for you… why don’t you just stay.”
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And that is the presumption of many guests.
I rented the the entire home didn’t I?
Yes - you did - but you rented it for 2 people, not Five.
What does that matter ?
I rented the entire house!
And around and around we go…
My canned response is now - the insurance I have only covers the registered guests. If you do not want to update to the correct number and cost, I am sorry that your booking will be canceled. That Also includes giant babies!
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Yes, it seems some guests assume that it is just like a long-term rental with a lease, which is a situation where you could have anyone over you wanted to. They are unclear on the difference between a guest and a tenant.
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I have had two shockingly false reviews, both acknowledged by Air and they did not remove them. Good luck with that
I understand your perspective. In many listings that would be fine. However, in my listings, the House Rules that guests agree to (whether or not they actually read them) it is expressly forbidden to have unauthorized guests and there is an indicated fine associated should they choose to violate that.
Inmy listing this issue is alleviated when a guest actually reads the rules that they agree to.
Im not sure what part of Terryathome’s post you are wishing her/him good luck with nor what it has to do with you having received 2 false reviews. would be happy for clarification.
The subject line on this discussion emphasises that the guest was “caught lying” – and you seem to take great offense at the perceived dishonesty. However, there is a vast difference between a guest carelessly stumbling into breaking a rule and a guest deliberately being dishonest… and the way you tell it, I do not see how you can be sure it was the latter and not the former.
If my guests are otherwise nice people “of good character” and otherwise trouble free I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt rather than pounce on them with a “gotcha” – that’s the difference between the military and the hospitality industry.
You seem understandably worried about your rating from this guest – well in the ratings department my attitude has earned me over a few years a 5.00 rating on one of my listings and a 4.97 on the other… just sayin’
I was NOT very concerned about my review with this guest because she left it before I requested the money for her unauthorized guest. However, you are correct about the difference between the military and hospitality industries. Luckily, mine overlap since most of my guests are in some way related to the military, either themselves or the people they are visiting.