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I recently rented my house to a person who reserved for 5 people. Our house has a maximum occupancy of 8 (by city short-term permit law), and we charge $50 per guest, per night for each person after 5.
We discovered via our Nest outdoor camera, that 15 people stayed at our house. That is 10 over agreed reservation, and 7 over law limit.
We contacted the Resolution Center, provided proof, time-stamped video, and pictures.
We received the following resolution:
"Unfortunately, S— is not willing to pay the extra Guest fee and I cannot just take the money out of her pocket.
But, with that being said, I have talked to my team, and we have agreed that you are entitled to that money from S—. But since she is not willing to pay it we have agreed to give you the maximum our system will allow us to issue of $300USD."
Here is my issue… Airbnb is allowing the renter to NOT pay additional fees and have us the homeowner eat the cost? How is this even possible? The renter blatantly disregarded Airbnb policy and ours, and yet she has the right to say, I don’t want to pay and walk away? We are not allowed to use the security deposit for this either…
Has anyone else had this happen before?
Any advice would be appreciated as I am about to flip my lid…
Welcome to the forum where we help hosts shut the barn door after the mule has escaped.
If you peruse the posts here you will see that there are many complaints like yours. What it boils down to is that Airbnb is a booking platform, nothing more. Their guarantees are hardly that and there’s nothing you can do about it if you read all the small print carefully.
What you need to know is this: You have to control your own property. When you saw all those guests arriving you should have contacted them via the platform ASAP and told them they would have to pay the extra charges or vacate the premises (with no refund). And followed that path of calling Airbnb ASAP if they didn’t accept the charge and so on.
Thanks @KKC unfortunately, we did not realize until they were checking out as they hid when checking in (would drive into the garage, unload go through the side door). I guess since we didn’t say anything the felt confident upon check out…
I will definitely use your suggestion for the next time!!!
If there is more than one way in and out you need more than one camera. Also make sure the cameras are pictured and disclosed. Not only is this required by Airbnb policy but helps to act as a deterrent. Be sure and check/monitor when it’s check in time. You might also consider monitoring how many devices are logged onto your wireless. If you have say, 10 things on it when the house is unoccupied, and then a group of “5” checks in and you have 30 devices connected you know something is up.
Thanks @KKC Our camera is disclosed in our Airbnb profile and is placed in an obvious location right over the garage door… Great tip re: the wifi and connected devices!!! Thank you!
