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Post by dpoubigbear on Dec 28, 2016 17:58:18 GMT
Your basic nightmare of a guest: Books my cabin for 2 people and shows up at sunset with 6 people, snow and ice everywhere, so I let them into the cabin figuring we'll work out the details after they get out of the cold. I send them a notice with the fees for the additional guests, get no response and call Airbnb for advice. They advise to file a complaint with a request for the additional fees for the 4 extra guests. I get a nasty reply from the guest that there is not enough room for all the additional people! The cabin is listed with a "Sleeps 4 people comfortably with an extra full sized futon in the living room for 2 children." Also, house rules expressly state that any unregistered guests will be charged at $50 each/day. I try to compromise with the guest, saying that I would split the difference for all the extra guests and only charge $200 extra for the 2 days. No reply from guest for 12 hours. Finally guest sends a text stating that the booking had an error, and that I should not worry because the extra guests do not take showers. What....  ?? So much for being nice. Word to the wise - do not let people in before an adjustment is made to the booking on the Airbnb website for extra guests! People who pull these manipulations will be nothing but a headache - smelled smoking in the cabin (listed as a non-smoking cabin), banging on the walls all night, and very uncommunicative and manipulative. |
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Post by Mabel on Dec 28, 2016 19:06:46 GMT
I don't get it. Your listing states "Sleeps 4 people comfortably with an extra full sized futon in the living room for 2 children." To me this sounds like it accommodates 4 people in beds etc, and two smaller people on the futon, which totals 6 people. Does Airbnb have your listing for 4 total or 6 total? Whatever the case, if they did make their reservation for 2 people, I can't help but wonder why you did not refuse to allow them access before the alteration to the reservation was accepted and taken care of. It's common protocol for hosts in order to avoid being taken advantage of, as many guests are prone to doing. I understand the weather was bad and you wanted to be kind, but could they not have waited in their car, gone to a coffee shop etc, while you either called Airbnb or sent the alteration from inside your cabin? Is there no wifi? Or did you leave the cabin with them in it and handle all this remotely? You said you "sent them a notice with the fees for additional guests..." Does that mean you submitted an alteration? Or some other kind of notice? Once you allow access inside, it is very unlikely that guests are compelled to respond immediately. Also I'm kind of shocked to hear that an Airbnb customer service agent told you to "file a complaint with a request for the extra..." instead of directing you to submit an alteration immediately. (ok maybe i'm not so shocked).
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Post by High Priestess on Dec 29, 2016 15:50:16 GMT
As you discovered thru this unpleasant experience, and as Grace indicated, once you let guests into the house, you lose any and all leverage over them to charge for the extra guests. I can see how inclement weather would add a lot of pressure to just bring everyone indoors. But then ideally you'd be going indoors along with them and submitting a reservation request to them via your computer or mobile phone (or calling Airbnb to have Airbnb help you with it) and getting their acceptance of the reservation alteration before you depart the premises...or else you kick them out again, or at least part of their group. Ideally it is better if you don't let everyone into the house to begin with...having them wait in the car may seem mean in inclement weather or winter weather, but a good way to look at it, is that they are putting themselves into that situation, not you, by arriving with people who weren't part of the booked reservation.
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Post by helgaparis on Jan 2, 2017 19:29:03 GMT
As said above, never let extra people inside and never hand over keys before all payment questions are settled.
You had the option too to say: pay the extra fee on the spot (via airbnb) or send them away. If it overcharges thd capacity of the cabin, if no extra bedding was there etc, it would be better not to accept the group. You would be still paid for the booking.
If there is wifi/ cell data, I send a booking amendment and wait that they confirm it. Sometimes I call airbnb with the guest and put on speaker. Customer service could change the booking, if they have both sides on the phone. If the guest refuses, it's a clear breach of the terms of the booking and you can tell them to leave.
I believe the staff person wanted to say to make a request via the resolution center. You can still do that after check in. Ask for the amount with a short explanation. If there is no answer within a day, click on the link to involve airbnb. In this case, airbnb can then take the money from their card. Not as friendly as a changed booking, but maybe he thought the stade of being friendly was passed already.
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Post by keith on Jan 11, 2017 17:07:36 GMT
Word to the wise - do not let people in before an adjustment is made to the booking on the Airbnb website for extra guests! People who pull these manipulations will be nothing but a headache - smelled smoking in the cabin (listed as a non-smoking cabin), banging on the walls all night, and very uncommunicative and manipulative. Yes.. the whole. "come in and we'll sort it out later" is the problem here. After you give someone what they want is not the time to ask them to pay for it. They likely did this on purpose hoping you'd let them get away with it, and it seems to have paid off for them. They rolled the dice so it should come as no surprise to them when it doesn't go the way they hoped. Sort it out before they come inside. If they don't want to freeze outside, they should book appropriately or communicate properly ahead of time.. help them learn a lesson. |
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?? So much for being nice. 
