Very small sample size, end of summer into shoulder season however notable as all but 1 guest have brought dogs and not one has checked the pet box which can be elusive as they have all mentioned dogs just didn't add the fee. Prior to this the pet fees collected were averaging 20% of bookings which didn't make sense. Obviusly $25 isn't moving anyone's needle but it adds up especially over the course of the season and to the host @$125 per stay. No one has given push back, I approve their booking, note I will be adding pet fee and done so not overly cumbersome.
If your house is pet friendly, assume everyone is bringing a pet and build extra into your rate, if the market will support it. Most people are dishonest. They aren't checking a box that costs them an extra $125.
If your house is pet friendly, assume everyone is bringing a pet and build extra into your rate, if the market will support it. Most people are dishonest. They aren't checking a box that costs them an extra $125.
I've started really checking for the pet fee and the number of guests before I approve a booking. I've had quite a few just put one person down, and they're really a family of 6 or 9. My cleaner needs to know how many towels etc to leave out. I haven't had anyone that I know of bring a dog without checking the box, but then I don't usually look at my cameras. Is your pet fee $25 or $125?
I think guests start searching without putting in the number of guests or pets, and then forget about that when they request to book. I don't know why it would be different for you this year though, unless the platforms have changed something and made the boxes harder to see.
Strangely, I've had 2 groups this summer who've left without locking the front door. That's the first time guests have done that. Thank goodness I can check on the lock app after they leave. But one person left the main wooden door (with the lock) wide open, and just had the glass storm door closed. My cleaner arrived that afternoon and thought someone was still in there. I couldn't tell that on my Ring doorbell because it doesn't video the door itself.
Sorry if I was unclear. I was trying to say that in my experience guests are not adding pets when attempting to book. Since taking over myself in addition to raising my nightly rate I feel like I am also getting the pet fee that was not being picked up by PM. My pet fee is $150. I calculated as $25 of that as going to PM.
TLDR: My former PM wasn't diligent about ensuring guests bringing dogs were paying the fee.
If they're telling you about the dog in the first message, that seems like an easy catch. I'd have whoever handles inquiries check the reservation against the message before replying, then pass the pet info to the cleaner too. Otherwise the fee and the extra turnover work can both fall through the cracks.
@Andrew Steffens how often have you had to impose the $500 undeclared pet fee? And has it impacted your reviews? I live in such fear of retaliatory guest reviews that I always chicken out when it comes to enforcing policies like this.
This summer, I had a lot of issues with this, as well as with the guest headcount not being accurately indicated at booking. My max occupancy is 6, but I started having a lot of guests book for 3 but show up with 5, stuff like this. Anyway, I've just started adding something along these lines to my "thanks for booking" email: I have you all set for XX guests and XX pets - if those numbers aren't correct, please modify your booking as soon as possible. It's kind of a pain because I need to manually edit each message to reflect their people and pet headcount, but it has managed to fix a few "missed pets"