Major issues with damage and add on pricing after booking

Bookings
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Hi all -

We had a few unfortunate experiences at our studio in Chicago this weekend. First - one group left half smoked cigarettes strewn around the studio and 6+ trays of half eaten food, over all a mess in general. When I went to add a smoking cigarettes inside fee I was prompted to show proof so I sent a pic then I was asked to show a third party invoice because PS can’t justify arbitrary fines - how do you all deal with this? When people smoke cigarettes INSIDE and during a pandemic I have to go through extra sanitizing and air filtering processes and it yellows our white walls and furniture! Anyone know how I can get extra comp for an issue like this?

Second - we had a late booking last night. I felt fine about it even though it had an end time of 12:30am. The guest had a review from a prior booking that seemed fine and even said in his message this was a music video shoot and had his company listed as a videography co. Well people were ringing my doorbell until 3am trying to get into this full blown rager and a fight even broke out - and ended in my venue manager cutting the power circuit to get everyone out. How do I charge for event pricing after the fact? I have event during covid and *after midnight * pricing as an add on - obviously this wasn’t chosen and paid for prior. Guest also did not return keys to lockbox and I’m just concerned with not be able to charge a fine based on it being “arbitrary”.

Third - we have an issue where we have gear for add ons - we keep it all in an unmarked closet and only tell the people who add on this pricing option - lately guests have been helping themselves to this gear - studio lights in general and leaving the lights out after - I tried charging after the fact and again was told this was arbitrary. Help lololol

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Hi Mel, sounds like you’ve had some unfortunate bookings recently, sorry to hear that.

With regards to the PS rules about evidence, unfortunately, there isn’t much you can really do about the need for a 3rd party company as Peerspace needs that verification for their own liability, but you can try sending them receipts for cleaning supplies and paint (if you have to repaint the walls). I tried to add labor to one of those once and they rejected it as arbitrary, even though it wasn’t much of a fee and it was clearly stated in our rules. The reality is there just isn’t much that can be done for “petty” damages either on Peerspace or in real life. There’s no value in spending time and effort enforcing small fines on people who didn’t care in the first place.

HOWEVER - you are fully allowed to require a credit card or cash deposit by Peerspace rules and you are allowed to conduct that particular transaction off of Peerspace. Be careful, as credit card processors like Stripe and Square-up do not refund the transaction fee when issuing a refund of a deposit, but some of them do offer a temporary authorization option.
We also require a CoI for anything over a small photoshoot, and you can send folks to FullFrame Insurance or Event Helpers for inexpensive policies which, counter-intuitively, can often actually make rowdy groups behave better.

In the future you can also contract a 3rd-party cleaning service, someone relatively inexpensive, and have their number on standby for one-off needs. You’l need to explain your need and have them come out to the space for an evaluation, after which they should give you an estimate you can refer to in your rules or include in your booking notes.

Then when a rowdy client messes the place up, take your pictures but then immediately call for the service to come out. They will charge you $200-$500 depending on severity (and this may be different pricing in Chicago) but that should suffice for a receipt from a 3rd party company. We have a cleaning service clean our studio once a week and if we have something similar happen, rather than clean it ourselves, which we would normally do after a standard booking, we call the cleaning service and have them come the next day and then bill the client or report to Peerspace.

Peerspace is usually pretty good about allowing you to charge for the add-ons afterwards if you can provide proof that they were added without permission or acknowledgement - have you started that process yet? Did the client refute the additional charges?

As for the gear closet, if you don’t want to have to go down to the studio to unlock your gear closet every rental, buy a digital lock.
Get one of the more expensive $200-300 versions that allows you to change the combination and set temporary combinations, even better if you can do it remotely. It will pay for itself in the extra gear rental pretty quickly.

Lastly, it’s always going to be on you the host to dictate access through physical means. Anything left out or unlocked is accessible, and in a lot of jurisdictions, anything inside your studio is legally part of the rental unless physically locked down or barricaded.

Hope that helps.

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Geoffrey,
Thank you for jumping in and helping Mel! I did want to clarify a couple of points on your message. First, on the line “Add a clause to your list of rules that states the renter forfeits their right to refute damages if they do not do a walk through at the end of the booking. This addresses people who try to skip out before you notice.": Unfortunately Peerspace would not be able to support this, but I do agree that it is very helpful to have a walkthrough after every event. I would just reword it that you strongly suggest a walkthrough to easily remedy any missed expectations. Second, on the line “Create a page that covers all of your rules and lists a price for breaking each item. Have the organizer sign it before the start of the booking (send via email). Include EVERYTHING from excessive garbage to overtime to extra people, smoking, etc, etc.”: This would be an external contract signed off the platform requiring the guest to provide personal information. Within our terms, 3.1(f), " Booking Agreements . …Except where approved by Peerspace, Booking Agreements with supplemental clauses may not impose rules or limitations on use that are materially different than those listed in the Description, include any additional contractual obligations , or alter Guests’ or Hosts’ liabilities.". Therefore this is not something we support on our platform. Lastly, to confirm on your line " 1. Don’t go through PS for overages and extras. Handle it directly with the renter.", you are referring to the security deposit, right? Other than that, your advice is spot on! Thanks Geoffrey!

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Hello Mel,

I am sorry you had to go through it.

As some people mentioned above - security deposit is the answer to all your questions. We are a venue, and a part of a school, so we require a $1000 refundable security deposit from every renter in a form of check (if that is done in advance, so we have time to deposit it), cash or money order.

Also, mention every single rule, restriction and additional charge on your PS listing. I also do “safety briefing” and walk-through before and after the event with every client. Informing the client about possible additional charges for cleaning or damage, or overtime prior to the event is the key!

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Hello Zoe,

Thank you for clarification. How do we charge security deposit through Peerspace and is it returned to the renter after the event?

Galina

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Hosts are allowed to require a refundable day-of security/damage deposit from guests in the form of a check or credit card authorization such as Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, etc.

At this time, Peerspace does not support processing these deposits through our online and mobile applications. Provided there are no damages to the space, the deposit would then be returned to the guest in person at the end of the booking. For these reasons, do not charge a security deposit as an add-on.

While most hosts do not collect a security deposit, if you would like to require one, it must:

  • be clearly stated in your listing’s Host Rules section
  • include the dollar amount
  • include the method of collection (check, PayPal, etc.)

Remember that by booking through Peerspace, guests agree to cover in full any damages that they or their invitees cause during the booking. Any incidents during a booking will be resolved through the Peerspace Dispute Resolution process. If a security deposit was collected, you will be asked to provide supporting evidence of it.

For more information on security deposits, please see our Terms and Conditions.