We recently had a terrible experience hosting a music video. Came as a surprise since the guest was a Power Host and had tens of 5-star reviews as a guest. Just some highlights of what happened:
booked for 18 people. 34 showed up.
cigarrettes
alcohol consumption
smoke machine
trespassed neighbor’s property and took over their driveway
My listing clearly stated extra fee charges for each violation but Peerspace denied the overage charge saying it was an arbitray charge that conflicted with the built-in rates (1-14 guests, 15-24 guests, etc.) and was unenforceable.
Here’s my questions: How are hosts incorporating violation fees into their listings?
At the moment it seems guests can unilaterally decide to invite as many guests as they want, even if the host agreed to a much lower head count. Feels abusive toward the host.
I recently went through something similar and after a few back and forth conversations with support, they ended up taking care of me. You might have additional information that support doesn’t have that paints a better picture, so make sure to break everything down for them.
Capacity: If your capacity is 24 guests you may be SOL for this booking, but if you have a tier up that includes 34 guests, you should absolutely be able to collect that amount, if you’re able to provide proof. In addition, you should put some clear and exact language in your description that states the charge for going over capacity. (ex: You will be charged X for exceeding capacity.)
Everything else: Unfortunately, you won’t be able to collect fees on the other stuff this time. I always have guests sign a waiver stating the rules and collect a refundable security deposit outside of Peerspace, which is returned as long as the guest follows all of the rules. I keep some or all of it when guest goes over the agreed upon # of people, cigarette smoking charges, cleaning/damage charges, overtime, etc. I’ve found that people behave much better when their money is on the line. When you charge a flat cleaning fee, they often feel like they already paid to make a mess or break the rules, and are more likely to do it.
Sorry this happened to you. It’s always a discouraging feeling to deal with these types of guests and not get the support you expected from the platform.
Do you have in your listing the maximum capacity or pricing tiers. Like it has been mentioned if you have pricing tiers then you just ask for the higher hourly rate at the end of the booking. If they went over capacity you can ask for that as well if you have it mentioned in your listing. The guest would pay the hourly rate they booked at or being moved up to along with the hourly rate of the over capacity as well. You would have to provide video documentation of the amount of guests to prove this.
I have also shut some productions down for the reasons you have mentioned. I do contact them and give them an opportunity to rectify the situation, but if they do not or can’t get their attendees under control then I shut the production down. In 3 years I have done this 3 times. If you have video documentation along with text or messages via Peerspace talking about the issues at hand, Peerspace will back you up. Before I shut any productions down I do contact Peerspace for them to notate the file so they are aware of problems going on. If it is after hours I send them an email so they are aware of the problem.
Hope this helps and best of luck on future productions.
You’re probably out of luck for this experience, but in the future I recommend the following…
Write up a Policies & Rules document that covers anything and everything you can think of. It should match whatever you have in your listing, but also add in anything else that’s not mentioned — garbage rules, alcohol, smoking, overtime, music, glitter, etc, etc.
Assign a fee for breaking each rule and list it next to each item. Also list out your overtime structure and pre-calculate the amounts based on the hourly rate the guest is paying. For example, I charge 1.5x the hourly rate before 8pm and 2x the hourly after 8pm. This is calculated out right on the page for the guest to see what it will cost them.
Make it look nice and official and present it to the organizer prior to their booking. Tell them they need to read and sign prior to loading in.
Collect a credit card as collateral and then bill the amount of any violations directly to the card. Do it that night before they leave. Once they leave, it’s nearly impossible to get people to pay and Peerspace, as mentioned above, can be difficult to collect through.
Oh… and don’t do music video bookings. 90% of the time they suck. I only accept them when run through a reputable production company.
Do you collect a security deposit?? My rental agreement states that if they break these rules ie. no smoking, glitter, smoke machine ect. your deposit will be forfeited.
I have a “violation fee” (like I’ve seen on AirBnB) in my host rules on my page for bringing extra guests without approval. Peerspace did NOT, however, have my back when it came to enforcing that policy and I was SOL in terms of receiving full compensation.
I had wording in my listing stating all fees and made sure guest confirmed in writing they reviewed and agree. When I told PS to charge these fees they claim it’s unenforceable and the banks will deny the charge as “arbitrary.”
This is why I do damages, overages, and any other issues directly with the guest and not through Peerspace.
Never had issue with anyone refuting charges when using a credit card. Got screwed via PayPal once when I first started, but I no longer accept PayPal.
Tell me more! So you’ll collect cc info before booking and have guest sign for any damages, overages, etc.? What platform do you use to run the charge?
Yep. Search my posts. I’ve gone over how I do this in detail several times in the past. I have a policies and rules document that spells out the dos and don’ts along with the associated fees for not following them. I also detail out the OT costs and how that works. Guest in charge must read and sign.
I also have credit card authorization form that I have everyone fill out as security. I run cards through my Quickbooks account which is what I use for clients that book me directly.