Charging extra for electricity

[Ynez0]

I have a one bedroom apartment I rent out for vacations. I usually charge people for using the electric as here in Mexico, the electric is so expensive, and i only charge a modest fee for my apartment. It also deters people from using it all the time, leaving it on unnecessarily. 

Not one of my guests has ever had a problem with this.

Today, my last two guests felt it was very unfair to have this charged and said I wasn't clear about it at the beginning. I read through the guest book in the casita and it does say they will be charged, although I thought I had made this clear on the listing, apparently not. I only charge this to cover the cost, not to make money. 

Refusing to argue about it, I told them to leave it - despite it being the highest bill ever, since they used the AC almost all the time, leaving it on when they went out. I am a small, sole property owner. As my guest (from London) said 'it's expensive here'. Yes, it is. That's why I can't afford to pay for your electric, when you have used so much.

Their argument was that I was not explicit. I told them I was going to read the meter when they arrived, but they did not understand...nor did they read the guest book in the casita, where it says on the first page how it works...

this is the first time in 16 months that anyone has left my place with a bad vibe. I'm very upset about it as I don't wish them to feel bad, nor me. 

Lesson learnt. Spell it out. Clearly. And then explain again. 

😞

[Dave1018]

I'm thinking of implementing this strategy also, has it impacted your booking rate?

[Agnieszka67]

That's what we will also do now, taking a safety deposit. Simply too annoying (and sometimes too painful) to run after guests not settling additional charges like electricity or other stuff outlined as an extra in the respective sections of the airbnb listing.

[Kjetil6]

Airbnb should come up with a solution  to list electricity cost just as cleaning fee.

given the crazy electricity prices Europe is seeing now , this will affect the bottom line for many hosts.

I have listed the cost in my advertisement (as price eur/kwh) and i have a meter the guest can read their usage installed in the Appartment.

But if the guest refuses to pay after check out , that has happened more than once. Airbnb resolution center will not do anything to help the host.

They just say” we are unable to compensate for excessive use of electricity, gas, fuel, water or other utilities.
Therefore we are closing your case with us.”

[Benoit438]

I have been screw recently by electricity surcharge. Beware to read all the rules of the host. They mentioned in one of my reservation that over usage of electricity will be charge but they never define over usage so at the end I was bill for a normal usage of electricity. I think some host a squeezing guest to pay more and more. Too bad Airbnb don’t care about this issue…

[Agnieszka67]

The often mentioned idea with including such cost in the rent price could work if guests consume energy more or less at similar levels - but they do not!

In our case, most are very reasonable and careful, also for eco reasons. Others are lazy and/or do not care and do not use the provided free firewood for the cosy fireplace, but instead use (charged out) electricty for electric heaters, and not for the first time regulating the temperature via the windows at outside -20°C. For those guests, the cost of electricity usage (and waste) can easily exceed the rent price, easliy!

Given the above, it would be extremely unfair to reasonable guests adding an electricity fee lump sum to the published rent price - they would simply to a large extend pay for the "energy wasters".

So we installed Meters, take photos and charge out accordingly after Check-Out. To stop having unwanted surprises, we will start taking a safety deposit payable before or at Check-In.

Generally speaking: when it comes to valuable resources like energy for heating and also water, the concept of "all-inclusive" is a concept of yesterday. It only invites to waste...