To find guests bringing dogs to our B&B without informing us beforehand unbelievably cheeky?

[Woolysheeps]

We run a B&B in a rural area in the Scottish Borders.
We do state we are 'pet friendly with additional charges' on booking platforms.
I would say 70% of our guests bring dogs but of this 70% only 10% actually inform us beforehand and enquire about charges and where the dogs are allowed etc. Most just turn up with their dog and walk right in. Some bring 2 or 3 dogs with them and don't bat an eyelid when I say 'you didn't inform us you were bringing a dog....'. Not a single guest who has brought a dog and not informed us has ever mentioned the additional charges specified online and aren't happy when we bring it up. It is making me want to remove the 'pets allowed' feature as I feel it is being abused.
So, my question is, if our booking platforms say 'pets allowed with additional charges', AIBU to expect to be informed beforehand? Would you inform a B&B beforehand if you were bringing your dog?

I've no idea how Booking.com works for accommodation owners, but IME, once you make a booking through the site you often receive communication direct from the establishment asking about special requests, arrival times, etc.

Would this be your opportunity to mention the charges for dogs and that you need to be advised in advance of their arrival?

My pet hate is places advertising themselves as pet friendly then giving no option to declare number of pets and charge additional fees if applicable at the time of booking. If places have a limited number of dog friendly rooms then it should be an option to choose a dog friendly room at the time of booking, otherwise there's the risk that they don't have enoughy surely.

I've twice turned up at a hotel to find they had no knowledge of us bringing dogs with us, despite writing a note at the time of booking and adding an additional note when we checked in online.

I would never book a place without getting in touch with them. I once rang a pet friendly place, and they said dogs had to sleep in outside kennels only. So I booked else where.

I think you should just say pet friendly and put your price up to cover it. The majority of your guests will have a dog anyway as those who don’t are less likely to book a pet friendly place.

yep. OP could reimburse those that don’t bring dogs, I suppose.

70% of guests is a significant majority.

Surely the simplest solution is to raise your rate by £5 per night and to do whatever enhanced cleaning procedures you normally do after a dog stay every time.

Then a very very clear message in literally first line of the property info sent after booking (because people are lazy and don’t read it all) ‘please note that Acacia Meadows is a working farm. Dogs are welcome for no extra charge but you must inform us in advance if you are bringing your dog.’

I would assume there's an extra charge for pets - as there usually is - and would also inform the owner that I am bringing two well-behaved dogs.

As someone who doesn't book hotels very often, I would assume that if there was a charge for a dog I would have to input the number of dogs alongside number of adults and children when making my booking (like I do when booking a campsite).

It wouldn't know that booking.com doesn't offer this feature.

If it says pet friendly then I would assume to just bring them along.

This reminds me of a place we went to years ago... All pets allowed, people brought horses, cats, dogs everything under the sun. We took a bird in a travel cage as we couldn't find a bird sitter at home and the owner went batty and asked us to leave.

Just put your price up across the board to include the doggie charge

amylou8 · Today 02:20
If 70% bring a dog you'll likely lose that 70% of your trade by not advertising as pet friendly.

Hmmm. OR you might find that the 70% is replaced with folk happy to escape from 'pet friendly' places.

I wouldn't book a pet friendly accommodation.

I would assume that any information actually REQUIRED by the place to facilitate my stay is requested at the time of booking. If you have said that you accept pets and then don’t put the charge on when I make payment it wouldn’t cross my mind that I would have to call up an pay separately.

Agree it is all in the wording. If I booked a dog friendly cottage that didn't ask for any more information I would def just rock up with my dog

Cottage yes (although even then the owners might only want one well behaved small dog)

B&B no - you are in someone's house and you need to tell them what sort of dog and how many you want to bring and check that's ok.

Extra charges are very normal in the UK for self catering but for most places the charge per dog is stated and also that it is not included in the quoted price but will be added on at checkout. The sites have an additional option where you say how many adults, how many children and how many dogs. They also state how many dogs are allowed per booking.

It would make sense to specify the charge somewhere on the page, for clarity, as it can vary hugely. I’d always pop a message in the additional information box to say I was bringing a dog, though.

After you receive the booking, email then with the question are you bringing a dog? If so, how many? Dogs will incur an extra charge of £20 per dog to be paid on arrival. This should cover any queries. Make it clear once they book, they then have the time to cancel if they do want to pay the extra charge.

I think you need to change you wording. Pet friendly, additional charges apply to bringing pets. Please inform us in advance of your stay if you plan on bringing pets

I'm always unsure when using bookking sbd raking the dog. You can filter to pet friendly but then some of them that come up aren't actually pet friendly ( the big chains), when you look into it, they accept service dogs which they have to. I'd only book through then with the dog if when I look to select my room there's a pet friendly room and would note on the booking requests we'd like to bring the dog. If it doesn't have a dog friendly and non dog room I'd not book and try and their own website to look further.
Advertise separate rooms as pet friendly or not and charge for the room accordingly. Even as a dog lover I wouldn't want to stay in a dog room without the dog as I'd expect a dog bed / other extra facilities the charge covers taking up space and wiff of dog in a dog room!

I always look for pet-friendly, but always clarify the rules beforehand (sleeping/feeding/ room etc).
That is only good manners...

I hadn't realised you could only tick pet friendly or not, and couldn't add your own bits - isn't it possible to add something in the main blurb? (Though some may not read it or just ignore)

Is it possible for you to contact them once booked to clarify what they're bringing? Not that you should have to, but if folk are being inconsiderate it might be a way to protect yourself/the property

@Woolysheeps booking.com is the pits I agree. How about a follow up email after receiving a booking to clarify the situation before guests turn up?

In the booking confirmation could you state along the lines of

Up to 2 dogs allowed, £30 per dog payment on arrival reduced to £15 per dog if paid at least 24 hours in advance by telephone. You could create an option to add a dog to your stay on your website.

You're welcome! Hopefully that helps, although I can see from your most recent post that it already states that. I guess people just don't read 🙃Are you allowed to write your own content for a confirmation or any follow up emails?

Assuming you have a sort of check-in desk/area, maybe it's worth having a sign that's very visible that states "Dogs allowed £5 per dog, per night". Perhaps have it on the desk and on the wall behind you so there is no excuse for them not to pay 😆

Let us know how you get on with your next customer that has an unexpected dog in tow :)

I’d be so pissed off if I got to the checkout screen saw my final price, paid it and then got a follow up email straightaway informing me that I needed to pay an extra £20 that wasn’t communicated on the booking page. 😅

The accommodation owner needs to communicate with booking.com that the listing details aren’t working for them and get them changed.