We had an issue with guests who didn’t check out of our ski house and left a huge mess. Our cleaners ended up needing 51/2 hrs to clean our 1,600 sq ft 2br/2ba home after them. Our next VRBO renters were forced to wait 3hrs while the house cleaners cleaned up the mess. Unfortunately the cleaners didn’t take photos ( they were busy trying to clean as quick as possible BC of our waiting guests). And Airbnb did nothing. We are guvjng the incoming guests a partial refund ( bought then lunch basically) and asked for that fee back from the previous aurbnb guests but got no support from Airbnb on that either. Airbnb even acccused me if making up the state of the house saying I could have Mt friend pose as the cleaner. I use a liscenced, bonded service and Airbnb spoke to them about their policies but would not ask about the work log for our clean. Basically they provided no host support and only insulted me by accusing me if lying then chided me for not explicitly stating late checkout fees and extra cleaning fees. So, we are no longer going to host with Airbnb. I do enjoy, and hope to continue to enjoy. Staying with Airbnb histd. I try to be a very consiouentios guest and always care for someone’s home as if it were my own–even better actually . so good luck and beware. If you have an issue with a guest, document everything by photo and send to them within 24hrs or you are screwed. I tried, as the site suggests, to work it out with the renter but he wouldn’t agree. By the time we involved Airbnb (3 days later after going back and forth and coming to a stalemate) Airbnb said I was already too late. good luck y’all. I’m sticking with Vrbo. They support bith their guests AND their
homeowners.
You really need to play by the rules, then Airbnb becomes very supportive. Were you not explicit about check out?
Did you not claim in time extra cleaning time?
I agree with Yana. Something seems off about your story. It sounds like you don’t have a damage deposit in place? You need to make a claim within 48 hours and show proof using photos or with receipts or both. I’m really sorry you had bad guests and there is no excuse for that behavior of leaving a mess but I am also wondering why they were confused about check out? If you have good policies and are clear, Air should side with you, just as they did when I had bad guests who partied, brought home strangers and damaged furnishings.
BTW, I wouldn’t be too smug about VRBO. It may not be so friendly toward hosts and guests in the future. We understand they are moving toward eliminating the ability to communicate directly (i.e., platform communication only); make all bookings into all instant book and will be rolling out a fee to guests in March or April of 2016. Also your account can be suspended if you don’t book a certain number of guests to their satisfaction.
I have a feeling my account will be suspended very soon with them. I have inqires from Airbnb, Flippkey (though still no bookings), and booking from Booking.com often, from VRBO nothing. Not a single inquiry or booking since i listed 3 weeks ago.
Did the house cleaners show up and the guests were still packing up past check out time?
Did your guest deny the entire mess?
In reply to the questions above — yes, the renter and I had email confirmations of not only the 10 am firm check out to allow the housekeepers to come in but also the house rules. ( I was always flexible with my check in check out and arranged them with each rental to accommodate different guests travel plans.) Not only did airbnb suggest that I was fabricating everything and that the “housekeepers” number was really “just a friend of mine posing as a housekeeper” but they didn’t even stand by the late check out fee the renter agreed to and told him had had to pay nothing. If you try to make a claim, airbnb suggests you first try to work it out with the renter ( through the site) and to give each side 24 hrs to respond to each interaction. I involved Airbnb after the renter agreed to the late check-out fee ( a fee we refunded to the incoming renters for their inconvenience) but not to the extra cleaning charges, 5 plus hours, mostly spent in the kitchen, for a usual 3 - 4 hr job. Yes, the cleaners were there as the guys were leaving and getting out. Their report stated that one of guys said " good luck in there" as they were going in and the guys leaving. I sent all of the documentation airbnb required, to the email they said to and even copied myself to make sure it went through. Our cleaning service is a well established, bonded and licensed home care, cleaning and property management business. They keep detailed records of what they find at the homes. In order to protect my cleaners from a possible confrontation with the renters who were still there, I told them to not take pictures unless there was damage and to just clean as quickly as possible to get the waiting guests in out of the cold. So, that was my error. I asked Airbnb to call the cleaning company and speak to them directly, to query the housekeeping manager about the information I had given them. They called the business manager, twice, on the “emergencies only” line on Christmas Day, the second time during dinner hours. When she could not provide them with the information they required ( bc she was having Christmas dinner with her family and not in the office) they then denied my claim, rather than waiting until the Monday after Christmas weekend when she was back in the office. Airbnb is a business, and paying deposits is not in their interest. VRBO is not infallible but at least the host controls the deposit. I didn’t leave the renters a review, bc I am pretty sure they are going to leave a less than favorable one for me – and even though I won’t be sharing my home anymore with Airbnbers I do travel with them a lot and didn’t want a bad review. I posted here to tell my story so that that others might benefit. ( Always, always take pictures, have a clear check in- check out, not flexible, on website, don’t first try to work it out with the renter or you will “time out” of the claim period.) Best of luck everyone – glad some of you have had better experiences -