Furniture conundrum…it’s not going to look like the place they booked

21

This is my personal opinion and number 3 happened to me a few years ago when changed a blanket.

  1. Add to your rules that furniture and bedding is subject to change due to damage, wear-and-tear and upgrades. Make a note on your pictures that you are in the process of changing the furniture and bedding. (I personally would be annoyed not having the sleeping sofa vs a blow up twin.)

  2. Contact all guests that you have current bookings with that might be affected with the change and let them know what you are doing. Don’t go out of your way to offer refunds but let them know that as of XXX date, you will be making the following changes. Make is sound like an upgrade, new, etc. They can then make the decision if they want to cancel and get refund.

  3. Airbnb will consider a change in furnisher and bedding options enough of a change that if a guest complains they will probably refund some if not all of the booking.

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22

As a guest, once AirBnB sent me a message asking if the photos on the listing were accurate.

We stayed at a VRBO where they not only changed furniture, but also repainted all the walls and changed the art and flooring. Totally different vibe. Both okay.

Those hosts posted new photos along with the old photos on their listing. So when we booked we didn’t know which place we were staying in. We liked both so didn’t care and the bed count was the same.

For a big decor change I would definitely message every currently booked guest and then delete all inaccurate photos.

23

Ditto ditto ditto …20

24

Wait! Are you saying you don’t allow Birks or Crocs in your house? Surely you jest? :open_mouth:

25

True. I really hate them so don’t allow my husband or sons to wear them. We all have our quirks and that is one of mine.

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26

I agree. They are too ugly to be in my house too.

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27

So crazy. I guess my quirk is not telling other people what to do or wear unless it directly affects me. Maybe it’s a function of being the weird queer kid in the 1970’s who was always told how to look and act. It didn’t work though. Not even Jesus could keep me from being gay. LOL.

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28

I wish I wasn’t but I’m just incredibly bossy. I think I’m mellowing as the years go by though. :slight_smile:

29

I have an electric lift recliner sometimes called a “Smokey Dawson chair” presumably because he (whoever he is, I vaguely recall a C&W singer of that name) once advertised them. Available colours were brown, beige and (hideous) green. With plastic wipe down cushions. When I walked in to the shop I told the salesperson they were all so hideous next to my mid century modern look. She just said “try it first” and I did and bought it on the spot. And it looks even more Nana-ish with a friend’s hand made quilt thrown over the top. I get to sit in it now watching tv and look at all the other much cooler furniture.

30

I lived on the West Coast for 39 years and at some point, over 30 years ago I got my first pair of Birkenstocks. What I love about them is there’s plenty of toe room so your toes aren’t smushed together, they have arch support, you can resole them over and over and, lastly they’re not made in bloody China.
Tell me what shoes you buy that you can say this about? What blows me away is most wear running shoes that last for about 2 years, if you’re lucky, can’t resole and are made in China.
I’m ecologically minded as well as practical about what I wear and BTW, I don’t wear any shoes in my house.

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31

I have a photo of myself at 11yo at the band camp concert wearing a pink shirt, paisley tie, wide white belt, purple flairs and shoes that looked like they belonged in a production of Tommy. In what could best be described as a very redneck part of Australia. I was playing the bassoon ftw. Gay? Nothing to see here.

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32

I have this terrible allfiction that mental images often crop up in my mind. That phrase makes me think of old people’s homes and incontinence. Aagh. :rofl:

33

Conjuring up frightening memories here of how a lot of my friends’ homes looked when I was a kid growing up in Overland Park, Kansas in the 50s.

Lampshades still covered in that cellophany plastic that was only intended to keep them clean for shipping and until they were purchased, plastic runners across all the carpets, living rooms that were fully furnished and cleaned but never used except for once or twice a year when the boss and his wife, or someone else “special” to be impressed, was invited for dinner and where no one else was allowed to step foot.

Even as a kid I thought it was weird, as our house wasn’t like that- no part of the house was off-limits, we didn’t have a family room, just a living room which we used all the time, nothing was covered in plastic or not to be touched.

When I asked my friends why their parents covered everything with plastic and we weren’t allowed to enter the living room, I was told that their parents were “saving it for nice”. I couldn’t get who they were saving it for- like it was important to them to die someday with pristinely clean lampshades untouched by human hands or a speck of dust. I just figured it was one of life’s mysteries I’d never understand.

That’s funny. I never told my kids what to wear or not wear, as I picked my battles. They look back on some of their elementary school class photos and say, “Mom, how could you let me go to school in those fuzzy pink legwarmers, a green plaid skirt and purple top?”

But I did have a thing about how my boyfriends and partners dressed. No way I would have gone out with a guy who wore Birkenstocks- still wouldn’t. I can’t get past ugly clothing- I guess I’m shallow that way.

My son-in-law used to say, “A smart man always lets a woman dress him.” That was until my daughter and he went shopping and after him trying on a bunch of clothes in a bunch of stores (he really was out of decent clothes and needed some new stuff), she convinced him that some pants and a sweatshirt from Lululemon were the best choice. He went to work the next day and the other guys instantly razzed him- “Ooh, how adorable, Kev, Lululemon.”

He came home at lunchtime, which he never did, pulling off the sweatshirt as soon as he walked in the door, saying, “These are going straight back to the store.”

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34

Thanks, great idea! :+1:t2:

Also, the substitute for the sleeper sofa is two twin day beds (one with a trundle) with real mattresses, plus a super twin fold up bed with a nice memory foam mattress—they can take their pick. The folding bed and the trundle bed can easily be moved to the first floor for them if they object to sleeping on the third floor.

I just also happen to have 4 twin air mattresses (2 regular twin, 2 XL twin) stored in the AirBnB from the pre-pandemic days when I allowed larger bookings. So instead of a sleeper sofa in the living room on the main floor, they could have twin beds on the third floor, or I could set up the folding bed or trundle bed on the first floor. If for some reason they preferred to use them (maybe because they can be easily put out of the way during the day, like the sleeper sofa’s bed) the air mattresses would be available.

I don’t like people using the couch this way, but the “new” L shaped sectional sofa makes a much more comfortable bed than the sleeper sofa I’m getting rid of. I’ve slept on both a few times (overnight) and the sectional is as comfortable as most beds. The sleeper sofa is torture, like every sleeper sofa I’ve ever used.

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I had heard this before! I do understand why it might cause some upset. I think it’s over the top for bedding, but for furniture, I totally get it. I have to book places with chairs that have arms, and aren’t too low to the ground, because of my knee replacements.

People often choose one place over another because they love the aesthetics and decor, or because they need furniture with certain features, for this to change this after a guest has booked could cause some trouble.

I’d like to take pictures and warn them folks who have bookings, but I’m not sure when the changeover will happen (it depends on when the other house sells) and I have to move the “new” furniture in before I can take photos.

I’m not even sure myself which pictures, accessories, etc, will end up being used.

:woman_shrugging::woman_shrugging::woman_shrugging::woman_facepalming:

36

Just because you think your bedding options are better doesn’t mean the guest will and since you are changing up what they are expecting they are within their rights to complain to airbnb about the place was not as they rented. Bedding is definitely one that you can’t change up lightly. You need to cover your ass.

Sidebar - When I re-opened after the pandemic, I decided to not have a second bedroom (daybed with trundle) but made the room a den. I made a special note that they daybed and trundle are not meant to be slept on in my description and pictures. I’m not sure if that stops people from napping but since the floorboards squeak I know when someone is spending time in there. I also don’t want folks sneaking in a 3rd person. Less people, better guests, and I raised my rates a little

37

I understand your point. I can change the bed configuration right now to remove the sleeper sofa going forward and let the current guests know how the beds that are available will be changing. I think there’s a good chance it only impacts one or two bookings by the time the change happens. Thanks!

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Question regarding bedding changes not to be taken lightly…. What if the guest did stain the beauty cover (top) on bed and a new one needs to be purchased? After trying first of course to remove said stain, it perhaps was just a terrible accident and the top blanket has got to go, do we make notice to all booked out future guest?
Replacing with as near similar as possible and not completely changing the color of course.

39

This won’t help right now, but going forward, when I purchase the top cover for a bed, I make every effort to buy at least two (preferably three) identical ones for each bed.

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40

I’ve had a couple of pairs of shoes like that. One was some high top sneakers that were made by Doust, the same company that makes ice skates. They were real leather, with a real leather lining, the leather was soft and comfy and I liked them so much I went and bought another pair only a few weeks after buying the first pair, as I was sure I’d never be able to find them again. I found them in this little independent mini-department store in the Canadian town I lived in, a store that had been in business since the 40’s or 50’s, andwhich went out of business a couple years later after the old man who owned it died and his idiot son took over.

The other pair are some leather boots I bought about 30 years ago made by John Fleuvog, in Vancouver. They were called “Angels” and were popular with the teens I knew at the time. I wore those boots daily for at least 6 years straight and still wear them, although seldom, as I now live in the tropics and my footwear consists of a wardrobe of flip flops. They were so comfortable that they never needed “breaking in” as a lot of footwear does, causing some blisters for the first little while.

The soles and heels of those boots were made of real rubber, have never required resoling, and the heels are only slightly worn down after all these years.

I also hate the throw away culture. I have clothing and other things I’ve been wearing and using for 50 years.

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