Guest leaves Broken blinds not sure how to deal

Research
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Wondering how to respond to our latest guest. They left the door blinds broken and hanging loose, one piece on the floor. They had to know that happened but neglected to mention it. They also forgot to mention that they took the Tupperware home with them along with hangers.
This after leaving 45 minutes past checkout.

The Tupperware and hangers… no big deal but it’s rude. The broken blinds will be $20, which is also no big deal in the long run, but…

So… there is a damage deposit on hold. If I say there was damage before he reviews, does that give him the opportunity to leave a poor review for us? I haven’t had a problem before, so I don’t know what to expect.

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Yes, unfortunately, it does.

You might consider contacting the guest and asking what the problem was with the blinds. Maybe they were marginally functional or fell down very easily and the guest figured you already knew about it.

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You’ll have costed in wear and tear, shrinkage and damages when calculating your nightly price so as you say, most of these things are no big deal. I take a deposit too (well, the Airbnb equivalent) but wouldn’t claim on it in this instance.

The important thing here is to review properly for the sake of your fellow hosts.

I too have had blind problems. There was one in particular in one rental that kept falling down. It wasn’t the guests’ fault particularly - we really needed new. Once they were replaced there were no further problems.

This though (sorry) is down to you. If guests don’t realise that you need them out on time, they will linger. It’s nothing malicious, they are just taking their time. You need to take charge here. :slight_smile:

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Hangers - have to eat that. Some take and some leave. Works out in the end.

Tupperware - I have charged for that in the past. However, they’d use it to store weed (ie smoking in my non-smoking house) so it was my gentle way of saying “I know what you did and am letting you off easy

Others (deliberately damaged an inexpensive item & threw out dishes - being lazy I guess) - would have let it go, but again. The smoke. I even said to them I normally let these items pass but collectively I needed to address.

I gently said, “Hey there! Thanks for leaving the house clean! “ (They had) “We did notice a missing electrical cord, flatware and wine glasses. There’s a strong “herb” odor we can’t get out of 2 Tupperware containers. I don’t really want to take photos and itemize but can if you wish. Would you consider $XX fair compensation for our time and expense to replace these items?”

They jumped at it because they knew what they’d done (more than I was mentioning). Paid immediately & gave a 5 star.

Had another that puked on a pricey quilt, they tried to wash and set in the stains. Took the same approach. They were very sorry & embarrassed (actually one of their group did it), paid Immediately and again, 5 stars. I used the money to buy 2 less pricey replacements. I gave them a fair and nice review because, well, it happens.

I’m just sharing because this won’t be your first episode.

For you…good advice above to ask what happened with the blinds rather than assume. If they say they didn’t do it (they jumped off the door by themselves :joy:), just say thank you, apologize for any trouble and suck up the $20. It’s worth it to get the good review for such small infractions. If you’re all nice about it they will be more inclined to be nice. I can get 50 piece plastic storage sets at Costco for $20-$30. I only poked that “smoke” dude for $ because I wanted him to know I was doing him a solid not pushing the smoke (garnering good will). And yes, told the truth in his review.

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Personally, I hate window blinds. I find them fussy and easy to mess up. And they seem like they would be a PITA to clean. And they always seem to let light in around the sides.

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Door blinds do that, they break. They break so easily that whenever I’ve had them in a rental (long term as a tenant), I’ve always removed them and stored them under the bed so that I wouldn’t be charged for breaking them because they break so easily.

I don’t know if the door is a front door or a sliding door to the patio or french doors between rooms but you may want to consider a different type of covering, curtains or glass film or something or maybe the door doesn’t even need covering. I don’t know what your decor (or door) is like so I understand it might not sound like a great idea to you, but it’s worth pondering.

That being said, it’s not your fault that they broke, I only mention it because they may continue to be a hassle for you. I agree that the guest should have mentioned it and that he was rude.

I don’t think there is any reason to reach out to the guest and ask about the blinds. It is already known that door blinds break and that the guest was rude. He’s already avoided talking about it once so surely doesn’t want to discuss it now. It’s moot and your time must be more valuable than that.

Agreed. It’s rude.

I can’t see that it’s worth trying to claim the deposit, it’s not as straightforward as you may think. The guest has to agree to it and if he doesn’t then you have to continue to spend your time trying to contact Airbnb and work through their maze probably to for nothing.

It’s annoying and disappointing but not costly and ultimately it is the cost of doing business.

Also rude and always inappropriate at an Airbnb but it’s not late enough to charge for a stayover.

This guest’s a bad guest. He’s not the worst guest ever but he has bad habits and bad manners and a bad vibe and he’s not worth it (to me). And the more he gets away with, the worse he may be. The best thing you can do is to write a review.

Cleaning: ? (you didn’t mention so don’t know, but leaving a broken blind on the floor is messy)
House Rules: 1 (check out time is a house rule and should not be broken)
Communication: 2 (for not mentioning the blind or the Tupperware or the hangers and for not
negotiating the late checkout)

Guest checked out 45 minutes late, didn’t mention a blind that broke during his stay which he left on the floor and also took several minor items with him. I would not host him again. Other hosts should be wary depending on their guest standards.

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Though I agree that it is up to a host to deal with a guest that hasn’t left on time as opposed to merely fretting or calling Airbnb, it is not on the host.

It is on the guests. They are not children and they have agreed to a contract. Leaving on time is the most basic of contracts, whether it’s an Airbnb, a hotel or a 2-year lease.

Check-out time is a house rule. A late checkout should be mentioned as a part of an honest review and stars should be deducted from the guest’s house rules rating.

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blinds are difficult to clean, too. Maybe full curtains, but they don’t provide the same privacy.

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Thank you for your thoughts. Very helpful.

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Thank you all for taking the time to reply. You’ve helped with my decision. I’ve elected not to rent to them again bc on top of these concerns they were not clean. I didn’t report the damage, but bc he left an earpiece behind and I need to mail it, I asked why he neglected to mention the blinds. Long winded response, but bottom line is he offered to add $10 to the shipping cost of the earpiece. I didn’t mention the hangars or Tupperware to him. It was an upbeat tone to the text. I’ll leave it at that.

I deducted stars as you suggested. Feel bad doing that, but other hosts need to know.

Thank you all again.

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Do not feel bad being honest. Always leave an honest review, not doing so is unfair to your fellow hosts.

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I agree. In a perfect world…

What I meant was that if I saw a review stating that the guests had been 45 minutes late in checking out, it’s something that I’d hold the host responsible for. The host needs to get in at checkout time to prepare for the next guest. The guest has paid until checkout time and not a minute later. But if a guest is lingering, then it’s better for the host, and it’s part of their job.

As a guest, I’ve overstayed (by ten minutes or so, not 45) but that’s because I’ve genuinely been cleaning something, stripping the bed and so on. I see it more as careless, rather than rude or disrespectful.

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Yes… and adding to this, the night before he said, “… and we’ll be out tomorrow at 11:01 because we know you have other people coming in.”

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Please do this! After you contact them and ask about the blinds. I’d be annoyed by the Tupperware if it’s the good stuff, but then again, I buy the cheap Ikea multi-pack for guests. $5.99 for 20 pieces and it doesn’t break my heart going out the door.

I had guests lingering this morning so I started cleaning. They were lovely people but got “stuck in the door” after getting their car packed. I felt like they wanted to say something but wasn’t sure what. So I started sweeping and they left.

Take charge.

Elegant and non-confrontational.

True.

I would want to know all of this and if it were my guest I’d knock down on stars.

I’m waiting for the 11th hour to review a recent guest who ate in the bedroom and left donut crumbs all over and dribbled hard cider on the furniture, among other things. Not only not clean, but broke HR. Also took glass bottles out on the pool deck and had to be asked to come in at 11 as it’s a quiet neighborhood and they were blasting their Latin Techno.

Yes, it’s on the host, Just as it’s on a hotel to boot you out. People linger, stall and try to take advantage. Not all people, but those that do need to be told. It’s annoying, but it’s on us as hosts to manage our business.

I’m glad you reviewed him honestly. You’ve done other hosts a favor.

Recently had a 3.4 guest try to book. Glad I checked the reviews and he couldn’t IB and a host was honest.

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Ok so it sucks but this is some of the minor stuff that we all must budget for.

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I know no one else in the world would blink at this, but you have to understand…before online banking I balanced my checkbook to the penny and rounding up or down is almost impossible for me. I know…pitiful. And I know the guest wasn’t being literal (I think)…but this statement makes me crazy!

Checkout is at 11:00 (I’m assuming). Not 11:04, not 11:02. Not 11:01. 11. Period. How are you already telling me you’re planning to thread the needle!

I had a lady who was 30+ min late (& snuck in extra people and a dog so she was already on my list) tell me she was trying to be sure to clean up & follow checkout procedures (super short and easy, btw). I’m thinking “good….but you’re supposed to do that by….11:00!”

And ask me how “clean” things were and if she followed the procedures. I don’t want to know what it looked like before if she really did do something “helpful” :roll_eyes:

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Thank you for your response. It’s supportive.

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Our manual says, “Checkout is by 11:00”.

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This is why our check-out is 10 am. We will be unaffected if a guest is running late.
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Placing overly high expectations on paying guests can only lead to disappointment and frustration.

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Yeah, I have “no later than”. I also remind the guest when providing checkin info and the “evening before” checkout message. I have approx 90% compliance.

I had it at 10:00 AM and my guests seemed rushed/stressed and I didn’t want them leaving on that note. Plus I would personally find it a bummer so mostly it’s a preference. And I don’t do same day bookings so I have more leeway although it’s a long day & the earlier I can start the better. I considered 10:30 but I thought that’d cause confusion since it’s unusual to do mid-hour.

Isn’t perspective funny. I look at it as “overly high expectations” for them to get out by 10a and you: “overly high” for them to get out on-time. LOL.

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