So recently a lovely lady and her kids stayed with me. The night before she made three cups of tea and the next morning #bam there’s piss in the bed. She apologized for it but now I have to buy a new bed, one thing I will not do is allow new guests to sleep on a pissy bed. It will cost me $550.00 to replace the bed. Should I charge her the whole amount for the new bed or let her slide on this huge expense she is now costing me?
I am not sure that you would be able to recoup the entire amount. Do you not use mattress protectors on your beds? Did the child sleep with the mother or in its own bed? There are products available to removing urine from mattresses, if it is fresh. You can even find companies that will deep clean a mattress. `much cheaper than buying a new one.
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I agree with @Kerensa_Baker a mattress protector is an essential when running Airbnb.
You won’t need to replace the whole bed will you, but just the mattress.
Up to you whether you put in a request to be reimbursed for the costs but Airbnb aren’t always very supportive.
Just call the professional company that will deep clean the matress and charge them for it.
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I hope you took photos and put a claim in BEFORE your next guests check in or it’s all a moot point as you’ll get zip.
Agreed no need for a brand new mattress and not sure what the 3 cups of tea I presume the parent drank has to do with a kid wetting bed (which is normal behaviour).
I don’t want to be unsympathetic as you may not have kids and we all make mistakes…but I wouldn’t accept children booking without an actual plastic protector on mattress and clear house rules. Kids damage stuff.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I will do the right thing and get a new mattress but on a lower end not full priced. Because they are still here I dont want to take a chance and clean it and then have him do it again. She did apologize and I totally understand everyone makes mistakes, she claims this is the first time so i will give her another chance by not charging her for the full cost of the mattress. I think 150.00 is a fair adjustment compared to the $550. Also does any one suggest a type of mattress cover? i have had the problem myself of overheating while i sleep with one on my bed which is why i never used them in the guest room or my personal bed.
I have the plastic protection but sometimes kids sleep with their parents. Plus, it has happened several times that people outright refused to use the plastic protection, claiming that their kids do not wet their bed anymore. However, they forgot that travelling can be stressful for kids and it can prompt them to wet the bed even if they usually don’t do that. Regular mattres protection is sometimes simply not enough to hold all the pee and additional cover is needed. But what to do when parents simply don’t want to do it? Call the cleaning company and deep clean it. Charge them for it. It happens really rarely but sometime there is simply no other option… These things happen. It’s not the end of the world. Find the reliable cleaning company in your neighbourhood and call them in such cases.
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I not only use a mattress protector, I put it over a mattress encasement to prevent bedbug infestation. I inquired on this forum and spent a lot of time on Amazon before selecting both - reading reviews with a mindset for both protection and comfort. We have slept in the guest bed to be sure what we chose did not cause excessive heat or noise problems. Ended up with “The Original Sleep Defense System - Waterproof / Bed Bug / Dust Mite Proof - PREMIUM Zippered Mattress Encasement & Hypoallergenic Protector” for the bedbug prevention; sorry can’t find the topper. I think I ended up getting one at Target. Also encased the boxspring. Was a bit pricey to do all but compared to a new mattress it was $ well spent.
Are they sleeping on the soiled mattress? If you get it professionally cleaned and covered while they are there it might give you peace of mind and they will see the inconvenience and cost. You should defiantly file a claim for your expense,
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I also got a mattress encasement which works really well. It’s huge and stretchy and is large enough for the super big Nest mattress, and the topper! Even though it does not make a crinkly sound, I simply put a matress cover over top of it to ensure no direct crinkly sound.
Personally, I would charge this guest the whole amount for the mattress. In no way, shape or form is that YOUR fault. They need to pay for what they ruined.
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I had an adult who drank too much alcohol pee on the bed one night. The next night he turned it over and peed on the other side. I put in a claim through the resolution center for the cost of a brand new mattress as the mattress wasn’t very old. The guest didn’t dispute the charge so I got paid and bought a new mattress. I agree that you should get a new mattress. I recommend that you try to get the guest to pay.
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Mattress protector that I swear by: Hospitology. It doesn’t crinkle and i haven’t noticed getting extra sweaty from it, either. (I have one on every mattress in the house, I love them so)
Our cat got accidentally locked in the guest room for several hours, and used the bed as his litter box. The protector absolutely and completely worked. I might have been able to reuse it, but I threw it away and bought 2 more. One to use, one as a spare.
…i don’t have an opinion about whether/ how much you should charge the guests, but i would thank them for being honest and letting you know as soon as it happened so you have time to deal with it before your next guest arrives.
Good luck, I hope you find a resolution that everyone is happy with.
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I would try to clean the mattress. There are some easy and effective treatments. Here is one that works on new and old stains. Pee removal mattress
Hahahaaaa!! Yeah, bring your kids along so you can blame your “problem” on someone else. (JK, of course!)
My hubby is from the UK and we have a joke: "Why does the queen have corgis? So she can blame them if she has to “pass gas”.
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But what I worry about is all the pee that saturated deep inside the mattress. Lots of products can work the surface stains but what about the interior of the mattress? The guest ruined it and needs to buy her another one.
It’s not fair to future guests who have to sleep on it. Even if you get out all the stains, There may well be a vague nursing home smell that may waft up from the deep heart of the interior.
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It’s a judgement call. I was just reading about hot tubs, and one poster said they replaced bathtubs when they bought a home, because someone else had used it, expressed disgust at the idea of a hot tub. I expect they would have great difficulty if they travelled.
Asid from urine there are other body fluids that are deposited in beds, pillows. Nursing homes of many years ago had a horrid smells because there was no proper care for incontinence. Quite an extreme comparison considering the poor dears were peeing day and night for years. The odd bit of urine is like a drop in the ocean in comparison.
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Replacing the whole tub? Wow.
My husband has a rule–whenever we buy/move/whatever into a new place, he replaces the toilet seats. Says it’s only ten bucks to have a fresh spot to sit your ass. I can’t disagree.
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When my ex finally exited stage left (good riddance) I replaced the whole pooper!!! The stains and ruinous state of the latrine reminded me of his fat ass spending way too much time in the loo.
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Oh my lord, I’ve got tears running down. You’re in fine form this morning…or at least, whenever you share memories about your ex. Hooo, I’m weak.
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