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I have 3 days left to review a guest and not sure how to word it!!
They weren’t terrible: didn’t break any house rules or cause any lasting damage to the house.
We’ve had about 20 renters, and they’ve all been really clean and respectful, so I guess this is my first “messy guest”!
cleaning lady called in a panic as she hadn’t seen the place so messy before
one of the beds was stripped with the sheets balled up and the mattress pad on the floor. And spare sheets on the bed. Come to find it with period blood that went down to the mattress - thankfully a wet sponge was able to take the stain off the mattress protector, and the sheets and mattress pad needed to be soaked in Oxyclean overnight.
appliances (mixer and waffle iron) weren’t cleaned and put away.
kitchen had trash on the counters
my 1lb honey bear is missing
a few mugs and glasses are missing
almost new roll of Reynolds wrap was replaced with a almost empty roll of Walmart foil
indoor slippers were worn outside so I needed to replace them
vacuum was used to vacuum up large pieces of paper, which caused a clog - so my husband had to drive a few hours to fix it for our cleaning lady (since she’s a bit technically challenged)
our toaster now doesn’t work - it may have just been at the end of its life (6-12 months?) but we needed to go get a new one for our NYE renters!
I know - as I write it out it seems petty and small. It’s a whole house rental, and we’re a few hours away, so it wasn’t an ideal situation (with having to head there and do the extra soaking/laundry, fixing the vacuum, etc).
Everything is the cost of doing business and I really take pride in how comfortable and homey our place is, and appreciate that they felt at home enough to rearrange a few things.
But how do I review them?? They were really messy.
I’m sure you’ll get a variety of opinions but to me this list is not petty and small unless you are getting several hundred dollars a night for your home. Let’s just say you rented for several nights and netted $500. But with extra cleaning, replacing things, fixing things you’ve really netted $400. They cost you 20%. People will tell you it’s the cost of doing business but also would think giving a 20% discount was crazy. I’ve hosted over 500 people and have never had anything like this. It is just a room attached to my home but still, this is not nothing. There are too many great guests out there for us to just put up with this kind of folks because it’s the cost of doing business. As for the review, I don’t want to host them. I’d give 2 stars on cleanliness, and a thumbs down. I would say that things were missing and that things were not properly clean. The blood is the only thing that is included in “doing business.”
Absolutely agree. I have grown weary of reading “It’s the cost of doing business” when the guests have clearly been disrespectful. These guests have displayed this and need to be reviewed accordingly. I would also request additional funds through the resolution center.
Cannot recommend Guest. Although Guest did not break any House Rules, they left the place an absolute mess – bloody sheets, trash on counters, missing glassware and jar of honey, clogged vacuum, ruined indoor slippers, uncleaned appliances, broken toaster, and more.
I don’t feel that this is petty or small, nor would I say this is the cost of doing business.
Accidents happen but the responsible thing would be to own up to them. The sheets I can sympathize with, but they should have told you about that so that you could clean it properly.
As for the missing and broken items … I once broke a wine glass at a house we stayed in and I told the host and offered to purchase a new set. To break things and not tell you is wrong. To take what they wanted from your house (or break it and make it look like it is missing) is inexcusable. These people disrespected your home and your hospitality by not putting away the items they used, taking what they wanted and breaking other things.
I would not want them in my house and - thankfully! - most guests are more responsible than this. Best wishes for the new year and better people coming your way!
You have been !ucky. Many of my guests have been messy. It’s a whole house rental that sleeps eight and most of the time it’s left a mess with some broken items. I would give your messy guest a three star rating for cleanliness and higher, if app!icable, for communication and following house rules.
Okay…definitely a messy guest and you will have them. I have only had a hand full but they can be challenging to say the least. Here is my input…the garbage on the counter is uncalled for. Foil, if you provide it then expect it to be used even if they use the whole roll. The toaster, these days who knows how long appliances last. I have purchased brand new items and have them break in less than a year. Vacuum…that is a strange one but you can’t put a claim because you can’t prove who did it. Things that are missing…look around you may find them…people put things in the oddest places. Not a 5 star stay for sure …maybe a 3 and I would put a gentle message about missing items. There is nothing more discouraging then walking into a mess and I am sure that your cleaning lady was upset, but please explain to her/him that this may happen again the future. I wish it was just dusting, cleaning the bedroom and changing the beds with all our guests. Good Luck!
Honestly. I just don’t get it. In what way is you saying guests stayed with you, meant to tell me there was a problem with your guests ?
If guests are messy, dirty, noisy, bring in guests who haven’t been paid for or don’t check out on time - then please tell me. Don’t use generic phrases that call on me to be a mind reader
It’s interesting that people “take Airbnb trainings.” I wonder if they pay for them? One can learn everything thing they need to know here for free…well, the price of admission is the risk of being criticized.
First off after 4 years, they weould get 2 stars and not be recommended.
We have a check list our cleaners have to check, making sure every thing works is one of the things. Why? So when I guessed breaks something, we are able to have them have to pay for it. all of our guests have to have a $400 deposit to help cover any damages in case they break stuff. we take photos after we’re done cleaning just to show how clean the unit is in case they guess tries to claim that it’s not. These little steps may sound weird but they actually help you in the future. I am always an honest and fair host I don’t like being taken advantage of or disrespected. With that being said this is how you handle the following:
You would want to say that the other gas did not break any house with rules that when they left your unit was not in the best condition. do you expect guests to use the unit you do not expect them to bleed on sheets and not notify you and proper timing so you may wash them. we have a washer and dryer so we actually provide stain remover, hydrogen peroxide, and laundry detergent all of our guests and let them know that if anything gets stained it’s their job to clean it and if it cannot come clean, they’ll be charged for it, this is in our house rules. I would then go on to say that the guest making the bed themselves with the second set of sheets was not okay. It adds time for your cleaning lady or man. I will then go on to say that you have an inventory of x amount of cups and when the gas left you only had y amount of cups. if your husband how to fix the vacuum cleaner and it worked fine before they checked in and was clean and there was nothing in it then yes they’re held responsible for the time it takes to clean it and fix. All of these things are legit. However, with the Reynolds wrap and them replacing it with Walmart, though it is disrespectful to replace something with that of which that is not the same, technically they didn’t have to replace that all. You left it as an amenity. and the same goes for the honey if for some reason they took all the honey but it’s left there in a hole and they have private access to it - nobody else then who’s to say they didn’t eat all the honey? You see the thinking? But breaking items, leaving a message, leaving trash. Those things are not okay! This is why you are able to make a claim. But you will always always always need photos. I can not stress this enough. Without them it is their word against yours. I had a guy try to say our unit was dirty and gross and they stayed a whole week. I sent photos of the messages to Airbnb where the guests said they were loving the unit and having a great time. Airbnb took my side and didn’t let the guest get a refund and didn’t let them get out of paying us for damages.
There is no such thing as allowing a guest to be dirty and gross because it’s the cost of business. They be dirty and gross all they want to, and pay for it! If they pay you for it, then it becomes the cost of doing business. My sister says I am petty, but I always get my claim money, and my cleaners are amazing and trust me to get them their money when our unit takes 6 hours instead of 3. Everyone gets paid.
I also let the the guests know that breaking items and damages doesn’t effect their review, how they handle those broken items and damages effects their review. Such as if I make a claim and you pay it, then 5 stars with me letting the future host know that there was an issue but my guest handled it perfectly. Honestly and diplomacy always the best!
@diacohost I SOOO AGREE with you!! You have my support whole heartedly. I am my own cleaners but otherwise I do the same as you. I have always done the pictures and inventory of everything although I have not always gotten the claim from the Guest or Airbnb for various reasons, primarily the Guest declines and then complains about stuff and secondarily because Airbnb says that even though I have before and after pictures since I have pets in my home they could have done it instead of the Guest pets…even though I restrict my pets’ access to the guest areas…when that one happened Airbnb refunded me half directly ($45 for my $90 damage request) and the Guest got off scott free.
Funny though, when I asked the CSR if I should put a video camera at the guest bedroom door to prove that the Guest and his pets were the only ones to access it they just referred me to the policy about cameras (which means I just need to disclose it). So if I have a Guest stay for 24 hours or 24 days are they actually going to review all 24 hours or 24 days of that footage (if there was even any possible way of sending them that much footage)? Good luck with that!
