Great idea! You’re right, she should donate it and claim a tax deduction. If she’s in the US she can donate to Vietnam Vets. They pick up and one can just leave the donation out by the door or garage and they leave a receipt.
Speaking for myself, since the changes in the tax law I no longer qualify for most charitable deductions. I take the standard deduction and I think under a new temporary law passed as part of covid relief I can take $300 deduction despite that.
I’m probably in a different tax bracket than most posters here but that charitable tax deduction is no longer relevant for me most years.
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Zero star for cleanliness…
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Ken, thank you for this most helpful review write up. I’ll be using it and parts of KKC’s.
I’m so pleased to have found this forum of hosts helping each other. It’s an invaluable resource!!!
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I feel for you. People can and will try to take advantage of a newbie. Take heart: you will recover. Make your review surgical - short, succinct, and effective. The good guest will get it. And your forthrightness will stop their career on Airbnb.
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Txs for all the good recommendations and the uplift after being taken advantage of.
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I have not read the entire thread so maybe you have answered this but I’m wondering, did these guests have previous reviews?
Yes, they had previous reviews…no red flags there…
I leave a clause in the agreement and house rules noting that any personal items left behind will continue to accrue a daily storage charge until picked up. If this were my space, and items left behind I would notify the guests of such, apply additional cleaning and storage charge which needed to be paid along with charging for an additional night in advance of their stay before claiming said items. If the items have not been claimed after a week, donate, trash, or sell them. I make it very clear I am NOT in the storage business. Very sorry to learn this has been your experience, and it is a shame guests feel entitled to use Airbnb as their personal flop house.
All I really need to know as a host is that they were inconsiderate, and that they made more work for you. Frankly, I would much rather know that they left things that you had to deal with behind than that they did not take out the trash. Lots of people don’t take out the trash, that’s easy, but who leaves behind belongings that they just don’t want any more? And expects you to find a way to dispose of them?
I have had many people moving to the area stay with me, and usually they are fine. Give these folks an honest review - add that they left things behind - and don’t let them ruin this for you. Bad guests suck.
Thanks. All the encouragement and suggestions here are tremendously helpful and I wouldn’t let them sour all the good apples. Having been an Airbnb and VRBO guest many times I take joy in treating others places as my own and leaving them the way I found them. Some people are just trashy people, or they were raised in barns and know no better/think nothing of it.
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Very interesting approach! Thanks for sharing!!!
Ok, I had to share this with everyone who responded to me. This is the rating left by the guest you all were helping me with the review on.
In case the clip doesn’t come thru - they said nice place (5 stars). Worth the price and good people to work with.
I waited until 10 minutes or less before the review time was up and posted mine. I’m still happy to be truthful for other hosts to beware. I had no idea she’d left a review - and a good one at that. I guess we can’t see each others reviews until both have completed or the 14 days runs out. Had I known what she said I don’t believe I would have changed my review…in fact I wish I had put that they cost me 3xs the work to clean up because when I thought about it it was that bad…things I didn’t discuss like dirty dishes in all the cabinets (my dishwasher works fine so don’t know if they didn’t know how to use one or…???) - the entire kitchen worth of plates, silver, glasses, cookware everything had to be cleaned…anyway…I’m happy for your help and hope to keep other hosts from facing the horror I walked into the day after they ‘left’… Many thanks again.
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I appreciate your attitude regarding reviews. Too many hosts or guests say if they had known what kind of review the other left, they wouldn’t have written what they did, or now want to rescind the review they left.
If everyone leaves honest reviews of their experience, there should never be any reason to regret what you wrote.
I think it’s childish for hosts and guests to wish to change or retract their review because of what the other person wrote.
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Agreed. One of the few ways we can help each other in a practical sense is to leave honest reviews
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One thing that is always hard for me regarding reviews is when I actually liked the guests as people but they did not take good care of my home. I just had a family of four leave, the parents and two sons age 10 and 12. I don’t usually rent to families with children 12 and under but they had good reviews so I did it. My kitchen was completely unorganized with everything just thrown on shelves and in drawers. My whole house was basically disheveled although not harmed except for a lot of chipped dishes. In my mind as I was cleaning I was forgiving all of it until I pulled out the built in cutting board and it was covered in food crumbs. After they left I got a text from them asking if they could purchase my home and they would still let me live in the downstairs apartment and run my house as an Airbnb for them for which they would pay me. I wanted to write back and say not only will I not sell you my house but you will never stay here again. But they were nice people so I don’t know what to say. They have already reviewed me. I have at least a week and a half to think about it.
Many people just don’t have the same standards we do. I have good friends who are nice people, generous and kind, educated and seemingly normal in every way. But some aren’t tidy at all. Once is borderline hoarder and has no desire to spend any of her time organizing or cleaning. Hence her truck, classroom and apartment all have stuff laying on every horizontal surface. Another friend’s home has layers of dust caked onto light fixtures, ceiling fans and baseboards. Almost no one I know personally, locally has the same standards for cleaning I do.
That’s just odd.
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Would you have them stay again is my sticking point. Once I have decided that, the review happ be.
I can understand that feeling, but you are reviewing their suitability as guests, not reviewing them as people.
You can compliment the positive qualities of guests in a review without failing to mention the things other hosts look at reviews for.
“This family was very sweet and personable, communicated well and respected house rules. Tidying and cleaning up after themselves would have been appreciated, though.”
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