About 100% positive guests smoked in lodge. What do I do?

[Hannah1470]

I had two guests stay at our lodge and alone entering the place smelt strongly of febreeze, like way to much than necessary. As I start to clean I find places that have ash next to or on and my gut is telling me that they smoked. We have stated in the lodge, in three places, no smoking and some more rules. On the listing it states no smoking. This being my first time encountering this I message them and asked if they smoked. They said just a vape and they lit an incense. I said there's a fee for smoking but she said it doesn't say anything about vaping. When going through what is allowed when doing house rules it says smoking, vaping, e cigarettes allowed with an x and check mark. I have the x selected. Maybe it's just me but I consider vaping smoking. I don't know how much to charge and if I get can get in trouble. When I googled what to do if you think a guest smoked one option said a host can get in trouble if the claims are false. I have the message that they vaped and pictures of the ash but... I don't know. This is just my first time encountering this and am not sure what to do.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Hannah1470 Do nothing other than leave an honest review.

[Hannah1470]

Thank you for your message! I will do that and make it detailed in my rules it means all types of smoking too.

[Diana2915]

I also am worried about the same thing happened to me. I also checked the boxes that no smoking or vaping, but then I also put down where those additional rules to make sure that they could see. I do not allow any smoking or vaping whatsoever, but in your situation, I would Charge them the cost of deep cleaning and fumigating the place and send them the receipts for the cost of service and I don’t know if you’ve tried to call Airbnb about this, but I think that he can charge their card for something like this for them breaking the rules Let me know what happens with this because like I said, I’m worried it is gonna happen to me and I would like to know how to resolve this kind of a problem

[Alicia753]

Hi Diana,

I completely understand your concern—I have a strict no-smoking or vaping policy in my listings as well. Like you, I make sure this rule is clearly stated in the additional rules section of my listings, so there's no ambiguity.

In your situation, I recommend charging the guest for the deep cleaning and fumigation costs needed to restore the space. Gather the receipts for these services as proof and send them to Airbnb through the Resolution Center. Airbnb's policies typically allow hosts to recover costs for rule violations, so you should submit this claim as soon as possible.

If you haven't already, I encourage you to contact Airbnb directly. Their support team can guide you on processing the claim and ensuring the guest is held accountable for breaking the rules.

I hope this helps.

All the best,

Upfish Management

[Kia272]

@Alicia753 You don't appear to have read the OP's post carefully. It appears that she's responding to another post that we can't see, but it's clear that it didn't happen to her. 

So I guess it doesn't help.....

[Alex]

Hi @Diana2915 @Alicia753 @Kia272 ,

I moved the comment and answers to the post that Diana was referring to. 😄

Thank you for the help!

Alex

[Hannah1470]

@Diana2915 @Alicia753 @Mike-And-Jane0 Hello all! I appreciate the responses and suggestions to help solve my issue. I have and update!

When I wrote this post, I already talked to customer support twice. They said that I could charge them but the guests did have the option to oppose it and airbnb would get involved if that happened. I took @Mike-And-Jane0 suggestion, since it's been my first instance, and left an honest review about everything and let the guest know I wasn't going to charge this time and suggested that if she was unclear about what includes no smoking to ask because each host may consider the no smoking rule differently. They proceeded to ask if it smelt like anything when I got there. The only thing I said was that the linens smelt like it and they blamed it on the previous guest which left me shocked because I personally clean the lodge and wash the linens making sure everything is fresh. After doing the review I made sure to be very detailed in my house rules and description as what is considered smoking and that there would be a fee if there was evidence there of and took that as the end of it.... I got a call the next morning from airbnb support saying my previous gest wanted to get a full or half refund because I accused them of something they didn't do. I was shocked because I told them I wasn't going to charge. Maybe they didn't like my honest review...? Support said that if they made a thing I could accept it or decline it. I said I would decline if that happened because I have proof. All they said was to see if they actually proceed with it... I didn't get anything about a them putting it in but I did get a message about them doing a review. Let's just say I was shocked and very upset with what I read. It was good at first saying I was accommodating and responsive but then they proceeded to state there was dusty cigarette buds in places and accused them of smoking. That vaping isn't smoking and I had smart comments even though I wasn't going to charge them and it was a personal problem against them as people. I was back on the phone with support more than once asking this review to be removed because 1 they have slandered me and my cleaning 2 they stated that they broke the rules but said I had the problem 3 I had picture proof and screenshots of all of our messages and was willing to send them in. They told me to go to resolutions and file with the evidence and they might be able to get it taken care of. I proceeded to tell them that this review ruins what I stand for when cleaning and make it out for me to be the one who broke the rules. That I didn't want to charge them, I just want to get the review removed and have nothing to so with these guests again. Support then switched up and said that they could handle it by talking to their group and get back to me with an answer since this is the first instance and I didn't want to charge them. Support called me back saying they looked at all the screenshots and their review. They concluded that their review goes against their policies and will take it down. I am relieved and glad that this whole thing is over with. I'm just at the conclusion, you can't please everyone and expect people to be honest. For this being my first issue with smoking, I'll say it's been a rollercoaster that I don't want to be on again lol. All I'd say for anyone if it happens to you, make sure you take pictures of the evidence, that your no smoking policy is very detailed about what you allow.

Sorry that this is so long, it was just a lot. Thank you for your responses!  I appreciate all of you!