Bed bugs

[Sarah66]

A guest checked out five days ago, leaving a BO smelling room and blood smeared sheets. He had an (unauthorised) guest, and I assumed these factors were related to that. The blood (not photographed) came out easily enough, and I aired out the bedding and room extensively (for the next few days) before sleeping in it again. I began waking in the night with itchy welts and fear the guest may have introduced bed bugs. I have asked the guest via message whether this is related to the blood stains and have yet to receive a reply. FYI this room has not been rented for months, as it is my bedroom. No problems prior. I'm tempted to cancel the next booking as I don't want to expose her to potential bed bugs, but aside from not wanting to lose the booking worry that she will not find anything else at this busy time at such late notice. Advice appreciated. 

[M20]

@Ana-and-David0  Unfortunately reporting bed bugs does more harm.  Both the security deposit and the $1M insurance do NOT cover vermin (bed bugs).  Any related costs, stress, anxiety fall on the host.  And Airbnb will cancel all current and upcoming reservations until host gets a certificate stating that there is no trace of bed bugs in the premise.  Airbnb will indicate it is a broker and the host accepted the guest. 

[Ana-and-David0]

@M20  What I implied is that now that it happnened, the only course of action she had is to pay out of her pocket for a cleaning and /or repair (if there are bed bugs) of her place. 

This would not had happened if she first had a preventative approach by having a waterproof cover, regulary fumigate the room, and also if she had collected and reported all evidence of the damages promptly to Airbnb. 

[M20]

@Ana-and-David0

I agree on the importance of taking preventative measures - absolutely.  My point is that promptly reporting damage/costs resulting from bed bugs is a waste of time.  Airbnb Host Guarantee terms do not cover any thing relating to bed bugs. Terms and Conditions terms "6(vi) damage caused by insects, animals or vermin (including pets)."

[Karine52]

Allow me to disagree!  Fumigating the place will not kill bed bugs .... especially their eggs! Fumigating will work on ants, roaches and spiders.

You have to

[Purnima0]

My Last guest leaft bed bugs and my new guest told me about it. I feel terribly bad for my new guest and my place, I always had super clean house! 😞  Any help/ guidance is highly appreciated

[Purnima0]

I called Airbnb and they said that they are not going to cover the charges, besides, I am going to loose my future reservations, This is such  a pain

[M20]

@Purnima0  Yes, this sounds correct.  I'm sorry you are dealing with this.  Get yourself a good vacuum with strong bag and vacuum away.  Dry everything on high, scrub down your apt, spray tons of 90-100% alcohol mixed with water, lavender and tea tree oil.  It’s a nightmare and it’s a shame that hosts are not provided with more assistance. 

[Gaurav3]

I had the same exact issue about an year back. One guest left the bugs, the next one complained. I had to completely refund the next guest and pay for the pest control expenses among other things. One of the worst experiences I have had! I stopped doing AirBnB after that. Although the bugs are gone now and I have lived in the place for more than a year, what makes things even worse is the review left by the guest- saying "Bed Bugs" on my profile. I cannot even reply to it now. I am not sure how this effects my profile when other hosts see this review. 

Its sad how AirBnB manages these things.

[Vanessa77]

@Sarah66

I totally feel your pain. I moved into an apartment that had bedbugs last summer, and after 6 months of pest control spraying, they still didnt get rid of the problem. I lost all my furniture, and almost all my belongings. It was awful. You have to strip the beds and remove all clothes, linens, curtians ect and wash them in hot water while they are spraying. Which isnt cheap to do. I was lucky and my landlords paid for the treatments, as they were COSTLY.  

I hope that you get rid of them soon!! It sucks when you are afraid to even sleep in your own bed 😞 

[Mark350]

AirBnB would be wise to develop a helpful insurance policy for hosts; it's just a matter of time before national news starts covering fear mongering "breaking news" titled something like "AirBnB = AirBednBug", which will put a huge dent in, if not kill, their business.

This string of messages is informative & scary.  I read it because a friend just got Bed Bugs using AirBnB in South America. I'm now thinking about quiting as a host.  I renovated my home into an incredible place, love impressing guests with a great experience & just reached "Super Host" status.  But, now I think renting my english basement long term may be better than risking going through the unimaginable hellish months of bed bugs.  Thank you to all that took time to post on this thread.

[Karine52]

Unfortunately I can relay to this issue! Three of my guest  in the last year brought me bed bugs. Everytime I treated it, it cost $1000 and 3 weeks. But I got it under control each time since no one in between complaines of bites! Interestingly, the ones that bring the bed bugs are the ones complaining of bites!

The law clearly states that this is the landlord's problem, even if it  is a problem brought in bu guests or renters. But treating is expensive and costly and I feel it is a shame that no insurance covers that!

By the war, fumigating your house will kill bugs but not their eggs ....

Roaches and ants are preventable but not bed bugs!

[Bob-Or-Diane0]

Ihave been in business for  over 20 years and never had a problem.  Then in Dec a guest , From Australia, said they were bitten.   moved them to another home and paid exterminator $2500 to heat the home to 180 degrees to kill every living crawling thing.   Spent over $400on encasements for all  mattresses and box springs.   The extermnator crew 'tossed' everything on the floor, every sheet, every towel, etc.   I am a senior citizen and it almost killed me trying to put everything back.   had help putting the beds together again.   Then I had a complaint in January in the same bedroom.   Pest control came out again and did liquid spraying all over and the home was kept closed for 3 days until th new guests checked in.   They checked in Feb 1 and called about bites on Feb 6.   IS THERE NO GETTING RID OF THESE THINGS???  i check the bedding myself and spray .   The extrmnator told me he just came from a home in the area and they were also with Airbnb.  i think I will go with another provider.