Shorts Stays Complaining about Cleaning fee

[Chamaine0]

Hello

I own a small elite cleaning Service and I co host for a few Super Host and Clean for others.  Here is the problem. Lately we have had reviews complaining about the cleaning fee. These are whole houses or condos some located on the beach. We have nothing but 5 stars for our cleanliness and the in the same review that one raves about how clean the home is they also complain about paying a fee. 

We are in a tourist area (Destin FL) and my fees are below that of local management companies. 

The complaints have mainly come from people on short stays who think they should pay less. Rather they are there 1 night or 10 the house doesn’t get any smaller the work still has to be done. Bedding has to be washed and changed in every room , towels and so forth. The furniture still has to be vacuumed as our beautiful sand gets everywhere. Every surface has to be cleaned , floors mopped. 

I’ m just be fuddled how someone can leave a hand written note for the cleaning staff about our attention to detail and how they have never stayed in a rental so clean then complain about the fee which was clearly listed at the time of booking.

Now with the new Supper Host requirements my owners are nervous over the 4 stars for Value Because of fees bringing down their standings. They have asked me to come up with something to include in their listings but I’m unsure if this is what to do. Any Ideas ?

[Lisa975]

But the type of person that leaves a place cleaner then when they arrive is a 1 in a 1000 find.  We have two condos on a beach.  The showers/baths need cleaned..Cleaning sand from carpets and floors, and getting it ready for the next guests is no easy task.  Plus it needs done between a set number of hours.  People leave the place pretty bad after just one night as they do seven  Look at it this way.  You get into your car and drive to your job that is 30 miles away.  You only work for 3 hours then go home.  You spent the same as if you drove to work and worked 8 hours.  Your costs were the same.  Should your boss have to pay you more per hour if you only worked three?  And actually at the beaches in SC $68 is one of the cheaper rates.   

[Lisa723]

I think it is a matter of finding your market, and advertising to target it. Our cleaning fees are currently $60, $125, and $175. We are not making money on these fees. They go directly to our co-host, who barely covers her costs with them. We pay our cleaners $30/hour, which is $5 over the minimum Airbnb recommends as a living wage for self-employed cleaners. They are very incentivized to do a good job, because they know that our ability to pay them this amount depends on the places being, in fact, very clean. Yes, @Sarah977 you probably would not want to book our places for 1-2 nights (and our minimum is never less than two), but that's OK, there are plenty of people who don't raise an eyebrow, and there are other places that offer what is important to you. I am happy to have the "living wage pledge" on our listings and I would not advertise them as "budget-friendly" because that is not our target market. FWIW... https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1975/what-s-airbnb-s-living-wage-pledge

[John1080]

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@Lisa723 wrote:

I think it is a matter of finding your market, and advertising to target it. Our cleaning fees are currently $60, $125, and $175. We are not making money on these fees. They go directly to our co-host, who barely covers her costs with them. We pay our cleaners $30/hour, which is $5 over the minimum Airbnb recommends as a living wage for self-employed cleaners. They are very incentivized to do a good job, because they know that our ability to pay them this amount depends on the places being, in fact, very clean. Yes, @Sarah977 you probably would not want to book our places for 1-2 nights (and our minimum is never less than two), but that's OK, there are plenty of people who don't raise an eyebrow, and there are other places that offer what is important to you. I am happy to have the "living wage pledge" on our listings and I would not advertise them as "budget-friendly" because that is not our target market. FWIW... https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1975/what-s-airbnb-s-living-wage-pledge

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Lisa, you mentioned you have three different cleaning fees. How do you set different rates? I don't see a function to do that.

[Chamaine0]

@Lisa723Yes our beautiful sand is no easy task to clean and it gets everywhere no matter how clean the guest is. So every surface must be dusted and all furniture vacuumed, even after a 1 night stay. The worse is steaming out the salt water stains where people have sat on the furniture in their still wet swimming gear, leaving a nice water stain. 

It is true sometimes the Time is alittle less than others but truly not by much. Our cleaning staff is paid by unit Not the hour and the same staff has the same units so they know them well. 

It works out in the long run as the times it takes the full 6 hours  to clean and the cleaners are making less is made up for when it only takes 4 hours to do. 

The cleaning fee also covers the cleaning supplies as my company provides them not the cleaning crew. All the paper products, thrash liners,dishwasher soap, laundry soap and fabric softener sheets that are left out for the guest. Enough for their entire stay. 

[Victoria567]

Stick to your guns!

Would these entitled guests take a reduction in their work pay cheque?....no I don’t think so either!

Unless a guest leaves the living space exactly as they found it, then fine but sadly some do not and by the way where can you find the little pixies living under the shells that will clean your living space for free after your guests leave?

If you manage to find any pixies, tell them there is plenty of cleaning work in Scotland....free tartan kilt uniform provided with daily breakfast of porridge and a wee dram at night after a hard days work😉

[Paul154]

@Chamaine0, you are speaking directly to me.

I was in your wonderful town last year. While searching for a two bedroom apartment, I was turned-off by the $150 cleaning fee. I searched all the other 2 bedroom apartments in Destin and found $150 to the standard.  I gulped and pressed the "Reserve button" hating myself.

I'm glad I did. It was a wonderful place and it was indeed clean.

@Chamaine,  we should be taking advice from you! Your community is demanding and getting high (but reasonable) cleaning fees.

The psychology of fees is very complex. Look at the success of Amazon Prime. Even though it's not free, customers love "free shipping"

The one thing that helped my reserve in Destin was the phrase "Deep cleaning". I did appreciate knowing that even though I was paying a lot, I was being "guaranteed".

[Paul154]

I agree with @Lisa723, get rid of "budget friendly" in the title. It will provoke undesired memories in some people or make people argumentative with you ($230/night is NOT budget to some people) . Let the price say "budget priced". 

Do emphasize clean and care-free.  Deep clean. Guaranteed clean. 

Good luck

[Chamaine0]

Thank you so much for your post. While I make a living at what I do , I do it because I truly love it. I love our town and helping others enjoy it and in a clean environment that’s provides all the extras they could need. I have personally gone out at 9 pm at night to vacuum a floor because someone didn’t understand that even though the didn’t go to the beach that the parking lot and sidewalk at their beach front rental was covered in our Very fine sugar white sand and they did indeed bring it in on their shoes from the parking area. I really love our town and the. Homes I and my staff clean for ( I have a waiting list of people wanting me to co host and clean). I just am be fuddled by their complimentary reviews and guest book reviews and complaints at the same time. Many of the units (8) are on different sites and only on AirBnB do we get these complaints. 

PS did you enjoy your time in our part of Paradise?

[Rosana69]

I made an agreement with my cleaner for a lower fee, considering that the short stay would not want to pay more in cleaning then the nightly rate. The cleaner was happy because once we lower it, I got more bookings and she consequently got more cleaning jobs. Now if she works 8 hours cleaning or only 2 hours, she gets paid the same. It is working out ok.

[Susan675]

If you charge a cleaning fee, please do not expect your guests to do any cleaning.  You charge a fee, enough said.  Add the cleaning fee into the nightly rate if you want guests to clean up after themselves.   

[Jake204]

Simply put, when AirBnBs are more expensive than hotels then there's no point in using AirBnB. Everyone on this board is talking about costs, when they really should be talking about value. At the end of the day, you can clean your tiny little AirBnB suite until it shines, but if I'm paying the same net amount for crappy linens that were barely washed and outdated/stained carpet as a well cleaned hotel- I'll choose the hotel every single time.

Like every other app based company, they start off offering a service that saves you money and time, and then when the IPO comes out, all of a sudden they are a 'premium service offering value' above an beyond what's been working for the 200 years before them. I call B.S. I only use AirBnb when I want something unique. I'll pass on everything else going forward.

[Sarah977]

@Jake204  Crappy linens that were barely washed and outdated, stained, carpet? Sorry you've rented places like that, but that's not representative of any of the Airbnb offerings I've seen nor is it the case with my listing.

I do get what you're saying about it being better value to rent a hotel room if that's the case, though. Unfortuntely Airbnb keeps raising its guest fees, which hosts have no control over.

[Sam3354]

For anyone who posts their homes on Airbnb.. how come most homes charge a cleaning fee but expect the dishes to be done, the sheets to be placed in a certain area and if the place is not cleaner than when we came in, we lose our deposits and get bad reviews? ive always kept the house cleaner than when i got there, but then why do i pay a cleaning fee??? is it just a gimmick to make some extra money? we should be able to leave the house as messy as we want for a $125 cleaning fee.. obviously you need to be courteuous and clean up after yourself - but telling people to do the dishes, place the sheets in the bathtub and everything needs to be exactly the way you found it is a little ridiculous if youre going to ask for any amount of money for a cleaning fee.  Sometimes the cleaning fee is as much as the cost of the night.. 

[Tony1016]

Honestly the cleaning fees and service fees are keeping me from renting places from AirBnb anymore.  It's just gotten ridiculous!  I've chosen hotels the last 4 times Ive traveled because of these fees that nearly double the price of the entire stay.  You are shooting yourselves in the foot with these fees.  People don't like it!

Look at this sickening amount of fees....  From $270 to $439...

$135 x 2 nights

$270

Cleaning fee

$105

Service fee

$48

Occupancy taxes and fees

$16

Total

$439

[Sandra856]

@Tony1016 Unfortunately the system/layout is put together in a way where it is not possible to include fees in the price. The cleaning persons has to get paid to clean a unit and it's the same price no matter if a guest stays for 2 nights or a week. Sometimes you will get a discount on the daily price if you stay for a week but the cleaning fee is the same. Service fees and taxes will get calculated when dates and number of guests are added to the system.

Would you prefer not to see the break down of numbers?

In Europe if you search with dates and number of guests you will see all available listings those dates and prices incl. ALL fees so it is easy to find a place within whatever budget you got as there is no surprices or extras to pay. 

I don't know if it is the the same in Canada?

Best, Sandra