A Bloody Mess...

[Sharla1]

Hello Everyone, 

I'm calling on my fellow hosts for some advice. You've all been so helpful in the past so here goes...

This past weekend I had a group of recent college grads. Upon their arrival they seemed like they would be responsible but unfortunately this wasn't the case. This is the first time I couldn't wait for a group to check out.

1. The group was VERY loud as they engaged in what seems to have been some incredibly active and/or unconventional sexual activities. Not sure and don't care.  Please know that I'm not under any delusions that guests won't being "getting sexual", but when you're practically making the house shake and you're gonna break my headboard, I've got problems with that.  I stopped over to inform them of the volume and asked that they stop doing whatever they were since it sounded like it was causing damage to the house. I also sent the booking guest a communication to document my concerns but he never responded nor apologized.  First time I've ever had to speak to a guest about concerns during their stay. Oy.

2. After they checked out, it was clear that someone tried to tidy up but there were remnants of pizza on the floors and in the shower (how is this possible?), a half full can of beer under a bed, fruit flies, ants and more importantly blood stains on 2 sets sheets, pillowcases, pillows, a throw pillow, crib mattress (yes they even used the crib mattress!), the two mattress covers for the bed (yes, blood went through 4 layers!) and a blood stain on the wall.  I was relieved to not find anything broken (ie the headboard) but obviously am very concerned about the volume of blood left behind. It was clearly not an overnight accident being that there were even bloody fingerprints on one of the pillowcases.  Whoever tried to help clean, stripped the bed for that room and put all of the linens that were stained into a basket with those that weren't stained - leading to me needing to have everything that touched blood professionally cleaned. I decided to toss the two sheet sets that had more than a spot or two of blood on them.  I'd never want to sleep on those if I were a guest even after lots of bleach. 

3. Communication was rough after booking - the booking guest actually ignored my emails until I told him he would not be receiving the key code until I got a response. House rules were broken including storing items outside (they picked up emergency cones from the street somewhere and decided to place them in my garden in front. Very classy), quiet hours after 11pm and checkout procedures. 

With all that being said, I also just got a notification of the booking guest leaving me a review. Fantastic.  I was hoping he wouldn't.  

So my questions to all of you are:

1. How would you handle the claim process with this group? My biggest concern is the blood since it resulted in about a $175 laundering bill and me hiring professional cleaners to do the deepest deep clean they've ever done.  With costs of $325 to clean up their mess, I plan on submitting a claim in the resolution center before my next group arrives on Friday but I don't anticipate even receiving a response from him since he was pretty unresponsive during before and during their stay.  

2. Should I charge them for my two new sets of sheets ($50)?  I ask only because I've seen very mixed reviews here in the host circle about bloody sheets.  I'd consider this to not fall into a category of normal bloody accidents that can happen though, so I would like to include this in with the claim and see what happens.  

3. Since he's already left a review, should I submit mine first and then submit my claim through the resolution center to avoid getting a retaliatory review from him? I'm assuming yes, but would appreciate any thoughts on that as well. 

Thanks so much for reading. I appreciate any wisdom you can share!

[Colleen253]

  @Sharla1 So sorry, what a rough go. The guest has already left a review so he can’t change it. Please definitely leave a review. No need to go into gory details but suffice to say you do NOT recommend, major cleanup required, house rules broken, dismal communication etc., low stars and of course hit “would not host again.” Submit all your receipts and photos through resolution and yes, I would claim for all of it. Hope for the best outcome, but as it goes with Airbnb, you may not get any compensation unfortunately. Good luck though. 

[Sharla1]

Thanks a bunch @Colleen253. I most certainly will leave a review, an accurate one and may borrow some of your language. I did think though that even though he's submitted his review, that he can still modify it until I submit mine, making them both final. Is that not the case? 

[Colleen253]

@Sharla1  The guest can't see what you wrote until your review is published. Once you write your review, both yours and the guests reviews are instantly published. Reviews can't be changed once published. So go ahead and write your review, as there's no point in waiting, and then  submit a resolution.

[Sharla1]

Right, that's definitely my plan now. It sounded to me like you were saying that he can't change his review - even now, before I submit mine. That's the timeframe I was looking for clarification on. I'll be sending in the review tomorrow, followed by the claim. Seems like the safest bet. 

[Sharla1]

Update: so the guest actually did compensate me for new sheets and based on evidence I sent over AirBNB has also compensated me for everything that the guest would not pay for, with the exception of additional house cleaning expenses since they aren't covered by the Host Guarantee. Luckily for me, the guest did leave me a 5 star review before I submitted the claim. Somehow this situation ended up going well despite the guest's inability to take true responsibility for the condition they left the house in.

I greatly appreciate everyone's assistance here. Thank you all! 

[Amy801]

Hi! I had a couple that had a bloody encounter on the sheets, she then tried to clean them in the kitchen sink with hot water but burned the sheet on the stove...she was kind enough to leave a note, and I sent a money request to her for the cost of a new fitted sheet before I submitted my review. So far when I have submitted photos and requested money for damage people have been pretty cool, and I leave a review accordingly. 

If that doesn’t work I would call Airbnb support, they can facilitate discussions and help you resolve the matter. Hopefully that helps, but this sounds like more of a difficult person than I have ever had to deal with. All the best 🙂

[Sharla1]

Oy what a pain @Amy801. At least when someone leaves a note they are being upfront and showing good faith. Glad your situation was resolved quickly.

As for challenging guests, this one definitely takes the cake. I'm seriously considering decreasing my max occupancy to 4 after this since it's the groups of 6 that have seemed to yield the biggest challenges and /or cause the most damage - regardless of age. 

[Sarah977]

@Sharla1  So sorry you had such a bunch of yahoos. I would definitely charge them for cleaning above and beyond the norm. Of course, he's not going to agree to pay, so then it'll end up being hopefully paid by Airbnb. Wish you luck on that.

As far as the bloody sheets- I can see why you were just revolted and chucked some of them, but I don't quite understand why you would feel that no one would want to sleep on them again,even after being cleaned and bleached. I guess some of us just have more of an tolerance for gross than others, but no one would ever even know as long as the stains came out and they got run through the wash with bleach.

You do know that blood, even a lot of it, will come out if you soak first in cold water, then use hydrogen peroxide? 

[Sharla1]

Thanks @Sarah977 for your input. You're a pro at this so I do appreciate you taking time to respond. I am hopeful but don't necessarily expect to see any compensation for this.

As for the sheets and the blood, I've not had very much luck in the past getting even small blood stains out of fabrics, even with peroxide. So based on the amount of blood on each of these items, I decided to throw them away. For a normal amount I definitely would have tried that first. 

[Debra300]

@Sharla1,

I use Shout to remove blood stains, makeup stains, wine stains, etc., and it works great with very little effort to get the stain out.

[Sharla1]

Got it - thanks for the tip @Debra300 .  I hope I don't need it anytime soon unless its for wine stains!  🙂 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sharla1 So sad that yours was the scene of a messy party, and that you got stuck with the mop up. So little respect! Yes, definitely an honest review and low marks for everything including communication, rules, cleanliness. This type of person should stay home and clean up after themselves. Surely something is lacking in the way they were raised and it should not be your responsibility. Yes, file a claim. You are so cool and very classy to not expect compensation, but try it anyway. The group knows they were disrespectful of your place, and you should not be stuck holding the bag. Lowering the number of people and a house rule on no parties should help. May you have better luck in the future. Virtual hug!

[Sharla1]

Thanks so much @Kitty-and-Creek0.  I couldn't agree with you more.  These folks shouldn't even rent a hotel room since the damage would likely be the same.  I actually have no parties on my listing and technically this was less of a party and more of a gettogether with friends to meet up and have fun.  There's definitely a fine line between a party and a gettogether and they may have crossed it here.   But its tough to call what happened here a party.  I'd consider it to be more of a situation of too many disrespectful young people hanging out in the same location.  Ironically outside of this bedroom (where the whole group seemed to spend their time) and the bathroom, the rest of the house was in good shape.  Thanks for the hug!  I've been hosting for 3 years now so this was bound to happen at some point.  Just glad that this wasn't my first booking.  If it had been i'd be devastated.  

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Sharla1 Thank goodness this was a one off for you. In 7 years I've only had one mess, which was actually minor. Blood happens from time to time, but it usually is something small and peroxide takes it out. You are resilient and resourceful. Another hug!