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!
