Damage to linens

[Laurie468]

Hello Airbnb Community,

I have recently had some guests for 3 nights.  They were nice and left the flat tidy upon our return, however, there was some odd damage to the mattress protector.  It seems to have melted, creating holes and ruining the mattress protector, but also the fitted sheet as the melted bits stuck to it.  The guests stripped the bed, but not the duvet, so I would imagine they noticed this but did not mention it.  I do ask in my guest rules that they don't strip the bedding, and that they report any damage as soon as possible.  Should I charge them for the mattress protector and sheet, or could one argue a decent protector shouldn't melt.  Also, wondering how to review them.  Overall a pleasant experience, and I believe accidents happen, but they had also moved some furniture (another a house rule broken).  

I would be grateful if anyone could share their experience.

Thanks,

Laurie

[Basha0]

I would let it go. How expensive can a new set of sheets and mattress protector be? If they were great guests other than that then rate them so. I wouldn’t stress over that kind of damage unless it happened by smoking in bed

[Helen3]

Sorry I don't agree @Basha0 

@Laurie468  I wonder if the damage was caused by the guest ironing on the bed?

It sounds like the guest was trying to hide the damage .

Personally I would send the guest a message to say you have noticed the damage and was surprised that they didn't mention it - could they let you know what happened.

if they are as nice as you say they should be happy to compensate you for the damage .

leave an honest review with the positives but also mentioning the damage to the linens and moving of furniture. 

[Huma0]

@Laurie468 It could have been ironing, as @Helen3 suggests.

Also, do you have laundry facilities available for guests? I have accidentally melted a mattress protector by putting it in the dryer. Perhaps they did this or washed it on too high a setting. If they washed it together with the sheet (maybe they had some sort of spill or accident on the sheets/protector) it could then stick. Ironing seems more likely to me though.

If they were great guests overall, I might not mention it in the review, but would mark them down on house rules. Moving furniture around is a pet peeve of mine because so often damage occurs this way and the guests don't even notice. Again though, it's probably not something I'd mention in a review unless they were really over the top with it.

[Laurie468]

Hi there,

Thanks for your comments @Helen3 @Huma0 - I sent a message describing the damage, and they responded saying "oh yes, we sent a whatsapp message but see it didn't send".  They were indeed ironing on the bed, so we are lucky that all that was damaged was the sheet and mattress protector.  We supply an ironing board, and describe its location in our house manual, as well as instruction videos we send so I think it is fair to ask they replace this.  They also did not offer to pay for it.

@Basha0 thank you also for your input, it is good to see all sides.  Our listing is priced on the lower side, so it might be an idea to increase prices to cover damage, though this might not be fair to other guests.

Thanks everyone

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Laurie468when we start hosting we provided an iron and ironing board.

Within a few weeks, the guest wrapped an electrical cord around the hot iron and partially melted it. I repaired the cord with tape. A few weeks later another guest did the same thing so I put another tape. Then it happened again and I removed the iron from the apartment.

Too many guests are careless like kids and don't use common sense at all. Iron is proved to be too dangerous to be within their reach.