Guest not reporting septic system issue!!

[Traci150]

Hello,

We recently encountered a tough situation with our last guest.  When they checked out (Sunday July 18,2021) my cleaning person noticed a missing pillow and a broken dish sponge holder (I purchased in Key West, FL).  No Biggie, When I message the guest to inquire about these things she mentioned we might have a sewer backup.  This threw me for a loop!!  I then asked her what she meant, were the toilets backing up?  She said "NO, there's a lot of water in the back of the house"  I then asked my cleaners to check and send me pictures.  Sure enough the sewage was seeping in the back yard.  I called the guest to ask why we were not contacted and was told,   "she started to smell something on their 2nd day but, she grew up down there (OBX, NC) and sometimes it smelled like that".  I then assured her it NEVER smells like that especially at our property.  So the guests just kept using the toilets for the remainder of their vacation (ANOTER 5 days!!!) making the situation worse.  We had to call the septic company (ON A SUNDAY $$$$$) for an immediate service call as we had new guests checking in in 4 hours.  Septic came and determined it was clogged and the pipe to the tank had been broken (located in the drain field)  Now we had to call a plumber (AGAIN Sunday SERVICE CALL $$$$$)  Needless to say, we got it fixed but not before our next arriving guests.  They could not use any of the restrooms (3hours) until the pipe was replace in which they were not too happy.  My question is: Should the previous guest be liable for any of the costs due to the negligence of NOT notifying us as soon as the problem arose?  The other fact is, we wouldn't have know about this if I hadn't reached out to the guest to inquire about the missing item and broken sponge holder....

I'd love to hear your opinions on how you'd handle this.

Thanks,

Traci Carlson 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Traci150 Is it bad that the guest didn't contact you? Yes. Can you claim from them for not doing so? No

[Lisa723]

@Traci150 do you message guests after check-in to make sure all is well and reiterate that they should let you know immediately if they have any questions or concerns? If so, yes this would be extremely frustrating and I would reflect it in their review. But I agree with @Mike-And-Jane0 that they’re not responsible for repair costs regardless.

[Traci150]

Hi Lisa,

We send them a VERY detailed check in message and it does include contacting us if anything unusual happens.  It is also CLEARLY stated in the Guest Book on the dining room table located immediately when you enter the house.  We do not check in with the guests because we don't want to be "those owners" who are checking up on them.  They're at the beach and want to be left alone.  I might rethink this practice however, in my travels and stays I've never had a host check in with me.  It's just REALLY disappointing she (a doctor) did not report it!!!  I somewhat agree she should not be charged but on the other hand I think they have a responsibility too.  We also have "NO FLUSHABLE WIPES" clearly marked above EVER toilet paper roll.

[Colleen253]

@Traci150 Since you have a septic system, NOTHING except human waste and toilet paper should be flushed. Your signs should say that. Even tissues can not be flushed. 

[Traci150]

Toilet paper can be flushed down the toilet, as long as you get the tank pumped every 5 years.  It dissolves and turns into sludge.  We just had the tank emptied May 2019 when we purchased the house.   We're on septic in 2 of our 3 homes.

[Colleen253]

Yes, I said toilet paper can be flushed. I’ve lived with septic systems all my life and my brother owns a septic servicing company. Only human waste and toilet paper should be flushed.  Guests need to be told to flush nothing except human waste and toilet paper. If you only tell them they can’t flush flushable wipes, they’ll still be flushing tampons, dental floss, and all other manner of things. 

A typical household system should be pumped once per year (depending on number of residents). My Airbnb’s system gets pumped twice yearly due to the heavier load on it . We’ve never had a septic or a plumbing system problem. How well is your system working for you? 

[Traci150]

It was working great until this happened.  We have a 4 bedroom 3 full and 2 half baths there.  We had the largest (our neighbors said it was "overkill") septic system installed to handle the 4 bedroom 4 bath occupancy.  We are considering a new non-septic system which would then allow us to utilize the huge backyard for a pool.   The situation has been rectified and the current guests are happy, that's all that matters to us.

Thanks for all the feedback folks

Have a great day

TLC

[Lisa723]

@Traci150 we started sending a post-check-in note a few years ago. In it we say that there is no need to reply if all is well but to let us know right away if they have any questions or concerns. It’s remarkable how often this triggers questions that otherwise would not have been communicated. And it has virtually eliminated all post-check-out surprises. Side benefit, it makes it just about impossible for a guest to claim damage they did was present at check-in.

[Christine615]

I would probably contact you if something smelled. But honestly? I don’t understand septic versus regular plumbing and that’s probably true for most guests in terms of when something goes wrong.

So yes, if the problem is related to them flushing something they shouldn’t have but good luck proving it was them and not a previous guest. 

Otherwise asking them to be aware of what constitutes a septic malfunction is probably not realistic.

[Laura2592]

@Traci150 we were landlords. We had tenants who never reported a toilet leaking through the ceiling. By the time they thought it was unusual, the entire bathroom floor and subfloor needed replacing. The tenants had to be housed elsewhere as it was the only bathroom. It was thousands of dollars. A simple phone call would have saved us some money and heartache. But they didn't think it was anything to worry about until their living room ceiling started coming down. 

My point is, you can't expect your guests to report home maintenance issues. They may not have a lot of experience with owning a home. They are there on vacation. Even if they lived in the space for years, as my tenants did, it may not register as an issue worthy of immediate attention. This is why remote hosts would do well to stay in their own property every few months if at all possible. That is the only way you will truly know what is going on with your space. You can't rely on strangers who are paying to use your home for recreational purposes, to police the goings on with your plumbing. Not their circus, not their monkeys. 

[Traci150]

We stayed at that house Jan-1st week of June.  We are there whenever it's NOT booked!

[Laura2592]

@Traci150 did you notice anything weird with the septic? Usually those problems are smelly and they don't suddenly appear. There are signs like overgrowth of vegetation, drainage issues in spots in the yard, etc. We had an issue with our main house (not our ABB) and started noticing signs a few months prior to a repair being needed.  

[Inna22]

@Traci150 no one ever reads anything. The fact that you already have this written down somewhere means absolutely nothing.

You’re not being “that” host by checking in on them. What’s wrong with a simple one-liner? I have my Airbnb messages automated to send something the day after they check in: I hope you had a great first night. Please let me know if there’s anything you need. I sent them a very brief message after they check out as well. No one in their right mind would be annoyed by that, if anything, guests would feel like they’re being cared about. If I have a longer stay, I repeat this a few days in. 
yes, this is extraordinary frustrating that they didn’t report it. It happens to me all the time: they either don’t report something that was bothering them during their stay until they check out and then expect a credit  when I could’ve fixed it immediately or don’t say anything and I find out by pure accident and rush to fix before the next guest.

[Cave0]

@Traci150 

Whilst it doesn't answer your question, I had some guests a couple of years ago who were told about the tank arrangement and the alarm that is provided to warn if there's a problem with the system.

They stayed, they seemed to enjoy but on check-out, one of them said that there was a funny beeping noise coming from the electrical fuse board.  So they flicked a few of the breakers until it stopped and thought no more of it.

It was the tank alarm, by some fortunate twist of fate the tank was on the brink of overflowing but hadn't quite go to that point.

It never amazes me just how stupid some people really are.