Renters left large stain on rug

[Alexia182]

I am new to hosting and this is my first time on this forum.  I would like your advice.

After the renters left, the cleaning came back twice to try to clean this stain, didn't work.

Today I paid $130 to have a professional carpet cleaner come and clean stain but again, he wasn't unable to remove.

When I started filing a claim and it asked me how much I'd like to request from renter.  Originally I was going to ask for $130 for the cleaning today but since it did not work, I may need to rip out the carpet and get a new one in this room.  

How should I answer this question?

Any help would be appreciated.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alexia182 even if your claim for a new carpet is successful Aircover will only pay the depreciated value of the carpet. I would guess they depreciate carpets over 5 years (maybe 10). So if you bought it many years ago you will get nothing

Could you perhaps buy a rug to cover the damage?

[Colleen253]

@Alexia182 Seconding what Mike-And-Jane said. If you do decide to rip out the carpet, don’t replace with more carpet. Install something hard, durable and easy clean instead. It’s inevitable that this will happen again. 

[Karla533]

@Alexia182   Area rugs are very cleanable and that’s what I have. Very reasonable prices on Amazon. My floors are tile. 

there are professionals who patch wall to wall like this for hotels. 

You might be able to place an area rug over the existing wall to wall where the stain is.  Google this for design examples. It’s done In high end properties but the carpet has to be flat enough. Often a cow hide is used. 

[Eyna89]

I would not recommend to have carpets in any accommodation as carpet is a dust mite and humidity collector.

[M199]

@Alexia182 

If it was a removable rug, ok, no problem.  Take it outside and power wash it with dish soap. You may need a day or do for it to dry.

If it's a permanently laid carpet, pull it out, install heavy duty vinyl plank flooring and the throw down some removable area rugs.

[Gillian166]

@Alexia182  rug, or carpet?
Actually you can get just a patch done. years ago we had some tenants burn the carpet with hair straighteners and we had the carpet patched (they cut out a rectangle piece and replaced it), you could hardly notice it. 

I have a wet vac (Bissell brand) that is amazing for getting stains out of carpets, esp if you can get to them before they dry out. Def worth considering if you have lots of carpet, but it's good for upholstery too, have used it 3 times for abb this year so far. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Gillian166 

We just got a wonderful Bissell "Green Guy" wet vac - fabulous for car seats! 

[Gillian166]

We have a new puppy and kitten at home and have used the bissell a million times. It’s actually too good because now I have a lot of very clean circles in my carpets! We have cream carpets  😅 we were going to replace all the old carpets once we’d done a Reno here anyway. 

[Laura2592]

@Alexia182 never host with wall to wall carpet. 

It gets stained easily.

It traps allergens and dust.

It traps smells.

Guests will 1000% damage it over and over.

Hard surface floors only. In your case I would consider this a cost of doing business as your guest will likely deny your request and leave a poor review. Can you cover the spot with a furnishing or area rug? 

Again if you are going to host, you really can't do it with carpet. Not unless you are at home all the time watching every move your guest makes. 

[John2406]

@Alexia182 I do really feel for you, especially right at the beginning of your hosting experience, and also that the stain is turning out to be rather an expensive one.

Rather than my saying you  shouldn't have carpet in a holiday let (I would suggest that all depends upon the quality of one's property, the cost of a stay, and the conscience of one's Guests, plus the equipment one uses) I would rather ask 2 questions; one of which is what the Guests' said as to what had been dropped onto the carpet, and/or what they had used - if anything - to try to remove the stain, whilst the other (question) is when you took out Insurance on your property (for holiday lettings), did you ensure that it included for "accidental damage"?

Damages of something or other is something to be part of everyone's consideration at the outset, from the odd broken wineglass/chipped side plate, right through to something far bigger/more expensive, such as a carpet/bed.

Provided one has the correct Insurance in place, the latter should be covered for the majority of damages, and as such whilst you should be able to claim against the Guest for the damage and cost of (attempted) cleans, should it come to the point that a replacement carpet or rug is definitely the only way to resolve the issue, then your Insurance should be called upon to come to your rescue (and if you do decide to change from carpet to a hard-floor alternative, then you may well find that your Insurance Company would allow such, with any difference in cost between the two coverings being paid by you - if the hard-floor turned out to be more expensive than the carpet).

The important thing at the moment is to resolve the problem as quickly as possible, especially if you have more Guests coming in soon, so it's most important to know what was the liquid/solid that caused the stain, as well as what the Guests' used to try to remove it.

Having said that, you also might want to ask your cleaners what they used to try to remove what they first saw, as it is possible that whatever it was that THEY used, might have caused the original stain to become more ingrained!)

Whatever happens, and however much help you get from your Guests/Airbnb CS, I hope all gets resolved for you very soon!