Towels Ruined

[Tom937]

Hi Group,

Had a couple stay for a long weekend who obviously spilled coffee all over the place, which they cleaned up with my brand new organic white Turkish cotton towels, which are now permanently stained. Any recourse here for compensation, or do I chalk this up to the cost of doing business? Thanks!

[Pat271]

Don’t give up on them.  Soak in OxiClean overnight before throwing in the wash.

[Ann72]

@Tom937  Definitely use OxiClean and cold water and see if you can save them.  If you can't, here are the steps:

*You have to do all of this before the next guest checks in*

First, take a picture of the ruined towels, including the brand label.

Second, immediately buy the exact same towels and scan the receipt.

Third, send the photos and the receipt to the guests through the Airbnb messaging system and ask them for reimbursement. 

Fourth, if they refuse, go through the resolution center.  You'll have to upload the photos and the receipt for the replacement towels.

[Kelly149]

perfectly unblemished towels live at my listing...

towels from the island of misfit towels live at my house.... there are so many of them...

it's the life of a host @Tom937 good luck getting them clean! At least your guest cleaned up after themselves??

[Anonymous]

@Tom937  There's no fixed rule that towels have to be white - the ability to bleach them is an upside, but on the other hand they don't look beautiful for very long. Some mocha-colored towels would look just as nice with your beautiful home's accent colors as the white ones, if you're crafty with fabric dye or in the market for replacements. 

But I don't recommend using the unwieldy claim procedure for stained towels or linens, as these are very much a cost of doing business. Like @Kelly149 , I rotate the blemished items into my personal stock, as they're still perfectly usable, and put aside a budget for updating the guest linens regularly. 

(If your personal stock of towels is overflowing with old ones, animal shelters can always use more).

[Kelly149]

@Anonymous to soften the request for $$, I once phrased a request as “the towels that were stained during your stay will be donated to the local animal shelter, please choose one of these 2 listings on Amazon to replace them. Thank you!”

[Jason114]

The way I read your description of the towels I see you have quite an attachment to them. As a host it's best to move forward in life with no attachment to towels. Get what works, and replace them as needed. 

Cheers!