What is too picky about how a guest leaves your place.?

[Wende2]

Hi all....just wondering what is the limit for you to leave a review about how they left the place.  For instance, crumbles, maybe they missed the wastebasket and left stuff on the floor, kitchen sink splatter with coffee, something dripped in the floor here and there and not wiped up, that kind of thing.  It really pisses me off but is it something to mention in their review, would you mention stuff like that.  I was thinking I'd just say something about they could have been a bit more tidy.?  They were here one night a couple days ago.  I don't bake anymore for a nice little Welcome since Covid.  I started putting snack bags of a few different popcorn instead, these people had bits of popcorn everywhere, coffee drips, they emptied the ice cube trays and left them in the freezer, along with an empty ice cube bin and a few other things what some may consider nitpicky, maybe, that's the question.  What's your limit.?

[Sarah977]

@Wende2 I have a dear friend who lived a couple blocks from me in Canada and we and our kids were back and forth between our houses all the time.

Good housekeeping isn't my friend's forte and she had a very busy household full of teenagers. At one point someone had dropped a Coke can on the stairs from the foyer up to living room. That Coke can lay there for 3 weeks until someone decided to dispose of it. It just didn't bother anyone 🙂

[Wende2]

@Sarah977   Holy crap, that would drive me nuts.

[Sarah977]

@Wende2 Me too. It also bothered her boyfriend who she lived with, who was the one who did most of the cleaning in their house, cause he liked a clean, tidy home. 

But he had decided as an experiment to see how long it would take before someone else picked it up. After 3 weeks of seeing that no one else ever would, he did.

[Wende2]

@Sarah977   An experiment, been there done that.  Amazing how things can go on for so long.  I'll admit I'm not the best housekeeper, but come on, and I certainly wouldn't leave someone else's place looking like I didn't care about it.  That's how I felt about these people.  I seen when I left a review that they are hosts too, in a very posh neighborhood in Washington DC, go figure.

[Nicole2223]

I appreciate this post as I’m finding myself in this situation today for the first time.  I’ve only had one guest in the past who was egregious in his disregard of our house rules, so it wasn’t hard to leave an honest review for him.   For the current case, I want to avoid the type of review that leaves a future host wondering...but I also don’t want to deny this guest the opportunity to stay elsewhere, as I’m sure he’ll grow up and learn over time.   

When a guest has no  prior reviews, I do some recon or have a conversation with them before accepting.  In this case, our guest had a girlfriend with 3 positive reviews so we accepted them.   And like the original post, what I found after departure was a lot of little things that, individually, might be excusable.  But 5 or 6 small things required additional cleaning time and potentially charges for repairs/replacement if I can’t remove a stain from a rug and/or find a missing bowl.   

My question for the community is two fold:

1. How to review this guest, and I like what was suggested above (“More cleaning time than usual was necessary”). 
   
   
   
2. How to charge for a damaged item that I can’t get clean.  If I had to replace the item it would be roughly $100....but is it fair to charge the whole cost if it was 6 months old?   And if I charge for the rug, do I also charge for the extra cleaning time?   Finally, would I go through the “request additional funds” button these extra charges?    

Many thanks.

PS  I have a new guest checking in tomorrow - should I remove the rug?  Take pictures.??

[Wende2]

@Nicole2223   I've had things ruined myself, I have a daybed in the living room that some people with 2 kids ruined, looked like bleach was dripped down it, that was when people started booking again last June, they were also hosts.  It was a couple yrs old, the original to the apt, but nevertheless it cost me over $100, replaced that in June and the last to stay here spilled some drink that was purple in it, they throw it in the wash and set it in for life.  I noticed some on the matching pillows, sprayed my stain remover on those and it came out.  I use Grandma's Secret, picked it up in walmart.  I can use the other side of the throw cover, but I don't care for the fabric on that side.  I don't know what to tell you, I just move on and take the new off my taxes.  As for the bowl, my guess they broke that, the rug I'd want to assure the guest it is clean that the stain just happened, I'd probably go online to find a cheap replacement, I find Wayfair has really good sales, I got a huge rug it's probably 12x15 for less then $125 on there, if you're not signed up as a Wayfair Professional buyer you should look into that.  I just checked my email and have a sale notice from them.  Sorry I can't remember now how that came about.?  If you don't see it go to contact us and ask about it.