Where do you draw the line of helping your guest

[Angela2851]

I am a good host and will help where needed, but when a guest is continuously asking questions and wants me to do his jobs, all within a 24hr period, I am afraid I get a little disheartened by these guests.  By ignoring them - does this work? or should we report them? Or continue giving advice?

Examples: I was told I must go to my accommodation as he left his mobile phone charger in the wall and was worried his 2yr old child would put in her mouth, and that his wife has just arrived from India and has no phone for the UK so he cant contact her!  Another was, he put a wash on and the clothes would not dry around the accommodation, he needs a dryer, wheres one on site.  Now, 24hrs and he has already done a clothes wash?

I think all the above is taking the ....... and where do you draw the line and start charging them for your help and using the washing machine within the 24hrs of arriving which was clearly washing that his wife brought from India!  A washing machine surely is for emergencies only, not the guest household laundry lol

[Kate867]

@Angela2851   I see that you are a relatively new Host and this whole Airbnb thing really is a big learning curve.  Even the most experienced Hosts are always learning and asking for help and advice at times.  With regards to helping guests out,  I always do when I can.  We are not a personal concierge service, but sometimes, as in your case, it is the kind thing to do.  You could refuse but inevitably it will not look good.  Clearly your guest had concerns about his child and could not contact his wife to address them and was simply reaching out for help.  If you provide a washing machine as an amenity, then the guest has every right to use it as and when he wants, unless use is restricted within the house rules.  Also, having provided clothes washing facilities, then of course you should provide either a tumble drier, washing line or a clothes horse of some type to enable them to dry things.  After a long flight from India, with a two year old who probably had several changes of clothes en-route there will inevitably be at least one load doing.  By all means, report this ‘difficult’ guest to Airbnb if you wish but be aware that you cannot simply withdraw an amenity on your listing because in ‘your’ opinion it is not necessary for it to be used.

[Angela2851]

Thank you, Kate, for your advice, much appreciated.  However, there is a few things that you would not know, and I need to explain further.  I am not fairly new to Airbnb, I did have another property for 5yrs and sold it 2yrs ago, I had 150 5/5 reviews, so, that is how good I was as a host, and I helped where needed every time.  I also have a clothes horse in the property, and there is a dryer (Laundrette) onsite As for the guest reaching out.... I did give him another number to ring being security on site for help.  In all of this, you charge a premium for a service, you have excellent guests who do not abuse the system you then have guests who take liberties and demand we as hosts should be there at all times. As you have said we are not a personal concierge service, but some guests treat us as such.   Just wondered what other hosts felt, as we are living in an ever-changing world, which incl electric and gas increases etc etc, we as hosts can only charge so much in order to gain a booking, otherwise we would never be booked, therefore guests (and most do) will understand when not to take libberties.   Thank you for your time.

[Kate867]

@Angela2851   Thank you for clarifying the situation, I could only respond to the given facts.  Moving forward, perhaps in your welcome message to guests you could politely ask them to be ‘mindful’ of their energy usage given rapidly increasing costs?  I have been doing this lately at the same time letting them know that we have not increased our prices and guests have been extremely understanding and good about it.  Or you could simply put a small notice up in the property.  There will still be some real ‘energy bandits’ out there, but that is usually down to thoughtlessness more than anything else and a gentle reminder will not hurt.

[Huma0]

@Angela2851 

Taking the ... , indeed. I am sure your guest does not think this is what he is doing, but this type of guest drives me up the wall. Luckily, I am a fairly patient person, otherwise I would not still be hosting.

The phone situation is ridiculous, sorry. Firstly, he left his phone charging. I don't know how long before as I imagine if he had just left, he could go back himself, so that means there was charge enough on it for him to ring HIS OWN NUMBER to contact his wife. Sure, she might not think to answer her husband's phone, but if it was a risk to the child, surely that would alert her to said risk. Failing that, why is he not going back to solve the problem himself? After all, it was his doing and it is his child.

Maybe he's busy with something else. Well, maybe you are too. He's not paying for you to be on call 24/7 to handle his mishaps. You are kind  to help in this situation, but I really don't like people who use their kids to guilt trip you into doing stuff for them that they should do themselves. Perhaps he and his wife are a bit clueless, but if you're going to have children, then you need to be a responsible adult about it. Besides, you offered him another solution, i.e. calling on site security. If it was such an urgent matter, why did he not do that? I'll tell you why, and I'm sorry to say it. I come from the same part of the world as your guest and there it is common for most people from a middle class income and above to have home help, i.e. servants (that is what they are called - the servants). They are used to these servants doing every little thing for them and he views you, his host, as the same.

Now, I am sure he is not doing it maliciously, he is simply unaware that his requests or demands are unusual, but you have two choices: 1. If it is a short stay and you feel you have the patience, put up with it but try to have some boundaries. 2. Politely make it clear what he has rented and that it doesn't include a concierge service (maybe find more subtle wording!). 

[Huma0]

@Angela2851 

As for the laundry, yep, it really annoys me when guests want to do laundry as soon as they arrive. I don't host guests with kids, so I can't comment on the need to do laundry after a long journey with a toddler. I mean I know that people with babies or small children seem to have endless laundry to do. The guests I've had who do this are just plain wasteful. They like to put on the washing machine (and mine is big - 8kg) for two t-shirts and two pairs of socks. The thing is, you are giving them free laundry services, and some people will take advantage of that, i.e. they will put on a wash for whatever they used that day rather than wait until they have a load because, well, they might as well. They're not paying for it, or rather, they are paying for your listing so they think they are paying for the luxury of daily laundry.

In your current situation, there is not much you can do about restricting use of the washing machine if that is something you have not already stipulated in your house rules. However, when it comes to the drying, explain that no dryer is listed as within the apartment. There is a clothes drying rack for their use and, if that is not sufficient (quite possible given the bitter weather we've had, but that's what my guests and are are still using), they can use the dryer at the laundrette on site. 

Moving forward, you could put some restrictions in your house rules. Given that you have a laundrette on site, I would be tempted to specify that guests have access to this but that your washing machine is not for their use. Or, especially if you are renting an entire unit, limit the amount of use. That could mean that the washing machine is available for £X per load, if this is something you are able to monitor, or maximum one (or two) loads per week. Whatever you think is reasonable.

That doesn't mean you won't still sometimes have a struggle on your hands. Even when guests acknowledge the rules when booking, it doesn't always mean they think they have to follow them. When I still hosted short term guests, I introduced a rule that use of the washing machine was for long term guests only but that I could do a load for them (I am a live in host) for £3 per load. Some were happy to pay it, others not, but it did help to limit usage a lot. That rule is a bit moot now that I only host long term guests. I do still have to make a point of instructing them, e.g. please wait until you have a reasonable load, otherwise use the 'daily quick' setting, but some still don't get it. I recently added that guests were allowed to do one load a week. No one so far seems to have grasped that though!

@Kate867 's suggestion RE energy costs is a good one. It won't register with some guests, but it might help with others.

[Angela2851]

Thank you, Huma, much appreciated.  You have picked up the gist of what I was getting at.  x

[Gordon0]

I had a couple of guests last week who were only in London as a stop off as part of their European tour. The (listing in the amenities) washer went on within minutes of them getting in. Three loads later and my internal patience was wearing thin, but I grinned/beared it.

Then I weighed it up; these were the first guests to use the machine in over 50 arrivals. So it was just the luck (or otherwise) of the draw.

Oh, and on check-out, a crisp £20 was on the bed with a 'thanks for letting us use your washer' note. Result.  

[Angela2851]

I can see pigs flying with this guest! But you are correct, only a few guest, we'll, that was the past, maybe the future is changing for us host, as, electric cost to us is less to them, so I think we are going to see more of this if allowed. I now have removed the option of the washing machine as there's a laundry on site. Thank your for  reply, much appreciated.