Hi fellow hosts, I'm looking for advice....
Last week, I had a group of 9 TRASH my home.
I happily extended their stay to accommodate THEIR travel plans. They wanted a late check-out on their "preferred" departure date. I was clear that I could only offer a late departure on another day as my cleaners need the whole day (actually) to clean the house since I have another reservation checking in later that day, thus the 10am check-out was firm. The guest agreed to this and I extended their stay from 4 to 7 nights....I regret being so accommodating.
On the day of departure, they checked out nearly an hour late and interrupted our planned cleaning service. The cleaners waited outside and watched them ever so slowly pack up.
The following violations were reported:
1. Guests overstay their reservation- checked out almost an hour late.
2. Damaged linens (blood on bedding)
3. Violated House rules- had a party/event when I have a strict no party policy. Party remnants were found in the house.
Unfortunately, my house needed 4 cleaners to get the house back to its original condition and the cleaners were not able to have the house ready for my next 5pm check in (same day). I feel like this is such an unfair position to be in as a host.
I have renters sign a rental agreement, Airbnb has reassured me several times that they will hold guests accountable for violations and additional fees that are noted in the rental agreement. These guests also left garbage scattered all around the house, in every room, on every level and outside! Its Airbnb community policy for guests to dispose trash and its in my check-out instructions as well. The cleaners gathered 2 bags full of garbage that they left behind (Guest complains about this in their review). When calling Airbnb to report the late checkout and to file claims in the resolutions centre-ambassadors were very helpful and reassured me that I should post all costs via the resolution centre and not be worried about a negative review as they would remove it. Additional cleaning fees, damaged linens and a late check-out totaled over 1000 which Guest declined to pay and felt that the original cleaning fee that they paid should cover anything left behind! REALLY, my house was such a disaster. This was the worst that the cleaners have ever seen a house.
Remnants of party decorations were found by the cleaners that had likely been taped to the great room windows. The windows now have "sticky" residue on them and require professional cleaning. Guest denied that the decorations were theirs...really, they just left!
The carpet has a caramel like substance stain on it and they left the kitchen overflowing with dirty dishes. In the guests response when they declined to pay said that its unreasonable to have carpet cleaners and the windows cleaned. There was no respect for our home and its disappointing that guests feel its okay to leave a carpet stain and tape decorations to feature windows that are squeaky clean.
I've looked up Airbnb policy and it says that cleaning fees cover standard cleaning such as vacuuming- deep cleaning fees are EXTRA.
These guests clearly violated house rules and I've been on the hook for extra cleaning fees, carpet & window cleaning and replacing linens (sanitary reasons). The guest declined to pay the requested fees and left me a 2 star review 3 days later. They never communicated any issues to me during their stay. They messaged me the night they arrived at nearly 1am asking about AC and I told them how to cool the house down...which they messaged back saying that "it worked immediately". The next AM, they asked to extend their stay....
The review comments on the fact that I do not have AC- it's irrelevant and I don't advertise that I do. In fact, no house on the mountain has AC. The review is intentionally retaliatory and dishonest. My husband and I are currently at the house and checked to make sure that all windows with screens can open, which they can (Guest review says otherwise).....they also made a comment on mosquitoes... mosquitoes aren't local to BC, I believe that they live in many part of the world in the summer.
When speaking to Ambassadors, I've asked them if they've reviewed the 6 videos and 22 photos that I sent into the resolution centre, they tell me that they will "investigate" and minutes later I get a copy/paste message stating that the review doesn't violate their policy.
I'm lost for words. The evidence speaks for itself and the review is written in retaliation and to harm my listing... in terms of the claim...I keep getting ambassadors that tell me that this isn't their department and that they've forwarded the case...last night I get a robotic email telling me to upload information within 5 days which I've already done!
Do I need to let this go and accept an awful review and additional fees of over 1000, or does Airbnb actually protect hosts when guests trash their house and violate your house rules and theirs?!
Any tips would be helpful...I've called in several times and today's agent told me to file a separate claim for the late check out and that the review will not be removed as its already been declined twice.
