Pay attention to updated Protection terms...

[Debra405]

My recent guests left a pig pen behind, food caked on the stove, refrigerator and microwave dirty and food left behind.  They moved my furniture around and left it like that. All towels were still damp and just shoved in the closet. 

Ann only had one review, her daughter Emily had 5 good ones but 3 were from the same Host. Seemed weird but a mom and daughter should have been excellent guests.  Well, no. 

Bottom line is they had no clue what it means to be invited as a guest into someone's HOME.  But I can't submit a claim for the extra cleaning and time to reset my house. 

You can not submit a claim for "general cleaning." That's right.  Not by an approved guest. So you better vet these people before allowing them into your home.  I am so disappointed, but at least I was able to clean everything and now you can't tell it was ever dirty.  An extra $375 to do it, but that's probably a cheap lesson to learn. 

From Jessy, the Air bnb Rep as emailed to me on July 16, 2025:

"However, I would like to explain further that the Host Damage Protection Term, we no longer provide coverage for general cleaning. Coverage is limited to additional cleaning that meets specific criteria. The following situations are eligible under Extra Cleaning:

• Heavy stains left by Guests
• Smoke odor removal
• Cleaning due to non-allowed pets
• Cleaning caused by unauthorized invitees permitted by the Responsible Guest

If your documentation clearly supports any of the above scenarios, we may proceed with the claim review."

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Debra405 some guests left our place as clean if not cleaner than when they moved in. Others left crumbs and debris all over the place. We just took the rough with the smooth and moved on. Interestingly when the place looked like a bomb site it didn't take much more cleaning as you have to pass the vacuum cleaner over every part of the room anyway.

[Marie8425]

@Debra405 

Honest question, did you contact the Guest?

I don't involve Airbnb until I try to resolve myself first.  I don't present as you broke this or that rule.  Just hey I had an unexpected expense in this case more than usual cleaning required.  I would appreciate if you would reimburse me XX.  Here is a copy of the invoice for your records.

Not a guarantee fix but when you approach someone professional not judgmental they don't feel defensive and they may agree and reimburse me.

[Debra405]

Hi, @Marie8425 , thanks for the comments. 

Yes I sure did. In fact, within 30 minutes of them leaving, I reached out. First because they left a package from Walmart.  Then to ask where my cleaning supplies were, and if they would come back and help my cleaning crew find everything they moved. 

I asked why they moved furniture, left an entire set of sheets rolled up into a ball in the master bedroom closet, etc.

First Emily asked why I accused them of stealing, which I didn't, then she said to look above the coffee pot for the supplies.  After that, stopped communicating. No response at all.  Didn't come back for their package. And of course when I asked for reimbursement of the extra expense,  detailing the extra charges, they declined to pay it.  

So I'm updating my house rules and need to find out about deposits, as I'll need to have one for stays of a month or longer.  

What they did was so egregious, there is no dispute that they left a chaos AND a mess.  I guess they're just used to everybody else cleaning up after them.

[Marie8425]

@Debra405 

Think about this, "guest" is just a title for a stranger.  A person you don't truly know that also doesn't truly know you truly.  A stranger you probably will never see again.  Repeat Guest means maybe in 365 days, I have to talk to concerning a new reservation.

Then consider your time valuable.  You are of most value limiting expenses for you the stranger created.  There is no value to you or her in providing a stranger negative criticism.  She moved your furniture.  The why now that the stranger is gone doesn't really matter.  If there was an expense try an recover the expense.  If she wants to rent next year, next year decide.

Fighting over the whys is getting lost in the weeds.

Make sense?

[Joan2709]

@Debra405 

You need to add something to your addl House Rules about not moving furniture. Something like:

"Please do not move furniture around, as it can damage the furniture, floors, walls and other items in the home. If there is damage, we will have to charge your security deposit for the damage. If we find furniture has been moved we will have to charge an addtional $100 fee."

The state the place was left in is as @Mike-And-Jane0 say...some guests do a great job and others make you wonder how they were raised. You might consider raising your cleaning fee a few dollars to start building up a contingency fund, as this will eventually happen again. 

I hope you left an honest review to warn future hosts and marked "would not host again". Be careful how you word the review and maybe say generically "unfortunately additonal cleaning was required after this guest's stay" and then mark them down for cleanliness. If you didn't have anything in your addl House Rules about moving furniture, I wouldn't mention that in the review. 

[Debra405]

Thank you for your comments @Joan2709 .  Yes, now I do need to add a statement to my rules and you gave me a great head start on it. 

And yes I absolutely did give an honest review which should post in a few days. I hope to save other Hosts from having to clean up after these 2 pigs.  

Thanks again!

🙂

[Marie8425]

@Debra405 

Consider for all House Rules, how often a Rule is broken.

If 1,999 Gust Reservations, nobody moved the furniture.

Reservation 2,000  my furniture is moved.

Is the item that serious that I want the next potential 1,999 Guests to worry about my furniture placement

Do I note don't move because everyone moves the furniture on their vacation.

[Joan2709]

@Marie8425 

I have to disagree...respectfully 😊. I don't think everyone moves furniture on their vacation...nor should they in someone's home on Airbnb. A hotel is a different matter, but there is not much to move in a hotel room as most stuff is bolted down. 

We don't mind if the guest rearranges chairs outside, or minor things inside, but for larger properties I work with, having to move alot of furniture back to original locations is a nightmare, not to mention the potential damage to everything when it was moved, and then more damage possible when its moved back to original location. We also have to pay someone extra to do this (many cleaners will not move heavy items). 

[Marie8425]

@Joan2709 

Let me be clearer, in no way am I saying proper behavior.

One person's bad behavior, because no I don't plan to move furniture at my vacation rental.

If I see a Rule to not do something I wouldn't expect to be normal Guest behavior and I consider myself normal.

Part of me wonders do a lot of normal Guests move the furniture?  Is the furniture placement that bad?  If it is don't move it?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Marie8425 we used to operate a 3 strike rule - We would only consider a rule to be necessary if 3 people had done the same thing. If we reacted to every slight indiscretion then our rules would end up reading like a chapter from War ad Peace.

[Marie8425]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

That makes so much sense.  I am going to copy that process,

[Joan2709]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Good Rule! ....yes we have had people move furniture alot at the larger properties, hence we had to put in the rule about moving furniture.

We also make changes if 3 or more guests have an issue with something (confused about smart lock, don't know how to use the remote, trouble with an appliance). We often have videos for these things and send them to guests. The videos can also be saved in your digital House Manual and even create QR code/sign with links to the videos.

[Mick-And-Briyith0]

How are you collecting a security deposit. We would like to implement this .

Thanks

[Joan2709]

@Mick-And-Briyith0 

Technically you're not able to collect a security deposit unless using a PMS. This wording is just to nudge the guest to comply. Airbnb can charge the guest payment CC for damages, but there is no "security deposit" in the conventional sense. Fines in Addl House Rules are also not always upheld by Airbnb if you try to enforce them, but it's also a way to nudge compliance.

Security Deposits

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140