Am I justified in asking my guests for more money?

[David192]

I'd appreciate hearing the views of other hosts about a situation, and whether you feel I am justified in asking for more money from the guests.

Over Christmas, while I was out of town for two weeks, I had a single booking for 5 days. This is the first time I have offered my whole flat. I returned home five days after the guests checked out.

Before they arrived, I sent the guests instructions for setting the thermostat. There are individual thermostats in each room (two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room/kitchen space, and the corridor). When I left home I had them set at 21C (ie 70F). For me that's enough, as the daytime sunlight raises the temperature about 3 degrees Celsius. Anything above 23 or 24 is too warm for me. 

I do realise, however, that many people like their rooms to be warmer (particularly guests from East Asia, I have noticed), so sending instructions for the thermostat was something I felt was necessary.

When I returned home five days after the guests checked out, I opened the door to what felt like a blast furnace. The guests had left every single thermostat set at 29C (84F) which meant that in the daytime, the room temperature was at least 32C (in the windowless bathrooms, far higher).  In one of the bathrooms, which both have underfloor heating, I was unable to walk on the floor for several hours because the floor was scorching. To have set the temperature so excessively high was bad enough, but to leave it like that as they left? Outrageously rude, in my view.

The scorching heat of the underfloor heating, which was left on for at least five days (and probably during their stay too), has led to the sealing between the floor tiles to dry out and crack, which has in turn led to tiles becoming loose. The tiles are quite large, so walking across the bathroom floor leads to the tiles tipping as you step on one side, then the other. I have no idea yet how much it will cost to repair.

Also, I read the electricity meter the day after I arrived home and submitted the reading to the electricity provider.  It generated a bill much higher than normal. I take frequent readings (yeah, I'm that guy) so I always know what to expect when the bill comes. 

So, am I justified in asking for damages and compensation for the higher electricity bill? I didn't actually ask them to turn down the heating when they left, but to me that was to be expected. That's basic courtesy and common sense, isn't it? I certainly wouldn't leave the heating set so high when I check out of a place.

[Cathie19]

Hi @David192. I’m sorry this has happened to you. Your anger and frustration must be peaking at the moment with the cracking seal/grouting with the tiles.

Unfortunately, if you do not have a temperature restriction set in your rules online or visible next to the thermostats, I’m not sure you have a leg to stand on. No rule has been broken. They have just been senseless and unaware.

We can get the same problem in reverse. Heavy use of air conditioners at ridiculously  low temperatures.... are you able to “fix” the thermostats so they cannot be interfered with?

Best of luck! Keep us informed.

[David192]

Thanks Cathie - I do think there is a point where being 'senseless and unaware' entails financial responsibility, though. These people baked my bathroom floor. I didn't even know such a thing was possible! I need to think it through for a day or two (and get an estimate for the repair) before I decide how to approach this. Thanks for your input.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@David192

you know you have just 14 days after their check out /or before your next guests arrive/ to file a damage claim? Until then you should take pictures of all the damage and estimate or the bill from licenced contractor. Tell him to give you the total estimate and an estimate per square meter as well

Then request money from your guest and if he ignores or don't want to pay then involve Airbnb

Good luck

ps

We always come to clean within few hours after our guests leave because we never know if they will they lock the door, close windows etc...  Once we found our thermostat left on 30 C , the other time AC was on 15 C... ahhh 😞

[David192]

Thanks for the tip about taking photos, and about the arrival of later guests and the impact on making a damage claim.

Yes, I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave it for so long after checkout before my arrival back home. I should have had someone come round to check. But the guests checked out on Dec 24, so my occasional cleaner wasn't available for the following few days, nor could a friend go round to check. Lesson learned.

I am still stunned that people could leave a thermostat (in fact, SIX thermostats) turned to 29. What is wrong with these people???? I guess I forgot the number one rule of AirBNB hosting: If it CAN go wrong, it WILL go wrong.

[Huma0]

@David192

Sorry to hear about this. I think that these are the sort of problems you are going to encounter when renting out a whole space in the Winter. I host rooms in my own home and am here, but have guests constantly demanding that the heating be set higher, on for longer etc.

My current guests from China told me the morning after they arrived that they were cold and could I make sure the heating was on overnight. I told them no. I had already explained to them that I do not have it on overnight. Instead, I offered to turn up their radiators and have the heating on until later at night (it normally goes off around midnight). It turns out that they had turned their radiators off, despite my specific instructions not to fiddle with the controls.

This afternoon, one came and asked me to turn the heating on. I said it is on. What's wrong, are your radiators not hot? I turned them up to full so they should be very hot! She then replied that yes, they were hot, so I really don't know what she was asking me to do, turn Winter into Summer?

This sort of thing is so common. I dread to think what guests would do if I was not here and they had access to the thermostat. I actually keep it where they cannot see it and they don't know where to find the boiler and adjust the timer either.

I know your set up is completely different to mine, but you need to find a way to minimise this sort of behaviour as it's going to keep happening. Have you thought about a smart meter that you can control from your phone? Then you can monitor the temperature to see if the thermostat is being turned too high or heating left on after guests check out and fix the problem without even being there.

If you inform your guests before booking, i.e. in your listing/house rules, and then again in pre-trip messages that the temperature will be adjusted if it exceeds XYZ degrees, that won't stop them complaining about you turning the heating down, but at least you can respond that there were already informed.

[David192]

Hi Huma - Thanks for your suggestion of a smart meter app. My thermostats are very digital, so I am sure there is some way to get this set up. Whether it will be cost effective, given how seldom I offer the whole flat, I am not sure. But I will look into it.

[Huma0]

@David192

I haven't tried it myself, because I am here most of the time and do not rent out my home as an entire unit ever. However, I believe that the smart meters like Nest etc. can help with energy saving in general, so are worth looking into. I keep meaning to get around to it! 

Sometimes energy suppliers offer deals on these and I think I have even seen them advertised as freebies occasionally. I was about to take up one of these offers when my supplier hiked my price so I switched to another. If I find out more before you do, I'll let you know.

My mum has a smart meter. The problem, which I'm sure is something I would experience too, is that she can see exactly when the energy usage shoots up and, as a consequence, her energy inefficient lodger is now driving her even more mad than ususal! I can only imagine the angst it might cause me during some guest stays which is partly why I have been put off the idea. 

Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

[Lisa723]

@David192 I was with you until your last paragraph. You can charge for failure to follow specified rules, but not for lacking common sense.

[David192]

I don't see why not. Not every single scenario needs to be specified in writing. What would such a list of rules look like? "Don't punch the walls. Don't leave the taps running all day and flood the house. Don't destroy the floor. Don't break the windows. Don't draw on the walls. Don't don't don't..."

And then someone would say 'But you didn't say I couldn't KICK the walls, you only said I couldn't PUNCH the walls...'.

So yes, lack of common sense is very much in play here. Basic common sense is the basis for much of the law of contracts. A reasonable adult wouldn't have left the heating on so hot that the bathroom floor was scorching, so an unreasonable adult will have to pay for the damage that has resulted.

I'm really angry about the stupidity and carelessness of these guests. I'll send them a message tomorrow when I am calmer.

[Mark116]

 I will be surprised if either the guests agree to pay you anything or if airbnb awards you any money, I suspect this is a lesson learned situation and you should invest in one of those remote temperature controls that allows you to monitor and control the temp from your own device.

[Lisa723]

@David192 I'd be mad too, but mostly at myself... not checking on your listing shortly after check-out is asking for trouble, and different people and cultures really do have extremely various ideas about what is customary. (People routinely leave our gas fireplace on when they depart even though I have a sign on the thermostat asking them to turn it off, as well as instructions in my house manual.) From the guests' point of view, they had no way to know the floor would be damaged or that nobody would be there for several days. I agree with @Mark116 that you are unlikely to get compensation, and I personally wouldn't try. But just my two cents, since you asked.

[Huma0]

@David192

I have a very long list of house rules and give a detailed house tour when guests check in, reminding them of several of the rules. The list is so long because it has grown over time due to all the stuff guests have done. Of course it doesn't go as far as don't punch or kick the walls, but I have added many things that initially seem to obvious to state, , e.g. please don't use my towels to clean your shoes or please don't leave the front door open, because I realised early on that what is obvious to me is not obvious to everyone else. 

Of course, it is difficult to get a lot of guests to actually read through these rules but I also learnt early on that it is important to have them there in writing on the listing as back up should a situation arise where I need to contact Airbnb about a guest breaking my rules.

Some things in my rules that many, many guests still ignore:

- Please respect that this is my private home and do not bring visitors, including friends and family, without asking permission IN ADVANCE. (This is actuallty mentioned twice)

- Please respect my check in time of 3-9pm (also check out is by 11am).

- Please respect your hosts and other guests by keeping noise levels reasonable, especially after 11 pm... please do not use showers in the middle of the night.

- Please do not park or allow others to park, including taxis, on the neighbours’ driveway under any circumstances.

- I do not charge a cleaning fee, so please clean up after yourself.

- Please do not eat meals/cooked food in the bedroom.

- Please try to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly by turning off lights and appliances you don't need.

- The washer/dryer is for use by long term guests ONLY. Please do not hang wet laundry around the house, especially not on furniture/curtains.

- Please do not tamper with any heating controls.

- Guests may not receive mail at the house.

- Please do not move or rearrange my furniture, including in the guest bedroom.

The reason I am listing the above rules is that every single one of them has been broken at least once, if not several times, in the last week alone. A bathroom has also been flooded a couple of times.

I would also like to know what else I can do to try to get guests to follow my rules. This is a shared space, i.e. shared with me and other guests, so it is important. I do insist that all guests confirm they have read and agree to the full listing/rules when booking, but many of them just lie!

[Emilia42]

I went away for a weekend when I had guests and didn’t check the apartment until 2 days after checkout. While I had family around I never thought to ask them to go into the apartment. When I got home to clean, the apartment smelled so horrible from the full can of garbage stewing for a few days. It took 2 days to “air out” in the freezing cold. I never ask the guests to take out their trash at checkout or have anything in my house rules around this. I will just take care of it, which I don’t mind at all and find that a lot easier then explaining to guests how to locate my trash bins. Lesson learned. Now I will always have someone check on the apartment if I cannot remove the trash right away. This was an oversight on my part.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Huma0

Hi - not an easy one to answer -  would certainly ask the guests to pay and additional sum, but keep it realistic. You also refer to a very long list of house rules.

Think of it like this: guests arrive, on holiday, to a strange environment, with different appliances etc - and with their own behaviours built in. A long list of house rules: being realistic who goes on holidays and sits down to read house rules? I know you say you talk them through the 4/5 main ones. That is good - however we actually walk the guests through our 3 - one of which is to get them to physically lock the door (it has a weird locking mechanism and guests couldnt do it as they didn't remember what to do)

Perhaps some learning from this is a automated email or text the night before they leave asking them to lock up, put out the rubbish/recycling, turn off a/c, heating, etc. That may help...