Bad guest, should I ask for more money or leave bad review

[Pip24]

Hi, I'm just wondering what the best way to deal with my situation with a bad guest should be?

The booking was made for a couple, they have 15 previous reviews, 10 as hosts and 5 as guests.  The reviews were all postive or at least neutral, nothing bad.

There are 3 things I ask my guests to do as they are leaving, let me know when they've checked out, take the rubbish out to the bins downstairs and leave the key on the kitchen counter.  None of these things were done.

When I opened the apartment door, the smell of the rubbish was terrible.  They only stayed 2 nights, but left 4 bags of trash in the kitchen, including dirty nappies which I presume the bad smell was.  The key was nowhere to be found, I tried to call them, but they had already left the country, so I messaged them and had no reply.  I had to go and get another key cut for the next guest who was arriving the same day.  It took me twice as long to clean as usual (playdoh in the carpet, spaghetti on the balcony, etc) and I had to take the afternoon off work in order to prepare for the next guest and to get a new key.

It was obvious a baby and a child had also stayed and was confirmed by looking at their public facebook page, every photo travelling around NZ with 2 girls.  I could see the sofabed and spare blanket had been used, presumably without sheets as I hadn't left extra due to the booking being for 2 adults only.

He finally replied that the key had been left on the bench, I said it wasn't, he replied maybe on a hook next to the door (I haven't confirmed this yet as my current guest has not replied to my message to look for it).

What do I do next?  I don't want a bad review if I make him angry.  I'm not sure whether I should request payment at least for the older child (should have been an extra $40 for 2 nights), the key and new keyring $25, and a loss of half a day salary.  I am not too worried about the money, but I am upset about the situation and wonder if I really should be asking for money, so they understand how bad their behaviour was.  If I do, do I wait until he has posted a review?  Or do I just forget about asking for money and just leave him a bad review?

[Emiel1]

@Pip24 

If you want to charge money, there are clear procedures for it:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits

If you wait until guest has written a review, you maybe too late for charging extra costs.

Write a negative review anyway, as it is deserved.

best regards,

Emiel

[Pip24]

Hmmm, I haven't added a security deposit to my booking....  yes, I think I'll just leave the bad review and mention in it that I would appreciate him paying me for the extra guest(s)....  Thanks for your reply.

[Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0]

And they are hosts too? Shame on them! They should certainly be marked down for not following house rules. Also, we discourage younger children because our condo isn't childproofed. If someone is bringing children we get the ages and warn them that there are cleaners under the sink, no outlet covers, etc. That's a liability. 

[John1080]

@Scott-and-Mary-Ellen0, my thoughts exactly! Can you imagine, as a host, going into someone's Airbnb and behaving that way?! 

[Pip24]

Absolutely!  I always feel very comfortable when I have guests who are also hosts, and it upsets me that I am going to leave them a bad review and have it affect their hosting 😞

[John1080]

@Pip24, I know what you mean. I always hate to have to leave anything negative, but in reality, we have to do it if the situation warrants it. It sounds as if these people really disrespected you and your space in many ways and they deserve the appropriate rating in this case. 

[Pip24]

@Scott & Mary Ellen,   Agreed, I do allow children, but my apartment is also not childproofed and I let them know that if given the opportunity!

And yes, I was very surprised that hosts would behave in this way.  

[Sarah977]

@Pip24   Actually, there have been several posts on this forum over time regarding other hosts being quite objectionable guests, as odd as that might seem. All the hosts who reported this, just like you, were looking forward to having another host as a guest, thinking it would be easy and fun. In fact, the guest either made constant comments about the receiving hosts' places, as if trying to criticize them, like their's was so much better, or the guests left low star reviews (and these were hosts that had had nothing but great reviews up to then). Kind of mind-boggling, but it does happen.

[Helen3]

Hi @Pip24 

As an experienced superhost I'm sure you know you can both leave a negative review and make a claim.

Hosts should not be put off making a claim for fear of a bad review.

You don't have to have a deposit. Claim under Airbnb's guarantee.

I don't believe they will cover your time off work but you can try.

Also it sounds like you host remotely but have no CCTV in place to monitor how many guests are using your space. I would recommend you get this to help back up claims about additional guests/in case of parties etc.

Some my recommendations 

1. Leave an honest review but perhaps leave it to the last minute (three star, thumbs down,  so they can't iB going forward)

2. Call Airbnb about the claim ask if they cover time off and extra cleaning carried out by the host.

3. Maka claim for extra cleaning/key/extra guest etc.