Bedding ruined

[Chloe113]

I have had 3 young people staying in my apartment and they have covered a bed spread in fake tan (or something) and there is blood/or fake tan on the bed sheets which has soaked through 2 sheets, a mattress protector into my new memory foam mattress topper. 

I’m really unsure about what to do. 

The guest put the sheets in the washing maschine before leaving which has made it  impossible to remove the stain. 

This is not a business for me. It’s my home in London and put it on here while I was on holiday. 

The cost of the 2 night stay was £125 for 3 people in a central London location. The sheets were very nice sheets costing around £50 each. Bedspread was £100 (but both around a year old) the mattress topper is almost brand new costing £100 and it’s impossible to get th blood out of this. 

What do I do. Do I charge them ? If so, how much for?

i also have a feeling they are not going to pay up even if I request the money. 

Many advice would be really appreciated. 

thanks 

Chloe 

[Lisa723]

You can certainly try to charge them through the resolution center (send/request money) and involve Airbnb if they don't pay. If this is not a business for you you may not be concerned about the possibility of a retaliatory review, but that is the only downside of trying.

[Cormac0]

@Chloe113

I find it very unusual that modern detergents can't remove blood stains from sheets and a mattress cover, look on the bright side the mattress cover did its job by perfecting your mattress from the offending substance?

Presumably, the logic was that renting out your property would pay for a nice holiday? The flaw in this logic is that you're probably not insured as your insurance company will not cover you for commercial activity and especially Airbnbing.

Be thankful that your apartment wasn’t trashed examples of which are

1. 1. Sinks pulled off the wall
2. Cigarettes burn on bedding and or furniture
3. 3. Doors kicked in.
4. 4. Apartment left completely open to the public.
5. 5. The apartment used a temporary Brothel.

I could go on and on, the chances that your guest or Airbnb will compensate you is highly unlikely. The risks versus rewards as you have seen, far outway any income you could possibly make on such a tempory basis.

Hopefully Chloe you will regard my comments as tuff love.

[Mark116]

If something with blood on it is washed in hot or warm water, the stain usually is set.  If you use hydrogen peroxide and cold water, as long as the stain is newish, you can probably get the blood out.

As for other stains, I am able to get just about everything out except the weird bleach stains that comes from hydrogen peroxide based facial cleaners and certain skin creams by treating with Shout and washing and soaking in hot water.  However, I have wasted much, much water in getting stains out of bedding for the airbnb unfortunately.

[Chloe113]

Thanks for the tuff love Cormac.

I suppose I naively sought to use Airbnb for its original intention, so no I didn’t work out profit  margins or do a business plan. 

The stains may come out the guest put them in a hot wash,  which might make it difficult as Mark advises below, thanks mark.  I am going to try when I get back. The cleaner was unable to get them out but I might be able to give it a better go. 

The main thing that has bothered me is the memory foam topper which is brand new and is not designed to protect the mattress. It’s a topper to make the mattress more Comfortable . I had 2 sheets and a protector on top of this !

Thanks for the frank responses- perhaps being a casual host is not realistic. 

Chloe 

[Sarah977]

@Chloe113  Sorry your bedding got wrecked. 

Airbnb's "original intention" (which has since gone by the wayside) was not renting out your personal home while you are absent on vacation in order to finance said trip. It was opening up a little used room in your home, while you are there, to guests, earning some extra income from it, and getting to meet people from all over the world. Letting total strangers stay in your personal home when you aren't there and assuming all will be fine upon your return seems naively trusting.

[Chloe113]

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@Sarah977 

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£62 per night  is hardly financing a vacation and I’m not sure what the difference between this and  “earning a little extra income” 

Yes, I agree, I was naively trusting and I must have misunderstood the Airbnb concept completely. 

[Jarg0]

@Chloe113

You broke Rule 6 from the 8 golden Rules

6: Don’t accept party goers or people of very young ages

[Rachel617]

I agree on party goers. All my younger guests have been great. I have a darling pair of college girls in my basement suite now... they have been great guests. The only problem guests we have had have been grown-assed adult scammers.

[John1080]

I've had one group of younger people and they were great, even deciding to extend their stay by an extra night The one thing they did do was roast marshmallows in the wood stove, something I don't think more mature people would have done. Luckily the mess wasn't too bad, but it was a reminder of how younger people think and an opportunity for me to include it in my rules. 

[Beth235]

Sorry that you went through this. Ive had people damage things too. Bottom line is I buy microfiber sheets that are low cost and don’t wrinkle. I get quilt sets on sale for under $20 solely for guest rooms too. Towels in bulk when they are on sale and dark colors that hide stains. Calling Airbnb for me has not helped much. Glad your mattress cover did not damage your mattress

[Christine615]

@Chloe113

I had a similar problem. I tell guests not to strip the bed but found the middle bed stripped and the linen piled in the chair. Guest had spilled red wine all over everything (it was still wet). I was able to get it out of everything but the comforter. I billed her through the Resolution Center (at the request of Airbnb's Customer Service Rep) for the comforter. She paid promptly and I consider myself lucky.

What I did was upload the photos of the damage right away to the guest to ask what happened. That created a time-stamp for Airbnb to see when it happened.

But I will say that although it is "sometimes" possible to get blood out of sheets, etc. it is the spray tan stuff and makeup that is much harder. If this guest had enough to soak through everything, I would bill them for the replacements.

I make it clear that although I don't live in my apartment full-time, it is STILL my home and i expect people to respect that I am sharing my space. I've been mostly lucky so far although my last guest left minor damage and it's too late to bill them for it (broke the glass in one of my trays and didn't tell me).

Edited to say that I put in my listing "Damage is billed to the guest at replacement cost." (That ends the argument of depreciation).