Guest claims they found used condom in bedroom - Are they lying? Help!

[Chris-and-Tino0]

Hi there guys!

We've just encountered a situation where a guest has informed us they came across a used condom in one of our bedrooms. Your reaction is probably the same right now as ours was - gross!

We immediately set about apologising, asked where they found it, and offered a refund of the cleaning fee.

Questions started running through our heads.. Was there somehow some nook or cranny we just simply overlooked?? We received a reply shortly after, and a text message illustrating the discovery with a photograph.

The condom was laying squarely on the floor just inside the wardrobe, next to a a rack where we place the towels... Now, aside from the fact we haven't video taped every inch of the place before every guest check-in (which we might do from now on just to cover ourselves), we are completely at a loss to think how we could have personally overlooked such an eyesore!

Generally, we clean & check over the apartment ourselves. We checked over that spot when we vacuumed, when we repositioned the hangers sitting directly above, and again, when we folded the towels and laid them right next to this condom.

Furthermore, the guests said they only discovered this condom two days into the stay, for which... considering you'd probably use the towels on day 1, coupled with the fact that particular wardrobe door is left slid open by default... we could almost say with 100% certainty there was never any condom there...

To save a headache, we're not too fussed about giving up a modest cleaning fee... but in doing so, would there be any implications? Should we be debating it, should we alert AirBnB to a suspicious claim, albeit, without much more than our word against theirs?

The guest was quite polite about the whole thing in the messages, and even went to the extent of saying they won't mention it in the review... but it's a little beside the point. We do not want to be victims of (possible) scamming, or to see an unfair poor cleaniness score either.

Thoughts?

Many thanks in advance!

[Stacey21]

My guess is the probably wanted sine sort of refund. I have campsite rentals along side room rentals and did find used condoms in the fire pit by one site and I did contact the guess who in return did appologise lol

[Lyndsey2]

Sounds very fishy to me! I would say you are baffled as to how that could have happened (considering the location and all the vacuuming, etc), and promise that you will go back over the pre-check-in photos with your "cleaner" to figure out how this was missed so it will never happen again. Then give the very modest discount. The guest, realizing you are likely to discover that the condom does not appear in your "pre-check-in photos," will hopefully slink away, pray you don't say anything else about it, and never try that stunt again.

[Nancy67]

I might have grabbed a tissue and scooped it up Laughing and winking saying ( or told them on the phone if I wasn't there) "Wow, Somebody was having a good time--I guess it's true what guests say about how truly romatic this place is." We will have to put that on the list of things to look for...
At the end of the day, this is your home. You can beat yourself up trying to control every aspect of the environment and a guests stay, but you do have autonomy. You have the home field advantage of setting the tone. You can't be terrified of bad reviews, just like you can't go to a job everyday wondering if today is the day you're getting fired.
Relax, do your dead level best-- expect the worse, hope for the best and ride this train like you stole it, or until it jumps the tracks.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Who knows, it may have been there - I think that's the question you can't really answer.

All the guest has done is pointed it out to you - and to be fair, if you were in a hotel, or guesthouse and you came across something similar then you would do the same. Doesn't sound like the guest was demanding anything - and you have offered to refund the cleaning fee - which I assume you have already processed. If not, I would do so immediately.

If however they turn around when leaving and say they want a total refund they are in a difficult position as they should have said so straight away and had the opportunity to leave and find somewhere else for the remainder of their stay. They can't 'enjoy' and use your facilities for a week and then claim it was all too much.

If they ask for a partial refund, I would then argue that you offered a refund and they accepted and did so by staying for the remainder of their stay.

[Pat53]

Sounds totally familiar, and my daughter said it is becoming a popular ploy of airbnb guests. In our case we have a rule about dogs on the furniture. We heard about the used condom the last day of these two couples' visit to our Vermont rental property in a similar understated fashion. Upon their departure it was learned that the two white dogs must have lived on three couches and one recliner which had to be cleaned by dragging tape over every square inch multiple times. The condom was just a distraction so we wouldn't complain about the dog hair.

[Marit-Anne0]

Personally I think it comes into the category "toilet does not flush" (guests fiddled with the mechanism so it did not), "boiler must be broken" (they used all the hot water) and now I can add "used condom in the cupboard"  lol

[Chris-and-Tino0]

Thank you all. All very helpful answers. Absolutely delighted by your support from all perspectives!

[Scott250]

Chris and Tina-

I am experiencing the exact same thing,,,polite throughout,,,offer to not mention in review....offer of photograph....no immediate notification upon alleged discover....highly unlikely housekeeping would have missed....highly unlikely that sort of thing would be found in location claimed.  ---

Can you please provide some demographic info (number of people....gender(s)... approx age.....where are they from.

Trying to determine if we have a serial type here.

Would be most helpful.

Thank you