I have my second guest. I allow dogs, both guests have had dogs.
My house is a 3/3 in a Toni part of Orange County. I’m required to do 30 day stays. This is my primary residence. It’s furnished with custom furniture and has crystal and China. My guest is asking to cancel her 7 week stay.
Here are the issues…
1. There was a stain on my sheet from the last guests. They are high thread count cotton sheets. They were washed in hot water with bleach. I offered that there were other sheets if she prefers.
2. I got up at 5am to start getting the house ready. I was really tired at the last and left a sponge in the frig. I forgot to empty a pitcher of lemonade. I asked my guest if she would prefer a bottle of wine or craft beer. I inquired about her needs for her first morning. I said I would leave almond milk, coffee and sugar. There was the beer chilled in the frig.
3. She thought she would have a garage. The listing specifically states street parking. My garage is locked off to store my car and furniture for my new AirBnB that I’m remodeling over the summer.
4. She couldn’t get the TV to work. My handy helped her. He showed her how to use Netflix and stream.
5. My AC wasn’t cooling well. I had it serviced 12 days ago. It was all checked out with new filters. I had the AC person come out and look at it. She sent him off to buy parts without me in the loop. He didn’t understand that she was a guests, not the owner. I have a home warranty. Him working on it would have voided my warranty. It’s scheduled for repair today.
6. She asked to cancel. I said I would cancel per my agreement. She would pay for 30 days. She can cancel the last 3 weeks. I told support, I would cancel the 2 nights she needs to stay in a hotel. She doesn’t answer calls from AirBnB.
7. She said it wasn’t vacuumed well enough and the frig wasn’t clean enough. The drawers are clear. There are some spots under the drawers. Not touching any food. I offered to send my cleaning crew back to clean again. I think my cleaners may quit. They work really hard. Last cleaning, they forgot to make a bed. For my first booking, I refunded $100 of the cleaning fee. The constant guest complaints are poisoning my cleaner relationship. I didn’t ask the cleaners for the $100 I refunded to guests 1.
8. My dogs jumped on the comforter when we were making the bed. I put it in the wash. I should have moved a comforter from the other room. I just didn’t think of it because I was so tired.
9. I had a 2 hour drive ahead of me. I wanted to be safe driving. I told her I was in the area, if she needed help. Once I left, she texted me. I called her. She had a litany of complaints. I broke them down and addressed each as detailed above.
To prepare for my guests…
I had a plumber come and make sure all the drains were flowing properly. He fixed a minor leak.
I had an electrician come and replace the outlet for the hot tub.
I had the hot tub repair guy trouble shoot problems.
I had the AC annual service even though, it wasn’t due until October.
My neighbor is taking care of the yard and picking up my mail. He can help a little. I’m paying him.
I had a locksmith come to make sure the gate was functioning properly.
I had a deep clean of the house.
My first folks got lost because they used the AirBnB map. I gave guest 2 my cell number so that would not happen again. Her code didn’t work at first. I responded within a minute. I opened the house and checked on her entry code.
My first people seemed unable to look for anything. They insisted there were no towels even though every bathroom had appropriate towels.
Guest 1 rearranged my furniture. Things are missing, I’m still finding things broken. I sent guest 1 a message to ask if she knew where she put something. That I was having trouble finding every thing. She left no review. Just as well.
Market rent long term is $6500 month for my house. My current guest is $5,550. The advice was to offer some good deals to get reviews. At $1000 under market, I have this impossible guest.
she has gone to a hotel because of the AC. She won’t respond to the AirBnB support team. I offered to waive the nights she needed to stay in a hotel. I don’t really want to cancel a $9000+ booking. Since she won’t answer calls from support or work to address anything, it’s tough going.
AirBnB has escalated to another team. I’ve bought new sheets. I offered to drive 5 hours round trip to change the sheets. She doesn’t seem interested in any solution.
she said my house is beautiful. It is. It’s beautifully landscaped with a koi pond, fire and hot tub. I’m a gourmet cook. The kitchen has copper pots and every imaginable cooking tool.
I didn’t have a coffee maker. I used a press pot. I bought a simple to use high end coffee maker.
I feel absolutely sick. What should I do? She could have cost me hundreds even more than a thousand dollars by having work done without my warranty company involved.
How much is enough? It will be a financial burden to me to lose this income. I’m retired. I live on this. I tried to make my place like I would want a place to be. I’m more easy going, if a comforter was in the washer at 6, I’d put it in the dryer.
