"Cleaning Fees" listed separately, deceptive AirBnB

[Nu0]

AirBnB is a joke with published rates. Hosts lowball on the nightly rate, then charge $70 for a cleaning?  That's for one night or 5.
Looking at a room in Nassua, $80 for the night, $69 cleaning = $149. Seriously, pathetic excuse for transparent pricing.

This site asks us to be nice to each other, how about being nice to travellers by being honest. Any Host can lowball the rate and rack up the cleaning fee. Anyone else agree this is deceptive?

They need to include all fees in pricing. 

Another host lists a $100 fee and $29 cleaning fee = $129.

It's impossible to compare without going through each listing.

And this is a good service?

[Sarah977]

@Ann72  What most of the guests here have been saying, and which I agree with, is that Airbnb should be displaying the total price including the cleaning fee on the listing when they search (Obviously that price may change according to dates and number of guests). Most are not objecting to a cleaning fee per se, just the non-transparency. If I were a guest, I would want it that way. I don't think guests should have to click on a listing, enter dates, etc, before seeing that there's a cleaning fee and what it is. As some guests have pointed out, some hosts are listing a place for $25/night, only for them to find that there's a cleaning fee of $100. That's not right and those hosts are being deceptive.

[Ann72]

@Sarah977  You (and some of the above) make a reasonable point.  How could it display accurately, though, if not everyone puts in the number of nights?  Not challenging you, just thinking out loud.  A cleaning fee is a one-time fee, not a nightly fee.

I asked a few regular Airbnb users what they thought about this before I posted the above.  All said they expect to see fees after entering all their info and going to book.  Just as we expect them when we book a hotel or a flight or a car online.

I think the word “deceptive” is inflammatory - it’s not Airbnb who is deceptive.  As you point out, some hosts are deceptive.  But very few.  I’m annoyed when I make travel-related bookings and review all the fees, but it’s a fact of modern life.

And the person who posted above that a $180 listing became $300 either lied or can’t do math.  A 4-night, $180 per night booking with a $120 cleaning fee becomes $210 a night.  However, her suggestion that the cleaning fee be displayed just under the nightly fee is a good one.  But until hotels, rental cars, and airlines are required to do the same, I doubt Airbnb is going to do that.

[Sarah977]

@Ann72  If the cleaning fee is a one-time fee not dependent on the #of nights, then it wouldn't matter how many nights they input as to the cleaning fee, yes? Of course the price would change depending on the # of guests and dates they chose, but if it showed the price for one guest plus the one-time cleaning fee, that would be a lot more palatable to a lot of guests, I think. And better for the hosts, because if there are other hosts in their area who are showing a really low per night cost on their listing, only to add a huge cleaning fee after the fact, it would all be more transparent on first glance to guests.

When I book an airline ticket, I see the full price before I book, and I can click on the price before booking to see the breakdown of the fees and taxes which are included in the price I see.

[Ann72]

@Sarah977 Good points.  But when you're booking on Airbnb, you can also click on the price before booking to see the breakdown of the fees and taxes.

[Steven685]

I have seen too many hosts in this thread arguing that they charge a high cleaning fee because they have renters that leave lights on, or plumbing needs to be done after sometimes, and other things that aren't "cleaning."

Those other things are, in fact, part of the cost of the rental, not cleaning.  Those people are making their rental price look lower because they are putting electricity and maintenance costs into the cleaning fee.

There is no real way for Airbnb to police that, but those hosts are deceptive.  They get their rental listed as a lower price to get more interest, while others are, probably, legitimately charing a reasonable cleaning fee.

The one problem I have though, is that a one night cleaning fee is the same as a multiple day.  If I stay at a place for 14 days a $100 cleaning fee is reasonable, they may have to clean up more.  But after one day, I'm surprised if most things just need an easy passover from a skilled cleaner. Maybe a few dollars off cleaning fee, since laundry has to be done without question.

[Sarah977]

@Steven685  I understand what you are saying regarding feeling that the cleaning fee should be less if someone only stays for 1 night vs.2 weeks. But while you may hardly make an impact if you stay somewhere for 1 night, other than there being bedding and towels to wash, there are many piggy people out there who can manage to create an enormous mess and even damages on just a one night stay. It seems that people are either slobs, or they are clean and tidy. The slobs leave a disaster in their wake no matter how long they stay, the clean and tidy keep it clean and tidy even if they stay for 2 weeks, because they don't like living in a dirty mess.

So hosts have to average out how much time it takes to clean, both after the messy and the clean guests, and since most Airbnb hosts only clean after a guest checks out, no matter how long they stay, that fee remains static because they are only cleaning once, whether it's a 1 day or 2 week stay.

BTW, I'm not defending my cleaning fee here- I don't charge a cleaning fee at all- I clean the private room/bath myself and factor that time into my listing price. But I do understand why many hosts do need to charge a cleaning fee.

Personally if I charged a cleaning fee and guests left the place immaculate, I'd be inclined to send them at least part of the cleaning fee back, as a big thank you, as long as they hadn't groused about it in the first place.

[Yin16]

I think people are not really upset about the cleaning fees if Airbnb can simply calculate it out the per night charge and add it on the listing per night rate. It’s simple math on the back and it isn’t difficult to do.  It makes cross shopping between listing easier. Some hosts do charge a lower per night rate and tack on 200 bucks worth of fees. Even if you book 4 nights that would come out to be 50 dollars a night more. 

[Antoinette92]

I actually do charge a $50 cleaning fee and I think it is necessary. I do the cleaning myself and to clean sheets, towels and 2-3 comforters. Also to have to purchase detergent Clorox wipes cleaning products etc adds up. Even when guests leave the place spotless there are still hairs in the bathroom and you must wash sheets and towels sometimes replacing a towel or 2. 

I don’t think it’s deceptive to booking because it’s not a daily fee it’s a one time fee. 

Hotels do the same thing with resort fees and they charge them daily. 

[Craig388]

My thoughts, if anyone is bothered ha. It's not just about the money or deception it's also about user experience. For example I see a place flash up in the thumbnails for £53, oh that looks nice and reasonable price. I check maps for the location still pinned as £53. Excellent the location is great to. OK I'll contact the host about my stay requirements and check the availability of facilities. After a long winded process the cost break down of 1 night stay totaled £147. Now maybe the cleaning fee, service fee, air bnb commission , charge for extra facilities,  are all warranted and perhaps the place is worth the money. However as an experience it really put me off staying. It dampens the excitement of what used to the charm of air bnb. I do understand as a host why you charge and keep them separately. But as a business model I'd urge you to reflect on it even if you don't agree. For example if a room was increased from £53-£80 with a £10 cleaning fee then you recoup a margin for cleaning from the room cost to subsidise cleaning, this makes a far more charming proposition the huge leaps from initial displayed rm prices to final booking fees that are often double the initial price represented fees in the search/map options . It's a reflection of the sharp increase and ever growing demand for the service that is air bnb but be careful not to burst your own bubble .

[Sarah977]

@Craig388  I fully understand and agree. I myself don't charge a cleaning fee for the private room for one guest in my home that I list. But I can see that it's very difficult for hosts who do (and with good reason, they have much more space to clean and many more guests to cleanup after than I do) to be able to include that in the price guests see when doing a search, because whether you stay one night or 5, the cleaning fee is a one time charge. So say a host does just include the cleaning fee in the price you see, without you having to go through the hassle of clicking on the listing, inputting the number of nights and the number of guests - you're going to think, whoa, I can't afford that if I'm staying for a week, thinking that would be charged per night.

It's not the host's fault that Airbnb doesn't set it up in the search in a way that would make it clear to guests that the cleaning fee is a one time charge, or what the extra guest fee is per night.

[John2945]

As a new user, how can I filter on price when the listings may have wildly different fees?

I'm looking for two nights on the beach and many listings have $400 cleaning fees which are never taken into account on the search page.

It is not difficult to calculate the real per night rate based on the the date range I am searching for. 

What is really going on here?

[Nate419]

Ill tell you whats going on Everyone on air bnb that does that thinks they are the next Hiltons  or Marriots People are not that stupid and are catching on that there is something wrong I don't think the original intention of air bnb was for people do act as hoteliers per se  as opposed to just renting out space  Problem is many of these hosts are charging like they have the same or larger overhead than a major corporate hotel

[Richard1426]

I agree with original post reg airbnb needing to improve listed pricing. I am looking at a reservation I would like to make and here is the breakdown.

Room listed as $122.06/night, making you think the cost for 4 nights would be close to $500. Noooo.

With a cleaning fee of $166.44, and a service charge of $84.45 the total for four nights comes to $739.11

I appreciate there is city tax, cleaning etc to pay which is not shown in posted room rate, but to have 30% hidden charges added is crazy

[Shay40]

Here's the question I have, do hosts have to pay fees to AirBnB on the cost of the cleaning fees... or just the cost of the room/home? Because if the answer is not on the cleaning fees... that would explain a lot.

It's like the people on eBay who charge $20 for an item with free shipping. Pay $2 listing fee to eBay

or...

Charge $10 for an item with $10 for shipping and only pay $1 fee to eBay.

[Ronald222]

We travel constantly and will use Air Bnb very sparingly going forward.  Just got hit with a $125 cleaning fee then another $100 service fee then another $100 taxes. Total BS.  Better deals through Booking.com and Hotel.com.  we are Marriott gold as well.   This is unfair all these hidden unstated fees!