Charge guests for leaving window open in winter?

[Josh1349]

We had some guests who checked out a day early and in a hurry (seems something came up). They contacted me and let me know they might have left the window open. I'm not there, and my cleaner wasn't in the area, and nobody I checked with was available to go verify this. So I turned the heat on/up so as to not allow the pipes to burst (the open window was in the kitchen). 

I estimate this may have used up to $25 worth or propane. Would you charge them or let it slide?

[Elaine701]

@Josh1349 

Hmm... Since they brought it to your attention, they *might* be willing to compensate, but I'd tread very carefully. Confronting guests with things like this is inviting retaliatory reviews. And especially with heating costs (expensive!) Some guests can't believe it would be that much (25$ isn't much), and assume you're just trying to gouge them. As if 25$ would make or break your bank 🙄

If you really want to pursue it, I'd recommend waiting until they've written their review. But for me, I'd just let it go. Not a hill to die on. 

I would add however, that investing in  thermostat that you can control from your smartphone is a very good investment, and would have enabled you to minimise the loss by turning the temperature down to the minimum. 

[Sarah977]

@Josh1349  Let it go. They acted responsibly in letting you know, which most guests wouldn't have. 

It does beg the question as to why they had a window open in the dead of winter with the heat on in the first place, though.

You really need to have someone in your employ who is available to deal with things for you when necessary. 

[Anonymous]

@Josh1349   There's no straightforward way to just "charge" the guests, since their payment is already complete and Airbnb doesn't hold a deposit. What you'd have to do is submit a Resolution Request, which the guest may choose to pay or refuse. 

I doubt this one would be eligible for any compensation under AirCover, since it wasn't direct physical damage. I'd let this one slide, since the guests were kind enough to contact you early, thus potentially sparing you from a remote-hosting disaster. It's a good reminder of the value of having a locally-based co-host who can attend to the home in emergencies when you're not around.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Josh1349 let it slide. Thank them for letting you know about the window though.

[Mark116]

@Josh1349  No.  You should be happy they told you, I would not try to charge them.

[Josh1349]

I assume they had the window open for ventilation/exhaust while cooking (it's next to the stove). I agree it was good of them to let me know. And FWIW, I turned the heat on (remotely) after they let me know, they hadn't left it on w/the window open.

Thanks for the feedback. I won't charge them. BTW you can request additional payments in Airbnb which is what I would have done. (E.g. I had to do that after shipping an item that guest forgot.)

[Sarah977]

@Josh1349  I did see that you said they had turned the heat off. Which was also responsible of them. It could be that they opened the window to rid the place of cooking smells, but my thought was that they were smoking inside. I guess your cleaner will be able to tell you if it smells like cigarettes or pot in there. Hold off on writing a review until the cleaner gets in there.

[Josh1349]

Yeah, she didn't mention any signs of smoking. We don't have an exhaust/range hood in the kitchen so I think this was legit in this case.