Cleaning complaint - am I being out of order here?

[Liam1556]

So I hire a professional company to clean who do an amazing job. I just had someone complain because we didn't leave cleaning supplies under the sink for their own cleaning. I have dish soap, dishwasher tablets, liquid soap everywhere and hand sanitizer on the wall and my floors are so clean you could eat food off of them. I was accused of not caring about the guests health! Am I wrong here? I didn't want to leave bleach under the sink in case someone had a child and they accidentally drank it, plus I didn't want to leave materials guests could steal. I have guest steal toilet paper, towels, soap already (anything they can get their hands on). What do other hosts do? Do you leave cleaning supplies? I am worried I will get "the host left supplies expecting me to clean and thats their job" comments.

[Helen3]

Do you not have child tamper proof cleaning products where you live @Liam1556 ?

My cleaning products all have child safety tops and are kept in cupboard with a child safety lock.

I don't leave bleach but I do have cleaning products, cloths, sponges etc.

[Liam1556]

Oh that is a good idea. I guess then I could leave a little note with the key details for the guest. 

[Mark116]

@Liam1556  I feel as you do that leaving what are now expensive cleaning supplies is an invitation to theft.  i would also never leave bleach because who knows what a guest might do, pour it full strength on something and ruin it.  We leave a lot of paper towels, dish soap, dishwater detergent and 1 bottle of spray cleaner, the cheapest we can find. No way am I leaving a now $6 bottle of Lysol.  We also have a large, hopefully too large to take, spray bottle of liquid hand sanitizer that we leave in the interior entrance.,

[Liam1556]

Thanks! I feel like I can't win. I am thinking that the cheap spray cleaner too is a good addition to what I have. I even have back up packets of soap as a guest broke a soap dispenser. and I went out to get a replacement, the next guest checked in and screamed immediately to airbnb even though there was on in the kitchen and there is hand sanitizer too. 

[Liam1556]

I have hand sanitizer on the wall, I get no thanks from guests. Before then I had bottles which got stolen.

[Emilia42]

@Liam1556 and @Seth157  The text on both of your listings is essentially the same.  Many (very poor) guest reviews mention a scam. What is going on here?!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Liam1556 One bad review could be an outlier but sadly you seem to attract many bad reviews. So to address the title of your post - Yes you are being out of order. I would concentrate on supplying better, cleaner listings and stop giving Airbnb a bad name.

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

Totally off topic, but one of these listings has a 2.5 star rating. Perhaps it's a new listing, as there are only two reviews (both recent) but don't Airbnb normally remove or suspend listings with those kinds of stats?

It's weird that they send harassing messages to hosts who get a few 4 star reviews (as people have often mentioned on the CC)  but then leave listings with 2.5 stars active. I don't get it.

[Emilia42]

@Huma0 @Mike-And-Jane0 

Two listings have an overall 1 star! Both reviews mention scams. Another commentator on this thread, Seth, has similar listings in a completely different city with word for word text in certain sections. Something fishy is going on here.

[Huma0]

@Emilia42 

For sure, something fishy is going on, but my question is how do these listings remain on Airbnb?

It also goes to highlight that hosts are signing up for the ECP and not following it, which is no news, but Airbnb really should have thought that protocol through a bit more. Guests are going to expect a clean space anyway, but especially now, and even more so if it's advertising the ECP (I am guessing a lot of guests assume that it is somehow verified by Airbnb if there is a badge for it). 

On the other hand, I don't know why anyone would be foolish enough to book a place with those kinds of review and ratings and then be surprised to encounter problems.

[Emilia42]

@Huma0 Oh of course, to both of your points. Remember the VICE article which came out last October investigating numerous listings which were clearly scams? How/why did it take Airbnb so long to remove those listings when the reviews were so bad? The enhanced cleaning protocol is a joke. I have stayed with genuine hosts where cleaning was lacking but I still give them 5-star reviews like all their other guests. So when a listing is getting 3 and 4 stars consistently for cleanliness something is really wrong.  

[Liam1556]

I did have 1 listing suspended for 5 days.  I was so upset with what the guests told me. I referenced it in a review to them and told them I fired the cleaner. You cannot be too careful. Personally I think airbnb should spot check people! I'd like to see a rate my host and rate my guest site where you can get all the information you ever need to make a decision.  My overall lesson in this journey is 1)don't trust craigslist 2)hire a professional company, 3)Get even more cleaning products!

[Liam1556]

I had a bad cleaner who promised me they would follow the protocols. They didn't so I fired them. Now thankfully I have a professional company. I used them through turnoverbnb and it has been much better. I did everything possible, I interviewed people, I got references. ?But unless you follow the cleaner around, it can be hard. I now ask for photos too show the apartment is clean. A lesson learned!

[Liam1556]

No scam at all, I know Seth he's a family friend we used the same person to write out the listings thats all. Sadly guests will try it on. I had someone who said their apartment was dirty and I checked all the photos from the new company and it was spotless, I offered a visit within 20minutes for them to go back through and the guest said no. Case still ongoing but thankfully I have photos to show the apartment was spotless. 

[Huma0]

@Liam1556 

A few guests have mentioned that the listing is a 'scam'. If it's not, do you know what they are referring to? Of course, some guests do leave revenge reviews, but why does this word keep coming up?

You do seem to also have a problem with your entry system and having to wait for other residents to let them in. A lot of your reviews mention this, as well as not getting help from you when they can't enter the property. If a guest has paid for accommodation, can't get in and doesn't get a satisfactory or swift response from the host, that is one reason they might suspect the listing is a scam. The other thing mentioned was that the listing was not the same as the one shown in the photos, e.g. completely different furniture?