Cleaning fees & aggressive inquiry...

[Louise543]

Hi folks, hope everyone is keeping safe and well...

I think I feel that I need to share this and vent a little, but also would be grateful for any advice on how to respond.

We were pretty upset to wake up to the message below in our inbox. We do charge a small cleaning fee - I note we charge less than half of what we actually have to pay - We live circa 120 miles away from our apartment and have to pay a great company to service our apartment and also to be on call should our guests need anything at all, we do this to ensure we provide the best possible experience for our guests and we hope that this is reflected in our superhost status and consistently good reviews.

We need to answer the message to maintain our response rate with AirBnB and obviously want to remain courteous and kind and also to not answer emotionally (which is where I'm at right now), but we also feel that we need to explain to the inquirer (new AirBnB user) what the cleaning fee is for and why we have to charge it, so that they understand how AirBnB works - I feel that they have got the wrong idea.  We would do anything to rip anyone off, we are kind genuine loyal people, sharing our home and trusting people to look after it and as such feel really quite hurt by this.

Here's the message, be really great to hear your thoughts, thanks all...

"Me and my partner nearly booked this this morning till I saw the £80 cleaning fee on top. To be honest I think that's outrageous, with all the rules set I don't understand how it could be that dirty to charge that amount of money. I've looked at other properties and most people don't even charge a cleaning fee, surely this is your responsibility as the owner. We are respectable adults and parents and would always clean up after ourselves and make sure the property was left in a good condition so to charge that amount is insulting which is a shame because it's a lovely property and I almost hit book button but I will be looking elsewhere now."

[Louise543]

Thanks for your kind response @Mitchell77 really appreciate that, we did say we were pretty relieved that they hadn't booked! Just not sure how to respond to keep the AirBnB machine happy.

[Louise543]

That's really helpful, thank you @Mitchell77 

[Jillie1]

Hi Louise

Well I would certainly book your lovely AirBnB with such great coastal views!  Your base rate is very reasonable for a 2 bed apartment in that location. 

Don't let their comments get to you.  I've noticed there are a lot of people out there currently hunting for bargains and I've been approached myself by people asking for added discounts on top of the ones I already have in place for weeky/monthly plus stays.

I put my cleaning fee up to £50 from £30 post Covid because of the enhanced cleaning protocol but I see today they've now taken that off everyone's listing.  However, I'm sticking to the £50 (and I do the cleaning myself) because I allow at least 72 hours between bookings so lose substantial income for the safety of my guests.

Like the person commented above, you don't want those sorts of guests.

Jillie

[Louise543]

Thanks for your response Jillie, really appreciate the reassurance and your kind words about Island View, we do love it there! We only started with AirBnb about 12 months ago and we're learning all the time, so it's great to hear from your experience, We've had several bargain hunters too. This message mostly took us back because it felt very unwarranted, we've never had anyone else mention the cleaning fee and we researched a lot to see what others did before we started. We also had to put the fee up slightly due to the additional cleaning.

Yes, certainly relieved that they didn't book to stay, I think Mitchells response above is a great reply.

Many thanks again

Louise

[Emilia42]

Wow, @Louise543 don't let these people get to you. If anything you dodged a bullet. Any "respectable adult" would have kept their mouth shut and kept filtering through the search results. But thank goodness they didn't overlook it and book with you! That would have been worse. 

I would respond with:

"Thank you for your message. Just as guests decide which hosts and homes would be a good fit for them, hosts also decide which guests would be the best fit for their homes. I'm sorry we are not a good fit for each other. I wish you the best of luck in your search finding the greatest accommodation with the lowest cleaning fee."

[Helen350]

Sounds like the archetypal "entitled" guest that all hosts wish to avoid @Louise543 !

- Try & put it behind you, & be grateful you dodged that bullet! - Goodness knows what else they'd have found fault with, had they actually stayed!

- IF I were to reply, I might consider explaining that the "cleaning fee" is actually a way of rewarding guests who stay longer, & getting weekenders to pay proportionately more, rather than adding that £80 to the nightly rate, which would not be to the guests' advantage, cos a higher nightly rate would result in more commission to Airbnb. - Just a thought.

- Or just let them know that if the cleaning fee were removed, the nightly rate would need to be increased.....

Of course you don't HAVE to justify yourself, & I think @Emilia42 's response is great!  (I sometimes like to give a little education to folks with unreasonable attitudes & demands! - Re what Airbnb is & is not! Reciprocal/Respect are words which spring to mind....)

Personally I don't charge a cleaning fee BECAUSE I don't want certain elements to view it as a rip off, or a deceitful hidden charge, tho' I'm wondering about introducing the minimum £4 to compensate for the 1-nighters, knowing it would make hardly any difference to the 4-nighters..... 

[Huma0]

@Louise543 

I like @Mitchell77 's response, but personally I would take out "we would love to host you," if it isn't true. Like others have mentioned, it sounds like you have dodged a bullet here. I wouldn't want to host people with this kind of attitude. If they don't like your cleaning fee, they can look elsewhere. Who is this first time user to tell you how to run or price your listing?

[Ann72]

@Louise543  What did the Dowager Countess always say - "Never complain, never explain"?  I channel her when I get inquiries like this and here is what I answer:

"I'm so happy you found the cottage but so sorry it doesn't work for your budget."

This inquiry isn't genuine - meaning these people's feelings are not actually hurt by your cleaning fee.  They're just trying to manipulate you into begging them to book, preferably for very little or nothing.

You owe them absolutely nothing but a simple response that doesn't stoop to their in-the-gutter tone and tactics.

[Lenore22]

I love it. It helps the whole community to educate these users, but it's also not your job. I would totally keep it short, simple sweet:

"Thank you so much for your interest and feedback. I hope you have a lovely stay wherever you decide to book."

Adding the education at the bottom is nice, but not necessary. I would also put it last, since you've made it clear that you've heard her and are not pandering for a booking at the top, otherwise it might sound defensive.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Louise543 I would vote for @Ann72 's reply except that I wouldn't be able to resist educating the guest by adding.

When you search on Airbnb the price given is the total for the dates input including all fees, taxes etc. As such the breakdown of the fees are of little relevance. By having a higher cleaning fee it allows a lower per night fee thus making it beneficial to book for longer stays. 

Then I might finish with Ann's line.

[Katarzyna45]

@Louise543 @Ann72 I love the quote that Ann referenced!!! "Never complain, never explain". I totally agree with this motto! From what I read, the purpose of this potential guest's message was to get under your skin. Someone had a bad day, and/or is suffering from other pains, and you happen to be the first object that the person could deflect the suffering onto. So, I agree with previous commenters: it has nothing to do with your fee at-all! I would respond by pouring a bunch of water on that fire. As Ann suggests, Never Explain! My response would be: "Thank you for sharing". It (1) allows a response (2) acknowledges that you read it (3) makes it more-than-obvious that you are not going to engage in that conversation and have moved on (4) will either stun the person who wrote the comment, or make them more mad that you didn't take their abuse bait