DISRESPECTFUL GUEST

[Susan1159]

 Hi there, my name is Trisha and this  is our first summer using Airbnb and all of our guest have been amazing until this past weekend so I would love some help from more expreienced hosts.  This is a family vacation home that we have decided to share. The gentelmen renting our home said he and some friends would love to stay at our home for the weekend becuse they were going to be attending a wedding.  he also stated that he was a relaxed, easy going guy who takes care of other peoples things and our home would be in safe hands and he would take care of it.. After check out I recieve a call from our cleaning lady that the house was left a wreck!!  They did not follow any of our rules that are clearly stated in our listing along with a binder that we remind guest to read thuroughly..  (no shoes in the house, no food on furniture or in the bedrooms to name a few) Sunflower seeds were all over the house, on and in the furniture, all over the stairs and on the outside deck where they spitted them all over the driveway.  ( there were so many in the house that she picked a lot up by hand so it wouldnt ruin her vacum.) trash everywhere, lots of tags off of new clothing and dropped wherever.  One bathroom had dirty/muddy footprints and bath mats shes not sure if there salvageable. I love great towels and bedding and supply guest with plenty for their stay, but within 48 hours they went thru all the towels that are out and availabe (12 for thier 2 nights) plus all the extra that are kept in a cabnet so around 20+ towels. My teenagers and thier friends do not even go thru that many when we are there.  They also used all the extra bed sheets for all three rooms not sure why but i do not think I really want to know.  The kitchen had grease all over it and something green was burnt onto the stove, dishes  everywhere.  Im starting to think our house had more guest than allowed and was used as a great place to party.  a few  hours later he sent a message letting me know he made it home safe and that everything was great but also letting me know that the A/C was not blowing cold air..Hmmm if he would of read in the discription he would of known that the house does not have A/C, our house is located in a CC in the mountains sourounded by a lake and 95% of the homes do not have A/C due the cooler climate.  I know I should not feel bad about writing a not so good review but part of me does. On the  other hand its more  importantant to let other host  know they might not want him/them as their guest, plus this was our home that they totally disrepected.  I truly believe that some part of him thinks they were good guest.  I guess everyones level of respect is different.  Any advise would be greatly appreciated, Im thinking state the facts in the most poliet way poosible. 

Thanks for the help Trisha 

[Lisa723]

Hi, @Susan1159 I'm sorry this happened to you. Did the guest have good reviews from other hosts? Is there any actual damage? If it's "just" really dirty, this does happen from time to time in a vacation rental, unfortunately. If you have rules like no shoes in the house and no food on furniture or in bedrooms renting out your vacation home may not be for you. You cannot depend on most guests to read lots of detailed rules let alone follow them, especially if they require behavior that most people are not used to. Re. use of towels, sheets, etc., do not make available anything that you do not want/expect guests to use. Re. your review, keep it unemotional and factual, so other hosts understand what you experienced and the guest has no argument with Airbnb to take it down.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Susan1159

Please write an honest and very factual review of the guest - for the sake of any future hosts that may unassumingly consider renting to that guest. If you had seen a review that said that the guest left sunflower seeds all over the floor and furniture, and there was evidence that the shoes off in the home rule was not respected, would you have welcomed that person into your family's vacation home? Imo, reviews are for fellow hosts so you don't have to go into detail but please do write something to "warn" others. There are plenty of posts that talk about how to write "bad" reviews that you could look up if you need ideas/suggestions.

I hope there was no permanent damage to your home. If you don't have it already, make sure you include a "only registered guests allowed" rule and if possible have outdoor security cameras for the entrance and driveway to secure proof in case guests were to bring more people than allowed/paid for. Also, whatever the guests shouldn't use/touch you should keep it locked up and out of sight. I've always thought that guests are like curious little kids - they will snoop thru and use whatever they find. It's up to the adult (host) to make sure they behave 🙂

[Jane1060]

The fact that your guest contacted you after his stay states he is either oblivious to how much he has direspected your home, or he simply doesn't care.  Either way, he needs to be informed by yourself just how much he and his guests have trashed your  lovely family home.

Keep emotions out of your contact with him, and just state and list plainly what he has done.  Stick to bullet points when listing your complaints, and reference them against the rules and information you left which he clearly didn't read or ignored.

If you don't get a response, then he didn't and doesn't care, if he responds in horror (doubtful) with a sincere apology, accept his apology and ask him if he intends to compensate you for the clean-up as the amount of cleaning and washing to be done outweighs the anticipated cleaning.  You don't say if anything was broken, but if there was any damage, was this referenced in any agreement what would happen?

I am a host, but only rent out a room.  So far, my guests have been lovely.  Renting out entire homes attracts, unfortunately, disrespectful people.

Go ahead and leave an honest review, ask yourself, 'would I rent to this person again?', if not, don't let others suffer the way you have.