First dirty guest

[Emma681]

Hi, I’m after some advice. I have been hosting for a few years and have just experienced my first real issue. 

The guest have left a soiled sheet on the bed which has soaked through to the protector and been absorbed into the duvet, the  mattress is ok. The other thing is the spare sheet is missing which would indicate to me that there was an issue on more than one occasion and the guest has “removed” the evidence. The soiled sanitary products in the bin confirm the cause of the stains. 

Now i I was thinking learn my lesson, perhaps make better provisions , thank goodness I had double mattress protectors on. But I’m pretty annoyed that a sheet has been taken on top of a ruined set of bedding. The guest had generally been pretty inconsiderate, left taps running and walking dirt in so I was relieved when they left, I did however pick her up when lost and agreed to dump her broken suitcase for her, I feel I have been nice and reasonable but this seems too much. 

So, do I chalk it up to a bad experience and move on or request she compensate me for the bed linens ? 

Also I am not sure how negative I should be with her feedback, I can’t in good conscience recommend her to anyone else. 

[Mike1034]

@Emma681 I am sorry to hear your story. But you are very fortunate that it was your first encounter of bad guest in a few years. 

Definitely you need to write reviews with the facts listed. Then other hosts know what happened with the guest so that they can make selective decision when the guest requests booking from them. As for the damage, I would suggest that you make a claim in the resolution center. Please make sure to take photos and provide an internet link or an actual invoice of replacement. If it cannot be cleaned by washing, you may be able to get the depreciated value back. File the claim as soon as possible.

Thanks for sharing!

[Gordon0]

You've clearly been blessed with good guests up to now, @Emma681, but the run of luck has to break sometime!

Had this been a brilliant guest who'd had mortifying 'accident', maybe it wouldn't be such a big deal, but as she was generally a mess, I think you can go fairly heavy on the review (without mentioning the 'accident').

Would I charge for the linens? If it was an expensive duvet that is now knackered, yes. If was a cheapie I'd put it down to experience.  

[Emma681]

Thank you, level headed advice

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Emma681, allow me a clarification question?  Are you talking about a heavy menstrual bleed? My own dear sister has bleeds so bad she often ends up vomiting and has had to have one blood transfusion.  Not kidding.  It is a strange design that God has put upon us, but this happens... every month.  And it is alkward and often embarassing.

Walking dirt in... Hummm... well, if you have dirt outside your place, some is bound to get trekked in, right?  Life is messy.  Your job, as a host, is to clean it up.  Right?  You were going to clean the whole place after she left anyway, right? 

Leaving the tap running is a problem, but unless they were full-blast running, just turn them off. 

As for the soiled/lost linens... if Airbnb will actually come through and cover the expense, go for it. 

But if she was otherwise pleasant, I don't see any reason for a negative review at all.

[Mike1034]

@Kimberly54 Just leaving tap water running would deserve a negative review not to mentioned the missing linens and others. Just imagine the potential risk of leaving tap water running. If not found in time, it could flood the host's entire house. As a host, we have to face risks of exposing our property to strangers. Therefore, we have to be very careful and selective when we rental our house in order to reduce the risk.

[Kimberly54]

@Mike1034, I don't get it.  It's the host's property; not the guest's.  It's the host's responsibility to have the place in order and taken care of; not the guest's.  The host is the one being paid.

@Emma681wasn't specific to how much water was running... and I'm just assuming that this is not a home-share property or this would have been noticed quickly.  And even if, how long do you wait to check the place after a guest leaves?  Whose responsibility is that?  The host.

This really does not reek of "home abuse" by Emma's description.

The very best way to screen is in advance of renting.  Have a couple/few conversations and get an idea of expectations.  This isn't a guarantee, but it sure lessens your "risk" if the person becomes less of a "stranger" before they arrive.  If you don't have some kind of communication /relationship and you don't really have much/any contact during their stay, then you are essentially a little hotel.  And what do hotels do?  They just suck it up. 

Women have menstrual cycles.  Embarrassing things can happen.  Stuff can get tracked into the house.  Sometimes the knob on the faucet isn't quite turned off... Whatever. 

Really, if y'all are so concerned about little things like this, you will not be happy doing it.

Charge more, and get to know your guests.

Best,

[Mike1034]

@Kimberly54 A bad guest never has respect to a host's rule and properties. Does a guest pay to have tap water running and wasted? Does a guest pay for extra cleaning fee which may incur due to a guest's dirty habits? Host is not a slave of a guest just because receiving a minimal payment which a host deserves.

[Kimberly54]

@Mike1034, you can of course charge a cleaning fee!  I know plenty who do.   I'm not sure how this works, but I believe it's an up-front fee. 

[Mike1034]

@Kimberly54  I was not talking about the normal cleaning fee. A host usually charges $20- $30 for cleaning fee, which covers about one to two hours cleaning efforts. But in some cases especially for a guest like mentioned by @Emma681 , normal cleaning fee will not be enough to cover the entire cost. Extra cleaning effort and cost may be needed. My friend had rented out her entire house. After two nights stay by a guest and his other two guests in the booking, the entire house was trashed. Normally one cleaner just spends 2 hour to clean the house. But 2 cleaners spent 5-6 hours to clean the mess after the party. Btw, my friend had explicitly NO party rule. But the guest lied. More than 20 bottles of liquor were consumped. I would guess at least 10 or more people stayed in the house for the party. Even there are no smoking signs in each room. But we saw empty cig packs left on the table and floor. Carpet were stained in a few places. Furniture was broken. Blanket, keys, and a kitchen cart were missing. There are irresponsible persons out there. Flagging those guests definitely will help other hosts.

[Emma681]

Hi@kimberly, yes it was menstrual. I accept accidents happen and I understand the associated embarrassment. I felt that we were getting in well, this person was in town for work and we had several conversations.

The reason I bring up the dirt and the tap is because it was inconsiderate, the tap was left on running overnight, she had washed dishes whilst I slept. I had the conversation about it and it happened again a few hours later. 

[Sarah977]

@Emma681  Who just leaves the tap running after they're finished washing up? Especially twice in a row when it has just been pointed out to them? That's not just inconsiderate, it's weird.

[Kimberly54]

Hey @Emma681, once upon a time, there was a guest (not one of mine)... in the bathroom in the middle of the night, trying to wash the sheets in the bathtub.  Yep.  "What are you doing?"  "Uh... there was a little accident."  (Washing sheets in a bathtub is quite an effort.)

The guest had also brought a sweet little pet... who also had an accident.

None of this seems intentionally bad, just a little unfortunate, and perhaps one's mind is not quite in the right place.

I really don't understand the dirt.  You were going to clean the place anyway, right? 

And your guest washed her own dishes?  

I just can't see any way for this to warrant a bad review. 

Best,

[Sarah977]

@Kimberly54  Intentionally bad isn't the point here. Inconsiderate is. And of course the guest should wash their own dirty dishes. That doesn't earn brownie points that make it okay to leave the faucet running, not once, but twice.

Your guest who was washing the sheets in the bathtub was trying to be responsible for her own mess. Good on her. Of course no bad review. But a guest who just leaves the mess without a word and disappears part of the bedding? That's a bad guest, IMO.

Tracking dirt in wouldn't fuss me, unless i had specifiacally asked the guest to remove their shoes before entering and they ignored it. And if there's a mat outside the door to wipe your feet on, not doing so is inconsiderate.

[Kimberly54]

@Sarah977, no, the guest got a rotten, terrible review.

We don't know if @Emma681 had a mat inside/outside the door--and as much as I have them at EVERY entrance of my house, it still comes in.  My job (or my housekeeper) is to keep up.

As far as washing dishes or cleaning up, we all have different standards and expectations, and that is for each of us to decide--and let our "guest" know our expectations.  I would never dream to ask a guest to clean anything or do laundry.  They are not my servants, nor am I theirs.  That's part of the price of admission.

Charge enough money to make this whole thing fun and worthwhile!

 Best,