Guest brought bed bugs, and now I'm screwed

[Kelly28]

So a guest brought bed bugs into my home. Airbnb refunded him, and canceled all my pending bookings. Now I have to pay out of pocket $1000 to have an exterminator come (airbnb requires an exterminator to relist), not to mention the booking I lost.

Has anyone got any tips or ideas on reducing risk? What cities and parts of the world are known to have serious bedbug problems? I have heard NYC has a serious problem, I am thinking of not accepting any guests from there. Ideas? 

[Cindy163]

Having spent $3300 in April 2017 to have my Kauai house tent fumigated for bedbugs, and being aware of how financially successful airbnb is, I believe airbnb should step up and help hosts who experience this problem.  Airbnb should have a bed bug advice expert available for hosts who experience this so that they know all the treatment options, and the success rates of each.  There should be financial assistance from airbnb.  Is there an insurance company out there who will cover this calamity?  Airbnb should carry that insurance for their hosts.   

[Cindy163]

Tent fumigation of the structure is the ultimate way to kill these pests.  They even hide in electrical outlets.  I was told if I treated only the room in which they were found, they could still show up in other rooms in the house.  If I were to go for the single room treatment, I was advised to buy a special mattress cover ($200) and to dispose of any wicker or bamboo furniture, because it is impossible to treat those items effectively.  The room had a giant bamboo canopy bed, two bamboo nightstands, a wicker dressing table and stool, and a wicker dresser.  The single room treatment itself was $750, and it involved quarantine of the room for two weeks, followed by follow up treatment twice over the span of a couple months.  The treatment is very smelly.  Is it any wonder that I opted for tent fumigation at $3300?  The house is tented for two days for bed bugs, where it is only 24 hours for termites.  Twice as much gas is used.  

[Cindy163]

One more piece of information about these bed bugs.  Some people do not react to the bites at all, so it is impossible to know when they were introduced.  It is impossible to pin them on any one guest.  

[Liz493]

Unless you make it part of you cleaning process to bring in a bed bug dog every singe time someone checks out or in - we have a friend with one luckily

[Laura1589]

I am so sorry this happened to you. Bed bugs were just discovered in my listing hours ago and I am positively sick over it. It’s nearly 5am and I’m still awake because I can’t sleep. We are going to contact an exterminator in the morning. Airbnb also moved our guests to a nearby Airbnb, but what happens if they take bugs with them on accident? I feel badly for the guests, but also for the next host. I have no idea when or  who the bugs came from. Airbnb cancelled all my bookings and I’ll be stuck with the extermination bill. How did your situation end? Any update? I am very discouraged and am thinking about getting out of the business. I feel the risk for this is too great; they’re easy to spread and expensive to treat. I’ve been hosting for a little over a year now, and currently have two listings. I’ve always loved it until now. Anyway, I hope things turned out ok for you. 

[Cindy163]

Dear Laura,  I feel your pain!  If I hadn’t even hosting for 30 years without the bed bug problem, I probably would have quit when this happened to my Kauai house.  Fortunately, I found the bed bugs myself and had the house tent fumigated without Airbnb even being aware of what happened.  However, when my Tahoe cabin had a plumbing leak which knocked out the use of one of the two bathrooms, and one of my bookings opted to cancel their booking that was two weeks away, Airbnb responded quite hostilely,  I was told my Super Host status would be yanked and I would be fined a cancellation fee.  They demanded a quote for the repair and a completion date within 24 hours.  It was Christmas!!!  I had been with airbnb just about since they started and gross $60k/year with the two houses.  I was furious with this treatment and protested.  Airbnb did back down and waived the cancellation fee and let me keep my Super Host status.  The plumbing leak got fixed and all is well again, but the the warm affection I had for Airbnb is gone.  If they really cared about their hosts, they would have some sort of support for a bed bug invasion.  It is emotionally and financially catastrophic for a host, and there is no sign that Airbnb really cares about anything but their share of the take.  It is so different from a plumbing leak in a 1940s cabin, because only visitors cause bed bugs.  And, suddenly, it hugely magnifies the risk of hosting visit from everywhere.  I am so sorry you are having to deal with this.  I have been there myself.  

[Penny156]

Airbnb penalise the hosts and send the guests who may have bed bugs in their bags to another Airbnb to spread the infestation.

[Elena3677]

wow.  you are speaking to me.

[Sara455]

After reading this I thought I might get some diatomaceous clay and sprinkle it in the carpets every so ofetn, just as a precautionary measure. I have never had bedbugs, and hope to keep it that way.

[Gabriele228]

Hi, I'm a super host from Italy, Rome. My apartment has all good feedbacks and I clean it personally and the laundry sanitize the sheets every time.  I had a couple of young guys from NY and they made a complaint for bedbugs in my apartment. I had to refund them! I have never had bedbugs in my apartment since I began two years ago. I am almost sure they brought them to my apartment with their clothes and luggages because bedbugs are very uncommon in Italy..We have different insects here, mosquitos, flies, ants, but not bedbugs! Look for bedbugs on the Internet and you will find that NY has a great problem with them.

[Helen3]

You didn't have to refund them 

You could have disputed it and get in an expert to check your place.

[Robin4]

Gabriele, there is indeed a class of 'guest'....(for want of a better word) who carries around a supply of bedbugs for the express purpose of obtaining a refund for their stay!

But Gabriele, CS are aware of this and it is becoming a lot harder for guests to pull out the 'bedbug' card in order to get a refund.

Although only a small percentage of guests we must protect ourselves....I dry all my linens for 30 minutes in a laundromat commercial dryer on high heat, and if my guests are travellers who may fit this general category I make this procedure known to them. I state that it is for their safety as well as mine! Bedbugs will not survive this drying regime. Airbnb are aware that I photograph and date stamp every linen change and anyone who tries to pull that stunt here will be doomed to failure. There will always be documented evidence that, if bedbugs are found, it is that particular guest who has introduced them.

Cheers.....Rob

[Connie221]

How do you date stamp every linen change?

[Cindy163]

Dear Connie,

Bed linens are the tip of the iceberg with this problem.  More likely, they crawl out of a suitcase sitting on the floor or drop out of a pants leg cuff.  They march not only into the mattress, but into rugs, wall outlets, wicker furniture, and any crevice they can find. You won’t find them in the sheets.  They only come into the sheets when there is a warm body there attracting them.  You will probably find them between the mattress and the box springs where I did.   

May you never have them invade your place!   It took a $3300 two day tent fumigation of my entire house to get rid of them.  

Warmly,

[Neal42]

I think AirBnB should do the right thing and provide insurance for this. ANYONE have another online rental service to recommend? As I will leave their ass as soon as I find a suitble replacement.  Thoughts? AirBnB's silence in this forum speaks volumes I'd say...or do they never comment in here?? I rarely use these forums...