How do you deal with careless guest that almost burned your property down?

[AdamandJane0]

I hosted this guy for four night in a private bedroom. We were sharing a common space, mainly kitchen. Once he checked in, he let me know that he would need to use a stove to make tea every night and morning. I let him know that I'm fine with that. The next morning, me and my husband left for work around 7 am before he woke up so I left him a text message on his phone and Airbnb app for a friendly reminder to not leave the stove on after he is done since there is no one home. He did not reply. My husband came  home during lunch time to find out that he left for work and have left a stove on at high heat  for about half a day. Thanks god it didn't catch fire. I reported Airbnb directly but the case manger didn't get back to me soon enough. I initially wanted to let him go but I need Airbnb help and judgement. Airbnb got back to me 30 hours later and by that time I already communicated with him directly and decided to let him stay until his check out date. He also did other stuff that I never experienced during my two years hosting. It's a very bad experience after all. Examples are he left dishes in our sink 24/7 with food residuals all over. It's a shared sink. He left trash all over bedroom. He left food all over bedroom and bathroom floors as well. He also brought some kind of bugs into the bed. A lot of them that I found out under the blanket. I only charged him $10 for cleaning fee but I believe I need a professional deep cleaning service now. How  should I deal with this case and how can I reimburse all this damage/cleaning cost?  Pls help!

[Susie5]

Hi @AdamandJane0,

Sorry you had such a bad experience! I assume he has left now - I would definitely report him to Airbnb and also write an honest review about safety concerns, cleanliness, respect for your property etc.  I'm not sure how you can get reimbursed for a deep cleaning but I would do it anyway - and I also use mattress encasements ( buy them from Amazon for about $25/30 each) which prevent bedbugs etc from getting into your mattresses. (It's a zippered cover which completely seals the mattress, not just a mattress pad). 

Good luck, hope the next guests redeem this disaster!

[Colleen47]

@AdamandJane0 Ewwwww! I'd go ahead and burn those sheets. I recently had a guest that trashed my home. She leftit smelling   of beer, ungodly awful floors, and just ick everywhere. I quickly realized that nobody will treat your home as you do. As I scrubbed my floors For a full ummmm 4 hours I decided to say: Sure looks like you had fun. Followed by, so sorry but seems like you broke my... And damaged my... I'm going to have to asked that you take responsibility and replace them. I'm going to request money for those today. She quickly responded that she was sorry and of course she would compensate me. Wahoo! Rather than turn my situation sour I stayed positive and prevailed!! I would totally ask him via Airbnb for an additional fee. Use the message first and then send a " request for money" option. I'm super happy I did it. People do know when they have done wrong. Good luck!

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@AdamandJane0

Let's face it.......some people are just SLOBS!!!!!! This was one of the main concerns I had when I started hosting and I'm sorry to hear about your experience. 

I let my guests use the stove, but I also have an electric kettle as well as a hot AND cold water filtration & dispenser, and microwave which I have detailed "how to use" instructions. I tried hard to set things up in a way so that the guest has many more safer options before they absolutely have to use the stove. And I usually shut off the gas valve  when I go out and let the guest know that when not in use the valve is always shut. It was my way of IDIOT-proofing kitchen for carelessness. 

I also enter the guest room occationally to vaccum so while I don't consider cleaning up after a guest my job, I am able to clean up before I have a serious health hazzard in my home. 

[Huaai0]

@AdamandJane0

An unfortunate situation that caused panic and damage in multiple ways. Deeply sorry to hear about it.  Airbnb should have responded and acted more promptly and effectively to remedy the problematic situation in a timely manner. In my experience, Airbnb customer service acted much faster to a partial refund that a guest requested, though she was not entitled to it according to the refund policy. 

I would recommend--

1) take pictures of the scene and show them when necessary as evidence to support your claim;

2) requet security deposit to cover expenses inccured;

3) increase your cleaning charge after this case; 

4) consider only allowing light cooking with such appliances as microwave, electric kettle, and rice cooker only.

Also, note that many international guests are not familar with the stove we use in North America and need lots of instructions. 

[Zacharias0]

I tell my guests to use the microwave only. Too many guests started using the stove and it was a domino effect--never leaving the house, cooking all day, smelly food, dirty stove, dirty plates, running my dishwasher every day. I had enough of it and just removed all my pots and pans from the kitchen and problem solved. Works for me. Theres not much you can't cook in the microwave nowadays. I may only be missing out on long term stays, but at least I don't worry about a major fire happening in my absence.

Regarding the  mattress. Throw that thing out immediately. If its beg bugs it'll only get worse. Those things travel and hide in the bed frame so be careful. What kind of bugs do you think he brought in the bed?

[David126]

I do not allow kitchen access, Kettle keurig and Microwave.

[Paul154]

Adam and Jane,

Your tale is a helpful cautionary tale.

It too has happened to me.

Kitchens are the #1 risk to hosts.

Not only for safety, but also to our ratings.

They also are the most time-consuming to bring up to guests' high standards. (Even though they may have left the mess)

The easiest and safest solution is not to let them use your stove.

Many seasoned hosts have chosen this route.

Microwave and electric kettle that automatically turns off is more than adequate.