I had guests who left my place filthy and now they are ignoring the additional cleaning fee that my cleaning company charges. I followed the resolution procedure and sent pictures

Meg131
Level 2
Atlanta, GA

I had guests who left my place filthy and now they are ignoring the additional cleaning fee that my cleaning company charges. I followed the resolution procedure and sent pictures

I followed the resolution protocol and uploaded pictures of the food they left out along with the uncleaned dishes and bags of garbage, the invoice from my cleaning company and the direction I emailed them about loading and starting the dishwasher and taking out all of the trash.  These same guests also had the police called on them the first night for refusing to quiet down and they violated our community smoking prohibition.  I am only charging them for the excess cleaning fee.  I was able to convince my HOA not to charge us for their smoking.  

 

The renter is not responding after 4 days.  I am a superhost and I have been on hold waiting for AirBnB for almost 1-1/2 now.  Any advice?

 

11 Replies 11
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Meg131 

 

Just wait for their decision and move on.

I guess your claim will be rejected, but please keep us updated.

Extra cleaning is sometimes simply part of the business.

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Meg131,

It's been well documented that Airbnb customer service has not been very good at responding promptly.  It may be awhile before you hear from anyone.  The good thing is that your space has been cleaned and is ready for future bookings.

 

I checked your listing and your checkout cleaning directions are not on your listing details or in your house rules.  The guest didn't break any cleaning rules.  

Debra,

 

I have never noticed a natural place for checkout instructions, so I email them, which seems to be the norm based on articles that I have read.  These guest received my email, which AirBnB can see was sent, that contained the instructions.  

 

Based on your input, I went in and added them in my house rules and in the listing section "other things to note".  Thanks for that suggestion.  I honestly do not think it would have made a difference with these renters.  I clearly had quiet hours and the non-smoking rule listed in my house rules and they violated both of those rules.  My neighbor even had to call the police on their first night.

 

These renters are the exception to the norm.  99.9% of our renters have been wonderful and I have enjoyed sharing ideas with them.

 

Thank you for your helpful response.

Good move @Meg131 , the 'Other Things to Note' is a 'living, breathing document' and should change it as you notice patterns of behavior. Better yet, print them and post them where the guest can see them. 

Debra300
Level 10
Gros Islet, Saint Lucia

@Meg131,

Yes, it is common practice to send guests checkout instructions.  For the purposes of agreement to adhering to the guest cleaning and smoking requirements and reimbursement for additional cleaning costs, they should be included on the description page and the house rules.

 

You're probably correct that these guests would probably have done the same thing anyway, but at least they wouldn't be able to claim that the checkout cleaning instructions were unexpected, or that they weren't aware of them before booking.  

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

@Meg131  (8 guests · 3 bedrooms · 6 beds · 3.5 baths) for a total of $169 per night. It may be a great deal ($21.25 each), but it may also be a magnet for the party, low-budget, poor behavior types. And then there is also your neighbors to consider when suck a 'pack' does their thing. Consider this a shot across the bow. 

 

Airbnb is riddled with listings that are way, way too risky. That's its first problem.

suck = such*

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Meg131 

 

If the check out procedure is important to you then it is worth putting in your house rules as this is what the guest agrees to as a 'contract' when they book the listing (in theory anyway), so having it there is an important back up when things go wrong and you need to get CS involved. A document you email the guests simply doesn't have the same validity.

 

Also, have you escalated this to Airbnb via the Resolution Centre? That is the normal process if the guest is not responding. I would do this before wasting lots of time on hold on the phone. They would probably just tell you to do that anyway once you got through.

 

It's possible that your guest hasn't seen the request as many guests have notifications turned off and don't check their Airbnb accounts after a stay, but your guests sound pretty disrespectful so it's more likely they are ignoring you. If Airbnb can't get hold of them or the guest refuses to pay, then I am afraid Airbnb is not going to take the money from them (I think this would especially be true in relation to extra cleaning costs). That's my experience anyway. However, some guests do respond to Airbnb straight away even after ignoring several messages from the host because they suddenly think they might be 'in trouble' and take it more seriously then.

Jill963
Level 2
Spokane, WA

Did you ever get any resolution?  I have a similar problem and Air b n b removed my review of the guest saying that I encouraged them to leave my home a certain way in order to get 5 stars from me.  I guess telling the guest to take out the trash or ensure laundry is in laundry room is a problem?  In my case though a drawer was broke, the carpet was stained, and food was splattered all over the walls and cabinets.  The guest was argumentative and contacted me outside of air b n b etc.  Air b n b has really let me down.  

Hello,

 

Resolution center only help GUESTS, not HOSTS, bah... for Airbnb Hosts/SUPERHOST/AIRBNBPLUS

We have two apartments in Tulum, my apartment that is AirbnbPlus for years has two nice cruise bikes, one of my guest who tried to cancel the reservation but I kept the Strict Policy, was very upset about not allowing them cancelled without the penalties. They rented for a month, the first 15 days it was a nightmare of demanding different things... the night 15 her boyfriend got drunk and lost the bike, our security guy noticed the bike wasn't in the rack and asked her about it. She said that "3 guys in a truck attacked her brown boyfriend and stole from him a dusty old bike" (her words) .... I wrote in the HOUSE MANUAL years ago that if the bike is damage, stolen or lost the guest has to paid 500 dollars, she obviously declined but Airbnb requested ME to go to the police to make a police report?????????  and denied to pay me the bike!!!!!

 

NEVER FELT SO FRUSTRATED WITH AIRBNB

Shannon736
Level 2
St. Louis, MO

@Meg131 I could have written your original post myself.  I'm in the same situation.  Guests for two weeks.  They flagrantly disobeyed the house rules with quiet hours and trash, police visited the property, and then when they check out, the place is trashed.  I'm kicking myself for not kicking them out on night 3 and giving them the benefit of the doubt (their son is special needs).  

 

Usually I clean the units myself, but I think on this one I might need to get a professional cleaner.  I'm sure I won't get anything from the guests themselves.  Did you ever have any success with the AirBnb resolution center?