Messy guests and security deposits

[Ashley196]

We recently had what my cleaning lady called ‘the messiest guests she’s ever cleaned up after’. Food stains everywhere so I will likely have to pay her extra to wash couch covers, bed spreads etc and have the carpets cleaned.  They had overflowed the tub and soaked all the towels. One of the closet doors was off the hinges. I have never made a claim on a security deposit before. Does this sound like I have a case? Can we keep a guests security deposit for extreme messiness?

[April3]

@Ashley196 Some friends of mine just experienced a similar situation over the new years holiday, (including dog poop in the closet! In a no-pets home!) And I also had quite a problem at one of my co-hosting listings. Sometimes, like in my case, I couldn't be at the propety to see for myself, as it was a back-to-back booking, and I was out of the area. I'd recommend setting up some policies and guidelines with your cleaning folks, and making sure that he/she takes pictures, especially when they will charge you more.

In any case, it may be difficult to make a claim without any documentation, and that usaully woud need to be in the form of photos. We didn't get any at my co-hosting place, so the owner and I chalked it up to experience and swallowed the extra fee our cleaners charged us, but did leave an honest review for the guest

[Alexandra316]

@April3 How do they know it was dog poop? X-D Some guests are just awful.

@Ashley196 You can take the step of asking the guest for extra money through the Request Money function. They may agree to give you extra (unlikely, but you never know).

Likely, if you have to go through Airbnb you won't get anything. You would need to properly document everything that happened, plus have the receipts for cleaning it and fixing it. Also, if 48 hours have passed, it's too late to claim at all.

Make sure you review them accordingly. Keep it factual and brief.

[April3]

@Alexandra316 well, i sure hope it was *just* dog poop and not something else!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Ashley196

I agree with @Alexandra316 but 48 h is not to late for damage claim, It was before but now you have 14 days or before your next guests check in whatever comes first.