My first bad guest experience - need to vent!

[Karen-and-Brian0]

I'm a fairly new host, and we have a property on an acreage with a septic system and water well. I assumed everyone knows that a septic system is more "delicate" than a city sewer system, so made no lists of "Do Nots" on my listing in regards to the septic. I do have some instruction on the information sheet that I leave for guests about only flushing natural waste & toilet paper, but didn't think I needed to add "do not put kitchen food waste down the garburator". That's a no brainer, right?? Wrong.

These guests were putting down all manner of food waste, and my poor system managed to cope for the first 2 days, but on day 3, it held up a white flag, admitted defeat, and became completely blocked. The booking guest contacted me to say the sink was blocked, and after much back & forth, I was able to ascertain that the garburator side was fine, it was the other side. I told him to use a plunger, drain the standing water, then do the baking soda/vinegar thing, which works like a dream on most clogs. I offered to go out & check. No response. Later he says it's still blocked but they're going to leave it. I asked several times what he thinks blocked it and finally he said they were putting egg shells and kitchen waste down just like they do at home. Oh no!!!

I should have insisted on going out then and there - but I value guest privacy and would never do so without their invitation, which was no forthcoming. In this case I should have kept at him until I got his consent. This is all hindsight.

After they checked out, I arrived at our property and found both kitchen sinks full of dirty standing water, dirty dishes, pots and pans everywhere, some on cookie sheets, some in my roasting pan, others just stacked on the (filthy) stove. The dishwasher full of dirty dishes - he said he didn't want to run it with the plugged sink, which I understand, but if he'd asked, I would have told him it drains separately. Dirty counter tops, dirty kitchen table, dirty floor. My lovely place was just disgusting.

I unclogged the drain myself - packed solid with food waste. The rest of the clean-up took hours - every dish, pot and pan was used.

I had taken such care to leave the place as spic and span as possible for these guests. I gave them a "welcome basket" of chocolates, sweets, sun screen, insect repellant, cookies. I left them the food they requested for breakfast in a nice basket in the fridge. I feel defiled.

I didn't give him a bad review because in some way I feel it was my fault for not specifying that our system can't handle food waste. Am I right? My daughter said - so when does it end? Do you have to put up a sign saying "please do not turn on the gas to the BBQ & wait 5 monutes before lighting it?" She has a point. But just how much can we leave to "common sense"? I've never had any other guest clog up our kitchen sink, so maybe I should have gone after him for extra cleaning costs? I don't know.

I'd like your opinion.

[Gene8]

We all learn pretty quickly..... Every single thing has to be spelled out. Utilize the house manual feature for any details you don't want on general listing description. House Rules is another good area for septic related use. All the best to you!

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Thank you! I'm worried now that another guest will mess up something else I haven't thought of! But you're right, we learn quickly. I have all the information printed out on an information sheet, but this guest either failed to read it or failed to understand it - he asked me questions with all answers found on that sheet. Oh dear. 

[Melanie58]

I think this unfortunately falls into the category of uncommon sense - anyone who does not live with a septic system would have no frame of reference for this situation and how to proceed.  I grew up on septic, and we did not have a garbage drain on the sink - why does yours have one out of curiosity?   You may also have to explain what to do with food waste, if you do anything differently.  Growing up we burned our trash and had a metal can on the back porch for food waste.  My parents had a similar reaction to you when my husband from the suburbs visited for the first time and went to scrape a plate in the sink and later scraped a plate in the trash can which we took out to the burn barrel.  I think most people would know how to operate a grill, but things that are regionally related - i.e. related to weather, to country living, you may have to be quite specific about your expectations if the goal is to get your place back in the best possible shape.        

[Karen-and-Brian0]

It came with one, I'm not sure why, the system can handle it to a certain extent but you have to run a lot of water with it. I completely agree it might give people the wrong impression and when we replace the sink, which I hope will be soon, we will definitely get rid of the garburator. 

[Cathy54]

Give an honest review of how disgusting a person he is. Save other hosts from him. In future have a nicely typed up folder call it a resource pack but the rules for food disposable in the folder in a friend funny pictures kind of way. If a guest breaks the rules of your home delete them and keep your self respect X X

[Adel1]

So far, I had two bad guests; one of them left cigarette burn in my couch. Its horrible.

[Kip0]

I highly recommend investing in a label maker.  We picked the idea of warning and helpful labels when we stayed at a great AirBnB place in Luray VA and have since deployed it at both our hosted homes.  

Since many people do not read the manual - especially if not printed out - it's best to have some helpful labels on equipment, near appliances, etc.  

Many people legitmately do not know a lot of things that homeowners think of as basic.  I have labels above every toilet saying "DO NOT FLUSH BABY WIPES OR OTHER NON-TP" and one over the kitchen sink saying "PLACE FOOD WASTE IN GARBAGE BIN - SINK CANNOT HANDLE FOOD WASTE"

It's really a "KISS" thing - "Keep It Simple Silly"

Now on leaving dirty dishes and pots and pans I would say 1 out of every 10 guests I've had seem to think cleaning fee includes that sort of thing so I've made clear in my departure instructions that people are expected to put away clean and proper any courtesy items in the house.  Even then some people just frankly weren't raised right and for them I give no greater than a 3 star on Cleanliness.  If they are otherwise good guests other than the dishes I still generally give them good ratings in other categories and send private feedback in the review that it is customary to clean up the kitchen after oneself and they will do well as Guests to do so in the future.

[Orita0]

I like the idea of putting labels on things!!

[Stephanie6]

Hi @Karen-and-Brian0, I agree with @Kip0 - get a label maker.  You should remove the garburator (garbage disposal) because I would certainly expect to put food waste down it.  At least put a label on the switch ("do not use/put food waste in garbage").

I noticed that some guests were leaving the outside lights on all night, so I labeled the switch for them "outside".  Have not had a problem since.  I added a label to the electric kettle "water only" to prevent someone from heating other liquids in it.  Most recently, I labeled our wifi network extender that is plugged into an outlet "do not unplug".  Guests may not read (or remember) all of the rules/information you provide online or in a house guide so it is extremely helpful to add a note/label at the "point of contact".

As for your review, given that the guests were not able to clean the kitchen due to the blocked sink you should not include negative comments about that in the review.  We had guests let us know a toilet was backed up and that they were going out for the evening.  They said we could come by after 11am the following day - my husband went immediately (we live in the building) and unplugged it in less than 2 minutes, before the guests even got out the door.  I'm not sure why some guests don't seem to mind living with backed up plumbing (ew), but I recommend entering the property (with their permission) as soon as possible.  It is good that your guests let you know there was a problem.

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Thanks for all the advice! - all great ideas, everyone. I didn't give him a bad review - I accept responsibility for it because I didn't have the information about the sink included anywhere in my listing, house manual or information sheet. And yes, I guess if there's a garburator, it sends the wrong message. We need to get rid of it - but garbuators have their limits even without a septic system. If people know how to use a garbuator, they should also know they can get plugged & so go easy on the kitchen waste you're shoving down there & run lots of water! There was enough stuff crammed down our drains to clog a city drain too.

You're right - some people don't read the house manual and info sheets anyway - as I have just learned, so a label or sign directly above the object is definitely the way to go. I don't feel 100% confident that's going to work, because I have a very simple "check-out" list of 4 steps posted right by the door they exit from and so far no one has scored 4/4. I can't believe you have to put a sign above the kettle saying "water only"!! Yikes.

In hindsight, I should have just told him we'd be going out, rather than asking him if we could go out. Next time, this wll be different.

Really hoping I don't have to learn each and every thing like this the hard way!

[Fiona23]

No such things as common sense I am afraid. I think they behaved appalllingly. Next time go out at the first sign of trouble. I would have told him off and asked for clean up costs. You clearly stated toilet paper and natural waste. I have a some good reviews and would have risked negative reviews from him, andthen challenged it. Nobody needs people like this with no respect for a home. This is one problem with Air B n B people are afraid to leavfe negative reviews incase they get one back and this means we don't have a very accurate system to go by when booking. Good luck with your next guests. I hope they are better. Fi

[Orita0]

I had a guest who used dishwashing liquid in the dishwasher when they left. It was a disaster!! There was soap suds all over the kitchen floor and counter and everything was flooded. I had to phisically clean the dishwasher and remove all the liquid soap. There was dishwasher soap under the sink but I guess they didn't bother looking.

I've had guests somehow find a way to flood the bathrooms from the sink and damage the bathroom furniture. Go figure what peole do and the way they live!!! 

[Karen-and-Brian0]

Didn't consider that might happen either! Now I need a label for the dishwasher that says "dishwasher detergent only"! OMG

If I had noted on my listing not to put food waste down the sink, I would have written an absolutely scathing review of him (& his party of 8 - 6 adults & 3 children!) but I felt I had to take the hit on this one & chalk it up to a learning experience. I wish there was a way to work in a covert warning to other hosts, but couldn't think of how I could do that.