My first "nightmare" guest - how much to charge for damages and not following rules?

[Brian303]

Hello - I had a guest who did not honor several house rules, who was not at all packed up at time of check out, and who left some damages.  She was actually the first guest I've ever actually met. I offer self check-in and all other guests have left at or before check out time.

I'm glad she was still there when we arrived to prepare the unit for the next guest because it was crazy. I told her that I was going to have to charge her and she understands. I told her I would send the payment request through AirBnB. I am looking for advice on how much to charge.

The following is what occurred: -I arrived at checkout time to find the guest far from packed up. There was food, dishes and garbage everywhere, including my coffee pot filled with coffee grinds (it was like Animal House). House rules and the close out checklist says to take out all garbage and load dishwasher/do dishes. It took another hour to get everyone out, and needless to say, the place was still a disaster. - House rules say no smoking. There were cigarette butts on the back deck and all over the grass just off the deck. There is no ashtray because there is no smoking. - There is a huge water/heat stain on my coffee table that we couldn't get out. - There are several stains of grime on the stove top and pots and pans with spilled food all over it (house rules say to wipe spill immediately to avoid stains). - There were used q-tips in the drawers. -The Blu tooth speaker is missing from unit. - keys, pool passes and parking passes weren't put back. Luckily, I noticed this before they drove off and were able to get them. (This is clearly stated in the close out check list to leave these items). - We have two locked owner's closets and one clearly marked "owners closet" without a lock. They used our robes, took out our Britta and broke it, used our bug lamps. All of this was in the owners closet. (Yes, I am getting a lock asap!)

I pointed out every one of these items to the guest, including the fact that I had another guest arriving at 3:00 (we have done 12noon checkout and 3:00 check in and have never had a problem before bc everyone else has followed the rules and respected the close out check list) This guest apologized profusely, acknowledged wrong-doing and accepted the fact that I was going to have to charge her for all of this. So now I am trying to decide how much to charge. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance!

[Ali40]

Charge whatever it costs to actually repair the damages, and replace the missing items and whatever extra it cost to clean the mess. Get receipts. 

[Brian303]

Thank you Ali!  We do most of the work and cleaning ourselves so I am trying to put a value on our time/effort. But I think after sleeping on it, I've come up with a fair solution/charge. Thank you!

[Kate157]

@Brian303 I came across this tip online for getting out heat/water stains- maybe you can try it:  put your iron on a moderate setting (no steam) and takes a lint-free cotton cloth (an old tee shirt was used in the example) and put the cloth over stain and repeatedly go over it with the iron. You need to check it repeatedly, of course, but this has worked for many, many people in the forum I was reading, even on stains years old. I'm sorry this happened!

[Brian303]

Thank you! We will definitely try that. 

[David126]

@Brian303

Let us know how it goes getting paid.

[Brian303]

I submitted additional charges of $250 through the resolution center and detailed to the guest how I came up with that figure. I basically went on Amazon to determine cost of replacing missing/broken items was a total of $75, our regular cleaning fee that was previously paid is $75, so I double that and charged another $75. And then I guessed at $100 for the time it will take us to clean fix the stains on the coffee table and the stove top. We found some home remedies online. So that totaled $250, I sent in the "request extra payment" and the guest accepted the charges immediately. A very good outcome I must say.