What to do when 1st guest leaves the place a mess in a back to back booking

[James-And-Esther0]

Hi,

I'm a new host in Austin, TX and I have several back to back bookings coming up.  The check-out time is at 11AM and check-in time at 3PM so I have at least a 4 hour window to get the rental ready.  

I'm concerned about what to do in the event the first guest leaves the place trashed.  I understand that I can make a claim on the 1st guest's security deposit, but how do you accomodate the 2nd guest if you can't clean or get the unit ready in time?  Do you give the guest a discount?  Can anyone share how they dealt with a situation like this?

Thank you!

James

[Lilian20]

Natural to worry when you get started.. Guests tend to "forget" to take the bin out, or "forget" to do the dishes. You will rarely encounter a situation that puts you in real trouble for the following guests. 

[Danny9]

Fortunately, I have  never had to deal with the situation @James-And-Esther0 have described. 

Small and big problems appeared, nonetheless. 

A recent guest has managed to break a shower arm. The next guest insisted that this did not matter to him, but I still had it replaced within 24 hrs., and offered the guest who I felt, was entitled to a perfect shower cabin, among other things a 10% discount on his next booking. 

I feel that a gesture of good will matters! People wish to be recognized as people, and they may like the idea that you thought about the issue, no matter how small it may have been. 

On a much bigger scale, my AC went offline in the heat of the summer. The motherboard was gone, and I discounted 50% of the actual cost of the stay for the guests who suffered the aforementioned inconvenience. 

Briefly, every situation is different, and you want to see what is it that you can do for your guests in a most effective and appropriate manner. 

Danny

Expert support for your listings in Palma de Mallorca!

[Helen3]

Personally I always leave a day between bookings, both because it is my home and I enjoy having a break but also so there is time to deal with the unexpected 🙂

[John-and-Heather0]

This is a real problem--the one "bad apple" results in 2 bad reviews.

We have lots of professionals on speed dial in case of damage to the home. I believe somewhere AirBNB has a policy of allowing you to charge (1/2 day, full day) when someone overstaying or violating the rules affects the next guest. You can add such terms to your contract/house rules, and then immediately offer the same discount to the next guest. So if the bad guest trashes the house and doesn't leave until noon, and 1/2 day is $100, charge that guest the $100 and then offer the next guest $100 in compensation for disturbance in their stay.

I'm a big believer that people shouldn't be punished for being wonderful guests--so just because someone says "its okay" and isn't being high-maintenance, that is the person that truly deserves a discount.

[Barb6]

You may want to leave a day as another poster suggested in between bookings. Or perhaps move your check out time to ten and check in time to 4. If your guests have already booked, then you are just going to have to get your Arsh in gear and move it. Make sure you have xtra of everything so you don't have to launder. What i mean is that you have a new set to go on with out waiting for a load of wash to be done. And that you also have extra towels and bath mat, so you don't have to wait for those as well.

Good luck,

[David126]

I have 11am and 5pm

Used to be 4pm but hardly anybody turned up that early and gives me a little bit more lee way.

YMMV

[Aughty0]

Give yourself a break and schedule a full day between bookings for cleaning.