Airbnb policy

[Claudia4251]

Hello everyone! I just joined I’m looking for an idea, information, anything helpful really. I was just warned by airbnb representative that my listing could potentially be removed for invasion of privacy. A guest stayed in my property a week lawn company came the day before thanksgiving to not bother and did the lawn. Guest 1 day before checkout asked for refund because she didn’t feel comfortable. I declined and now I don’t understand how to manage Lawn maintenance. I’ve read a couple of posts but there’s no actual policy that mentions this. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Claudia4251 

There was a similar post here a while ago from someone who had a very attractive pool and had a pool maintenance company regularly stop by.

All hosts know the difficulty of trying to schedule maintenance at an Airbnb - it's one of the most challenging things. However, for privacy reasons and to make sure that guests have the place to themselves (as they assumed they would when they paid), one should try to get these things done between guests as far as possible. I know the problem with regular pool and garden care is that you're usually given a timeslot (for example weekly), so often guests will be booked in the listing during the maintenance time.

I'd say if it cannot be avoided to have the lawn cut while someone is staying, just make this very clear upfront. Mention in the listing that lawn maintenance is on Tuesday mornings (for example), and again mention it clearly in your messaging to those guests who stay over on Tuesdays.

If a guest knows in advance that workers will arrive Tuesday around 10h00, they can plan ahead to be out while the workers finish - they wouldn't have reason to be unhappy or leave a bad review. Hope it helps!

[Fiona256]

It's ridiculous to ask for a refund because the lawn was being mown. No  doubt they would be asking for a refund if they felt the lawn was too long, too.

We frequently have to mow our grass and strim while guests are about. It's neverbeen an issue in 20 years. Intelligent people undetstand that this is a maintenance chore which has to be done when the weather is suitable.

[Zheng49]

Yes invasion of privacy is a serious matter that is handled by the specialized safety team.

Under no circumstances should you invade a guest's privacy. I would avoid having the lawn being maintained during a guest's stay. It could be before, or after, but not during. 

[Fiona256]

Someone mowing a lawn is not an invasion of privacy. It is not a safety threat for guests.

We need some perspective here. Some people are so ridiculously precious, narcissistic and entitled that it would be best if they just stayed at home, rather than risking all their perceived threats out in the real world.

This refund claim is obviously just yet another attempt to extort money from hosts.

[Joan2709]

@Fiona256 

I agree the entitlement is getting out of hand with guests. Most wouldn't consider the lawn being mowed at a public place (like a hotel) as a safety issue. That said, most listings are private residences, so having someone enter the property without knowing who they are is a different matter (especially if it is a solo guest). The issues I have seen with this topic have been guests not being informed that lawn care was going to take place and/or guests being woken up by the sound of someone mowing the lawn at 7am. 

If the guest was not informed that someone would be on the property, that is an issue. Whether a refund should be given is up to the individual Host. It's probably best to avoid this issue in the first place; especially since the OP says Airbnb says their listing might be suspended because of it.

[Fiona256]

Is it likely that a lawn would be mowed at 7am? Not in the UK. Particularly if there were guests staying.

I might tell my guests we would be mowing before we do it, if I happened to come across them that day. Otherwise, if I see them close by while I am doing it, I would stop and chat with them and apologise for the noise. Not for the threat to their lives or privacy. In over 20 years, this has never been a problem. I think we have considerably fewer problematic guests here.

Of course, we do the garden maintenance (like everything else) ourselves. So our gusts know it is us, rather than a random stranger who wandered in with a mower especially to terrify them.

[Joan2709]

@Fiona256 

I think that may have been the situation with the OP...they don't live on the property and do the work themselves, but have a service cut the lawn. The guest was not informed about the person mowing the lawn and did not know who they were. Since you live on the same property where your listing is (Cottage) and disclose that on your listing, guests wouldn't be surprised to see you on the property doing garden maintenance, etc.  

If a US Host doesn't inform a landscaper that they are operating an Airbnb and work around that, most landscapers (in the US) just have a particular day they are supposed to mow the lawn, etc. There generally is not a time slot given, just "get the lawn mowed on Wednesdays." They can come at any time on Wednesday during daylight hours. Since they are super busy (especially in summer), it's possible they will start working jobs as soon as 7am in order to get all the jobs done for that Wednesday, unless the homeowner states "don't come until after 9am." 

[Maria19300]

Soooo if you're booked straight through and your guests want complete week stays how do you justify thid...I mean it's not like the ceiling is being replaced  or the bathroom painted...it's the lawn...if a lawn isn't maintained regularly and often MORE often when it rains,  then the place simply looks shabby....to me that's worse...my lawn guy shows up every 1 to 2 weeks on Saturday morning.  My guests are on the lower level and since they are either sleeping  in  or getting ready to leave or out and about...their actual area is small so the maintenance guys are in and out of the area quickly and since I have ABSOLUTELY NO CONTROL OVER WHEN the neighbors perform their maintenance I sincerely hope that keren doesn't choose my listing because even the largest resorts do maintenance on lawns with guests present...this seems a bit over the top...

[Joan2709]

@Maria19300 

True...you have no control over what your neighbors do, but then again, not sure a guest could complain if the neighbor is mowing their lawn, but you never know.

As I mentioned in my previous post...

For those Hosts I work with that allow longer stays or have large properties, the  maintenance schedule is disclosed on the listing and guests are advised when it will occur before arriving.

I believe the issue for the OP was the guest was not advised that lawn care was going to occur during her stay. 

[Kia272]

@Zheng49 Mowing the lawn is not an invasion of privacy. At most, it's a disturbance, and not worthy of a refund. Also not worthy of reference to the specialized safety team. 

[Zheng49]

It looks like the safety team has stepped in here and warned the topic creator not to do that again or risk listing removal. 

@Kia272 

[Kia272]

And we all know how consistent and fair the safety team is, don't we @Zheng49 ?

The fact that you would see that as validation for your answer is just silly. 

[Zheng49]

I'm not saying I agree with how the specialized safety team operates. But my advice is based off (knowing) how the safety team currently operates. 

[Steven1482]

I make sure our vendors, (pest control, Lawn service, etc) always contact me first so I can check the schedule. I always tell them I appreciate your service but it's all about timing. I don't want them near the house when we have guests there. When we have a guest checking out at 10 am and another one checking in at 4 pm, there's our window to get things done. Construction windows are longer so we usually block off days for that work. 

When it comes to guest, some will do whatever they can to come up with an excuse to get a refund. The favorite is the "Cleaning Fee"... so my new plan is to let them know it was the guest before you that got charged the cleaning fee for their stay and the current guest is cleaning fee is for the next guest..so, the refund should go to the guest that paid it. LOL