Bugs in the towel? Bites that look like Mosquito bites or hives?

[Henley0]

Hi all,

I've been hosting for 3 years now and keep all my rooms really clean, but a current guest of mine who has been staying for a week now reported to me last night that she received a few bites while in the room she's staying in. The bites look like mosquito bites or hives, not bed bugs so I felt a bit reassured that this may go away after she clean the towels and sheets. Today, she updated me that she found the bug and sent me this picture:

Does anyone know what that is?

Please advise if anyone has experience with this. To be honest, this is quite stressful thinking about the worse case (whether guest will sue me, future of reservations, and the guests in the 3 other bedrooms that are in the same house).

Providing a refund for her remaining stays is something I don't mind at all. I'm also planning to be transparent and to share that there may be some sort of bug with the other guests in the same house. 

I also came across this thread that seems to talk about bed bug scams though I don't feel like the guest has been pushy about things, but rather concerned about her bites and contaminating her belongings.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Bed-Bug-Scam/m-p/1320587#M286119

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Henley0  this bug is slim, bedbugs are more "round" shaped.

You offered her a refund for nights not spent. She complained to Airbnb bc she wants a refund for all nights, even spent. I also had guests once, who tried the same, well-known scam.

Btw, dog flies don't bite humans but cat flies do. Cat flies are very tiny, much smaller than this one in the picture, black, round and they jump.

[Henley0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Thanks so much for the info.

I suspect she wasn't satisfied with the refund I offered as well. Airbnb was on my side and actually didn't require me to offer a special refund. They also suggested I don't provide a full refund since he didn't report any bites until the 6th night. I went ahead and gave her a refund for unstayed nights anyways but it wasn't enough to prevent the 1 star review 😕.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Henley0  same thing here, I also got 1*

A young couple, new account, no reviews, arrived in a camping wagon. Seemed friendly, but were late 2 hours, leaving me waiting. Stayed till the end of the reservation (3 nights) and checked out. Didn't hear from them until 2 days later when they messaged me,  showed pictures of red dots on their legs and some fluff on the sheet said they were bitten the first night, slept the other 2 nights in their camper but used my bathroom only and asked for a refund. I didn't reply the same day and the next day they wrote a review and complained to Airbnb about bugs.

I immediately called the exterminator company, they came, inspected, didn't find bugs but treated the apartment preventively, in case this couple infested the apartment themselves. I submitted the certificate to Airbnb the same day.

They were not refunded, my listing wasn't suspended, I got a bad review and gave them one too.

I am pretty sure there is some website or Facebook group with instructions and tricks on how to extort the refund and stay for free in Airbnbs because the MO is always very similar.

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  I don't know if it's still in operation, but there used to be these bus tours from the US down into  Mexico. The bus was called The Green Tortoise.

I had a young lodger when I lived in Canada, a high school student, who had taken it and was telling me how much fun it was, even though they sometimes had to go a few days without a shower, how all these beds fold down at night, sleeping about 12-20 people, and that I should try it. 

I'm sure it's fun if you're 18, but all I could think of was that it's probably a great way to end up with scabies or head lice. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Hah, yeah, you should try it @Sarah977  😄 😄 😄

[Henley0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

That's unfortunately. Were there any lies in their review? If so, were you able to get Airbnb to remove it?

My guest wrote a review that starts with "Fleas or Bedbugs..." even though Airbnb Support and I have told her that those are definitely not bedbugs. 

[Ralf5]

@Henley0 

in this case I would write a public answer to this review to explain the situation. Sometimes the answer to a review does pull more attention to the review, so it should be as sort as possible and only facts.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Henley0  of course their review is a lie 😄 I didn't bother to call Airbnb to remove it, I just replied on the review

[Ralf5]

@Henley0 ,

for me this looks a flee and the small brownish crumbs look like their excrements. If you put some water on them they turn into red. 

My previous dog had some flees about 15 years ago which he brought in from our dogsitters dog. It took us about 3 weeks to get rid of them.

Have there been dogs or cats in the room? or did somehow any pets have accidentially access to the bedware?

To get rid of them you need to wash everything which can be washed (sheets, pillows, curtains, carpets etc.) as hot as possible (90° Celsius) oer with a special shampoo which you get in a pet store. After this spray out the entire room, especially the hidden corners like under the sofa, behind the cupboards, under the bed, etc. After 3 weeks you need to repeat the cleaning process to destroy the new flees coming out of the nits (just in case).

For your guest I would offer a full refund (regardless if she brought in the flees herself or not). 

[Henley0]

Got her slanderous review removed after several phone calls with Airbnb. Today is a great day.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Henley0  you were very lucky, reviews are very very rarely removed.

[Charles224]

@Henley0 IMAOpinion, its as @Sarah977 suggests; a small immature cockroach.  Definitely not a flea.

Good luck with going through all this unnecessary drama.