Check out instructions ignored repeatedly

[Zach269]

Hey Hosts -

Our cabin we rent out is in a mountain town where a lot of wildlife roams. Because of this, part of our checkout instructions include having to take their garbage to one of the many public sites for drop off when they leave - this is pretty standard with airbnbs in the area. I, for the life of me, can't seem to get renters to follow this rule and our house cleaner charges an extra $25 if left, eating into our profits. Do you guys have luck with Airbnb helping to recover those costs when check out instructions aren't followed, causing you extra out of pocket expenses to resolve? All I could see happening is Airbnb asking the renter to pay the extra and they just simply ignore it until it goes away. Any tips, other than raising my cleaning fee by $25 and just including it moving forward?

[Anonymous]

@Zach269  One thing you could do is increase the Cleaning Fee but make the guests an offer: after the stay is over, you'll give them a $25 rebate (via Resolutions Tool) if they complete all the checkout instructions. That way, the money becomes an incentive rather than a fine.

[Sarah977]

@Zach269  You could always add the $25 as a one-time fee, due at booking, for removing the garbage, explaining that it will be refunded if the guests actually do as instructed and take it to the drop-off site themselves. But you'd have to have your housekeeper snap a dated, timed photo of the garbage left behind before another guest checked in, otherwise a guest could claim they removed it and argue about the refund.

Do you have any neighbors in the area who you could offer a lesser amount, like $10 to, to stop by and pick it up, since they have to take theirs as well. How do the other Airbnbs in the area handle it? They must have some non-compliant guests as well. Maybe you guys could get together and pay someone to drive around the neighborhood and collect the garbage from a lot of you.