Dog hair in my Airbnb

[Cindy1833]

Hello, 

We almost always get 5 stars on everything.  I just received a 3 star on cleanliness because the person said she saw dog hair.  I asked where the dog hair was and she never responded.  I always tell people that if there is an issue tell me so I can address it.  We let her come a day early and had to loose a day of work to get the house ready and I gave her a huge discount because she did not seem to have much money.  It was also her first Airbnb.  I took a chance on her and had a bad feeling the whole time because she claimed she was having a photography class.  Anyway, we sweep twice, mop twice and have robot vacuums running every day.  We also put our dogs in the car for the last go around on the floors with a swifter.   I am hurt and trying not to take it personal.   I don’t know what else we can do to address dog hair.  We never saw any.  We even put glasses on to make sure we don’t miss anything.  Any tips would help.  I’m ready to do a disclaimer on dog hair, lol. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Cindy1833 

You say any tips would help, so I'll give my opinion, even though it's unspectacular 😀

This was a difficult guest, and difficult guests do come along (unfortunately, there could be more in future). I would really just clean the floor as always and move on. I wouldn't waste any more time thinking of it.

[Cindy1833]

Thank you Shelley,  your advice is helpful.  I need to not take this so personal.  I will continue to do the best I can.  

[Helen3]

My tip would be if a guest wants to check in a day early then get them to change the reservation and pay for it.

Never give a huge discount. It's better not to have the booking then have a guest like this. 

I'm sorry you had such a difficult experience . @Cindy1833 

[Cindy1833]

Thank you Helen, 

We did charge her for the last minute check in one day early but took $ off.  
From now on, I will not be giving discounts.  We almost canceled because I had a bad feeling about her but were afraid  it would hurt our rating.   
It seems the people you try to help the most are the ones that get you.   One time I let a lady check in early because she had a child with special needs.  I told her to call to see if the house was ready before she came over.  She never called and showed up when we literally had about 10 minutes left of cleaning.  She marked me down for check in even though she was several hours early and my husband showed her around as I finished.  No good deed goes unpunished.  

[Bhumika]

Hi @Cindy1833 , I am truly sorry to hear how this experience has left you wondering and hurt. I hope the advice from fellow hosts has put your mind at ease.

Are you planning to update any strategies to avoid similar instances in future? May be vetting guests when you receive requests or revisiting your cleaning strategy?

[Cindy1833 · Accepted solution]

We will be vetting guest more.  As far as cleaning, you can eat off our floors.  Our house is always clean and beautiful.  We will be taking a vacuum attachment and vacuuming corners in every room  There really is nothing more we could do.  We already used a duster in corners to get dust and hair on top of sweeping twice while 2 robot vacuums clean, mop twice and use a swifter dust mop to get any dirt and hair that may have been missed to finish the floors.  

[Bhumika]

Thanks for sharing @Cindy1833 ! Have you faced any similar issues since you last posted? I hope everything is working out smoothly for you 🌻

[Cindy1833]

No more issues thank you.  

[Frances3408]

@Cindy1833 . I'm a bit late to the party but just a few ideas I have found from hosting pets: 

1. I use a roller brush on all fabric surfaces (cushions especially)

2. I have pet and no pet human bedding, soft furnishings etc which I swap out, depending on who has booked

3. I do use a specialist pet vacuum cleaner and its pretty scary how much that picks up.

4. You do the best you can: its not a lab, but a lived in home and reasonable people understand this. 

[Cindy1833]

Hi @Frances3408 

We do all of that except the bedding.  Excellent suggestion.  I can do that.   Thank you.  

[Nadine970]

This just happened to us too. We usually get 5’s on everything and one guest gave us a 3 for dust&hair. I always ask during their stay if everything is ok and they said great! So I am also finding it hard not to take it personally. If I can vent a little here - they had a shedding dog which left little white  hairs everywhere!! I washed every rug and blanket twice and still those little hairs stuck on. Also we are a cabin in the woods, on a beach. There is no amount of cleaning that will get every speck of sand or piece of forest dust. So I’ve just switched to pets not allowed. We may get less bookings but it will be less stressful. I’m not sure if renters realize how much work goes into hosting. So I’m trying to let it not bother me and move on.