Guest check-out chore hyperbole

[Terry642]

I recently posted a comment in another thread survey, and it was suggested it be a separate conversation.

I would love to see a poll asking hosts what "chores" they ask guests to perform before checking out - there seems to be a lot of chatter - Reddit etc - about the absurd things hosts ask guest to do before they leave - the worst anecdote/hyperbole is "mowing the lawn" !! Has AirBnB considered a category - "Walk Away" - as in I'm a host who asks guests to do nothing before they leave? Basically, I'd like to see some push back from AirBnB and the "trend" of bashing hosts and check-out requirements.

Thanks,

Terry

[Mark116]

@Inna22 How much is your walk away fee? Around what percentage of the guests take advantage of this ?

[Inna22]

@Mark116 it is half of the cleaning fee for the given property, additional half of course. I would say about twice a month I’m taken up on the offer. I have a blurb about it in the listing and it is in my welcome message that has both my check in and check out instructions.

[Terry642]

Wow, that's really smart to have an extra layer of cleaning fees and call it "worry free" - feel free to use the "walk away" phrase if you like!!  Question, have you had to impose the worry free fee after a guest doesn't voluntarily pay at booking but leaves a mess in the end?  I allow pets, I do not charge an extra pet fee.  Just had a guest allow their two small dogs to relieve themselves on my closed-in back porch , they peed on my furniture, my floors and on the stone fireplace!!  I'm in the process of going through the resolution center request for an additional cleaning fee - kind of irritating and my first time having to deal with irresponsible pet owners.

[Sudsrung0]

@Terry642 

Most of the guest me or my husband checks them out, if for some reason I cannot get there, "Do me a favour and turn the A/C off" and leave the keycard on the table,

We do actually tell guest the washing machine is for your use, Do not wash our bedding or towels, in the past we have had guest mixing white towels with coloured ones, Stupid I know

[Jenny838]

I do not charge a separate cleaning fee. I only ask guests to wash their dishes (I hate washing dishes!) and clean up their personal messes, like spills and anything extreme. I have had a few guests leave dirty dishes, several more needing rewashes, and only a couple of real messes. I feel pretty fortunate after reading some other host stories!

[Robin4]

@Terry642 

Terry, I ask guest to nothing whatsoever, when they are ready to leave just make sure they have all their belongings and leave the keys in the door.

I don't want to all the time second guess what guests might have done or not.....or how thoroughly they might have done it. I would rather work from scratch so I can see what they have used. Experience tells me with the lack of a dishwasher in the listing cottage, if guests wash the dishes a percentage of them won't wash them thoroughly, they will just give them a quick rinse and put them away in the cupboard all set for the next guest to mark me down for cleanliness because they found lipstick rings on the glasses, coffee stains in the mugs, bits of food on the crockery and cutlery. 

I have to pull everything out to check what they might have used and what they hadn't! I would rather put everything they used in a tub and put it through the house dishwasher.......I know then it will all be clean.

I don't want them stripping the bed, I want to see what stains they have left behind and treat them appropriately before putting through a washing cycle.

Leave the garbage as it is in the supplied rubbish bag! Half of what they used will be recyclables and some of thgat 

[Terry642]

@Robin4 I'm with you on doing the cleaning personally.  I do not have a dishwasher, and do check ALL pots and pans, glassware silverware and dishes in between guests.  I'm thinking that AirBnB needs a feature which counters the trending public narrative that hosts ask guests to do crazy things at check out.  From the responses in this thread so far - there's nothing crazy about any of it.  Now, mind you, individuals who ask for guests to do laundry etc. are probably the manager companies hired by corporate owners who do not participate in these discussions!

[Robin4]

@Terry642 

Due to one of the oddities of the CC format I must have hit  the submit button before my post was complete. As we had guests arriving at that moment I had to abandon this post before the editing time of 40 minutes expired......

What I was in the middle of saying is, some of those garbage items are recyclables and fall under our deposit legislation which means we get paid money to recycle.  Guests don't give a sh*t , they lump everything in the general trash bin! It's a minor point but, it is important point because we Airbnb hosts are trying to be good community minded citizens! We want to do the right thing.

So, to finish what I was saying, I tell guests on arrival not to clean up, not to make the bed, wash the dishes, please just leave everything to us, I  appreciate their desire to help but I need to personally establish that the next guest will find my property the same as they did when they arrived! 

phew....it took a bit of getting there, but I did in the end!!

Cheers......Rob

[Terry642]

Great job, appreciate the effort getting this posted!  I typically re-wash guests' pots/pans and dishes (no dishwasher) but want them to at least have scraped and run water over them so it's not just dried up caked on messes.  I think there's a promotional point to be exploited for the hosts who do ALL of the guests' cleaning up, thus the "Just Walk Away" moniker/ category.