How to rate a sloppy guest

[Leigh625]

Good morning,

A recent guest of 2 adults left the place less clean than we desired. On our site, I have the departure instructions listed under "Gather used towels, throw trash away, turn things off, lock up, etc." .

Usually, I send the guest a detailed message about departure instructions, but they don't veer far from what's on our site.

So, according to my sister who cleans and prepares the cottage, these guests didn't bother to clean their mess in the kitchen—dirty dishes left in the sink, coffee maker not cleaned of grinds. They did not gather their trash, and it looked like every bed was used in the place (we have a queen, a full, and a twin).

What the heck? Were they actually 12 year olds?!

My question is, what do I write to them in their private note without coming across as angry? 

Please advise & thanks so much!

Regards,

Leigh

[Helen3]

I would just leave an honest public review and mark cleanliness down to 3 or 4.

Unfortunately you can't stop  guests using every bed in the property .

@Leigh625 

[Greystone0]

Hi @Leigh625 ,

It's a bummer when you have guests that don't seem to have the same level of respect/or general common sense for some basic courtesy (like dishes in the sink) for a home as others.  Here's my observation: 

- your check out instructions don't say to 'gather the trash' just to throw trash away so perhaps you meant to say to gather each trash can and put in some separate can for removal? Most guests probably interpret this the way you mean given your comments but nonetheless that is just an observation.

- your check out instructions don't say to do dishes or clean the coffee maker (at least as I saw it listed). Perhaps this is part of your separate messaging and probably general good manners for most guests.  But strictly speaking it isn't mentioned in your instructions part in the AIRBNB section.

- beds - odd when more beds are used than people but as mentioned you can't really stop them from being used.  Alternatively, if you don't have cameras to confirm guest count that could also indicate an extra guest.

Given your comments and listing info that I am able to see, it would seem that they did indeed follow the instructions, sort of,  and I mean no disrespect here, just my observation. 

On my end, a guest that leaves dishes or coffee grinds wouldn't be an issue. If they left coffee grinds all over the furniture I would be upset. But regardless of any cleaning a guest may do, we are still cleaning items like a coffee machine or checking/cleaning garbage cans and so on. So the effort is still there, if that makes sense. 

[Leigh625]

Hi @Greystone0,

Thanks for this.

I wanted to type more details on my departure instructions, but I don't have enough room for the text I want to place. The only instruction topic I can select is "Return Keys".

Would you know if there's an additional area on listing sites where instruction can be typed? Please advise & thanks!

[Joelle43]

Hello @Leigh625 

I always send my guests a gentle reminder the day before of the few things I would like them to do before leaving which I have created via the Quick replies so have this info handy to use for all my guests.  No limit in words here.

In my message to them, I word it a bit differently to Airbnb's instructions and start with  thanking them obviously for staying with me, telling them that If I am not there at the check-out (very rarely is this the case ) and if time allows, please could  they take the rubbish out, this would be much appreciated.  Haven't ever had a case where guests have left me mountains of rubbish to deal with 🙏.  I also ask them expressly to just leave the sheets on the beds (easier to spot marks on the bed than bundled up) and that I will be coming by later to clean the apartment.

This also informs them that I am the cleaning fairy and find them very respectful on the whole as a result😉

All the best
Joëlle

[Leigh625]

Joëlle, thank you very much for your reply. These are good practices that I'll be adopting asap.

—Leigh

[Greystone0 · Accepted solution]

HI @Leigh625  - even if you are ever so careful at writing down information for a guest it still may not ever be read. We experience this all the time. Also, as you probably know,  not everyone in the reservation has access to the listing details.  I think you have identified where to communicate this info in the platform and your conclusion to be proactive is spot on as well.

We put the check out instructions in the body of an email/message. Most guests are still using their email even if on vacation. They may or may not be looking at the AIRBNB app regularly.

If you aren't already aware, AIRBNB asks guests to rate on check out instructions and if they are excessive so always good form to try and streamline as best as possible.

[Leigh625]

Sound advice—thanks so much!  😊

—Leigh

[Elisa]

Hi @Leigh625 😊,

I’m sorry for this inconvenience.

What did you decide to do with this guest, send a message or just write a review?

Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Leigh625]

Hi, @Elisa ,

I decided to rate them a 4 on the following rules. On their private note I simply asked if they had to leave in a hurry—in case there had been an emergency on their end.

Either way, I think going forward I'm just going to be certain to message departure rules directly to stay proactive.

Thanks for checking.

—Leigh