Unsure of what to charge for damages

[Marci1280]

Hello all!

I am fairly new, and have thankfully never run into this situation until now. I had a guest who's nephews dipped their fingers into a wax warmer (please don't bash me for having it available, to each their own, and again I have NEVER had an issue until now and I always remove when I know children are coming for this very reason, however I was unaware children were coming) but the kids smeared mauve wax everywhere. Sofa, love seat, wood floor, end table, white duvet cover, carpet, marble coasters, and dried chipped off shavings of was all over a portion of the house. They also broke a mug and stole and entire set of rock painting markers I had out. They stuffed chip bags in the side tables next to the bed and it looked like one of the kids blew his well stuffed nose all down the side of the wall next to the bed. The regular cleaning fee for this 3 bedroom ADA accessible farmhouse was $175.  I don't even know where to begin to come up with a price to charge them for all of this. I was able to remove all of the wax from all of the surfaces however the duvet cover will need to be replaced as will the mug and markers. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Marci1280 So in these situations I would

1) Not talk to or message the guest in any way

2) Review the guest honestly

3) Collect the costs of the damage

4) Hope the guest reviews me before the end of the 14 day claim period

5) Consider if a claim is worthwhile

6) If yes then claim at day 13.5 or when the guest has reviewed me

Now 5 above is the most important step. Lets assume the guest will not pay - Then Aircover kicks in and pays you a depreciated amount. So unless you have the original duvet cover receipt you may get nothing. If the duvet is say 3 years old you may get nothing. What you will get is a bad review unless they have reviewed you before the end of the 14 day claim period.

We have been very lucky with guests - Yes the odd glass/mug has been broken and towel ruined but this is just a cost of doing business. As such we have never claimed form a guest.

I hope this at least helps your thought processes.

[Marci1280]

Thank you so much for your reply. The guest has already left a 5 star review. Am I able to collect an additional cleaning fee for the sofa, carpet, end table, and floor wax removal?