guest with medical issues

[Jennifer3276]

Okay, I am in Costa Rica. I have a guest who had a heart attack. I came around the corner to find him laying on the porch, shorts half down, covered in feces. Before the ambulance arrived, he asked me to run the hose on (clean) his testicles and **bleep** as he was very uncomfortable, which I did. After the ambulance left I cleaned the rest. Shorts (still had poop in them), socks shoes, bag, shirt, chairs, floor. He has many medical issues and I have cleaned and had cleaned other things during his 3 month stay of both feces and urine. (re: pillows)

He also has his cat with him, that I have cared for for over a week, as well as, taken into the vet to get her certified to return to Canada.

Question is: what would you charge this guest. Re: cleaning fees and pet sitting and time?

[Flavia202 · Accepted solution]

A **bleep**ty situation all round,  @Jennifer3276 .  If I were in your situation I'd only charge a pet fee, since you ended up caring for tabby but I wouldn't ask for any additonal cleaning fee, cause your guest's heart attack was beyond his control.  The poor guy must have been so frightened! Thank goodness you found him in time - you probably saved his life!  As well, did you -  in the 3 months he's been there with his health issues and incidents - ever mention anything to him re an additional cleaning fee charge?

[Jennifer3276]

Thank you so much for your response and help Flavia.

[Anonymous]

@Jennifer3276  You've gone above and beyond the call of duty to help your guest through a horrible, presumably unforeseen emergency. We can only hope that your guest recognizes the value of all the extra work you've put into the cleaning and pet care.

You can send him a resolution request for any amount that feels fair and proportionate to the unplanned catsitting, but if the guest has the nerve to dispute the charge, the only charge you can readily pursue further through Airbnb is for the veterinary bill (assuming you kept the receipts). Your listing advertises a washer/dryer and offers laundry service by arrangement, so I wouldn't charge for cleaning the shorts and linens unless you stated the price of laundry service in your arrangement. It does feel like handling poo merits a very substantial extra tip, but coming right out and asking for it would mean doubling down on the embarrassment this guy has already suffered, which hardly seems worth a few extra bucks.

[Jennifer3276]

Thanks so much for the advice Andrew.

[Amy2892]

I'm sorry to hear about your guest's medical issues. It sounds like he's going through a lot, and I'm sure you're doing everything you can to help him.

As for what to charge him, that's a difficult question to answer. There's no standard rate for cleaning fees or pet sitting, and it will depend on a number of factors, such as the severity of the mess, the amount of time and effort required to clean it up, and your normal rates for pet sitting.

However, I would suggest charging a fair and reasonable rate for the services you provided. You don't want to take advantage of your guest, but you also need to be compensated for your time and effort.

Here are a few things to consider when setting your rates:

• The severity of the mess: Cleaning up feces and urine is a difficult and unpleasant task, so you may want to charge a higher rate for this service.
• The amount of time and effort required to clean it up: If it took you a lot of time and effort to clean up the mess, you may want to charge a higher rate.
• Your normal rates for pet sitting: If you normally charge $XX per day for pet sitting, you may want to charge a similar rate for the time you spent caring for your guest's cat.

Once you've considered all of these factors, you can set a rate that you feel is fair and reasonable.

Here is an example of how you could calculate your rate:

• Cleaning fees: $XX per hour for the time it took you to clean up the mess.
• Pet sitting fees: $XX per day for the time you spent caring for the guest's cat.

Once you've calculated your fees, you can present them to your guest and explain how you arrived at them. I'm sure he will appreciate your honesty and transparency.

I hope this information is helpful. 

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If your guest has medical insurance, you may be able to bill his insurance company for the cost of cleaning up the mess. Medical billing can be complex, but there are a number of companies in Texas that can help you with this process.

I hope your guest makes a full recovery.

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[Amy2892]

Well explained. But some questions are still unanswered. For more details you can reasd this post this: 

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