Guest who's complaining about the towels

Giorgia219
Level 1
Milan, Italy

Guest who's complaining about the towels

Hello everyone, I have a question. I am having a very bad experience with a guest. I do not provide essential, as is expressly stated in my ad, however, the guy asks me in dm if there were towels and sheets and I replied that I would provide them without problems, to do him a favor. So I put clean sheets and two small towels in the bathroom, the guy comes in and starts complaining that there are not enough dryers and asks me to refund the towel that he was "forced" to buy. Moreover, When I replied that I was not due for any refund, the boy filled my fridge with food that I kept in the freezer arguing that they had been the previous guests and that I had not cleaned and then I would have owed him a refund. TBH, I'm not 100% sure that the food was there from the previous gusts because I can't remember precisely if I look in the fridge or not, but I think so. Should I reimburse him or not?

2 Replies 2
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Giorgia219 

 

Your listings shows under amenities "essentials" as a strike-through.

And nothing is mentioned about bedroom

 

It maybe is not clear to every guest it means you do not provide bedlinen and towels etc..

So i suggest to mention this in the listing to prevent discussions about it.

 

There is no severe reason for a refund, just some minor inconviences (if true to just say sorry for it)

 

 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Giorgia219  While there are some listings which do not provide linen and towels, those are rare and tend to be remote listings- cottages by a lake or the ocean where guests would drive to and it has been traditional in those places for many years for guests to provide for themselves in that way.

 

But it is very unusual in general, for short term rentals, for hosts not to provide basics like linen, towels, toilet paper and soap, And guests expect that, which is why they are called essentials, even if you state you don't provide it- most guests do not read through everything thoroughly.

 

No guest who arrives by plane, train or bus is going to want to have to pack bedding and towels in their luggage.

 

I strongly suggest you provide what are considered essentials, or you are going to be constantly dealing with unhappy, complaining guests and less than great reviews.

 

Also one of your photos shows what appears to be a pile of towels, so of course guests would expect that.

You should really retake your photos, too. They are really dark, it makes the place looks really small, cluttered and cramped, (nothing wrong with small, but it looks like there's no space to move around) and there is no photo of where guests would sleep. I'm sure you or someone you know who's good at photography, could take photos which show your place off to better advantage.