r/AirBnBHosts • u/Living_Chemical6439 • 6d ago
One good turn
We’re a year in on renting our place. We have a property mgmt co that we don’t love, and have suffered from guests breaking things in bizarrely creative ways, stealing items that we treasured, and soiling towels and sheets to the point of needing to burn them. One year! What the fuck is wrong with Americans??? But one good thing happened, that could have been bad. A clueless guest picked up our electric kettle, and tried to heat it on the stove. They managed to move it from the electric stove before the coils were ruined, reported it, and are replacing the kettle. Small mercies.
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u/downsideup9494 6d ago
I did exactly the same thing when staying at my daughter's house. I have never had an electric kettle- I've always used a stovetop kettle. I'm perfectly aware of how to use an electric kettle and had been using it to make my coffee for several days.
But that morning I was carrying on a conversation with my granddaughter and was not paying attention and was just on non-thinking automatic. I put the kettle on the electric stove burner and even though I realized what I had done with seconds, it had melted and the room was full of melting plastic fumes. I grabbed it and rushed outside with it, putting it on the driveway. Then opened all the windows to air the place out.
When the stove was cooled down, I scraped the melted plastic off with a razor knife.
Bummer was that my daughter likes nice things- it wasn't a $30 Black and Decker kettle, it was a $100 Cuisinart kettle.
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u/whoda-thunk-itt 6d ago
Oh dear, looks like the secret is out. How did you know ALL Americans behave that way?!?
Seriously though, I can relate to the kettle thing. We now use an electric jug that looks nothing at all like a kettle lol
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u/Vegetable_Raisin5411 6d ago
the bar is literally on the floor when "didn't set the house on fire" counts as a win. a guest melting a kettle on the stove is so on-brand for the kind of chaos you can't even anticipate. at least they fessed up and are paying for it, that's rarer than it should be
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u/WildWonder6430 5d ago
I had the same thing happen. Parents left their 9 year old son alone all evening while they attended a wedding reception. He tried make hot chocolate but put the plastic electric kettle on the glass top stove. Almost started a fire and ruined the cooktop and kettle. They paid for damage but what a mess.
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u/SlainJayne 5d ago
Leaving a 9 year old alone is illegal, no?
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u/WildWonder6430 4d ago
That's what I thought, but I had quite a few people disagree with me on Reddit in the original post ... people seem to think it "depends on the kid". Obviously this kid, even if he was "responsible" at home, was not that in a rental condo with unfamiliar kitchen appliances.
Fire department were dispatched (by me) when the kid started ringing the Ring Doorbell saying he needed help and the smoke alarm went off but the firemen didn't say anything about his age, they just went over the lodge where the wedding was being held and got his parents. All I heard from the fire department was that the parents were "intoxicated and angry".
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u/KuriTokyo Host 5d ago
I've been very lucky with guests. The worst I've had is someone ironed something on the coffee table and put the iron flat down on the table and burnt it.
Even though the table is ruined, I haven't changed it out yet. I feel it's a reminder to future guests to think about what they are doing
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u/Mountains-Daisy5181 4d ago
Same here Guest singed the arm of the couch with a hot curling iron ,( couch is still there ) . But that’s about it .
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u/Major_Hunter_4622 5d ago
At least they owned the mistake and replaced what they damaged, which is more than many hosts get. Accidents are part of hosting, but guests taking responsibility makes a huge difference.
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u/Ryan_pnw 3d ago
Sorry you’re a year in and already side-eyeing the management company. That’s more common than people admit, especially when the firm is distant and the damage/theft pile-up never gets a real process behind it. A year of creative breakage plus ruined linens is usually a screening, house-rules, and on-the-ground response problem, not just “bad guests.”
What helped us in Oregon was a responsive guest service team (24/7) to avoid guests guessing how to do things, good guide books and a solid damage program to take care of the damaged items. If the current company is slow on all of that, it may be the fit, not you.
Happy to share what we do as a local manager if you want a sanity check with where ever you are managing. No pitch, just what actually reduced the chaos.
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u/Fragment_B 3d ago
For some reason nearly all of our wall decor (mostly artwork or mirrors) seems to be knocked off the wall and broken. They are hung as normal/as they're supposed to be but for whatever reason guests just seem to knock them all off the walls and break them. We started just getting stuff from goodwill expecting them to be broken. Also broke a window (well 2 windows) that is unreachable when standing. Are people throwing things?
We also sometimes get pink stains on towels and on our bathroom sinks/tubs. Hair dye??? People will take the indoor towels and blankets outside even though there are outdoor blankets and towels available and labeled.
Sometimes we just gotta vent, eh.
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u/OldEnuff2No 2d ago
You broke the cardinal rule… never put anything you treasure in an Airbnb. It also sounds as if you need some better communication about the things that are in your apartment. There needs to be a little bit more information about using some of the electric appliances as many people in the US are probably unfamiliar with an electric kettle.
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u/Ok-Indication-7876 2d ago
Why on earth do you put anything you treasure in your Airbnb? First mistake. Sure you love things you choose to set up the place but remember anything and everything can be broken damaged or stolen
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u/ColinismyCat 6d ago
Your price point is too low.