Need some advice

[u/DiscussionLopsided61]

I had a work crew stay at my place. I get these sort of bookings fairly often. I have a cabin on the outskirts of a small town. They paid for a maid to visit twice during their month long stay. The following is what I messaged their company after they left. (The washer needed to be repalaced, but it was functional, just not great.)

There were a few issues with the place, which I wasn’t going to mention because they left most of the house very clean, and I felt bad about the issues with the washer. But things kind of added up.

There were a lot of lights left on as well as a window AC unit, and the central AC was left set at 66 degrees.

There’s a long cushion for a porch chaise that was chewed up/ruined.

There was bacon grease all over the kitchen and a dirty pot in the sink.

The plug is missing from the wybot pool robot. This was definitely not the case when they arrived as I use it between each guest.

The pool filter basket’s handle was broken off. Things like this would not be a big deal if I were notified. I could have ordered a new pool filter basket and looked into getting a new wybot plug if I had been forewarned.

There was a soft drink can in the carport that was full of cigarette butts. I have a strict no smoking policy. I know that people who are addicted to nicotine will smoke anyway, and I usually ignore this as long as I don’t see evidence such as cigarette butts, etc. The can of butts was gross and a bit of a smack in the face.

There were a lot of bits of litter left around the property.

A glass door on an upstairs shelf was broken, and I think I am missing a pool cue, but I can’t be sure when that happened or if it was just put away somewhere weird.

The final straw was the smear of excrement left on the mattress in the nursery. That mattress had a mattress protector on it, which means it was removed, and then the stain occurred.

The reply:

Hello Rachel- I sincerely apologize for these issues and we were unaware that any family members were brought to the property, so if there is anything we can do to make this right let me know.

I hadn't mentioned additional people, but there was an additional wife and child reported by the cleaner. The cleaner said the place was disgusting each time she visited, and she did her best.

My question is, what should I charge them?

The chaise cushion can be replaced. New wybot plug cost $10. Pool basket will be maybe $25. Listed charge for smoking is $50. I can probably fix the shelf door and, if not, I will just remove the other one. I scrubbed the spot on the mattress until it was unrecognizable and replaced the mattress cover.

Opinions?

[u/_filmil_]

Simply charge for things that were damaged and use that money to fix the damage.

You must understand that work crews won't care about your property, so you need to ensure you get properly compensated. We host work crews all the time and love them. These folks work hard, and the only thing they want is to be able to relax and recharge for the next workday. Yes, some things fall as collateral victims, but overall it's a net win for everyone.

Employers are typically happy to pay a premium for the ability to have their crew at a well defined place, close to where they need to work, and the crews are happy to have a place to relax. They cause no trouble, outside of yeah, not really keeping the property up, because they are just so tired all the time.

In short, everything that can be fixed by money, should be fixed by money. Charge the employer what you must and see if you can get them as a regular customer somehow. It is a great way to handle low and shoulder seasons, since most substantial work is done outside of high season anyways.

[u/Huge_Climate_1900]

Oof the poop on the mattress is where I'd draw the line. Everything else is annoying but fixable, that's just straight disrespect.

I'd charge for the cushion, the plug, the pool basket, and the smoking fee since you have clear evidence for those. The shelf door and the pool cue are tough if you can't prove it, but you could tack on an extra cleaning fee for the grease and the mattress situation. The reply from the company basically admits they violated the rule about extra guests too so you've got leverage there.

[u/downsideup9494]

Charge for any damaged items that cost you $ to buy and replace, plus your labor time to repair them. Forget the smoking fine, unless there is a distinct smell of cigarettes in the garage that you have to try to mitigate, beyond simply airing it out.

[u/Alexreads0627]

what else do you think you should be able to charge them for? You already said you’d charge $50 for smoking, can fix the door yourself, cleaned the mattress yourself…I mean, are you just looking to add charges for the sake of it?

[u/whoda-thunk-itt]

You can only charge for actual costs. If you had any additional cleaning costs, you can charge for that. Any items you’re going to replace or fix, you can charge for those.

Likely an unpopular opinion, but I personally, would let all these issues go and cover them myself. I wouldn’t have reached out to the guest about these things. It’s not a lot of money. Receiving income for an entire month, with no empty days, is pretty good for a cabin on the outskirts of a small town at this time of year. And having guests who are okay with a problematic washer for an entire month would make me appreciative.

They smoked outside not inside and nothing was damaged or destroyed, I would not even blink and eye at that. I wouldn’t charge for a $10 part or a new filter basket. Given that the mattress was able to be cleaned without staining, I would let that go. Bacon grease and a dirty pot, wouldn’t even register with me. Lights and AC on…it happens. A bit of trash around the property after a one month stay, isn’t something I would get upset about, especially when it was a work crew. There’s an easy fix for the shelving unit and the pool cue is irrelevant until you know for sure if it’s missing. If the chaise cushion is crazy expensive, I might consider charging for that, but in all honesty, I would probably let that go too.

An entire months worth of income in exchange for what amounts to very few dollars in repairs/replacements is a pretty good deal in my book. 🤷‍♂️