To be puzzled and upset over holiday rental complaint

[violets17]

I rented a villa last month and a week after I had left I received an email from the villa owner's husband saying that I was the messiest renter they had had in 2 years and not to bother trying to rebook (which I hadn't). I emailed back asking for more details and he emailed back saying "it was a mess" with no further detail.

I've really racked my brains and asked my eldest son who was with me to help me remember everything. This is what I did/didn't do:

Positives
I took out all our rubbish and put it in the correct public bins
Emptied the fridge of our leftover food
Put most things back where they were (see negative list)
Didn't use BBQ therefore no mess
Roughly wiped down sides in kitchen
Checked all over for obvious spills/toothpaste etc

Possible Negatives
I didn't put all the towels in the bath because there wasn't instructions to do that so wasn't sure
Left dishwasher running with a few morning things
Replaced coffee I had used with half a jar I had bought, replaced sugar I had used with some sugar packets
Left a lilo (still working) by the pool for next guests
Left a half used bottle of laundry liquid in the laundry room
Left a brand new (unused) insulated cool bag on top of cool box

Negatives
Did not put clothes horse back in correct place
Did not put hairdryer back in drawer
Placed sofa throws on correct sofas but didn't fold them
Didn't wipe outside table (a bit tacky)
Didn't wipe glass coffee table (a bit tacky)
Didn't actually clean anything just looked for obvious toothpaste/spills/toilet stains and dealt with that - ie didn't sweep/mop/get out the cif

I then got a "guest rating" which only gives star ratings out of 5. They gave me the following

Overall experience - 1 star
Cleanliness - 1 star
Communication - 2 stars
Following house rules - 2 stars

I'm flummoxed - house rules were no smoking inside (I didn't), no house parties (of course not), no excessive noise (um - I don't even drink and had no music on).

Communication was ordinary until he emailed me to complain and I asked for details which he didn't give and neither of us communicated further.

This is about the 10th holiday villa I have rented and it has always been positive with owners asking me back and refunding my deposit immediately - luckily there was no deposit with this one.

I know I have given this too much thought but I honestly feel like I don't know what he was talking about. Why did he wait a whole week after I left to email me?

Sorry for long post - didn't want to drip drip

Bless you op don' feel bad you sound totally reasonable. Had similar we home exchange and one family hated our house and complained- outraged at the fact there were carpets and some of the (period) windows didn't open. I was really hurt our house is lovely the "nicest" of anyone we know and countless other swappers raved about it. If you deal with randoms occasionally you are going to come a across a weirdo. You don't know what their agenda is.

My sister had your situation after a holiday rental she was upset too utterly baseless accusations. Amateurs letting out their homes then whining when guests don't spend the last day deep cleaning is the reason we house swap or stay in hotels. I don't want to be bloody graded on my holiday sod off!

This happened to us and I was incensed. It was a ramshackle cabin type place, and we definitely left it cleaner than we'd found it! But we were charged because "it was a mess".

One complaint they had is that we hadn't made the beds up before we left - this was because the sheets were drying on the line! There was no dryer, no spare sheets, and check out time was 10am so not sure how they expected us to wash three beds' worth of sheets, dry them and make up the beds!

I was muttering under my breath about that one for about a month.

Well, one thing I have learned from this thread is not to use those owners direct type places as they don’t seem to use cleaners and rely on the previous guests to do it

Don't waste time worrying about it OP

We had a similar situation at an air bnb in France. Owner made a huge fuss about a few small things (including rugs not being exactly straight!!!) and demanded more money for the cleaning time (which we paid as when I looked back it had not included an itemised cleaning charge).

Now I only stay at Air bnbs where the cleaning charge is included - it's just not worth the hassle otherwise. The last thing you want to do at the end of a holiday when you're packing up is spend hours meticulously cleaning the place.

I want my holiday let to be thoroughly cleaned before I arrive, by someone with time to do it properly, not by the previous guest, who is also busy packing and looking after their kids

^^ This. Surely if the owner/manager of a property has any pride/business sense, they will either personally or pay a professional to clean between lets, make beds and replace towels and check that everything is as it should be, ie nothing missing or broken, and no rubbish or any other unpleasantness is left behind and include the cost in their pricing.

I don't understand why owners get so picky. Factor in the cost of a clean in the rental, it isn't hard.

We have cottage holidays a few times a year and we certainly don't clean everywhere before we leave. Any spills etc are cleared up as they happen and we always strip the beds but we don't get the hoover and mop and bucket out.

One owner asked us to leave it clean and tidy as she handed over the keys. I said tidy wasn't a problem but I don't do my own cleaning at home so I certainly don't go on holiday to do it. We were paying £1000 for the week. Bloody cheek.

We've rented villas through all sorts of sites.
I wouldn't expect to do a deep clean of anything - certainly not the windows as a PP said.

However I remember one place in France where the owners said they expected it to be cleaned before we left. They weren't around but the cleaner would inspect on the last day. I was part way through and the cleaner arrived and started pointing out bits I hadn't done yet. I gritted my teeth - but when she started telling me to redo the bits already done, I refused.

I got the impression she was a lazy mare who got a bit of a kick out of bossing the guests about.

We had an experience like this last year - also in France, and also through OD/HA. We paid just short of £3000 for this house for 2 weeks in Aug. We also paid for the house to be cleaned after us.

Arrived and the pool was green. Turned out the owner had spent all day trying to fix it after the management company had not been doing their job. First week it was just usable, second week it wasn't.

Owners asked in passing for all sheets & towels to be washed before we left. There were 9 of us across 3 generations, and I was up at stupid o'clock stripping beds. Got about half done. Cleaned us out, not Kim and Aggie level, but certainly left it clean.

Negative - my 79yo fil lost his balance on the toilet and fell back onto the (wobbly, not well attached and very old) cistern which smashed. For which we apologised profusely.

We had many emails from the owners, accusing us of leaving the house dirty and stealing towels and sheets. No apology for the state of the pool, no consideration of the fact you pay a fair bit more for a pool. It was a crap holiday because the kids were pissed off about it.

I agree that I want a property professionally cleaned before we stay. Seems to be a few amateurs trying to make some easy money, that's certainly the case with Airbnb and it looks like Owner's Direct too. Sorry you've had that experience OP.
I had gone cold on Airbnb, think I'll do the same with Owner's Direct.

We had the same (also homeaway, in France). We’d paid E60 for the cleaning service (which I thought was slightly steep for a small 2 bed) then got terrible ratings for not having cleaned. They sent me photos of our terrible mess - which was the recycling ready to go out, a tablecloth wonky, etc.

I would report them, I have stayed in many places and never had this. I'm going to take photos in future to cover myself. A bit worried to booknfrance based on comments here about required cleaning

I got bad feedback once from a rental she said that we left fake tan all over her white ikea towels. For one fake tan washes out but also 3 of our party is black so fake tan wouldn’t have been used! She did it to force me to give her a good review or she would charge me for the towels. Her place was lovely But she had no reviews lol

One owner asked us to leave it clean and tidy as she handed over the keys. I said tidy wasn't a problem but I don't do my own cleaning at home so I certainly don't go on holiday to do it. We were paying £1000 for the week. Bloody cheek

I have a full time housekeeper so don’t do much in the way of cleaning on a day to day basis but I always clean a holiday let before I leave. I’m doing it for me because it matters to me. It’s then up to the owner if they then decide they want their cleaner to go over it.

Is there a massive mismatch in expectations here? If I am in a holiday rental and have paid a fair whack on leaving I will wipe down surfaces, possibly strip beds but maybe not, ensure fridge empty, take rubbish out and sweep kitchen floor. No more. I assume a cleaning team will arrive so me doing more than that is a waste of time and effort plus I don't want to on my holiday and have PAID often alot of money not to have to.

It seems this would send some owners into palpitations of horror. Are guests really expected to deep clean at the end of the stay . Before 10am departure? Hotels looking more and more appealing by the minute.

We own a holiday let, advertised through a holiday cottages website. We pay our cleaner £100 per changeover, plus we pay a laundry to launder all the linens and towels (which can be almost £100 for a house full of guests if they've used a lot of towels!). Competition from the 'cheaper' option at Airbnb or OD/HA is frustrating when you realise that people booking aren't always factoring in the value of professional cleaning and laundry services.

I think there are cautionary tales on here - Gruffalo runs a professional business but seems there are many amateurs undercutting resulting in the nonsense OP experienced. I will be explicit from now on about what I shall be doing or not doing at the end of a stay and taking photos of the rooms on departure is a really good idea too.

We rented an apartment direct from a french campsite and went to hand in the keys after actually cleaning it and moving out the day before (we had rented a treehouse for the night). They insisted on inspecting it and wouldn’t believe I had mopped the floor becuase it wasn’t wet! Unbelieveable that they don’t seem to get cleaners in between. There wasn’t even any cleaning fluids supplied!

Is there a massive mismatch in expectations here?

I’m also wondering what’s considered a deep clean? Is it something people do a couple of times a week or once a week or every 3 months.

Is a normal clean what others might class as a deep clean?

OP amongst many great holidays we’ve had some horrible people too.

One place said we were the filthiest people they’d ever met. I’d spent the last whole day along side my mum, doing a full on clean. I did wonder for a while if I just had very weird/ low standards and it really hurt.

The place was expensive but substandard and not as described. Our ‘ensuite’ was so small you had to duck to sit on the loo, my mums ‘bedroom’ was a bed in a corridor. There was the dank smell of mould along with actual black mould in the bathroom and on the wall in a hallway. The lake where guests could swim and fish ( a big part of why we picked it) was so choked with thick greeen weed that you could practically walk on it. Also we were cheek by jowl with three other families where the bumph suggested total privacy.

They just wanted to keep the deposit. I have stayed in beautiful places, like the one I’m in right now, with no deposit, just common sense! Much better.

I used to manage a holiday accommodation business in France, and cleaning the place before leaving is not usual nor expected. A few guests did a reasonable clean before leaving, which is always appreciated, but most left it as you would expect.

It is not up to the guests to wash sheets, take bins out, wipe surfaces, etc. We do it ourselves so we know it is done correctly.

I never know what level of cleaning is expected when you rent somewhere so I have always just cleaned it very thoroughly (I actually love cleaning so this is part of the holiday fun for me).

I think I would take photos If I had cleaned somewhere, also also when you arrived if it was in a state. Easy enough to do these days.

Igglepiggle - thank you for clarifying things. I’ve never had to clean a rental, it always stated that there would be cleaners and that item was charged separately. Whilst some pp’s have had dreadful experiences, it must be remembered that you need to do your research, you need to check what is/isn’t in the price, not just assume and just bloody ASK the owner/host if it should be cleaned if you’re not sure. I have guests offering this all the time and they’re shocked when I say no even though it clearly states in their invoice that there’s a cleaning charge! Don’t assume anything, you wouldn’t in other areas of life admin. This is not directed at those who have had genuinely unacceptable experiences. I work hard in the tourist industry to provide a good service and take great pleasure in my guests having an enjoyable trip. We all, hosts/guests/owners/hoteliers need to be very clear on what’s expected of each other.

Gruffalo - I have 3 Airbnb apartments in a busy city. I too have cleaners and a laundry service! I’m Airbnb - please stop hammering Airbnb hosts! A lot of the time people use Airbnb because they think it’s cheap. It’s all prices. From luxury to budget - be sensible people, if it looks too good to be true, guess what?

I have asked in the past and the owners quickly say oh don't worry the cleaners come in hence my lack of thoroughly cleaning other places.