Holiday home left in a real mess

[BigOldOakTree]

I wonder if I can call on the wise of Mumsnet to help me with a question? I manage a couple of holiday homes and we've had a very busy Christmas. I'm not new to this and know the ups and downs of this business. Our guests in one of the cottages over Christmas were given a complimentary welcome pack on arrival, I'd checked beforehand and they were vegetarian so it was catered for their diet. The cottage was decorated with a real tree and I went to a lot of effort to make it warm and welcoming for them. It is a five star holiday cottage and they paid quite a lot of money to stay, but they did receive a lovely property (in my opinion). It's not my cottage but I take a lot of pride in making it nice.

There are a few basic instructions, nothing too bossy, but the main one is please bag up your rubbish and put it in the outside bins on departure. When I went in to clean it after they'd left I've never seen anything like it in three years. It was utterly disgusting. All of their rubbish was in the house, some bagged, some not. They'd moved furniture around. The bathrooms were not fit for a dog. The kitchen was full of dirty pots and pans, food on the counters. The place was a real mess, not just the things I've written here. I couldn't believe two adults and two teenage children (older teenagers) could make such a mess.

We won't withhold their deposit as it could all be cleaned (even though it took me 7 hours to get it back to how it should be) (3 bedroom, 3 bathroom cottage). This is because it will only lead to a negative review and that is so damaging to the business, but am I being unreasonable to think this is out of order?

@Jingling

Just because you don’t filter by review score doesn’t mean that others don’t. Some guests filter by Première Partner/Super Host/ Customer Choice etc and for that you generally need a minimum review average.

Thank you for explaining how the review system works.
I never leave on-line reviews, when I book a property. (maybe I will in future)
There is usually a visitor book (once you have booked and arrived), and I sometimes read that, and usually sign our name.
As regards local amenities, I usually research, including using google streetview to see the outside and local area (OK, this may not be totally up to date).
So, do I read on-line reviews? Well, Occassionally, but I take lots of things into account, and would only take notice of a bad review if lots of other people said the same thing. And I am suspicious of these reviews anyway.
Have I had any bad experiences in booking holiday accommodation?
Not in the last 15 or so years, though I admit, this only includes 2 holiday properties abroad, so I am talking about the UK, but generally, I know what I am looking for;
e.g. I want parking outside (In the past, this was not always available).
Nowadays, I want wifi. Mobile telephone reception is not always very good in some places (in the UK), so this cannot be helped.
I check to see if towels and tea towels are included.
I have never had to pay a deposit. Once, it looked as though my adult DS had damaged something (holiday property abroad), so I left a note with explanation and some money (euros), which I hoped would cover the damage.

It is out of order. We put rubbish in the outside bin, strip the beds, leave the kitchen as we found it. That way the cleaner is left with hoovering, floor washing, bathroom cleaning and making the beds up. I always thought deposits were for damage or breakages, not cleaning.

I don't get what people don't understand about the business impact of a bad review. If the OP writes off getting any further money back as she has done, she paid an extra few cleaning hours, so max £80 (and may be less depending on cleaning price). Client has no motivation to write a bad review as not provoked. If she tries to recover the money which is difficult as mess is subjective and nothing was actually damaged beyond additional cleaning, then she risks provoking the client into a bad review which might bring the average down considerably if it's a 1 star review. You would only need one person not to book as a result of being 4.2 stars instead of 4.6 and you have lost a hell of a lot more than £80.

It's the same at my work, most students are not bothered about reviewing the course, so one or two disgruntled students can bring down the overall average considerably even if the majority were happy- as people can't be bothered to tell you that mostly.

Also- people are influenced by both reviews and overall scores. There wouldn't be an entire media optimisation industry if they weren't!

if someone did a negative review, I would have responded with the pictures of how they left the property. What's the point in taking a deposit otherwise?

We’ve just left an Airbnb rental. This morning we emptied the bins and the recycling, swept the floor, loaded and set the dishwasher running and hand washed the last few bits. We also left some unopened packets of food and a few opened ones. We ummed and ahhed about the food, but felt it was a shame to waste it if the cleaners might want it. Particularly the gin and tonics.

We didn’t strip the beds or clean the bathrooms, but I don’t think there was any expectation that we would.

The cleaners arrived as we were loading the car and were happy with how we’d left things and that we were set to leave at checkout time. I’m sure they redid a lot of what we had done, but hopefully we made their day at least a bit easier.

Reading back, this all sounds a bit holier-than-thou, but I honestly think if you’ve got the time, why wouldn’t you make a bit of effort?

Don't you think pictures showing the property dirty, messy and disgusting might actually have a negative effect on prospective viewers?! No hotel shows pictures on its website of how disgusting people leave the rooms! There is a fiction no-one else has been there before you. If you shatter the illusion and show exactly what goes one, no-one would go there. Same in restaurants.

Glad you have blacklisted them.

The whole holiday cottage rental system would grind to a halt if every occupier left property needing 7 hours cleaning!

I can't understand people not leaving the place in a clean and tidy state. I once took a disabled lady on holiday in a caravan, along with another member of staff. On the day we were leaving I was rushing round, washing up and putting stuff away, stripping beds, emptying bins, etc. The other member of staff said "What are you doing all that for? They have cleaners to do that". When I said they were there to do a clean , not to do our washing up and clear our mess, she said that her family had always had self catering holidays, and they'd never even cleared the breakfast table when leaving, and definitely hadn't stripped beds or wiped round the bathroom. I told her that was disgusting. Apart from anything else, self respect wouldn't let me leave the place in a mess. I'm glad to hear you blacklisted those people.

AIBU to think the voting percentages shouldn't add up to 101% (94 +7)....

Apart from anything else, self respect wouldn't let me leave the place in a mess.

That sums it up for me.

Not sure where it says she blacklisted them?

Surely that is just as bad as asking them to pay more for the cleaning?

Though of course blacklisting only works if they try to re-book! So it's a bit pointless otherwise and if they do and discover they can't then they might write a scathing review!

I'd never allow a review that had 4.2 rating instead of 4.6 bother me in the slightest.

One look at some properties that have 5* reviews convinces me that other people have very different standards and expectations to mine!

People rave about homes that have quite frankly, outdated bathrooms, dodgy heating, disgusting old fashioned bedding, saggy beds, battered sofas, so it's all very subjective.

I wouldn't strip the bed or clean the bathroom in a hotel room either - I treat holiday lets and hotel in exactly the same way.

I need to pack when I leave, not frantically tidy up because I keep things clean for my own enjoyment and mess would spoil my holiday.

it doesn't have to be an extreme or the other.

Jingling - I'm with one of the largest agencies in the UK and I can't edit reviews left for my cottage or have them removed, I can only respond to them.

YABU to not withhold the deposit. How will people like this learn?

I never read reviews anymore, after booking a 5* rated farmhouse in Devon with glowing reports of perfect holidays - the photos had been taken years before when it was run as a B&B (it was listed in the Sunday Times online), it was dated, grubby, worn and shabby. Cleaning was clearly a minimal wizz with a hoover, we had water leaks, the furniture was falling apart, there was dog mess everywhere from loose farm dogs and it was stuck right in the middle of two working dairy farms.......the smell was like nothing on earth. It was hell that we paid over £2.5k for, and it ruined DH's 50th birthday. Even when trading standards got involved (we were all ill from the water supply) we only got £200 back. And my review oddly enough disappeared into cyberspace........

It's still listed as a "boutique" holiday retreat on iEscape, with glowing 5* reviews, and using the same photos that were being used 5 years ago when we went. I'd hate to think what state it is now in................. so I take any reviews with a strong pinch of salt, and use google earth!

My husband said you need a sort of trip advisor for customers.

I stayed in a house which we booked through a company we have used many times. It was awful. Damp, very cold and the kitchen was virtually unusable. The cooker didn't work which caused major inconvenience.
When we left we were told the deposit would be kept due to apparently hours and hours of cleaning. We stripped the beds and hoovered etc. The owners were just arseholes who wanted to keep the deposit.
I had to badger the holiday company endlessly to get a link to review the property. They was no option to leave a review on their site, they strangely didn't invite us to to that! In the guest book, the last holiday makers had left the property early because it was so damp. Yet all the reviews on the website were positive.
I was furious and really upset.

Years and years ago we stayed in a house in France and the same thing happened despite us having left the place tidy and clean. They claimed the microwave was filthy, but we had never used it . Some owners are not nice people either.
We have stayed in many many holiday properties and never had any issue apart from these two places .A lot of holiday let owners will not allow public reviews on their website that are truly reflective, they only choose people who leave good reviews.

If you don’t withhold their deposit they will continue to trash every one else’s property in the future

We always put rubbish out, make sure everything is where it should be, wash up, wipe down the work tops, check the kitchen sink plug isn’t clogged with spaghetti...all that sort of thing. I always remember someone (it might even have been you, OP) years ago posting on here that they manage and clean holidays lets and they love to hear the sound of the dishwasher running when they come into the property because it means the guests have cleared up - that has always stayed with me and we always leave a property to the sound of the dishwasher running.

I understand why you have returned the deposit. Would you consider writing them a polite letter, pointing out that on this occasion you will return the deposit but in future they should be aware that deposits will withheld if the property isn’t left in an acceptable state, as per the information provided in the property and that this is standard practice (practise?!) in the holiday let industry.

Whenever we’ve been anywhere even if there’s no cleaning specified to leave somewhere in my husband gets up early on the last day and does the following
-rubbish out
-towels in the bath
-beds stripped
-kitchen cleaned
-floors swept or hoovered

He says he just can’t leave it a mess

@BigOldOakTree small business owners have it hard. The internet is amazing for advertising but the hold bad customers have by being able to lie is a nightmare.

No matter where we stay I always do a general clean before we leave and strip the beds leaving all sheets and towels folded in one place. My husband thinks I am crazy

In s/ c accommodation.We strip beds, wash up and put away, take rubbish to recycling centre and always bleach toilet and sink. Wipe over the fridge.
Depending what time we have to leave..we give floors a sweep.
I expect the cleaners to put the final sparkle on it for the next guests
I always take photos of how we leave it as well.

Don't see why people,think blacklisting them is problematic - presumably it isn't the case that you respond to an attempted booking with "no, you're blacklisted, you dirty feckers" but rather "apologies, we have no availability".