to expect dishwasher tablets?

[foxychox]

We had a week in an AirBNB last week. It was a seaside chalet, but very well equipped and included a dishwasher. When the keys were handed over I was advised on how to use the washer and dryer if I needed them so my expectation was that all appliances were for use. Over the first couple of days we used dishes and stacked the dishwasher, when it was full I hunted around but no dishwasher tablets to be found. Salt and rinse aid, yes but not tablets. Washing up liquid, washing liquid and fabric conditioner all evident. From then on we washed dishes as we used them (even though there was a only a very well used scourer available) but left the dishwasher as was - all items had been rinsed prior to putting in so no smell etc.
When we left I messaged the owner to say we had a great stay and had stacked the DW but as there were no tablets had not put it on. Her response was that she expected that we should wash all the dishes by hand prior to leaving.
AIBU in that if there is a dishwasher we should be able to use it? And that the property should include detergent for this? I have another AirBNB stay coming up in a couple of months so need to be prepared to take my own if this is not the norm (it has been for the other 2 that we have done)....

Fascinating. It would never occur to me too take dishwasher tablets. I will going forward.
I stayed at an Airbnb this weekend. It had dishwasher tablets and washing machine detergent. I did take my own detergent as I wanted non bio.
There was no hand wash in the bathroom that irked me though. Is missing hand wash in the bathroom normal?
There was fancy shower gel etc.

I think if there is a dishwasher then tablets should be supplied, I stayed in a lovely, clean, well kept cottage complete with dishwasher and tablets enough for 1 a day.
There was also soaps, washing up liquid and cleaning sprays, not full bottles but enough.
It really does make a huge difference because it means that the owners have thought about your comfort whilst staying.
It's also in their interest to ensure products are supplied if they want the place left clean.

I've stayed in another place where no tablets were left and it's irksome.
A box of 65 tablets costs say 10 quid. I paid £830 for 1 week. So 65 tablets is enough for 9 weeks. So 9 x £830 = £7470, more than enough to supply dishwasher tablets and that's based on the price I paid for the place with the tablets supplied, the other place was a villa in Spain where I had to buy some and leave them there and that cost far more and I bet the previous renters had probably had to buy a box too so where did they go?

I'm unlikely to take my own tablets, but, if none was in the house, I'd probably shrug and pick some up a a petrol station on my way home fro dinner. I certainly wouldn't leave a washer full of dirty dishes that had been sitting there for my whole holiday.

@FrDamo

I'm going to go against the grain here. If you are an Airbnb owner, you should provide the cleaning products required for the appliances in the property. In the big scheme of things a single buying trip (to Aldi, Lidl, home bargains etc to keep costs low) will provide all the products the house will need for months at a time and for multiple groups of guests. Why cause consternation by stinting on a few basics that oil the wheels of the holiday. It's not going to break the bank, it might get you a better review and repeat business.

As a short term holiday (2-7 nights) who wants to be packing: tablets/powders/liquids/cloths/bleach/other cleaning paraphernalia second guessing what will/won't be provided and necessitating supermarket trips while away.

Given the prices that are charged for A) the actual stay and B) the cleaning after your stay it's just unnecessary hassle and will cause bad feeling at either end when expectations aren't met by either party.

Disclaimer: I have always taken washing machine tablets just in case. I'm very pleased when they are provided. I have never taken dishwasher tablets. I am always irritated if I have to buy cleaning products if they haven't been provided.

Another thought: perhaps the owner is hoping you buy a box, use 2 and leave the box behind. They "disappear" after you stay and the next guest is in the same predicament. The owner is sitting on a tablet mountain of underhandedly acquired tablets!

This. I have an Airbnb and I leave everything someone may require to clean and wash that would otherwise be a 'long term investment'I'm always frustrated to arrive at an Airbnb only to find no wash up liquid, washing powder etc so you have to go and buy a bottle just for two days. I don't have a dishwasher but if I did then I would leave enough tabs for a couple of washes a day otherwise my poor guests are traipsing to the shops to buy a box of which they may only need a handful.

My previous rental house experience and frustrations also means I leave two types of coffee, tea, sugar, milk basic herbs and spices, ice cubes, lemons. And sharp knives.

They should supply them. But it is odd you didn’t just buy some. Though not as odd as her saying she expects things washed by hand..

I think you have taught the host a valuable lesson.

Crazy answer from then when they already said you had use of the white goods.

Whatever you take with you, there will always be something you have to buy.

Yabu, you should never have left dirty dishes in the dishwasher. I have been to many self catering places and being left dish washer tablets isn't standard or expected. You were extremely lucky to have the other things to be honest and I would assume these might have been left overs from other guests.

We used to have a self catering cottage. Initially we left boxes of dishwasher / washing products but found that they invariably weren’t there when we went in to clean at the end of the stay. The house was big (slept 16) and therefore was expensive to rent so we thought people stole to get “value for money”. Lots of things went missing. One lot of guests even harvested every apple off one of the trees in the orchard!! We were absolutely flabbergasted.

I can totally understand why owners don’t provide consumables like this. We used to provide a handful of dishwasher / washing machine pods and half a dozen loo rolls and make sure that anything like soaps / hand wash / fairy liquid was in small bottles rather than big family sized ones.

Sadiecow

In a subsequent post the OP says 'we did actually run the DW without a tablet as better than nothing.'
Sounds like she said to the host they didn't do a 'proper' dish-wash as there were no tabs.

If you provide a dishwasher you should provide tablets. Otherwise, don't provide a dishwasher.

In a self catering property I always expect to provide my own dishwasher tablets, laundry stuff, washing up liquid etc. There is normally some there, which I presume is left by the previous guests or maybe the owner, and I leave some on for the next person.

I absolutely wouldn't leave a dishwasher full of dirty dishes for the cleaner or next guests to sort. That's not right. In all of the AirBnBs I have used, washing up at the end has been included in the terms and conditions - how you choose to do it (by machine or hand) is up to you, but the cleaner doesn't have time or responsibility to do your washing up for you

In all of the AirBnBs I have used, washing up at the end has been included in the terms and conditions - how you choose to do it (by machine or hand) is up to you, but the cleaner doesn't have time or responsibility to do your washing up for you
I've stayed in a few where the instructions explicitly say to put the dishwasher on before you leave and the cleaner will empty it.

@IntermittentParps

In all of the AirBnBs I have used, washing up at the end has been included in the terms and conditions - how you choose to do it (by machine or hand) is up to you, but the cleaner doesn't have time or responsibility to do your washing up for you I've stayed in a few where the instructions explicitly say to put the dishwasher on before you leave and the cleaner will empty it.

Running dishes with water isn't cleaning them, and now the cleaner is putting that back in the cupboards.

Running dishes with water isn't cleaning them
Because they didn't supply tablets…
We're just going round in circles. Supply tablets or face the consequences.

and now the cleaner is putting that back in the cupboards.
Well, the OP told the owner what they'd done, so hopefully they have the nous to tell the cleaner not to do so. And to get some tabs so the dishwasher can be run properly, like they should have done in the first place

@IntermittentParps

Running dishes with water isn't cleaning them Because they didn't supply tablets… We're just going round in circles. Supply tablets or face the consequences.

and now the cleaner is putting that back in the cupboards.
Well, the OP told the owner what they'd done, so hopefully they have the nous to tell the cleaner not to do so. And to get some tabs so the dishwasher can be run properly, like they should have done in the first place

Fair enough. I'd just wash my own plates with sink like most other people. It only takes two seconds and it's not worth being petty over a couple of tablets when everything else was fine🤷🏻‍♀️

@IntermittentParps

Sadiecow

In a subsequent post the OP says 'we did actually run the DW without a tablet as better than nothing.'
Sounds like she said to the host they didn't do a 'proper' dish-wash as there were no tabs.

If you provide a dishwasher you should provide tablets. Otherwise, don't provide a dishwasher.

@IntermittentParps you really think that the OP didn't mean all that in her original post, she actually meant she did put the dish washer on? That's some autocorrect! The OP changed her mind when she was told she was being unreasonable.

Sadie, I do believe the OP, yes.

loveyours, it just isn't that petty considering the cost of holiday rentals. Plus the OP and family assumed they'd done the 'work' required by stacking the dishwasher in the first place; I wouldn't feel inclined to empty it and hand-wash everything because of the owner's oversight.

@IntermittentParps

Running dishes with water isn't cleaning them Because they didn't supply tablets… We're just going round in circles. Supply tablets or face the consequences.

and now the cleaner is putting that back in the cupboards.
Well, the OP told the owner what they'd done, so hopefully they have the nous to tell the cleaner not to do so. And to get some tabs so the dishwasher can be run properly, like they should have done in the first place

It's self catering accommodation! the clue is in the name.

The OP may well find that she gets an additional cleaning charge, Airbnb are renowned for that!

Thing is I remember having to buy dishwasher tabs for a rental maybe last year. I remember being annoyed at myself for not bringing my normal box of items, but it never occurred to me to demand them from the cottage owner.
I bought the cheapest own brand from the supermarket - took 5 minutes and I find it hard to believe that you'd never go to a shop for an entire week when self catering- and we went on with our day.

@rookiemere

Thing is I remember having to buy dishwasher tabs for a rental maybe last year. I remember being annoyed at myself for not bringing my normal box of items, but it never occurred to me to demand them from the cottage owner. I bought the cheapest own brand from the supermarket - took 5 minutes and I find it hard to believe that you'd never go to a shop for an entire week when self catering- and we went on with our day.

Exactly, it's hardly going shopping picking up a packet of dishwasher tablets!

I think if you know your visitors are coming from overseas/by plane/train, that sort of thing should be provided. But if people are coming by car, they can easily bring their own.

It's an easy enough thing for the owner to ask.

I always take a few in a ziploc bag just in case and tend to leave them there if we don't use them.

I find it hard to believe that you'd never go to a shop for an entire week when self catering

The OP says 'we were there Monday pm to Friday am so not quite a week, we didn't go shopping at all as I took some food and we ate out'

But if people are coming by car, they can easily bring their own.
It's an easy enough thing for the owner to ask.

Quite. But the owner DIDN'T ask, or warn the OP that there weren't any.

If I spend ££££ on a holiday let I make sure it has a dishwasher because one of the things I don't wish to spend my holiday doing is washing up. I expect there to be the wherewithall to use said dishwasher, including tablets/detergent. It's not like shampoo; it's to look after the house property not my body. If there's no detergent I'll do my best with a hot wash. I will not be doing a 14 mile round trip on busy country lanes to the nearest shop that stocks detergent, specially if I'm only there for a few days.

If the owner's margins are so tight that providing basics to look after the property is too expensive, I suggest they just add £5. That will easily cover a dishwasher tablet per day, two toilet rolls per toilet, at least half a bottle of washing up liquid, a scourer, a jaycloth, some bathroom cleaner and a couple of bin bags. What they don't provide I shan't use, so if there's no loo brush and cleaner any skids will remain, if there's no toilet paper I shall have to use tissues until I can get some paper without a long expedition to do so. If there's no broom, dushpan and brush or Hoover there will be sand and crumbs on the floor. If there's no dishwasher tablet the dishes will have been washed without one. If there are no bin bags I will leave the unemptied bins tidily in a cluster.

I'm very grateful if salt, pepper and some cooking oil are provided. A carton of milk is also much appreciated. Tea, coffee, nice biscuits, wine are nice, but I would never expect them, or even hope for them.

I'm happy to co-operate and strip the beds, put on the dishwasher, throw out unused food and so on, but if you want me and my family out by 9am there's a limit to how much I'm prepared to do. I don't buy the 'extra cleaning for Covid' line as I would very much hope that there was a standard of cleaning before Covid that would prevent passing pathogens between renters.

I must've been lucky, I've only ever stayed one place(I didn't book it) that didn't have loo roll, dishwasher tablets and a fully stocked kitchen. I don't want to have to take a kitchen knife on holiday