I rented an airbnb, my one and only time, where the host had an insane list of chores. For context: This was during the pandemic and it was me and my two best friends who just wanted to get out of NYC for the night to get some fresh air. I cooked at home and packed dinner, so we didn't use the kitchen. We didn't drink. We had a quiet movie night, enjoyed the trees and each others company and then went to sleep.
The next morning, I personally wiped the counters, wiped the fridge, took out the trash, stripped the beds, refluffed the couch, swept the fireplace.. the works. I literally woke up 2 hours early to get all this cleaning done. They had a cleaning fee on top of all these chores, which I felt was odd, but it was a new experience for me so I went with it. I am big on rules and respect so i sincerely cleaned to the best of my ability.
After I posted a positive review of their home, they put up a review of me within seconds claiming I trashed the place. They were vying for an additional charge for me leaving the place messy. They said their cleaning lady called to complain about how I trashed the house. I messaged asking what they were talking about, absolutely confused,, and they gave me a list of how I trashed their house.
- There were crumbs on the counter. I know I wiped it, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe i missed something.
- They said one of the blankets was a little damp. After asking the other girls, I think my friend briefly sat on the bed after she took a shower. I had stripped the bed so this was a blanket in the hamper they were complaining about that should have been going to be washed. I didn't notice anything damp when I stripped her bed, but we were trying to rationalize the complaint while we were all talking about it after.
- The back of one of the couches had a smudge on it. It was allegedly charcoal from the fireplace. I didn't see a smudge, it was just me and two girls and none of us touched the back of the couch. I don't know where this came from. You can't see the back of the couch in any of the photos I took, and I can't 100% guarantee nothing happened but none of us had any reason to touch the back of the couch and I was the only one to sweep the fireplace (which was full of ash from the previous people but it was on their 'house rules' to leave it clean and I was worried we'd be charged so I swept it)
They hosts wanted to charge me a $500 additional cleaning fee for the "trashed" house. I had after pictures of the condition i left it in and nothing came of it, so I think Airbnb said they didn't have a case, but I never used airbnb again.
It cost more than a hotel would have in the area. Such a scam.