Excessive Cleaning Fees

Excessive Cleaning Fees

Rental Property Investor · Destin, FL · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 9 votes

How does everyone on here handle the situation when their cleaner calls them and say the following....“Your guests trashed the place. No damage, but trash everywhere and just left in a disgusting mess. Took us twice as long to clean as normal.”

They didn’t call to say “Pay us more money”, but said “We wanted to know what your policy was on this since it was excessive in case you need to hold back a deposit or anything.” 

This is the first time they’ve called me saying this. They have been tremendous cleaners so far. They sent me pics...it was dirty (sand and Cheerios on the floor, excessive trash piled up near the trash bin, random cups left lying around the bedroom) but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.

What is everyone’s policy? Do you pay them a little more, try to hold back some of the deposit, tell them to suck it up, etc. 

I’m torn...I want to keep my cleaners happy, but I don’t want to set a precedent...especially since this is such a subjective thing.

Again, I want to emphasize that she has been awesome so far as a cleaner...always on time, I constantly get reviews on how clean the place is, etc.

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Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
6y
I don't charge a cleaning fee.  My cleaner does it for free....



...and I get to sleep with her.
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  • Collin HaysBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Gatlinburg, TN · Member since 2020 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y

    I'm down for some extra compensation, provided that I get to withhold their payment when i get complaints on housekeeping from guests...

  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y

    I charge the guest a set dollar amount, non-refundable. It's generally based on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms at $20 per room. So a 3bed/2bath we will charge $100 cleaning fee.

    I hire the cleaners at $20 an hour. If they clean it three hours, they are paid $60. If it takes six hours, they are paid $120 and I have to decide whether I'm going to charge that to the guest or not. If it takes 10 hours, they are paid $200 and I will charge the extra $100 to the guest.

    The tenants agree to additional charges if the rental requires additional cleaning. The cleaners are paid by the hour, so it doesn't matter if it takes them less time or more time because they are paid for their time.

    The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews
  • Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y
    I don't charge a cleaning fee.  My cleaner does it for free....



    ...and I get to sleep with her.
  • Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    In my experience good cleaners are hard to come by.  Plenty of mediocre cleaners out there, but good cleaners are hard to come by.  If you have a good cleaner that takes care of you, I would make sure to take care of them.  It is always a two way relationship there or at least it should be.  Put something in your contract that says guests will be charged extra if the place is excessively dirty and have the cleaners send you pics for proof.  Then just take it out of their deposit and share it with the cleaners.

  • Paul CoxPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2013 · 194 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    I pay a flat fee per clean, whether it takes them an hour or two hours or more. We have developed a great relationship with our cleaners, so if they feel they need to be compensated more, I would expect them to tell me. I feel they win far more than they lose on time taken to clean the cabin. If they do something extra for me as far as having to make a stop by the cabin with regards to a maintenance issue, etc. I'll throw an additional $20 their way for the time.  In the end, they are a large part of what helped us to get to super host status twice on AirBnB, so I definitely want to keep them happy!

  • Rental Property Investor · The Villages, FL · Member since 2017 · 341 posts · 398 votes
    6y

    I also pay a set rate based on size of home. My cleaner recently sent a message saying the linens were taking longer than usual because the guests used every available towel and some extra linens. I offered to pay her for the additional time spent, she replied, no additional charge because sometimes they come in and the cleaning is easy other times it takes more time and it all evens out. I would ask the cleaners if they would like extra compensation for their time, if the house was such a mess it could interfere with their next scheduled cleaning
    for the day.

  • Paul CoxPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Manassas, VA · Member since 2013 · 194 posts · 156 votes
    6y

    Funny that this topic just came up as I just received a message from our current guests that stated the following:

    Paul, the more we looked around the more things just were a little off with the cleaning. There was a milky substance spilled in the fridge, some dirty pans and dishes in the cabinets (I just put everything in and ran a load), my girls found an old spilled McDonalds cup under the nightstand upstairs and I pulled a water bottle cap from under the sheets when I crawled into bed last night. I’m not one who likes to complain, please don’t get me wrong, but these are a lot of little things here. Coupled with the knowledge that your crew was pressed for time yesterday I’m getting the sense they just didn’t do a very thorough job. At this point we’ve gone ahead and cleaned everything ourselves and we are happy with the place and all but I feel we should be compensated in some way, but I’d like to hear your thoughts as well.

    My Response to him was this:

    Thanks for letting me know. I do not see it as complaining. You guys are paying a good deal of money for your stay, and you shouldn't have to be worried about little issues when it comes to the cleanliness of the cabin. Can you tell me again where you found the sock and the hair tie yesterday. I want to make sure I point all this out to our cleaning staff.

    I'm really sorry you've had these issues as we have really taken a lot of pride in the cleanliness of our cabin. What I'd like to do is refund your cleaning fee for the visit. I will check to see if I can do that through AirBnB. If I can't, if you have a PayPal account, I will refund it to you that way.

    Thank you for letting me know

    I then sent all that to my cleaners asking for their thoughts...What's happened is our cleaning staff is growing and the couple we hired and have the relationship with have their sub cleaners which did the clean. I'm hoping our cleaners want to make it right with us! 

    I'm thinking this may bring us a 4 star on cleanliness...We'll see

    All the best

    Paul

  • John UnderwoodPro Member
    Investor · Greer, SC · Member since 2014 · 13k+ posts · 17k+ votes
    6y

    Do they ever call and say wow the place was so clean and it took half the normal time to clean and offer you a discount? Of course not.

    Sometimes it easier, sometimes its harder. Its a flat fee.

  • Lender · Tampa, FL · Member since 2018 · 149 posts · 102 votes
    6y

    @John Underwood

    As in

    Life you win some and lose Some. No different with cleaning.

  • Rental Property Investor · The Villages, FL · Member since 2017 · 341 posts · 398 votes
    6y

    @Paul sandhu ..you have quite the fan club...lol! 

  • Michael BaumPro Member
    Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    6y

    Our cleaner works on a flat rate for cleaning. Some days she is up to her eyeballs and some days it a breeze. Seems to all even out in the end.

    I do give her a dinner gift card once in a while for her hard work. Usually for dinner with her husband. It's nice to be nice!

  • Investor · Idaho Falls, ID · Member since 2019 · 85 posts · 62 votes
    6y

    I tend to agree with @John Underwood. I’d say 80% of the time my guests leave the place in great shape and my cleaner benefits ($70 for 1 or 2 hours of work).

    The other 20% leave a big mess which can be frustrating for a cleaner who has become accustomed to an easy job.

    I clean my own places frequently and also get annoyed when there’s a big mess. Just part of the business.

  • Investor · Idaho Falls, ID · Member since 2019 · 85 posts · 62 votes
    6y

    @Nathan G. This is a very fair approach but seems like a nightmare to manage.

    Have you had any issues with cleaning staff taking longer than needed? Do guests ever get upset when they are charged extra for cleaning after the fact?

    I would prefer to charge the guests the max amount for cleaning and then refund them if it takes less time.

    I see how this approach could work in certain markets/with certain clientele.

  • Theresa HarrisPro Member
    Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    6y

    I would thank them for letting you know and contact the person who rented it to let them know.  Are you able to assess an extra cleaning fee?  If not, leave a review for them so other people know what type of guest they are.  I agree with others that sometimes cleaning is easier than others.  Do you have a cleaning fee for your rentals?

  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Rachel Hughes:

    @Nathan G. This is a very fair approach but seems like a nightmare to manage.

    Have you had any issues with cleaning staff taking longer than needed? Do guests ever get upset when they are charged extra for cleaning after the fact?

    I would prefer to charge the guests the max amount for cleaning and then refund them if it takes less time.

    I see how this approach could work in certain markets/with certain clientele.

    We haven't had any problems with cleaners taking too long.

    It would be a bigger administrative nightmare to figure out the charges and then refund any unused portion.

    The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews
  • Plantation, FL · Member since 2009 · 329 posts · 119 votes
    6y

    I pay extra if it's extremely out of sorts and then charge the guest double. This generally happens during spring break when we have a lot of college students partying for a week. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Destin, FL · Member since 2019 · 11 posts · 9 votes
    6y

    @Theresa Harris My cleaners charge me $200 per clean (5 BR. 5 Floors. 3900 sq ft). I obviously pass that on to the guests. 

    I changed my VRBO and AirBNB "Rules" to read that I can take out of the Security Deposit for any excessive cleaning required. I never had that in there before. I could probably get away with trying to pull that from the guests that caused me the issue....but I didn't think it was worth the fight on this one. I'm new and need more 5 star reviews more than I need $125 right now. I paid my cleaners an extra $125 for the work, obviously out of my own pocket.

    I think this will be a case by case scenario for me for now. If this becomes a habit for my cleaners (where every other guest requires "Excess work") then I'll address it differently. If the pictures are truly atrocious, I'll pull the fee from their Security Deposit (with a message obviously telling them why) and hope that a bad review doesn't follow.

  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    6y

    @Johnny Duray

    This is the oldest trick in the book and in my experience if you don’t nip it in the bud you will end up firing this person.

    “The cleaning fee is the fee to clean the house regardless of if it takes 6 hours or 30 minutes”

    Bonuses are great when they are done at random on your end for a job well done.

    What you’re dealing with is a slippery slope. Don’t go down it.

  • Rental Property Investor · North Fork, NY · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 631 votes
    6y

    @Paul Sandhu You don’t pay your cleaner AND she has to sleep with you too?! 

    How do you account for the free service -the cleanings - when it comes to the tax benefits of paid for expenses? Or is yours a cash business?

    You’ve mentioned free cleanings many times and wondering about maximizing expenses, especially since you get killer deals on purchases. 

  • Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    6y

    @Nancy Bachety Now my cleaner wants a cut of the weekly rent.  She takes what she wants and gives me the rest.  So I'm more or less second in line for the cash flow.

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