Woman On TikTok Calls Out Airbnb Tenant’s Entitlement When She Realizes That She Has To Do Chores Despite $125 Cleaning Fee
Airbnb was started by a couple of people who wanted to earn some money from letting people sleep in their living room on an air mattress. It slowly turned into a successful business of how easy it was to book a bed, a room or even an apartment, but first of all, because it was cheaper than staying at a hotel.
However, people started to notice that the prices of Airbnb properties have increased a lot through the years and now there is no difference in price between a hotel and an Airbnb. This was very evident for them when they saw a video on TikTok in which a woman pointed out a listing that charged $229 a night, had an additional cleaning fee of $125, but despite that, the guests were asked to do some chores before leaving.
More info: TikTok
It seems that Airbnb hosts aren’t afraid to ask guests to clean up before leaving while asking to pay a cleaning fee as well
Image credits: Open Grid Scheduler
The video was posted by TikTok user melworeit or Melissa from Canada and more than 400k people watched it. The woman wanted to rant about Airbnb hosts becoming too greedy and wanting too much from their guests. She thought this one particular owner’s request was too audacious.
The TikTok user was searching for a place to stay for a mini vacation with her husband at the end of February. While browsing, the woman stumbled upon a place that looked good enough for her and was priced at an amount she was willing to spend.
A woman was searching for a place to stay for a vacation and found something in her price range that she liked
Image credits: melworeit
It was a place that would cost $229 a night and it had a $125 cleaning fee. As mentioned, the price was fine and the cleaning fee wasn’t anything surprising as most places have it. But when looking through the description and additional information, the woman noticed that the host was asking “that guests complete a few checkout duties before departing to allow time to prepare the house safely and on time. Removing garbage, removing bed linens, starting the dishwasher and one load of laundry.”
Image credits: melworeit
It also had a $125 cleaning fee, which is standard practice and it didn’t bother her
Image credits: melworeit
The TikToker said she would have been fine with taking out the garbage and removing bed linens. But she thought that starting the dishwasher and a load of laundry was asking too much, especially when the guest would be paying a cleaning fee.
Melissa understands that it’s not that hard to start the washing machine and it wouldn’t take that much time but it’s the principle that is important here. If she pays for cleaning services, she won’t agree to clean up.
Image credits: melworeit
Image credits: melworeit
At the end, Melissa wrote a comment with an update that she booked a hotel and the video was there for raising a discussion. In a follow-up video, she explained why she would choose a hotel over an Airbnb.
She said she completely agreed with the comment by Orange Girl saying “Please just stop patroning Airbnb ppl… It just contributes to gentrification. Stay at hotels, support ppl in the area, eat local.” This time she was looking at Airbnbs because the place they were planning to go to didn’t have many hotels.
What bothered her was that the host was asking guests to do a few chores
Image credits: melworeit
Even though it wouldn’t have required a lot of effort or time, the woman wouldn’t have done it for the principle of it
Image credits: melworeit
The TikToker expressed her surprise to see the comments section so unified as the majority agreed that Airbnb prices and various fees have drastically gone up. Many people also shared the same opinion with Melissa that the host shouldn’t ask guests to do any chores and that it’s not her who is entitled but the owners of the Airbnb.
However, there were people who saw nothing wrong in that request and they believed that it helps out the cleaner and saves time as by the time they come, the dishwasher or the washing machine’s cycle is over. The woman guesses that the people who are on the other side are the hosts, so that’s why they disagree.
You can watch Melissa’s rant in the video below
@melworeit$700 for two nights ≠ no chores lol♬ original sound – Melissa
Do you think the host’s request was too ridiculous? Would you be willing to do some chores before checking out to help out the host even though you would pay them a cleaning fee? Let us know if you would be as outraged as Melissa or this wouldn’t have seemed like a big deal to you!
While the majority of the comments section agreed with the TikToker, there were people who tried to explain why the host would do this
I think the take away point here is there is a cleaning fee... If you are paying for a cleaning fee then everything should be covered. If your not paying for one by all means asking for that stuff to be done is well with in reason.
I agree but tbh there's always a cleaning fee....lol and I could see prices going up to hide a cleaning fee if they offered none with chores. My husband and I don't do dirty stuff on their linens/towels or we would clean it up. We tie off the trash and we try to leave stuff as it was even with a special needs kid. But it's because it's nice. It should not be required. I definitely don't need to be expected to be a maid when I'm on vacation ffs. I think if they offered an actual good deal with an option for cleaning or you clean but then you're dealing with a mess of legalities if someone thinks not enough was done. I can't imagine staying at a hotel and being told to clean the linens etc 🤣🤣🤣 If the host/owner can't bother to put the work in (or pay a company to do so) I don't want to use their property. I want to trust they have a standard and they are concise...let alone the entitled lazy attitude. If you can afford to rent out a property you can afford the time/money cleaning it.
I agree with what you said. Im on 2 different Chemotherapies for SLE. I must drive 2.5 hours one way & driving home was becoming more difficult the older I became. I turned to AirBnB as hotel prices were not the problem....the Luxury tax was. Some states charge 25% or more of the bill for tax. After chemo...Im in no condition to do chores. Still I do bring my own towels & bucket & detergent to clean my bucket. My connective tissue on my hip disintegrated... I went outta state to a doc who was cutting edge and did the repair microscopic...using pig tissue. I had planned just 3 days but the surgery was a bit rougher and I stayed 5 days before driving myself home. (Still it beat a massive 7 inch incision with months instead of weeks of recovery.) The tax I paid on that hotel bill was larger than a charge of one day at the hotel! I could hardly walk....doing chores? Out of the question!
um no. asking me to do chores in a place im paying to stay is not ok. either i pay in money OR chores
Exactly
Agreed
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
If they hired cleaners to do it it would be a $300 or so job. Have some gratitude people. 🙄
Have you ever worked at a hotel as a maid? They are not paid $300 to clean your room! Its maybe a dollar more than minimum wage.It takes maybe 30/40 minutes if guests are not pigs. My husband and I clean after ourselves. Everything is in the trash can....towels we used are in a neat pile on the floor. Usually if we stay more than 3 nights we basically just ask for clean towels & more shampoo. I don't make my bed every day....I prefer the maid skip my room. We treat the hotel room as though it were our own home. I grow tired of being charged for people who leave their room like squatters. Gratitude is GIVING my business to a facility and not leaving it trashed out!! Cleaning fees should be case by case ...pay a minimum & if you live like a pig...you should be charged for it. That IS respectful of the person cleaning the room! Instead we have become a society of people who punish everyone. Its why we now have a camper. We keep it neat & tidy & aren't charged for laziness of others
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Okay, but you're wrong. Not many cleaners are going to hang around for extra loads of laundry to finish, and if they do, then the cleaning fee goes up. I don't think it's much to ask for a guest to leave a place without trash and dishes all over, and start their towels in the washer. You're staying in someone's house, just be respectful.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The cleaning fee doesn't cover laundry and dishes and major messes. It's for restocking, maybe changing linens, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting. Those other items are charged at a $50 hourly rate by the cleaning company. Most people balk at a $225 cleaning fee, so we charge $125 and ask our guests to do a small bit of work to reduce their fees. We have had people complain about this and simply inform them of the above and that we will gladly have the cleaning service do these things for them if they wish to pay the cleaning fee plus a $100 surcharge.
Their not guests, they are paying customers. And you expect them to pay a cleaning fee and yet contribute to the cleaning. You are making money out of the property so suck up the cleaning costs - or even better, contribute by doing some of it yourself.
But really, I've been using Airbnb since it basically started and you know they didn't have maids. That s**t was not normal to hear an airbnb owner talk about cleaning crews, like tf? Also, there's a clause in every airbnb rental that says if you screw up the rental we can charge you for extra cleaning ect. Back before the cleaning fees (greed) started I used to clean the whole rental before I left as common courtesy, now not a chance in hell. You're lazy ass is charging over $200 for a property that contributes to our housing crisis plus $125 for cleaning fees? Nope.
Correct, that cleaning is a part of what businesses call expenses and is factored into the pricing of the product or service. Unless thwre is a no cleaning option it really is an extra charge because someone cannot effectively run their business amd price their offering correctly. So, lets add some more fees so we can advertise a cheaper rate then nickel amd dime the customer to death. Sounds like bait and switch in reality.
Why don't they hire a cleaning service if that's the case, but that would cut into their profit. Actually it appears that (generally not always) $100 is the fee professional cleaning services charge.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
You have NO IDEA the type of "cleaning up" that is left for the owner!! Sanitizing alone,,, costs $50.00, then add on ALL of the other routine maintenance cleaning and OUTLANDISH childish messes throughout, even people rearranging furniture and anything else, on top of repairing or replacing the items destroyed.... Now, you maybe that person who doesn't treat a property like this, but some people have left it in such an awful state that owners have had to resort to this overall fee. I am REALLY concerned that owners may be forced into ending their Airbb all together... Believe me when I say, I have had to pay a fortune to get rid of roaches people brought in, and that is OUTRAGEOUS!
Why isn't the owner reporting such things on the system setup by Air BnB to do so. If people are trashing places they shouldn't be allowed to rent anymore. Not pass the cost onto other customers. Air BnB started as a means for people to supplement income but now is for some people a way to pay for their beach home which was the only way to pay for it or only means of income. I have friends who have made this move as described above. Do I agree, no because it has caused a housing crisis all over the country. One of my friends has a 3 unit old Victorian lived in 1 unit, rented the others. With Air BnB they could make more money, so they stopped the regular rentals. Once the city put restrictions on how many days for Air BnB rentals they returned back to regular rentals.
I find it very difficult to believe you pay your cleaner $225.
If I'm renting your flat is for chilling on my holidays, not to spare you money doing half of the cleaning job for free. Max. the garbage, what I take out, when I'm leaving. You are free to charge more cleaning fee, and I'm free to book a hotel room instead of your flat.
There's already a problem the moment a guest have to do work.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's absolutely true! I work for a maintenance company that is sometimes in charge of coordinating the cleaning of rental properties. It's next to impossible to find cleaners because nobody is willing to work for the wages tenants insist are reasonable for cleaning. If you don't like it, stay somewhere else. Not everyone in life is going to see things from the same point of view. It's like our whole country has suddenly forgotten how to respect differences of opinion.
I totally agree with her, fair enough to wash the dishes you've used and wipe down mess from surfaces, but asking me to do laundry etc is ridiculous when you're paying a large cleaning fee on top of a high nightly cost.
Amen. Can you imagine being at a hotel and being asked to do the laundr y and etc? 😂
If your paying a cleaning fee then why tf would you clean anything? I'll be nice and not trash a room but Dam if I'm cleaning it after paying 200 a night
Well said. The owner just want maid and not guests. Hahah. She did the right thung saying no. I have stayed once in oslo and once in switzerland and both times they paid our cleaning depositum back bec i cleaned. Heheh. They never asked to do this and that when u pay for cleaning.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Read some other comments, you don't understand what a cleaning fee actually is.
A reduction of cleaning fee should have been offered IF the renters did the requested chores! Hotels don't charge extra for maid service, right?
I've seen cleaning fees in hotels but many include it in the cost.. regardless it's expected when you're on vacation you don't do that. Respect the property but why should you have to be a maid on vacation? Also most hotels have turned down service which means that they actually clean your room for you every single day.... I think it does sound like an interesting idea to be able to negate a cleaning fee if you're the one who cleans but then there can be problems of if the owner thinks you didn't do a good enough job.
This could be easily remedied by the hosts including a proviso in the ad.
Just add the cleaning fee into the cost and call it a day or offer a portion of cleaning fee lowered if these things are achieved
reduction? how bout none
Then go stay at a hotel.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Staying in someone's house is not the same as staying in a hotel room. You do realize that, right?
I think the take away point here is there is a cleaning fee... If you are paying for a cleaning fee then everything should be covered. If your not paying for one by all means asking for that stuff to be done is well with in reason.
I agree but tbh there's always a cleaning fee....lol and I could see prices going up to hide a cleaning fee if they offered none with chores. My husband and I don't do dirty stuff on their linens/towels or we would clean it up. We tie off the trash and we try to leave stuff as it was even with a special needs kid. But it's because it's nice. It should not be required. I definitely don't need to be expected to be a maid when I'm on vacation ffs. I think if they offered an actual good deal with an option for cleaning or you clean but then you're dealing with a mess of legalities if someone thinks not enough was done. I can't imagine staying at a hotel and being told to clean the linens etc 🤣🤣🤣 If the host/owner can't bother to put the work in (or pay a company to do so) I don't want to use their property. I want to trust they have a standard and they are concise...let alone the entitled lazy attitude. If you can afford to rent out a property you can afford the time/money cleaning it.
I agree with what you said. Im on 2 different Chemotherapies for SLE. I must drive 2.5 hours one way & driving home was becoming more difficult the older I became. I turned to AirBnB as hotel prices were not the problem....the Luxury tax was. Some states charge 25% or more of the bill for tax. After chemo...Im in no condition to do chores. Still I do bring my own towels & bucket & detergent to clean my bucket. My connective tissue on my hip disintegrated... I went outta state to a doc who was cutting edge and did the repair microscopic...using pig tissue. I had planned just 3 days but the surgery was a bit rougher and I stayed 5 days before driving myself home. (Still it beat a massive 7 inch incision with months instead of weeks of recovery.) The tax I paid on that hotel bill was larger than a charge of one day at the hotel! I could hardly walk....doing chores? Out of the question!
um no. asking me to do chores in a place im paying to stay is not ok. either i pay in money OR chores
Exactly
Agreed
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
If they hired cleaners to do it it would be a $300 or so job. Have some gratitude people. 🙄
Have you ever worked at a hotel as a maid? They are not paid $300 to clean your room! Its maybe a dollar more than minimum wage.It takes maybe 30/40 minutes if guests are not pigs. My husband and I clean after ourselves. Everything is in the trash can....towels we used are in a neat pile on the floor. Usually if we stay more than 3 nights we basically just ask for clean towels & more shampoo. I don't make my bed every day....I prefer the maid skip my room. We treat the hotel room as though it were our own home. I grow tired of being charged for people who leave their room like squatters. Gratitude is GIVING my business to a facility and not leaving it trashed out!! Cleaning fees should be case by case ...pay a minimum & if you live like a pig...you should be charged for it. That IS respectful of the person cleaning the room! Instead we have become a society of people who punish everyone. Its why we now have a camper. We keep it neat & tidy & aren't charged for laziness of others
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Okay, but you're wrong. Not many cleaners are going to hang around for extra loads of laundry to finish, and if they do, then the cleaning fee goes up. I don't think it's much to ask for a guest to leave a place without trash and dishes all over, and start their towels in the washer. You're staying in someone's house, just be respectful.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
The cleaning fee doesn't cover laundry and dishes and major messes. It's for restocking, maybe changing linens, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and dusting. Those other items are charged at a $50 hourly rate by the cleaning company. Most people balk at a $225 cleaning fee, so we charge $125 and ask our guests to do a small bit of work to reduce their fees. We have had people complain about this and simply inform them of the above and that we will gladly have the cleaning service do these things for them if they wish to pay the cleaning fee plus a $100 surcharge.
Their not guests, they are paying customers. And you expect them to pay a cleaning fee and yet contribute to the cleaning. You are making money out of the property so suck up the cleaning costs - or even better, contribute by doing some of it yourself.
But really, I've been using Airbnb since it basically started and you know they didn't have maids. That s**t was not normal to hear an airbnb owner talk about cleaning crews, like tf? Also, there's a clause in every airbnb rental that says if you screw up the rental we can charge you for extra cleaning ect. Back before the cleaning fees (greed) started I used to clean the whole rental before I left as common courtesy, now not a chance in hell. You're lazy ass is charging over $200 for a property that contributes to our housing crisis plus $125 for cleaning fees? Nope.
Correct, that cleaning is a part of what businesses call expenses and is factored into the pricing of the product or service. Unless thwre is a no cleaning option it really is an extra charge because someone cannot effectively run their business amd price their offering correctly. So, lets add some more fees so we can advertise a cheaper rate then nickel amd dime the customer to death. Sounds like bait and switch in reality.
Why don't they hire a cleaning service if that's the case, but that would cut into their profit. Actually it appears that (generally not always) $100 is the fee professional cleaning services charge.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
You have NO IDEA the type of "cleaning up" that is left for the owner!! Sanitizing alone,,, costs $50.00, then add on ALL of the other routine maintenance cleaning and OUTLANDISH childish messes throughout, even people rearranging furniture and anything else, on top of repairing or replacing the items destroyed.... Now, you maybe that person who doesn't treat a property like this, but some people have left it in such an awful state that owners have had to resort to this overall fee. I am REALLY concerned that owners may be forced into ending their Airbb all together... Believe me when I say, I have had to pay a fortune to get rid of roaches people brought in, and that is OUTRAGEOUS!
Why isn't the owner reporting such things on the system setup by Air BnB to do so. If people are trashing places they shouldn't be allowed to rent anymore. Not pass the cost onto other customers. Air BnB started as a means for people to supplement income but now is for some people a way to pay for their beach home which was the only way to pay for it or only means of income. I have friends who have made this move as described above. Do I agree, no because it has caused a housing crisis all over the country. One of my friends has a 3 unit old Victorian lived in 1 unit, rented the others. With Air BnB they could make more money, so they stopped the regular rentals. Once the city put restrictions on how many days for Air BnB rentals they returned back to regular rentals.
I find it very difficult to believe you pay your cleaner $225.
If I'm renting your flat is for chilling on my holidays, not to spare you money doing half of the cleaning job for free. Max. the garbage, what I take out, when I'm leaving. You are free to charge more cleaning fee, and I'm free to book a hotel room instead of your flat.
There's already a problem the moment a guest have to do work.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That's absolutely true! I work for a maintenance company that is sometimes in charge of coordinating the cleaning of rental properties. It's next to impossible to find cleaners because nobody is willing to work for the wages tenants insist are reasonable for cleaning. If you don't like it, stay somewhere else. Not everyone in life is going to see things from the same point of view. It's like our whole country has suddenly forgotten how to respect differences of opinion.
I totally agree with her, fair enough to wash the dishes you've used and wipe down mess from surfaces, but asking me to do laundry etc is ridiculous when you're paying a large cleaning fee on top of a high nightly cost.
Amen. Can you imagine being at a hotel and being asked to do the laundr y and etc? 😂
If your paying a cleaning fee then why tf would you clean anything? I'll be nice and not trash a room but Dam if I'm cleaning it after paying 200 a night
Well said. The owner just want maid and not guests. Hahah. She did the right thung saying no. I have stayed once in oslo and once in switzerland and both times they paid our cleaning depositum back bec i cleaned. Heheh. They never asked to do this and that when u pay for cleaning.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Read some other comments, you don't understand what a cleaning fee actually is.
A reduction of cleaning fee should have been offered IF the renters did the requested chores! Hotels don't charge extra for maid service, right?
I've seen cleaning fees in hotels but many include it in the cost.. regardless it's expected when you're on vacation you don't do that. Respect the property but why should you have to be a maid on vacation? Also most hotels have turned down service which means that they actually clean your room for you every single day.... I think it does sound like an interesting idea to be able to negate a cleaning fee if you're the one who cleans but then there can be problems of if the owner thinks you didn't do a good enough job.
This could be easily remedied by the hosts including a proviso in the ad.
Just add the cleaning fee into the cost and call it a day or offer a portion of cleaning fee lowered if these things are achieved
reduction? how bout none
Then go stay at a hotel.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Staying in someone's house is not the same as staying in a hotel room. You do realize that, right?