So Iāve had this twice now, where people have requested I pay cleaning fees for their properties after we have finalised our stay. No fees were referenced when we agreed to stay.
Both times Iāve declined to settle these fees, as we clean the properties ourselves. First time the exchange continued, but the second time the person owning the property messaged to say how ādisappointedā she was with my response and that she would be cancelling the exchange, with two days notice no less!
So, if youāve experienced this, do you suck it up and pay? Or decline?
This does have an impact on us members, as Iām unlikely to get another exchange at such short notice and therefore HE will be paying for our accommodation for a weekā¦ This obviously will come out of everyoneās membership fees so is massively frustrating all around.
I am very sorry this has happened to you.
I have never had this happen to me. I think it would depend on many things if I would pay or not. In any case, I would tell the host that this should be in the home profile and that a fee should be agreed upon before finalising. Any claims they make after that are invalid. However, if people have not been exchanging very long, maybe they missed this part.
Wether I would pay or ot would depend on how long the stay would be, how much they are asking, if it would help me not to be cleaning everything as well as I normally would, etc.
If your host is very disappointed and cancels, you can get the points back, because the host does not have a valid reason to decline you. However, depending on a lot of things, it might not be so easy to find soemthing else. But if you had finalised the exchange and the host backs out for this reason, HE support would help and try to find you another place and help with the costs, if they cannot find a home of HE (as you know and have experienced?). And the home owner should be reported (unless itās a new person who didnāt really know the rules and responded very nicely when you explained this).
Argg Im sorry this happened to you. I tend to ask specifically about cleaning fees before closing the exchange, specially if they have fewer reviews or the home is/looks like a rental. I dont mind paying for it, I just want to know what i am agreeing with cause I dont like surprises of this sort. So far never had a problem! Paid for it once but it was said on the profile and I was well aware.
If the amount is abusive I would cancel and also contact HE support. And if I felt like i was being tricked, I wouldnt feel comfortable staying in their place anyways.
How upsetting it is.
If fees are not written in the listing, i would contact HE support right away to ask them to contact the host.
Her behaviour is not far from blackmail.
Keep answering with HE emails only so HE can understand the situation.
Iāve only just joined, but itās so clear that HomeExchange says
You should advertise cleaning fees on your listing
You should make sure they are specifically agreed before the listing is finalised
They should be paid in cash on arrival
Anyone who fails to do this just hasnāt read the HomeExchange conditions properly.
Itās not rocket science. However, thanks for sharing, because if / when I do go somewhere, I will ask them to confirm in advance whether there is a cleaning fee, in case they are an idiot who failed to read the conditions
Itād help if HE will post in bold that no demands (cleaning or otherwise) can be made after a visit is finalized if they were not stated in the house description or mentioned during the exchange of messages. Also, that this cannot be grounds to cancel a visit. Then hosts who do this may think twice.
If the arrangement is based on GPās the cleaning fee should be expected since you are not really exchanging homes and in some cases piggybacking another GPās arrangement to follow the one you are agreeing to.
As a long time home exchanger, including many GP stays, I have never (yet) charged cleaning fees myself, and have never been charged so I think āexpectedā is the wrong word here.