Raccoons Trashed My Airbnb Porch - How To Not Freak Out When Receiving A Bad Message

This morning, I woke up to a message sent from my Airbnb guest who checked in around 3am. It definitely woke me up and I immediately started to stress out.

Here Is The Message

Here is a picture of the message I received from the guest.

What happened? There are benefits and downsides of living on an end unit that backs up to a conservation area. One of the downsides are the wildlife that live there. A few weeks back, my cleaner notified me that there were some raccoons that seem to be trying to get into the trash. The trash bin has locks on both sides that help to secure anyone from opening. Somehow, these raccoons had figured a way to work together and open it anyways. And what do they like doing when they can reach in? Throw your trash everywhere :(

How would you react to this?

I continue to try and shift my mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset every day. This is something that is extremely difficult to do. For those of you who don't know the difference between these mindsets, click this link to read .

How I Would Have Reacted With A Growth Mindset

'Thank you so much for letting me know! I think it is time to get a new trash bin as the raccoons continue to get smarter and smarter!'

I also would have reacted with an immediate thought of how I was going to solve the problem. The last thing I want would be for all my guests to go through the same experience. Being an Airbnb host, there are some things you try to save money on and others you should be willing to spend on. In my eyes, anything related to ensuring your guests have a great experience is important to spend on.

Action Taken To Solve Problem

Next, I emailed the HOA General Manager of my community with pictures of the trash. Instead of telling them to fix it, I simply asked him if I could buy a new bin myself to install. It is important to come up with solutions to problems versus being the person sitting in the corner complaining about everything.

It would have been very easy for me to be frustrated with the GM and tell him they need to get rid of the raccoons. At some point I may have to get rid of the raccoons, but for now, a new bin will hopefully do the trick.

I heard back from the GM a few hours later and I am now working to buy a more secure trash bin. This will hopefully solve the problem with the raccoons and most importantly ensure my guests don't have this issue again.

Key Takeaways:

• Ensuring your guests are able to check-in at any time of the night is important. Providing detailed enough check in instructions are even more critical.
• Focus on the things you control. I don't control the fact there are raccoons who are looking for food outside my townhome. I don't control the fact that the raccoons are really smart! I do control how I react to my guests message and how I try to solve the problem.
• Be a problem solver versus a problem identifier. Most people can identify problems. That is the easy part. Figure out actions you can take to solve the problem to ensure this doesn't happen again. At some point, you will have removed all the problems and be smooth sailing.