by Lauren Wood
posted on April 2, 2018
FrançaisUnpredictable weather. Unavoidable airline issues. Unexpected cleaning needs. Some things are simply out of our control, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to lessen the impact. In fact, we’re making two policy changes to do just that. Beginning April 2, we’re standardizing and simplifying our cleaning policy and putting in place a policy for dealing with flight delays and cancellations.
Cleaning Policy 2.0
A host hands off a clean car, a guest returns it just as clean — maybe even cleaner. That’s a Turo Golden Rule. But sometimes rules get broken, and cars get returned dirty. To help minimize the inconvenience, our new cleaning policy allows for a more efficient, one-touch way for hosts to get compensated for their cleaning costs, guests to be charged a fair amount, and everyone to know the costs up front.
The new policy establishes four tiers of cleaning severity: light, medium, heavy, and severe. Each tier is defined in detail and has a set reimbursement amount — $30, $50, $100, $150, or $250.
These amounts were established based on our extensive research of cleaning costs in our largest market areas. There are also separate tiers for smoking and pet hair.
Gone are the back-and-forth discussions and judgement calls to determine what your cleaning costs are. Customer support agents can now make an easy determination of costs thanks to this new standardization.
NO MORE RECEIPTS
Gone, too, is the need for hosts to submit receipts. We’ll rely on pre- and post-trip photos when processing these claims. Specifically, hosts must email us their cleaning request no more than 24 hours after a trip ends, and that request must include “before” and “after” photos of the vehicle. (If they’re on the reservation’s trip photos already, the host can mention that in their email to us.) The pre-trip photographs must have been taken no more than 24 hours before the trip’s scheduled start, and the post-trip photographs must have been taken no later than 24 hours after the trip end. Cleaning reimbursement requests without both pre- and post-trip photos will not be accepted.
We recommend that hosts and guests take multiple shots of the car’s exterior and interior, including pictures of the middle console, interior front seats and floor, and interior back seats and floor. We also suggest hosts and guests use the trip check-in and checkout feature, which will help to expedite a cleaning claim.
We can’t eliminate the occasional dirty car, but with this policy change, we can make the cleaning process a little tidier.
Flight Delay/Cancellation Policy
Travel is stressful enough. Add to it a flight delay or cancellation, and everyone’s anxiety escalates. Guests don’t want to inconvenience hosts by not showing up at all, and hosts don’t want to leave guests without a vehicle. Our new policy is inspired by that community spirit of wanting to do right by one another.
Our new policy will require guests who have a flight delay or cancellation to message their hosts to let them know. Once they know their new arrival time, guests must then request a trip adjustment. Hosts who receive news of a guest’s delay are asked to do everything possible to accommodate them. After all, it’s not the guest’s fault that their travel hasn’t gone as planned. Hosts who are communicative, flexible, and kind have the power not only to give a guest a car but to deliver a happy resolution for their otherwise bad travel day.
If guests and hosts cannot work out a new arrangement, guests will receive a full refund if they provide documentation of their flight change or cancellation no later than 24 hours after the scheduled start of their Turo trip. Hosts will not receive earnings for these trips for the most part. If the host makes a good-faith effort to help out but it still doesn’t work out, we’ll charge the guest for one day and pay the host for one day.
These new policies are designed to infuse the Turo experience with even more simplicity, transparency, and fraternity — things that inspired you to join the community in the first place. We thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to improve.
Lauren Wood
Lauren is the Senior Customer Support Manager at Turo. She likes reading, long walks on the beach, and re-using cliches wherever possible.
