How to leave a proper review for a red flag guest

[Scott1282]

Hi, I have a review coming up that I will be posting for a recent guest, and don't quite know what to write. The realization that the following behaviors on the guest's part were problematic came after the fact.

• Red flag #1: the booking request was last minute, as the guest and her family were on the last leg of a cross country trip and needed something in the next 24 hours.
  
  
• Red flag #2: the guest asked to physically inspect the space before booking. Normally my policy is not to do this for security reasons but I made an exception due to the circumstances.
  
  
• Red flag #3: once the guest and family arrived to inspect the property, they asked me to bypass AB&B and make a deal directly. It was evident that the fees and taxes were something that they did not want to pay.
  
• Red flag #4: They didn't seem to know how to book themselves, so I spent a lot of time creating a special invite to book with modified pricing to fit their budget.
  
  
• Despite my HOA rules stating no rentals less than 30 days, (it is quite strict on this and will not hesitate to litigate) I agreed to do a three week booking on the condition that they honor the original eight weeks booking request. I told them the details for the rest of the booking could be worked out later.
  
  
• Despite my attempts to follow up to get the guest to honor their pledge to complete the booking, they checked out after the initial 3 week reservation. Eventually I heard back but no reason was given as to why.
  
  
• Any effort by the guest to clean or tidy up was minimal and there was an extremely strong and foul body odor permeating the space, which was emanating from a wet pile of towels on the floor by the washing machine.
  
  I'll have to sanitize the space with an ozone generator to get rid of the smell. NBD but I'll probably have to do it at least twice to kill the stench permanently.  
  
  Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, but I feel completely taken advantage of.
  
  Any suggestions as to how I should leave a review? Thanks.

[Chath26]

I would review as you wrote it to us.

[Scott1282]

@Chath26 I think keeping the review limited to my observations is a good way to go since this could easily get heated if the guest chooses. Having experienced an insincere exchange with them already, I don’t think they would be willing to own up and it could get unpleasant.

[Joan2709]

@Scott1282 

Sorry this happened to you and it's clear you realize there were too many red flags and it didn't go well. 

I would wait until this guest posts a review first before posting yours.

If they don't post a review, wait until the last minute right before the cutoff of 14 days to post yours. (you'll see a countdown as to how much time you have remaining). Then I would post an honest, factual review. I would not say anything that would cause Airbnb to remove the review. 

I would keep it short. If they did anything good, I would start with that. Then say something like:

"Unfortunately, this guest  did not abide by the clearly agreed upon conditions of their stay, broke some important House Rules and additional cleaning procedures were required after their stay so we could have the property ready for our next guests. We would decline the opportunity to host this guest again."

[Scott1282]

Hi thanks for the suggestions. I was planning to wait until the last minute to post a review. The guest has already made a comment via message to suggest that they would have an excuse at the ready. 

[Joan2709]

@Scott1282 

Oh brother...😒🙄

[Joan2709]

@Scott1282 

The only thing I was thinking is you mentioned wet towels by the washer and they stunk? Did you enter the property to clean it right after they left? It probably would take awhile for the wet towels to start smelling I would think? Was there something else they did that created the odor? Were there other checkout items they failed to do?

The other issue I can think of is the guest can always post a public response to your review even if they miss the window to post their guest review. If your HOA keeps tabs on listings in your area, they may see the guest complaining you agreed to less than a 30day stay? 🤔 Of course, if you gave them a special offer to pay for only 3 weeks, with the condition they actually remained on the property for 8weeks, then not much to be done about that if they left the property after the official 3weeks was up. Probably would have been better not to accept the booking unless they reserved 30 nights at least...but that is water under the bridge now.

[Scott1282]

@Joan2709 I did enter the property right after the guest checked out. The odor from the wet towels wasn't just mildew or odor from being left wet. There was something else that smelled like a men's locker room emanating from them. Fortunately a washing hot water with borax to kill the smell did the trick.

My only defense if my HOA decides to be difficult is the ABB message thread where the guest tried to do their own booking which did not fit their fixed budget. Hoping it doesn't come to that.

PS I neglected to add a fifth red flag: this guest only had review prior to this stay.  

[Marie8425]

@Scott1282 

A slightly different point of view.

Yes there were many Red Flags.

A scammer yes, but in this case you are smart enough to see warnings but basically ignore yourself  If the property can only legally be rented 30 days as the Host you accepted a rental term of less than 30 days.

A negative review if I read it the Host and the Guest tried to negotiate a deal to benefit themselves,  The Host didn't benefit so now the Host is posting a negative review.  As a potential Guest that would be a Red Flag to me,. concerning you as a Host.

[Scott1282]

You are incorrect. The guest attempted to negotiate a better deal under the false pretenses of needing to show up to inspect the property. That way the request to bypass AB&B wouldn't be recorded in a message thread.

Anyone's unbiased view would see that as a dishonest attempt to take advantage of my willingness to help someone out who was in a jam.