Bad Review for "discount" -Should I reply?

[Kyle454]

I would appreciate some advice on how to handle this situation with a guest.  I just started renting some places this year and up to now have had 5 star reviews from every guest at both of my units.  This past weekend, I got a request for a last minute booking who wanted to check in less than 24 hours for three days. She had good reviews from other guests so I felt it was ok, despite the last minute booking.  I happened to be in town and even let her in the home because she showed up earlier than expected (and I was inspecting the cleaning job).  In any case,  she starting complaining the next morning. First, she said she saw a spider in a bedroom. Then she wrote back and said she saw some ants in the bathroom.  I sent the cleaning people to the house to investigate and they could not find any spider or ants.  The guest did not take any pictures.  No one has ever complained about any insects at the home.  She also complained that toilet was leaking. It turned out her kids were playing with the supply hose and we had to fix that.   On check out day, she sent me a picture via text and says she "found" a dead cockroach behind the couch.  Honestly, I don't know why she would be behind the couch in the first place (its against the wall) or  if it was in the home. It sure does seem suspicious to me.  Later that day, she sent me a message saying  I need to give her a discount.  She had already checked out by this time and written a review. I do not know if she knows that I knew she has also wrote a review. I declined to give her a discount as I truly believe this was a setup from the start.  I gave her a review that was honest and factual and let other hosts know the truth.  Of course, her review was 3 stars and have dropped my rating. My question for your guys is whether I need to reply to her review?  I'm only concerned about future guests thinking I have a pest control problem. My reply,  if I did would be something like .."Our home is regularly treated by a pest control company and upon inspection there was no any evidence of pests. "  I will also say that she complained about the price and the house was literally the cheapest its been all summer.  I have subsequently raised the price as I really don't want to deal with value renters. All the issues I've had so far have been with people who were value driven. Any advice would be appreciated. 

[Ricardo85]

@Kyle454 

Take a look at this: https://www.airbnb.com.br/help/article/548/modera%C3%A7%C3%A3o-de-disputas-de-coment%C3%A1rios-do-ai...

Ricardo

[Mark116]

@Kyle454  Yes, you should definitely reply to her review.  Your one sentence is fine, if you wanted to be more passive aggressive, you could add that 'Erica later asked us for a discount, we are unsure if the two issues are related' or just leave it that No other guests have complained about any pests, and when our team went to check on Erica's complaints, nothing was found.

[Kyle454]

Thanks  for your advice. 

[Sarah977]

@Kyle454  Unless you get a lot of them, so that your business is dependent on them, I would stay away from last minute bookings. There seem to be so many reports of last minute bookings turning out to be problematic in one way or another.  Although there could be legitimate reasons someone needs a place on short notice,  it seems to me that these tend to be either people who are up to no good, or are the kind of people who just don't have their s**t together. Sometimes they've even just been kicked out of another Airbnb, but you'll never know that.

[Kyle454]

I definitely agree with you. Lesson learned. 

[Geoffrey125]

If you have all of the communication in airbnb messages, you may be able to get the review removed as it sounds like the guest tried to extort you. Airbnb has helped me out in situations like this. worth a try at least... Just tell support that you want the review removed and what happened. Nothing to lose except for the poor review