Worried about bad review

[Sarah4642]

My listing is in the Adirondacks and we get a lot of weekend hikers, usually they are very quiet and are out hiking all day with no problems. I had a guest send a request for a weekend and she wanted to bring her dog even though my listing says no pets. I decided to make an exception since he was a non shedding breed, she agreed to a small pet fee.

So she arrives and the dog is well behaved, I show her around, she has some questions about the AC, I apologize for the wet carpet in the entryway due to heavy storms the night before but she says it's fine. So everything is going smoothly and we leave for the weekend.  

In the car I get a message saying she can't stay there because it's damp and she is allergic to mold. She didn't actually say there was mold, just that she was worried about it. So she left and cancelled the booking but said she didn't get a refund from Airbnb so I sent her a refund myself. I was thrown for a loop because she had said everything was fine, and there is no mold in the house. 

Today got a message from Airbnb support that she had reported us for cleanliness and there was an internal note on my listing. They were going to refund her but I told them I had already send a refund. 

I'm worried she'll leave a bad review saying there is mold in the house. I don't know if I should preemptively review her or wait to respond to her review. 

I'm kind of peeved that she reported my listing after I made an exception to my no pets rule for her and sent her a full refund and after she checked in, saw the place and had no complaints. Was she trying to double dip by getting a refund from both me and Airbnb? How should I handle the review situation? Should I put a note in my listing that the carpet gets damp after heavy rain?

[Anonymous]

@Sarah4642   You can't pre-empt a negative review. You're free to wait until toward the end of the 14-day review period to write your review of the guest, but overall it looks better for you if you've written a reciprocal one. You can simply state the facts:  the guest requested to bring a dog despite your no-pet policy, and requested a refund despite your cancellation policy. Hosts will get the message that there are a lot of red flags here.

If her review complains about the soggy carpet, I guess you can address the fact that this is a known issue in your response. But in the long term, it comes off much better if you show that you've come up with a solution to the problem rather than just asked guests to accept it.

[Sarah4642]

@Anonymous Thanks for your response. I guess I'll just wait to see if she writes a review. 

[Gwen386]

@Sarah4642 I just want to say stick to your guns on your listing. If it says no pets, that should mean no pets!, unless it’s a service dog, then you can ask questions.

I had 3 requests for pets in the past and I turned them all down. One actually asked about bringing 2 pets and the other said her pet was an emotional support dog, but said the pet would be crated when they were out sightseeing. I just shook my head at the audacity of this statement. 

As @Anonymous said, just state the facts.

Also, how were you able to refund her?

[Sarah4642]

@Gwen386 In the future that is what I will do. I thought it was reasonable to grant an exception in this case but so far the only guests I've had problems with are the ones I've tried to accommodate.

I sent her money via the resolution center - Send or Request Money, I could choose to give her a full or custom refund.