Being punked

[Shannon579]

Hello I had a weird experience happen. I think I’m being punked by local competition. I have two separate houses and I had both booked to different people from the same city. Both left me 3 stars and had the same issue. They said houses smelled like moth balls and they need to be updated. Nobody has ever smelled moth balls and the one house I spent 50,000 in renovating before I started listing it. They are both much cheaper than my competitors that are within 5 miles. I  think it’s more than a coincidence.

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42  I didn't want to mention the snakes, but as a guest now we have some evidence that there are:

Smells

Worn linens

Worn and stained furniture 

Snakes under the house (!)

Not sure that any of these are considered an amenity the average traveler desires. 

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  You left off the response to the guest who complained that the mattress is noisy even when barely moving, to which the host replied that it's because since COVID, they cover the mattresses with plastic.

So not just worn linens, but worn linens placed directly over plastic.

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 @Sarah977 

Oh goodness . . . this is why we are all so critical of a host's response to reviews! Guests can learn more damaging info from a response then they can from the actual review!

[Ann72]

@Emilia42  Exactly!  If I were a guest looking at her place and got past the couple of bad reviews, I wouldn't be able to get past the responses.

[Shannon579]

How do you get the places separate? I don't know what to do. I've taken several people out there to both houses and nobody can smell mothballs. 

[Shannon579]

@Laura2592 I'm sorry that everyone seems to be confused. We are talking about multiple houses, everything I own can't smell  like mothballs. I put plastic mattress covers over the mattress because I bought brand new mattress and box springs and wanted to protect them.  

[Sarah977]

@Shannon579  You can't put sheets directly over a plastic mattress cover- no one wants to sleep in a bed that crinkles like plastic every time they move. You have to use a nice soft mattress pad between the mattress cover and the sheets.

[Shannon579]

That was a different house. Why can't Airbnb separate my listings? This is why I think it's fishy that people from the same city and state that stayed at different houses, said they smelled mothballs. Where we live everyone here has family in Ohio. They were both from Ohio.

[Sarah977]

@Shannon579  What do you mean "separate" your listings?  Every host who has multiple listings has all their listings and reviews showing on the same page. That's just how it works.

[Emilia42]

@Shannon579 Your listings are separated. But we still don't understand . . . if you use mothballs and many guests travel to KY from Ohio, why is this so far fetched? :

[Fred13]

@Shannon579 Try to put aside the 'Case of the Identical Sabotage Guests' for a moment and focused more on the overall advice given above. For starters never be the bearer of bad news: the mere mention of snakes, stolen linen, switched towels, etc, those are deal killers, they will spook most people. Take the time to read the endless subjects covered in this forum which you will find very helpful. Take it as a fun challenge to do better.

P.S. Ok, the single water ski on the wall is haunting me; is there an interesting story behind it? 

[Shannon579]

There are two ski's on the walls. Yes I came here for advice and help. I'm not really getting any real resolve other than just not to respond I guess, if anyone is unhappy? 

[Fred13]

Do not hesitate to ask specific questions - how should I go about this or that. We will steer you well and you will find it a lot of fun really. 

[Emilia42]

@Shannon579 You can respond (if needed) but your response is to future guests who could potentially book with you. 

So you don't say: "I throw mothballs under the house to keep the snakes away. So if you don't like snakes watch your back!!"

You say: "I appreciate this guest bringing this to my attention. While my cleaners, other guests nor myself have smelled mothballs, I will look further into this."

[Shannon579]

Okay thank you