How to handle this difficult guest

[Jeana30]

We’re new hosts. After a few great guests, we came across a challenging one yesterday. When submitting a booking inquiry, he said he’s an old man looking to book our lake house for a fishing trip. He asked about the use of our dock and the distance to the public boat ramp. He then asked for a 5% discount, which we offered him.

He arrived 2 hours before the check-in time and asked if he could get in early. We accommodated. Early in the evening he complained our dock cannot be used to launch his boat, which ruined his plan for the whole week, and added that our AC was not working. He said we provided him misleading info. Our listing stated the shallow depth of water, which he clearly did not pay attention to. We asked all guests to confirm they read the entire listing info before booking.

We let him know the AC was working the day before, and asked to talk on the phone to help help troubleshoot it. He declined and insisted on only communicating via the app. We eventually called many HVAC services and sent in a professional within an hour of his repair request. The professional confirmed the AC was working fine. 

Prior to the service call, I sent him an apology for his experience, with the exact info on the water depth we had in the listing. I offered him two options: 1. Another 22% off his entire rent, OR 2. Refund the rest of his rent if he choose to not use the public boat launch to enjoy the rest of his fishing trip and leave the second day. We stopped hearing from him. We have now updated the listing to make the info even clearer it’s the tenants’ responsibility to decide if their boat can launch from the shallow water. 

Questions:

What else could we have done to handle this better?

What do you do when a guest make invalid repair requests when you are offsite? These are expenses we cannot charge back. 

The guest may write a negative review even after taking the partial refund offer. What could we do to minimize this potential damage to our great reviews? 

I believe our price is reasonable compared to others. I've been wary about guests asking for a discount before booking. Is that a warning sign for difficult guests?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Jeana30  Yes, asking for a discount is the #1 sign that you're going to get a difficult guest. A nice person would never ask you to take a pay cut just so they can have a cheaper vacation. Just say no.

It can also be a red flag when an inquiry asks questions that are already answered in your listing.

I think it was a good call to offer the guest an early departure. The discount alternative  was generous but unnecessary; the minute this drama queen claimed that his whole trip was "ruined," every reason to let him complete the stay went out the window. Sadly, odds are high that he'll leave a grouchy review. The best way to minimize the damage is to post a cool-heated, gracious, and professional reply with your future guests in mind as the audience. It can be a blessing in disguise if his review deters people like him from booking.

As for the technician costs, I think it's best for a host (or local Co host, if you're remote) to investigate any problem a guest reports in person before calling in a pro. 

[Jeana30]

Thank you @Anonymous! I really appreciate your advice!