Guest Unhappy at check in, left without contacting us first - what do I do?

Darva1
Level 3
Hillsborough, CA

Guest Unhappy at check in, left without contacting us first - what do I do?

Our guest brought her adult daughter. She asked for - and received - permission from me to shorten her reservation shortly before arrival. They arrived and checked in, but then left without contacting me, just writing a brief message after they had gone:

"We are very disappointed with your rental. My daughter is allergic to the smell and we need a full size refrigerator for her special food.
We are leaving having not touched anything. I know our $ is a loss."

Our mini-fridge is described as that, and there are several pictures of the kitchen - including the small fridge - in our listing. 

I can't for the life of me figure out what smell she could possibly be referencing. I'm out of town, but Mom lives in the house across the deck, and she checked immediately upon receiving this message, and tells me she can't smell anything. She cleaned and sanitized the house yesterday - the day before their arrival. There are some candles in the house, but they are all covered with airtight lids. I literally cannot imagine what she's talking about. Every guest we have had - without exception - has left us a positive review, and written private messages about how perfect our little remodeled cottage is . . . 

I wrote the unhappy guest and asked for more information. I also told her I wish she had communicated with me - she has my number - before leaving - that I would have welcomed the opportunity to help resolve her problems, by bringing over an electric cooler to supplement the mini-fridge, and tracking whatever smell her daughter was sensitive to (soap? cleaning products? I can't begin to guess without more information!). 

I don't know what to do. The listing on our calendar says she is "checking in" today, and there is no indication that she is no longer with us, though her message seems to be quite clear that they will not be back. Should I ask her to cancel? Or ...? I'm at a loss. 

Thanks for any advice you may have for me. I've been hosting for awhile, but we live in a rural area, so except for a couple of summer months are not usually busy, and so far all our guests have loved us. . .  We are super hosts, and don't want to risk the status we have worked so hard to maintain, but with her cryptic communications, I feel certain she will leave us a terrible review - without ever staying with us! 

Darva
 
 
1 Reply 1
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Darva1 

She needs to cancel herself, as it is her decision to end the stay.

You can sent her shortening request ("change option") on the reservation and also can change the automatically calculated price, if desired,  in the price field.