My first negative review by a guest....

[Shirley442]

I am wondering what I should do next....A guest canceled (I found out via airbnb) . I did not know they went in and were very unhappy until their  review was available 28 hours later. I was very surprised with the reaction, as I have had many guests in the last 7 months.

Shirley

[Sarah977]

@Shirley442  What you should do next? There's nothing to do except forget about it. The review is obviously an outlier and you have already responded to it, although I would have responded differently. Review responses to untrue reviews should be used to correct false statements for the benefit of future guests, not to address the reviewer.

I would have written something like

"I was not even aware that this guest had entered the home, as he simply cancelled without contacting me. It also appears that the guest failed to read the listing description,  where it is clearly stated that the back porch is a work in progress. This has not been an issue for any previous guests, as is evident from their reviews."

[Shirley442]

Thank  you for responding and giving me another idea of a response.

Shirley

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

@Shirley442  This situation is a risk that comes with self-check-in. Airbnb pushes it hard on hosts, but they don't warn you about how much it complicates your ability to deal with issues on arrival and defend yourself against unreasonable refund requests. Guests sometimes like the flexibility that comes with being able to let themselves in, but it's not necessarily the best arrangement for every home - some are better off with face-to-face hospitality and a chance to resolve any issues before they have a chance to escalate to a cancellation.

You've already exhausted all the options of what you can do, since you've reviewed the guest and posted a public response to his. This case is closed.  You might consider raising the bar of entry - having the check-in conducted in person by you or a local co-host, or disabling Instant Book if that happens to be a factor here. 

[Shirley442]

I really appreciate you input. Thank you,

Shirley

[Elena87]

@Shirley442 

Stating in the listing that The back porch ( with the king bed) is a work in progress...getting it done., its  conspicuously ambiguous, I'd be inclined to fully declare exactly what this means for guests.

Work in progress has varying degrees of interpretation.

From the guest review, this time there was wide difference of opinions.

[Shirley442]

Thank you for your thoughts. It is very helpful to hear from others.

Shirley