Hi there, I've been a host for a few months and, after all 5 star reviews and lovely guests, have a situation that has me worrying. I made a mistake with booking due to waiting for an undecided renter and then had someone on airbnb book the same place before I had a chance to block the dates. My bad. So I offered the airbnb guest my place where I live, which is the condo next door with the same floor plan, outlined the pros and cons compared to the original condo she booked, offered a big discount, and also offered to cancel the booking if she preferred that, to allow her to find another place without her being charged and while she still had around 7 weeks to book something else. I had checked and saw there were many other options available. She chose to take my condo. Then later in the day, she asked for a further discount, saying it was because it was only 1.5 baths. I agreed to a further discount, though I pointed out that the original condo also had 1.5 baths and that many 2 bedrooms in my area offer only one. I was fine with it, I had made a mistake and was willing to keep my commitment and make her happy. Enter Hurricane Dorian predictions for our area. The day before her arrival, I messaged to see if she was still planning on coming for the family event considering the weather predictions. She said she would wait to see what the airlines said for her flight. The day she was to arrive, it was chaotic, the hurricane was supposed to effect us at some point in the evening, and I secured things outside at the condos and at my mother's place, bought groceries, batteries, water, gathered flashlights and lanterns for the airbnb guests as well as myself - I didn't want them to be without anything they might need if the storm proved bad and we had power outages. The cleaning crew was supposed to clean while I was out. The guest messaged that her flight would arrive at 11:30 pm. When I got to the condo to put the groceries and other hurricane paraphenalia in the condo, I found that the crew hadn't cleaned some areas or had not cleaned very well. With the worry about Dorian, I figured they were in a rush. So I and my boyfriend hurriedly began to clean and I thought we would be done before she arrived. In hindsight I was very tired and should have sent a message to let her know I would be there, should have checked condo earlier (may I whine here? In the month leading up, I was ill for 2 weeks, I had handymen who didn't show because they were ill, my boyfriend lost my keys to car and house, and I had credit card fraud - still, I pushed ahead to my goal of making an enjoyable place for the guest, Tawanda!). We were minutes from finishing the counters in the kitchen, when the guest arrived just before midnight. I quickly went to the door and introduced myself as the host, and both the guest and her two family members who I think dropped her off seemed fine, the family members said bye and left and the guest stayed. I explained that we were just finishing up and would be done in a few minutes, offered her wine, cheese and crackers. She sat for a couple minutes, then asked if she could go to the bedroom and I said of course, make yourself at home, we will be done in few minutes. She came out a minute or so after and said that she was going to her brother's house and would be coming back soon. I told her we were done and about to leave. She left. A minute later we left. A few minutes after that (12:20 on on airbnb messages) I messaged her to confirm we were out, and apologized for the confusion and asked that she let me know if she needed anything. She responded "Thanks, Bobbi! " I often greet guests when they arrive, especially if it's a late night flight when I can to make sure they have no problems getting in and settled quickly, which usually takes about 10 minutes time. All seemed fine. The morning of her departure, I messaged around 10 am "Morning! Hope you all had a great family celebration and have a safe return home. Could you please let me know when you check out. Thanks!" 15 or so minutes later, she messaged " Hi Bobbi, we are out of the condo " When I received an airbnb message that she had left a review, I gave her a review. When I'd returned to the condo, there were some lights left on, and a few things out of place, but it was in good condition. Since she didn't have any reviews and all the communications we'd had had been good, I said that she was a good and cheerful communicator and that though she didn't have any reviews yet, she said she'd stayed at airbnb's that her sister had booked and was familiar with the airbnb platform, was always welcome and a great guest. I thought this would help her in future bookings. I was completely taken aback by her review. She said that the place was clean, a great place, and a great location - but said that because the condo wasn't ready, she couldn't stay the first night, that she couldn't log in for wireless, and that I had asked her to leave before the 11 am checkout time. And gave an overall 2 star rating. Even the location, place, and cleanliness that she said were great, she only gave 4 stars. She never told me that she was upset about anything, never told me she didn't stay the first night (in her review, she says the space wasn't ready until after 12:30, which is not true) , never contacted me re: the wireless which could have been fixed within minutes if there was a problem, and I did not ask her to leave early. If she had asked me isn't checkout at 11, I would have confirmed that it was and that I was merely asking for her to let me know when they left, that sometimes people leave earlier or a few minutes later. I did want to see if there was any damage from the storm as soon as I could. I will reword the request in the future to make it clearer. So, I am wondering the best way to approach this. I feel like I tried hard to please, had difficult circumstances due to the weather predictions, was clearly approachable for help or clarification, could and will do what I can to communicate better and more clearly, and always check on cleaning services earlier no matter what's going on. But, man, this is harsh, and flat out untrue on two points. I feel that I have to respond to the review, want to be clear about what happened without sounding defensive. From what I've read on forums, there doesn't seem to be anything else that Airbnb would do? I got a message from Airbnb saying that I am not meeting the basic requirements. I am now at 4.6 overall. All other reviews are 5 star, I don't have that many as I've had a couple of longer term stays. Any help much appreciated, Thanks!
