So recently I rented my property to a new user with a profile photo of a duck. My mistake - I know.
Back Story:
Guest sent a request asking about availability and distance from Napa. We are in Sonoma and this is a common question. I respond. She books. Within 10 minutes she asks if this is a whole home and wants to ensure that I am not on the property. If I could have canceled without a peantly, I would have. I respond that yes, as the listing shows, this is a whole home rental and that unless there is a need for me to visit the property, I typically don't stop over.
A week later she sends a message requesting that I credit her Delta mileage account. I call support and they take care of the issue - cancel her booking (yay) and promptly rebook it (boo). A few days later She calles me and wants me to help double check that she's getting Delta miles. I refer her back to Airbnb.
The following day, two weeks prior to arrival, we run into a major issue with our inground pool. After six months of rain (most recorded in Sonoma history) the water table in my area is 6 feet and my pool is 9 feet. We discover this after the pool is drained for routine maintenence and to prevent it from popping out of the ground, an engineer has ro drill a hole in the bottom to release the pressure. This creates a geyser and the pool is out of service. I reach out to my guest, inform her of the issue and offer the option to cancel or keep the booking with a discount applied. (same offer for all incoming guests - one canceled, all others thus far accepted and are reasonably happy - pool has been removed from the listing). This guest never responds, but does reply to the welcome message I sent that she is looking forward to her stay.
On the day she arrives, it's raining cats and dogs and I recieve a call about the pool. We have a polite conversation that leads to a request for additional compensation. The amount requested is unreasonable and we decide that she should find alternate accomodations. Over the next 12 hours Guest goes on a hunt through my home for "problems." She settles in on some ants and three missing tiles in the master bathroom and hard water on the glass door and tiles of the shower. Regarding the master bathroom, we don't hide this - its visible on the verified photos on the site (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17652985) photo 20.
The next day she dedides to leave (she found new accomodations) and on her departure texts me that unless I refund her money, she will leave negative review. So - here is my review - looking for feedback. Is this OK? Thanks for the feedback.
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Two weeks prior to X's arrival, we encountered a problem with our pool. I sent X a message explaining the situation and offered her the option to cancel or keep the booking. If she kept the booking she would receive a discount off the nightly price, comparable to properties in my area without pools.
Arrival Day: X calls and politely informs me that she is disappointed to see that the pool is not useable. I reminded her that I had informed her of this issue in advance (Always communicate through the app folks – it leaves a documented trail) and let her know of the discount we are offering. She claims to have never seen my message and she assures me that she expects additional compensation and that the sole purpose of renting my home is because of the pool. OK - the pool was important. I don’t like to disappoint guests and this issue is beyond my control - I offer her the option to cancel and provide instruction on how to find re-accommodation. Did I mention that it’s raining/cool, windy and a cold front blew through with torrential rain, thunder and hail?
Next up: X decides that she deserves a 50% reduction off the cost based on a list of grievances… she sees tiles missing from the master vanity (three trim tiles) She doesn’t like hard water deposits on the glass shower doors and discoloring on the tile. She sees ants. Since we can only remedy the ants we visit the property within 45 minutes of being informed of the problem. When we arrived, there were about 10 ants near the patio door. We cleaned, left bait and departed. (rural house+rain=ants)
The following morning X texts me that she sees ants. She wishes to cancel due to “ongoing problems” and warns me that in return for a full refund she will not leave a negative review. Really? I understand that X is upset that she cannot relax poolside in the rain, wind and hail, but she’s going to threaten me with a bad review because of hard water on a glass shower, three broken tiles and 10 ants?
In recap:
A: X was advised of the pool issue two weeks prior to her arrival and offered two options – cancel or keep the booking and accept a discount. X responded to every message but this one.
B: X went searching my home for problems and all she could come up with was three missing tiles, hard water stains and 10 ants. Immediately after her departure we checked for ants. Zero.
C: Though X was kind, always pleasant – she is the guest who will seek problems in return for compensation. I am sure she arrived with this in mind.
😧 X's expectations are better suited for a hotel stay.
E. Anybody requesting compensation in return for not leaving a negative review does not belong on this platform. I do not recommend X to other hosts.
