Reading this hit me like a message from the universe. I just had a horrible experience with a guest who had requested a discount, I declined his request but gave a pre-approval - he then booked, arrived, and proceeded to complain about the most miniscule exgarrated issues. 60 reviews at an average of 4.5 stars, and then this guest checked out, submits a claim for a refund of $220 of his $405 total, citing not being able to use the kitchen because it was "dirty". Here is his review:
Me and my fiancée visited ....... for the first time, it was our birthday vacation. We usually book Airbnb, because we like to have the experience of the place from the local perspective. This time, unfortunately, it was one of the worst experiences we had with booking an Airbnb Place. First of all, just to make it clear, when you go on vacation, you don’t want to feel that you are in a place with bunch of rules and restriction, but, because it is not a hotel , we understand that we need to be more careful and understanding towards the host, because it is a place that he owns. But, when you host is specifically telling you, DO NOT ANSWER the door to anyone, or to make sure if someone asks who are we, we cannot say anything about Airbnb or hosting. We were told by the host, to tell anyone who asks that we are his guests. That freaked us a little bit, because every time there were people walking by the door, we had to completely be silence to make sure we don’t get into any trouble. When we were leaving the house, we had to make sure we do it quickly before any of the neighbors asks us questions that we don’t want to answer. Now, regarding the location, it was amazing, we were 5 minute walk from the beach, and 15-20 minute walk from most of the attractions Miami Beach can offer. Unfortunately, that is the only bright point I can make writing this review. When we entered the studio, we usually check out the kitchen to see if we have all the tools so we can go to the grocery store and purchase basic necessities, so we can make coffee, breakfast, ETC…When we opened the drawers in the kitchen, we were speechless, there was dust, there were bread crumbs everywhere, and one of the drawers, the handle was broken. There were only 2 forks, and 2 knifes, and 5 coffee mugs and some plates. But let’s be honest, when you on vacation, you do not want to wash your spoon/fork after every time you use it. Now, the coffee machine, and the microwave was a disaster, it was filthy! We decided just not to use any of it, never! We wanted to make coffee in the morning which we bought in the store and boil the water on a small pot. The moment we grabbed the pot, the handle was broken. Obviously we didn’t do anything else in the kitchen ever again. The bathroom was ok, but the handle of the shower looked like it was broken, and the bathtub itself looked like there was an army of soldiers taking showers there for a year, it was black! The windows were covered with curtains, when we wanted to open the windows, we moved some of the curtains, and you could have seen a thick line of dust by the window.
Here is my response, posted only after I immeidately contacted Airbnb and dealt with the Resolution Dispute on the phone, not online:
What a petty, transparent, and obviously unscrupulous attempt at obtaining an unwarranted refund. I have over 60 reviews that evidence the exact opposite of what you claim about your experience. Your review reflects nothing more than your poor failed attempt at obtaining the discount you initially requested when booking the apartment. My advice: next time book a place you can afford instead of asking a stranger to subsidize your vacation budget. It's laughable that you'd request a refund of $220 because you claim that you couldn't use the kitchen due to a coffee pot with dirty coffee spots on it & a drawer with crumbs inside - rightfully denied by Airbnb's Resolution Center. Curious that you claim it's the worst Airbnb experience you've ever had, and yet when you messaged me during your stay about only the coffee pot and drawer with crumbs you said: "but it fine" & later proceeded to request a late check out. So which one is it: no big deal or the worst experience ever? Clearly it was no big deal because you requested to stay later. Your own contradicting words resulted in your ridiculous refund request being denied - nice try though. Airbnb was very interested in your statement about having multiple accounts, especially since the account you booked under showed no previous reviews, and yet you claim to have had multiple experiences - using multiple accounts is a violation of the terms and conditions. Regarding my rules you said caused you concern - why did you book with me then? All of these rules are listed on my public listing for everyone to read before they book. You knew in advance these were my posted House Rules, and I messaged them to you twice before your arrival. Good attempt at raising some faux issues. Remember when I messaged you on the 2nd day of your staying asking you if everything was ok & to report any issues that needed my attention? You told me everything was fine. You did not mention feeling uncomfortable by the rules nor did you mention not being able to use the kitchen because of the cleanliness issues. You certainly did not mention anything about the bathtub - since you claim to have not used the kitchen for 4 days because it was "dirty", I can assume you also didn't use the shower - after all, as you claim, it was black and looked like a 100 soldiers had been using it. Worn enable is not the same as a dirty bathtub, nice try again.
I said to myself - THATS IT ! - like a gauranteed algorithum, every time I've hosted a guest who's requested a discount, whether provided or not (in the past I have provided discounts), these guest ALWAYS COMPLAIN. So then today, 5 days after dealing with this princess and the pea of a guest - I get an inquiry that includes a request for a discount:
Hi Stephen, I am looking forward to stay with a friend in ........ and I really liked this studio. I´ve seen the price is great, but with the additional fees it goes up to 142.4 each per day. Do you think we can arrange lower price? we could pay 112 (A total of 610 for the 5 nights) Would it be possible? Thanks a lot. Best, Maria
My response:
In my hosting experiences, guests are more happy with an apartment priced in their initial budget. My apartment is already competitively priced for its location and comparable listings & hotels in the area. In as much, no discounts are provided.
Going forward, I've committed myself to allow my apartment to remain vacant vs. dealing with gauranteed problem guests leaving false and exaggerated negative reviews. NO MORE. NO DISCOUNTS. NO THANK YOU. NO CHEAP GUESTS. Its freaking Airbnb, its already cheaper !!
