i was scammed

[Beverly28]

I recently had two guests spend approximately ten days in my home which I live in as well. The two women stayed in one queen sized bed in a room adjacent to another guest and the three women shared a bathroom. On day TEN, one of the women spoke to me as i was sweeping my yard.  She said, you have a beautiful home and i really enjoyed staying here except for one thing.  I said, what is it?  She said " everything is nice and clean, and beautiful but, I dont know maybe you have bed bugs? She lifted her shirt and showed me a rash on the small of her back.  Aghast, I was immediately apologetic as I had never had any evidence or complaint of any type of bugs in my home in three years.  She said to me, "Dont worry, your home is beautiful, its not a big deal!"  I assured her that I would refund her money, and did so right away.  After she left, I called Orkin (exterminators) and had them come out to treat my home. The exterminator went throughout my home and even through my portion of the house and FOUND NO EVIDENCE of bedbugs in my home.  I felt like such a sucker!  I mean, just because I have a good rating I let these two scam me for fear that I would get trashed in a review.  They stayed in my home for free because I didnt want to take a ratings hit.  I thought about it later and you know how hindsight is; Why hadnt they mentioned it at ANY time during the stay?  has this happened to anyone else?  How should i have handled this?

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Beverly28

I think you probably need to step back a little - it doesn't really sound like a scam to me. If you were in her shoes and woke up with a rash - you might jump to the same conclusion.

I know this isn't helpful, but it's not an unreasonable conclusion for  her to jump to.

I would consider it a scam if she left, saying nothing, and then contacted AirBnB to complain about bed buds and provided photos. 

Having worked in the hotel industry and seeing one guest very distressed at being bitten by bed bugs I think I have some empathy for the woman if it was an honest mistake etc.

Good luck - and.....even if you don;t have them, they are carried by guests in their luggage and clothes. Get  bed bug traps, which are very effective and put one under each bed. Check them and replace/refill them regularly - then if someone does complain you at least can say there are none other than what may have travelled with them!

Good luck

[Helen3]

@Francois142 can you please stop spamming these forums