A guest threw our stuff

[Kiyoko7]

Hi, my husband and I are a new Airbnb host started in March 2021 in Vermont. Most of the guests were happy, except one guest who stayed recently. She is over 70 years old, and it seemed her travel was miserable and left a horrible review on us. One of them was complaining about the incense and aroma diffuser we put in each room. I am sensitive to smell, so I selected the brand, "P.F. Candle co" from CB2 NY, which has a natural and quiet smell. She complains as follows:" There were 3-4 offensively strong air fresheners in every room which immediately went outside.".

When we checked the house, we realized she threw away all the diffusers from all rooms. I am very upset about this guest--- Would anyone please advise what I can do in this situation? (Unfortunately, we live in N.Y., so we didn't inspect the house right after she left. It has been more than 3 weeks has passed, in addition, the new house cleaner has missed it as it was their first day)

[Mike-And-Helen0]

You only have one review and it is positive?

[Kiyoko7]

Hi, By mistake, I posted on a new thread instead of replying you.

—The property is handled by the management company and doesn’t appear under my name 

[Kiyoko7]

Hi, we use a management company to handle our property, so it doesn’t appear under my name 

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Kiyoko7 ah.

Chucking away diffusers is a bit much as they can be expensive.

A lot of people object to synthetic fragrance, though, so I can see why they may have removed them. Some people are more sensitive than others to smell.

Were the items in the bin?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

well, 3 weeks have passed so you can't review her or ask her to pay for thrown stuff. It is too late for that. I suppose you are lucky she didn't throw out your TV because she didn't like TV program 🙂

The old lady probably doesn't know how much it costs. Or doesn't care.

We used to have a diffusor in our Airbnb but we removed it when we realized some guests unplugged them. And there is always a possibility it causes a fire (if electrical) or be overturned and spills over the floor or furniture. It's just something we should pay for and take care of and not everyone likes it. The best smell is when there is no smell at all.

Btw my mum used to spray the light bulb with a few drops of perfume then turned on the light and the whole house smelled nice. Or spray the paper tissue and leave it on the radiator. 

[Kiyoko7]

Thank you for your comments. The diffuser in the bin was about $36 x 6 (4 rooms and two bathrooms), and the electric aroma diffuser and oils were about $100 x 2 rooms.

My anger is not about the prices but the unfairness Airbnb platform for hosts. She left horrible reviews, which impacted our future bookings (we had 98% occupancy before her reviews, but zero bookings after this negative review. ) We requested Airbnb(through the management company) to dispute her review, but Airbnb disagrees on that.

In the past, We had a guest who broke a marble table, and the management company asked politely if they accidentally broke it, and the guests were, of course, denied and very upset. As a result, they put a low rating on us. I feel the host is fear of receiving a horrible review so guests can use it as a weapon to threaten us.

[Sarah977]

@Kiyoko7  Guests should certainly not be tossing hosts' things in the trash. But you should also not be using diffusers or scented anything in an Airbnb. You should aim for a scentless environment.

What smells good to you doesn't smell good to everyone, or they may be allergic. And guests can perceive that scents are  being used to cover up some other bad smell, like mold and mildew.

As 3 weeks have passed, there is nothing to be done, but take this as a learning experience and don't impose your liking of these scented things on your guests.

I would also have moved them outside, although I certainly wouldn't have thrown them out.