Helpful advice

[Laura2592]

I have a guest who stayed and left. Not super eventful-- brought a cat, everything seemed ok. Reviews had been left and were positive. She messaged me today following my Instagram.

"Hi Laura!  I wanted to explain my scores left during my stay because I feel that I owe you an explanation...."

(Ten minute pause, during which I actually looked at her scores for the first time. It was a 5 overall and 4s in cleanliness (WHAT?) and value (uh, okay.) I tend not to dig into these anymore because it just irritates me.)

"I thought some helpful advice might be useful as one host to another. I am from NYC and I can't believe that your pricing is as high as it is. I don't know what your area is like, but this would even be high for me in a major city. I suggest lowering it to something more reasonable and in line with a rural market that doesn't have many attractions. As for cleaning, our cat got under a shelf in the utility room and came out covered with dust. We found a spider and I didn't want to say anything but it was large and scary. We took a picture of it and I will send it. It may be poisonous! I think these issues need to be brought up to your cleaners ASAP. We appreciate that you are a cat friendly host and wish there were more like you. With just a few tweaks we think your listing will be absolutely perfect. I would love to return if you offer a discount. Will be following your Insta!"

I have not responded to this. 

So of note: 1) this person said nowhere on her profile that she was a "fellow host."

2) our prices are very much in line with a whole house rental in our market. In fact, we could stand to raise them and would be if we were not selling.

3) dust under a shelf in a utility room?? yeah I will get right on that. TBH that space is so small its hard to believe a cat could even squeeze under there. 

4) the spider was a common house spider. Not poisonous.

5) they want to come back...at a discount...to do nothing because the area is obviously so boring.

6) we charged zero pet fees. They have a cat. Hardly anyone even takes a cat. Yet we are too expensive.

Only a few more stays.

Geez. 

Why would someone even do this? I looked at her private feedback and it was "we loved everything!"

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  I had the same thing happen 2x recently.  There was nothing on the profile that shows the guest is also a host, no listing, no reviews..... but the reservation says 'also a host'.  Weird.

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

I have also noticed this a few times. The reservation says 'also a host' but there is no indication on the profile that the guest is a host. Even if they stopped hosting and no longer have listings, if they are using the same profile, surely they would have some reviews from guests?

I can only put it down to the host having listed an Airbnb in the past, but not actually hosted any stays. 

Either that, or it's just another technical glitch.

[Ann72]

@Mark116  @Huma0   There is some glitch going on where almost every reservation I've had in the last couple of years shows the guests as "Also a host."  It's almost never true.  But @Laura2592's guest claimed to be a host but didn't have any evidence?  So weird.

[Huma0]

@Ann72 

In the case of @Laura2592 's guest, I think either:

1. She used to host on Airbnb under a different profile.

2. She hosts on a different platform.

3. She is not a host at all and is talking nonsense.

[M199]

@Laura2592 

Well that was deceitful of her!

[M199]

@Laura2592 

My belief is that hosts need to support each other if possible.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Laura2592  I am waiting for your book, don't disappoint me (us) and forget to write it 😉

[Gillian166]

Not a week goes by when I don't have to bite my tongue,  fork me, people who come from the city to the country and then complain about insects are the WORST.  If anyone brings a cat to our farm i'm positive the cat will bring in a trophy mouse/rat or even bunny. I'd better invest in a fainting couch.  

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  I can't believe people have so little self awareness that they would complain about a cat getting dusty from getting itself under a shelf in the utility  room or a spider they saw while they were crawling around where no one else would ever go, and complain about your pricing when she chose to book there and said she loved it.

And then the gall to suggest she honor you with her presence again if you give her a discount.

Oh yeah, I would definitely be tempted to send her a scathing, sarcastic private response (which I know you wouldn't have any trouble composing). 

[Louise0]

Oh my giddy aunt!  God help this sad creature if she ever visits Sydney. We have ample fodder to fuel her hunger for outrage.  My place has spiders the size of dinner plates and leeches always searching for their next tasty snack.  Fortunately the ginormous lizards, voracious bush rats and the fierce little broad-tailed geckos that colonise the outdoor sofa keep them mostly in check.

Yes, some guests are risibly unreasonable and satisfying them is a pointless endeavour.  I memorably had a guest who loved the place but complained that the back garden, which is littoral rainforest, 'smelled damp, like rotting leaves'.  

Given that you're not keen to host this annoying little miss ever again, go nuts.  Put fingers to keyboard and tell her EXACTLY how you feel. It's cathartic.

[Kelly149]

@Louise0  should be put in charge of abb CS & CC & even the whole of ABB. 

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 

I would reply to her message with a link to this thread. She should be embarrassed. Why can't some people just be grateful and leave it be? Good luck to her finding a 2 bedroom house in NYC for under $200 per night. omg.

[Gillian166]

@Emilia42 well that’s one way to see if she’s truly a host. 

[Ann72]

@Laura2592   Definitely in the top 10 of most annoying messages received from guests!  As a New Yorker I'm embarrassed by this display of typical New York provincialism, perfectly expressed in Sol Steinberg's New Yorker cover.  But to carry it to the extent that she bossily instructs you on hosting really takes the cake.  I would pretend to pander by asking her for a link to her listing so I can see what real hosting looks like.  Then don't give her any feedback at all.  It will kill her.  😂

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 Pleeeease blast her. I’ll write it. That is Rubbish.