Horrible Guest that lied to get a refund from AirBNB

[Rick4729]

Good Afternoon,

This is my first time posting on this forum.

I have been a AirBNB host for 6 years and have 159 reviews.

This month I have had the worst experience as a host and wanted to get some advice so that hopefully it never happens again.

So I had a guest book for a 10 night stay so that they could come over from Western Australia to visit family i

here in wonderful Maleny Queensland, when they arrived I met them at the front door to show them through the AirBNB as I do with all of my Guests, Everything went well as normal, they were very happy with the AirBNB and the welcome pack that I supply to all my guest,

I asked them if they had any questions or concerns which they said no and that they liked the space.

the next morning I received a message on my phone (not through AirBNB message) asking if I could supply them with Bleach and that was the whole message, Concerned I messaged back asking why they needed bleach and if there was a problem to which I did not receive a reply so I called the Guest and asked the same question to which the guest said that the Toilet in the main bedroom was disgusting, I panicked at this point thinking did I miss something during the set up and clean of the AirBNB so I asked her what it was and she said that the toilet bowl was brown in the bottom (I was concerned) So I apologized and told the guest that I would ensure that it was cleaned before they got home from there day trip which she agreed to and even suggested a cleaning product that I should use.

So I entered the AirBNB to see what it was and found that the Toilet had some water scale in the bowl (I was relieved as I thought it was something a lot worse) so I spent around an hour cleaning and bleaching the toilet to ensure that it was perfect.

I then sent the guest a message informing her that I had cleaned the toilet and said if I could be of any more help to message me.

I received a reply thanking me for cleaning it so quickly and at the bottom of the message was a remark say that she did not think that Host where allowed to enter the AirBNB space without the guest being there, this shocked me as I did inform her that I would be entering the AirBNB to clean and sort out the situation for her..

the next day I did not here from the guest so I thought everything was sorted out.

on the morning of day 3 I received a message from AirBNB stating that the Guest had made a formal complaint and that there was going to be an investigation and that the Guest was leaving the AirBNB early (Panic set in) so I contacted AirBNB and asked what the complaint was and they informed me that the guest had complained that our AirBNB was in a horrible state with Hair in common areas, dirty benches, marks on walls and a few other things and that they had supplied photos as proof, I told AirBNB that these allegations where false and that I would go upstairs and take photos of the Airbnb as proof that she was making false accusations, so I sent them 12 photos that showed that the AirBNB was spotless and that if they looked at 99% of my previous reviews that it would show that I get 5 stars for almost everything (1 or 2 guests 4 star me for cleaning and accuracy).

They did there investigation and found in my Favour and said that the guest had exaggerated her claims and that she was not entitled to a full refund as she requested and that she would be granted a $29 credit on her first night due to the water scale in the toilet bowl.

I was happy about this outcome and the AirBNB representative asked me if I was OK with the guest altering there booking and leaving that day. I said yes and that I was happy to refund her the money from the nights that she did not stay (even though she was not entitled to it)

I was concerned about this situation so I asked the AirBNB representative if the guest was allowed to review me and was informed that because they had stayed for 3 nights that they could still review me.

so I have sat here for 13 days stressed out waiting to see if she would rate me, knowing that if she did that she would give me a 1 star destroying my AirBNB Super host statues and driving my star rating right down..

Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks

Rick           

[Helen744]

@Rick it is super important that toilets are not only clean , but look clean and guests take grave offence at hair , not their own . We all deal with this in all cleaning , so maybe get out the magnifying glass and check for those little things . A word of advice though , never ever leave bleach for guests. General bathroom and toilet cleaners should be sufficient . Having said that I think you have had a fright and been reminded that guests will look and will find and in some circumstances will walk out. Dont worry too much but move on .I suspect this is nothing you cannot handle but do check out all the comments in your reviews which may mention cleaning as you may have missed something.. all the best .. H

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rick4729 Some guests will give 4 star or lower reviews. The most important thing is to respond to them in a fashion that helps future guests still book your place. A really good example of how not to respond to a 4 star review is shown below. This is far more damaging than the review itself

I am so disappointed with your review, how dare you.. you should be ashamed of yourself leaving 4 star ratings for everything other than location, it is people like you that destroy hosts hard work ratings as you are nasty. You said we were expensive even though we are probably the cheapest Airbnb in our area. We do not supply firewood for the fire pit as if we did we would charge a lot more for our listing, the fire pit is in a private front courtyard that is fully fenced but you found it awkward, says a lot about you.. You are not welcome back. And I would suggest to other hosts not to accept your request.. I had a feeling you would leave a bad review and I was right. But seeing that I am a fair host I ratted you 5 stars even though you did not take the rubbish out and left the fire pit in pieces and left marks on the felt of the pool table.. Good luck in your unfortunate life.