Needy Guest

[Lenore22]

Hoping this goes to the host circle to commiserate- last time it posted to the help board... 😬

Well here we are: day 1 of a 3-day stay with a guest who asked if our pet-friendly listing could be extra-cleaned prior to their stay because her "children have severe allergies to pets." (We said no, not beyond our already rigorous standards for covid-19) Despite my not-so gently recommending no less than 5 other local listings that have strict no-pet policies that would meet their needs with lovely hosts whom I personally recommend, she decided to book with us anyway. ("Your place looks just so perfect and everyone says it's so clean...")

I guess the flattery got to me... Well here we are, after a week of updating her daily on conditions during a severe local wildfire because her family has bad asthma and is worried about air quality, this well-intentioned guest is making all kinds of little suggestions on how we can improve... Well, we did ask for it after all, didn't we?

From rewashing all the towels last night because she didn't like how they smell, to helpful notes about what supplies are running low (laundry soap- thank goodness she travels with tide pods in case she suddenly needs to wash 10 towels sets; toilet paper & paper towels already after 1 night)- she's got a keen eye for detail, so now we can just start guessing whether these helpful notes will start chipping away at star ratings or if there's anything we can do to turn it in our favor. 

I know... I know... We should have cancelled. Difficult when all of our other bookings this month have cancelled due to the wildfire. (It's kind of a big deal... Our house is safe, but the community is severely impacted- including one of our cleaners whose family was evacuated last week and we haven't heard from in a few days).

Is there anything you do in the middle of a stay like this to make the best of the situation? Do I offer a little gift certificate to use at the member businesses in town for her understanding? Or is that just adding fuel to the fire?

Fingers crossed...

[Laura2592]

@Lenore22  wondering how everything is going with this situation. Keep us updated!

[Lenore22]

Update: after mentioning contacting her lawyer about the cameras. I submitted my request for the fees for additional guests thru the resolution center. She rejected the request and blocked me. I escalated with Airbnb... We'll see what happens...

 I left a short review:

Cleanliness 5*

Communication 2*

Rules 3*

Christina's family had a lot of needs that our space could not accommodate but she chose to book despite that. She offered many suggestions on how to make the space work better. Booked for 4 and arrived with 9. Did not respond to communication regarding the extra guests. Not a group we would have back.

***

For her part, she left a glowing, amazing review. With kudos for being so communicative & specific compliments on the space, blackout curtains, AC, good WiFi.

Accuracy 3*

Cleanliness 3*

Value 3*

Location 4*

Check-in 5*

Communication 5*

-----

Overall 4*

It dropped our score (which I was prepared for), but I wasn't prepared for the gushing compliments. Now I feel like such a jerk... 

But I also feel like I was honest and that my review is accurate based on my experience. I usually reply to guest reviews, but this just feels so awkward, I can't bring myself to say anything.

Oddly, many of her complaints/feedback are accurate. The door handle *is* loose. The cleaner commented on it and when we examined it, 1 screw is loose and 1 is missing. Actually the back door handle is loose too. My son was even wondering if someone tried to break in. But again, neither we nor the cleaner felt that it was loose before their stay.

And the upstairs drain is totally clogged! 

But we just cleared it the day before they came! Is it just because there were so many people? I don't even know what to think...

[Laura2592]

@Lenore22 Ugh the drama continues! What a sneaky guest. I would have absolutely given her below 3 in every category and pressed the "would not host again" button.  This is exactly the type of person I never want to darken anyone's door. 

Hopefully you prevail in your claim. It takes cojones to deny it when you have screen shots of her double stuffed guest numbers. But that would be what I would expect from this group.

ETA LMAO that she left her comments on HER OWN REVIEW!! Oh my. This is such a huge waving red flag to any host to see the way she actually nitpicks and STILL doesn't mention that she doubled the size of her booking without paying. I would never ever let this person into my home. But now she's made that really easy for all of us to see.

[Lenore22]

OMG--- I hadn't seen her reply. 😅

Ah well no longer my circus...

[Colleen253]

@Lenore22 I had a similar situation with a difficult guest. In her response to my very honest review of her, she stuck her foot way in and basically confirmed to all future hosts that what I had written was indeed true. In her response, she also threatened to 'change' her (good) review of me, in retaliation. It's unfortunate when some folks don't familiarize themselves with how the platform works, and then fly off the handle. 😉

[Emilia42]

Awesome review, @Lenore22. You shouldn't feel like a jerk for being honest.

[Ted307]

Good for you to leave this person an honest review. The icing on the cake is her posting all the critical things she was sending you, right where every future host will get a look at her attitude and the possible review from her in the future. I expect this renter will be booking under a new profile in the future, no review would be better than this. Even better if she would just stay at one of the cabin style little motels in your area, or Motel 6 in Weed!😀