inbox message indicating bad review coming and then asking for a free day -

[Ed440]

This is the inbox message I received. I was getting messages but not phone calls because I was traveling and in a remote area. I didn't get the voicemail about the refrigerator food until the next day. After rreceiving this I checked the guests 4  previous reviews, and one of them siad 'Cannot recommend this guest at all. Specifically threatening a bad review. I have not reviewed this guest yet and am wondering what I should do. I told them I would reimburse the cleaning fee for the issues they had. Then they asked to stay later than the checkout time. I told them they couold stay an additional 7 hours!  In response to her issues. 1 is true. 2 - there was some mold on the seal on the fridge door.. 3. They could have removed the unopened wine and margarita drinks, There was a lot of room.. 4. The master bath was spotless except for half bars of soap in the dishes. There were new unopened bars set out too. There was a lufas that was set aside that my partner uses. There was dust on the guest toilet tank and the guest sink was not wiped clean, but the toilet was pristine otherwise. 5. I was responsive to messages, but did not get the call. The message I received: 

Hey Ed, I hope you're doing well. I'm wondering if there is anything that can be done to compensate some of the issues with the house.

1. We did not realize this was a residence. We most likely would have still rented but were not happy that the listing was not transparent.

2. The refrigerator has mold

3. The refrigerator was completely full. We had to move some of your personal items to make space for ourselves. We planned to have all our meals at the house so we brought a lot of food with us, then realized upon arrival that there was nowhere to put it. We could have planned accordingly had we known.

4. The bathrooms were not cleaned. I sent you pictures of the main floor bathroom which was so dirty I was able to capture it in a picture. And the master bathroom had personal lufas and soap. Gross.

5. You have been unresponsive.  We are super flexible people,  and would have happily let it go if a cleaner could have been sent out. But this has not been a good experience. 

I cannot in good faith give this property a 5 star review. It's a beautiful place and we would even come again, so in fairness to you I wanted to bring these issues to you personally to see if we can resolve it between us. 

I think reimbursing for 1 day would be fair. What do you think?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ed440 you are going to get a bad review whatever you do. I would Airbnb message the guest along the lines of ' Airbnb rules do not allow us to buy a good review by offering a refund. Sadly if this decision means you leave a retaliatory review then so be it'. Hopefully you can then persuade Airbnb to treat their review as retaliatory.....

That said you certainly deserve a 3 star review at best for cleanliness given what the guest experienced.

[Ed440]

Should I comment in their review that they threatened a bad review to get a day off? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Ed440 I would

[Kia272]

@Mike-And-Jane0  I don't see anything in the message that sounds like a threat from these folks. They sound pretty reasonable but genuinely disappointed with their experience. 

They've simply made the statement that they don't feel it was a 5 star experience. If that's the truth, it's not a threat. 

[Kia272]

@Ed440 I can't speak to what happened, what was clean or not clean. However, in a whole home rental, I would not expect to find food in the fridge. People expect to enter a home that doesn't have any indication that people live there. It may sound unreasonable, but that's the expectation. 

Can you not get a fridge for the garage and simply move any personal food items in there when you have guests staying? 

Also, these days, who uses bar soap??? Aside from the fact that it's really yucky once it gets wet and sits in a soap dish, there are so many different kinds of liquid soap that dispense cleanly. I would never put bar soap out for guests in a short term rental. 

The loofahs? Not cool. I don't want to see other people's personal items in the bathroom. 

Overall, you have 5 star ratings, but your cleanliness rating has taken a hit. Probably good to keep that in mind for future guests. 

I think these folks sound reasonable. They probably got frustrated when they were unable to reach you. I always tell guests when I'm going to be in an area with poor cell reception or off-grid, so they'll know that I'm not ignoring them if they reach out, and that I'll get back to them ASAP when I can. Usually, nothing happens, but it's simply a considerate thing to do as a host. 

I think a clear apology, along with a cleaning fee refund AND a free day (refund) would go a long way. You do whatever you think best. This is just my 2 cents.