No idea how to review a guest that constantly complained

I obliged a guest with a 20% discount off her stay for being a teacher. I also went against my listed requirements and allowed her to stay for 10 days, rather than the 5 day limit I have listed. What a huge mistake! All of this to accommodate her and she has complained the ENTIRE time about one thing or another. The first day she arrived she immediately complained about there being plants in the apartment and asked that we move them to the outside. So we did. It’s only her and her husband and between the two of them have used 6 rolls of toilet paper, only really concerning because we are on a septic system. She texted me one day that there was pasta in the bottom of the trash can and requested a new trash can be provided. After rushing out to purchase a new one, and picking up the old one, I found that it wasn’t pasta in the bottom of the receptacle, it was lint. She complained that the mattress, less than two years old btw, is too lumpy. She is now warning me that the tile in the bottom of the shower is red…WHAT? She is insisting that it was that way when she arrived…um no! They haven’t officially checked out so I haven’t seen it with my own two eyes, but I am assuming this is her way of preemptively denying any fault. She has dyed bright red hair and my fear is that she either dyed her hair while at the apartment, or it has washed off and stained my tile and grout. My questions are - how in the world do I review this woman? I’m expecting a bad review as it is just from all the constant complaining and neediness. I’ve read on other posts that it’s recommended to add on my review something like ‘I believe she would be more comfortable in a hotel’ or the like, that this is a polite way of notifying other hosts to avoid her. Second, any suggestions on cleaning the tile and grout if it’s indeed as bad as she says it is?

Oh dear! Live and learn I guess, don’t offer discounts and don’t allow stays which exceed your maximum (presumably you set 5 days because it works best for you). These guests have been a nightmare but please don’t use the ‘better suited to a hotel’ line. I think you owe it to other hosts to be honest and say that these guests have been extremely difficult to please and that you couldn’t recommend them.

They are probably going to give you a rotten review anyway so you may as well be honest and save someone else some heartache. :weary:

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I would just say she was a “high maintenance guest” this would be in my review.

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maybe just cut and paste your opening post, as the review! :slight_smile:

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Don’t be polite! Tell it like it is!
Once you started rushing to her demands, the princess kept finding things (for sport) to keep you hopping.

Last summer, my two worst guests (okay they took second prize) were a pair of middle school teachers. Clueless. Left bbq unattended and their food almost caught fire, set off smoke alarm several times in the house. Bought three box fans without telling me and let them run 24/7. Talked on their cell phones outside with FaceTime on speaker at 6am, clogged the toilet…and more.

I was so happy when those dummies left. Teachers can make bad guests!

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Oh I totally see that now. But honestly, how do you not follow thru with their requests and get good reviews? She wasn’t ever rude about it per se, she’s just, as someone added above, high maintenance. I wouldn’t want to rent to her again or someone like her. 10 days of solid stress and frustration for sure!

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I think you were most unlucky, in that you got ‘one of those’ guests. This forum is littered with posts, saying not to do them favours, as it will start a landslide. But it’s nice to be able to help a guest when they have a request, we’re at the rum end of hospitality, after all! Just a shame it’ll bite you on the arsebuttocks.
My listing is room and bathroom only, last guest asked to put a pizza in my freezer, I was smiling and saying "noooo’, before she got to the end of the sentence. Because next, she’ll be surrounded by her family chattering away whilst cooking a pizza, whilst me and the wife try and watch the telly in our part of the house! Then the next day, she’ll ask very politely if she can do a massive banquet, etcs.
Luckily she didn’t review, as I suspect it wouldn’t have been a 5star! But them’s the breaks

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Why aren’t you checking on the red-stained tub right now! Tell her you need to inspect it because it was not red when you rented it to her and you need to see whether immediate remedial attention is required.

(Also, if the trash has not been picked up, you might want to consider looking through it for her hair dye product…or perhaps taking a quick snapshot of her to back up your claim to Air.)

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Great question! They are literally packing up and about to drive away now, I’m going to be in a dead sprint to that shower I assure you! I also screen shot her Airbnb profile pic that shows her bright red hair. Thank you for the great idea and CYA! :slight_smile:

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Bahahahaha ha, you must be a distant relative of Shakespeare! Agree, the guest was a fknugget cksplat (expletives deleted!) … I actually saw those names on signs being hoisted in Scotland last week against a certain orange baby. :joy::joy:

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Take photos of everything, and open a case immediately whenever you have a difficult guest to document the situation before the guest can call in to complain.

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Regarding your question about following through on requests, I might have checked into the first frivolous complaint, and after that, I might have said to her, “you know, you don’t seem very happy here. I’d like to give you the chance to leave now, get refunded on your remaining nights and find something more suitable to your needs.”

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Take a photo of the grout. Scrub clean then use a whitening pen if it’s white. I had a guest do the same and it took me 2 hours to do a small cubicle. Thumbs down. Mention the grout. Now I have a house rule for no hair dye!

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Nope, nothing missing here. She blamed her mistaking the lint for pasta on her poor eye sight. Full disclosure, I’m new to this (only since May) and I’m so afraid of a bad review I probably do too much.

I honestly cannot explain her actions or requests. However she’s gone now, the grout in the shower is no where as bad as she made it sound and I have a new trash can to boot. :slight_smile:

No one is going to put you in front of a firing squad for a bad review. One bad review will not kill or harm you. Six in a row means you’re doing something wrong!

We’ve had a bunch of new hosts with problems in the last week or ten days, all saying the same thing “I’m terrified of bad review…” That’s really sad that newbies are made to feel that way.

The lesson to be learned here is DO NOT give discounts, breaks, special deals, refunds or anything like that to your guests. They’ll take advantage of that and keep arguing for more.

Guest has a problem (pasta in the wastebasket)? Show me now.

Why do your wastebaskets not have trashbag liners in them? Al three of ours do…

Guest “suddenly finds something wrong.” (red tile)? Show me right now.

Guest uses up 6 rolls of toilet paper? What?? Why the heck did you leave six rolls where they could get to it??? If they asked for more, to a total of six, why did you not inquire if there was a medical issue that you should be aware of, because you seem to be using excessive product… For guests staying less that 4 days I leave only 2 rolls of TP and a single box of paper tissues. If they want more they can buy their own.

Public Review: “Cannot recommend this high-maintenance guest. Too many issues to list publicly.”

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I always have liners in my trash cans with an extra hanging on the side just in case they need it. I did leave two rolls of toilet paper in the apartment, she kept asking me for more. Like I said, I am new to this. Some of this is just going to be a learning curve and the reason I came to this forum for advice. I didn’t anticipate a firing squad, just trying to be a good host.

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Totally agree, this was a huge learning lesson for me. I rented as a guest on Airbnb before ever becoming a host. Anytime I ran out of what was provided, I always went and bought more. It never occurred to me that someone would just keep coming back to me for more…again, lesson learned and I will be adding that tidbit to my listing.

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Drea, everyone was new once :blush: I’ve been hosting for almost two years and am learning all the time. I’ve made lots of mistakes too :weary: Don’t think of it as a firing squad, just as people who have been there and who are trying to help!

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Thank you. :slight_smile: Just to be clear, firing squad wasn’t my selected verbiage, I was replying to another comment suggesting that a firing squad is how I viewed a bad review.