I had twins and was always “scented” with something the first year, but it wasn’t perfume! 
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Ken, you often provide good advice for your fellow hosts but I feel that sometimes you rush to harsh judgement, before knowing the facts of individual circumstances or reading a post properly. And what do we critiscise guests for the most?
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The guest’s review:
“If you want a place to sleep, Marie has a bed, TV, and dishes to use. I paid to stay a month but I had an allergic reaction and rash when I stayed at Marie’s and decided to end early. In the beginning everything looked in order but there is a certain smell. I believe it is a mold problem or bed bugs. I’ve never had symptoms like I had when I stayed there.
The neighborhood is not the best but is close to the main attractions. I would make sure to lock everything and leave nothing in the car if you have one.
Another thing I noticed are cockroaches in the apartment. I’m very clean so this can be irritating. Marie is always at home and is very quiet. She will talk through airbnb if she needs to. If you need something as well she will try to help. The room is good for a short stay but not a long one. If she fixes the mold problem and has pest control I believe the room would be great. I recommend to keep searching though.”
If she weren’t so naive, I’d think she was trying to ruin me by the mere mention of bedbugs! Air sent me a warning because the guest rated Cleanliness at one star.
I’m drafting a reply:
Pest control was here two days before [first name] arrived. She never mentioned a problem while she was here.
We have no bedbugs and never have had. They don’t smell, they bite.
It would be more helpful to state where the mold was located. I’m allergic to mold, so I think if there were any I’d know about it.
For a “very clean” person [first name] certainly left the shared kitchen and the microwave in her room un-cleaned, and all three wastebaskets in the room full to the top.
It’s a neighborhood of working families with kids and dogs, as described in the listing. Not a high crime area. Just because half my neighbors are black doesn’t mean they’re going to break into your car.
After some thought, I called air and said that the mere mention of bedbugs could cost me bookings, and could they take it down. They’ll investigate and get back to me tomorrow. Meanwhile I’ve taken pictures of the mattress (covered with a bug-proof cover) and pillow top, showing pure white with no bugs or traces thereof.
I haven’t yet figured out how to get the pics from my tablet to my computer
That is a very serious charge, and it needs to be proven. I hope they will remove it.
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Ooof. It’s hard to not see that as malicious. She didn’t even say she FOUND mold or bed bugs, just that she’s never had “symptoms” before!
And then the crime-ridden neighborhood and cockroaches! I sure hope Air removes this review from your listing!
I suspect it is malicious. She didn’t understand that she wasn’t going to receive a refund until she actually checked out, so she spent a couple of days being afraid she was going to be cheated out of it. It never occurred to me she wouldn’t know that, so I didn’t address it and was just puzzled why she was hanging around here when it supposedly made her so sick. She really thought that leaving her food in the fridge would somehow make me or Air send her refund faster.
She’s been sheltered and taken care of, and probably doesn’t fully appreciate the impact of what she’s saying.
Personally I think it’s likely her rash is either a food allergy or a reaction to a demanding school program on top of being away from home for the first time.
I figured out how to move the pics and sent them to the rep at Air that’s handling this.
I cannot wait for this to be over and behind me.
Meanwhile, the consolation of a fresh-baked cherry pie.
This is Florida, and a multi-unit dwelling, so there will be the occasional roach. However, pest control was just here the day before she arrived, and I haven’t seen any. The fact that she never wiped out her microwave might have something to do with it, if in fact she ever saw any.
It kills me that she can look at this upper-working class, well-maintained complex and interpret the presence of black people as a crime danger. So horrendously stupid.
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That’s probably the whole problem right there, too many black families. At least you left her the review she deserved and a thumbs down as well.
Please let us know what Airbnb decides.
Air won’t let me put “mixed race complex” in my listing. If they would I could avoid renting to people who aren’t comfortable with the idea.
Why would you want to/need to do that. You’d have to be pretty daft not to realise most neighbourhoods in cities in the U.S. in most areas will have people of different heritages.
By the way mixed race literally means someone who has is dual heritage, not an area with people from different races.
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I’m not in a big city.
Some of my guests come from towns or states, where there are very few black people, and they can be surprised.
I should try to get a pic of kids on the complex’s playground, from far enough away not to individuate faces, for privacy’s sake.
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Even so, with TV and social media, it can’t be a surprise.
I think its a good idea to take photos of your local neighbourhood to give people a feel for what it’s like.
Since I live here and have dealt with guests who have in fact been surprised, there’s not much use saying it can’t be a surprise. My specific neighborhood has not appeared on TV. Just because we see people of all races on TV doesn’t mean that people from a 99.4% white town really grasp that my town may be 50+% black.
Hmm. Perhaps I’m a tad naive myself. I haven’t seen the rash. She didn’t mention it until after I asked her to stop using a scented product. I was polite, and merely wanting her to change brands. She may have thought that since she was violating a rule that she needed some kind of counter attack. I have wondered why it was I who suggested she ask to be rehoused. Why she kept on staying here when she alleged breathing problems, rash, and the need to visit an urgent care.
I do better with frank and straightforward communicators, and I’m realizing she’s a manpulative liar.
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Lordy @reader99 I was trying to help.
I didn’t say your place had been on TV.
As a young person you can bet she would have researched the area before coming to stay there.
Help manage expectations - make it clear what sort of area you live in and take photos.
Should I have the lock changed? She turned in her key, but certainly had it long enough to make a copy.
Sheesh. Now Air has sent me a warning about my new lower overall score and the risk of being “paused.” The automated sender doesn’t realize there’s a case in process.
I’m starting to think I should advertise on other platforms as well.
What sites have others here had good experiences with?
@Helsi I have worked with young people for over 20 years. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if all she did was look at the distance to whatever venue she was really there to visit and the price, making a decision on this alone. Most years uni people are on the naive side these days, increasingly so. Certainly someone who leaves an Air as messy as it sounds she has is immature enough to be inclined to pass the buck rather than taking responsibility.
@reader99 it would be worth getting a written letter/Email from whatever bug removal firm you used giving an assessment on your property to aid your case to show this is a malicious review.
Sometimes they don’t even do that. I’ve had people inquire who were going to be working an hour to an hour and a half away, and it was up to me to tell them that! Air even has the little map, surely they can see it’s a whole different city!