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I never thought of myself as squeamish about bugs until reading this thread. You guys are very descriptive.
Eeeeeek
Anyway, no refund. Would the exterminator write something attesting that he was just there and that you have regular service and that in his professional opinion, a true "infestation " is unlikely?
It sounds like they found free accommodation and were looking to get out of the reservation. Sneaky people!
Well âŚlet me tell you all about palmetto bugs as I am in Hawaii and this is their stompin grounds. 
⌠yes they are a type of roach⌠but the good news is they are easily killed with a fly swatter. Donât use spray on them. Just grab a swatter and wap, DEAD. You can also use the hoy hoy traps which are sticky traps, they work the best.
Also they are not as fast as centipedes and other creepy crawlers. So you at least have a chance to kill them before they get away.
I just had a BRAND NEW KITCHEN INSTALLED in my home upstairs. Within days of completion, the B52s were in residence. Astonishing. They were already living in the new kitchen before the contractor even got his final check. LOL. So it is nothing to do with cleanliness.
Yes, the ones that fly are a bit unnerving. Even for this 24 year veteran of Hawaii. 
Sometimes when they are disoriented they will do that. Fly around and appear to buzz you. This is where they got their infamous name, the B52, from.
The other night I had turned out the light and had to get up three times to swat the dive bombers.
I recently hosted entomologists who were here to meet with local officials about mosquito control. She told me that the B52s have a season. So they lay their eggs, hatch quickly, live their lowly lives, mate, lay more eggs and die. Those eggs will hatch the following season, which is why you see so many of them so suddenly.
We city dwellers can tell you that even the cleanest person can get the nasty, filthy type of cockroach. Once in a great while (about twice a year) we get one giant orange cockroach. I promise I am obsessive about cleaning up food waste.
Also, people who live in apartments often get cockroaches because of their neighbors cleanliness habits.
When I worked in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, we had cockroaches in the CCU. Itâs not cleanliness, itâs the sub-tropical environment. The hospital had regular hospital grade cleaning, plus exterminators spraying frequently. People have to learn that bugs arenât always due to poor hygiene. My first three reviews on cleanliness were 3âs due to bugs. I was gutted. Itâs in my listing that bugs are part of life in the woods. My last two reviews were 5 for cleanliness, I spoke to both sets of guests, telling them that there will be bugs, especially, explained that within an hour of clearing away all spider webs, they are back. I emphasized that I donât use insecticides, but do use bleach to clean the bathroom, and kitchen. I also up a poster that explains that most bugs are beneficial, found it at a nature site on the net.
Agree that these folks are just being slimy and donât deserve a cent.
Yes Kona, ever since I got a fly swatter with a long handle my life has changed! I used to try to use a shoe, which is totally inaccurate and liable to make a mess if you hit them dead center. Sprays are almost useless since the bugs are too big, and then you have it all over your ceiling, your couch, your mantle, your carpet, your spouseâŚ
Whenever I have guests that are from cooler places I do give them a super brief âhey, just so you know, sometimes there are visitors from outsideâ talk and offer my fly swatter. I donât really describe them like I did above because then I would have no guests! But they are common in all hot places and itâs not something I can control. Fortunately, the cats seem to think they are the best toys ever, so mostly I find dead roaches with no legs.
I have about a half dozen really funny roach stories, but this thread has been hijacked enough!
For all intents and purposes they look like huge roaches. Very terrifying for the uninitiated. And really pretty difficult to eradicate totally. Her guests were wimps, and jerks on top of it. That is so unfortunate.
Yes! Great approach! I do the same with these pesky ants that just wonât give up in this drought. Theyâre thirsty! And fast as can be if you drop the tiniest of crumbs of anything anywhere.
Iâm not so sure. If these people cry âbugsâ I think theyâll get their way.
A flip flop works great. Itâs my weapon of choice.
The Resolution Center told me that the guests have to have some sort of documentation that there was a bug in the house.
Ok. Then thatâs good. But whatâs to stop these people from getting some bug from outside and taking a picture of it? âOh waiterâŚwhatâs this fly doing in my soup?â :))))
on steroids :)))) jâŚ
1 bug wonât do it. They wis have to show multiple bugs at the house, and not just outside. Anyone can come by and put a bug on the porch, then say it was infested. Air seems hip to this.
Palmetto bugs has been an issue in south part of US since forever. I saw in one listing a host wrote: DO NOT COME TO FLORIDA IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF BUGS. They are everywhere, you WILL SEE them inside the house. BUT it does not mean my house is dirty. DO NOT book my house if bugs give panick attacks.
He screamed about bugs in his description as I figured he was fed up with peopleâs comments .
My puppy chased them and ate them. Gross
UPDATE and final resolution
The family escalated the complaint to Airbnb case manager but I had a case manage of my own who knew the entire story. They asked for $900 back (I only got $817 from the entire stay!). I offered them the $75 extra I had charged for the extra guest (and that bed was NOT used). But I also included a few sentences that said âthis entire situation was caused by misunderstanding, miscommunication and genuine good intentions but it has turned into an us vs them conflict. I hate that, because I try hard to make the house as comfortable as possible for my guestsâŚâ then I offered three pointed reasons they should not get any more money back.
I braced for the blowback, fully expecting them to take this all the way to Grand Pooh Bah of AirbnbâŚbut THEY ACCEPTED THE $75 offer!
My faith is restored and I am a happy host again. Lesson learned? Donât let anyone but the actual person who contracted for the house make decisions, e.g. whether to invite the exterminator into the house. Turns out the woman who went ballistic about the âpoisonâ had requested that I NOT spray but I couldhât see her entire text message because she was not the primary renter. Missed communication and expectationsâŚbut a sigh of relief
Good idea. If I find one on the floor, I up-end a glass over it (as long as the cat doesnât get there first) then slide a piece of paper under the glass to form a lid and catch the palmetto in the glass. Then let the bug go out of the door. What a wuss I am 
They asked for $900 but accepted $75?
It sounds really scammy to me (is scammy a word?). Guests over inflating problems to get some kind of refund wouldnât surprise me. It seems such an over reaction. I would imagine a true bug phobic person may ring you and say, âiâm so sorry to disturb you but there are some bugs in the house could you please come and deal with it?â I had a Japanese guest ring me at 9pm one night because a cockroach flew in the window - she asked me to come and kill and remove it which I did. She was embarassed and pinged me on cleanliness but never asked for a refund.
Last night I had guests checking in late who would need to let themselves in and I went to switch on the bedside lights to make the room look nice and cosy. And in flew a moth the size of a mouse. I spent 10 minutes trying to flap it back out of the room without success. I ran into my guest this morning and apologised about the moth. No big deal - they got rid of it.
Excessive complaints tells me these people are scammers.
Good luck with it.