Perhaps if she hadn’t been so condescending and petty by adding all these other complaints…since she did what she did…NO REFUND! next…
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She wasn’t happy with not seeing multiple rolls for her one night stay.
Since she didn’t actually use them…and it’s not like she would have actually cleaned up anything with them.
Cannot recommend Betsy. She spent her one night looking for things to complain about, would not accept/ be happy with any help offered, and would better suited to a hotel with 24 hour staff.
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Why? We have a house with a 24-hour staff, almost like a hotel, and I wouldn’t want her!
“Cannot recommend Betsy. Spent her 12 hours at our home generating 24 dubious complaints.”
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Not everyone has 24 hr staff. The op doesnt seem to and that is who I commented to. A guest who cant seem to help herself and needs a handholding probably shouldnt be left to her own devices in someone elses house
I agree, most guests who aren’t suitable for an Airbnb, wouldn’t be suitable for a hotel either 
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@MissSwan - I understood the OP doesn’t have staff. I was trying (and failing, I guess) to point out that the statement frequently made about “better suited to a hotel” isn’t really useful. My guess is that this guest wouldn’t be happy in a hotel, either - or at least would try to complain her way out of paying at a hotel, too.
Simply stating that you don’t recommend this guest and why is enough.
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Thank you @Magwitch! I’m not docking any pay for the cleaners. They were already paid and they owned up to the dust on that one window sill and the origin of the smoky smell on the towels (and promised it would never happen again). That all meant a lot to me because I often work with cleaners that wouldn’t own up to ANYTHING.
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Very true. I have never seen a picture of such hair but I guess even if I did it could have been from any of the 6 women that was there…
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“I do not recommend Melanie as a guest. She is a former Airbnb host so I was looking forward to her comments and suggestions. Instead, I was surprised and disappointed to get so many complaints about things such as some dust on one windowsill in the basement, and that she got one roll of paper towels when she preferred two. We addressed her concerns as promptly and completely as we could – including sending a maintenance crew to adjust the hot water temperature for her, and allowing extra time for her group to check out.”
Don’t cut this person ANY slack. She is trying to patch some insecurity hole by making herself “better” than you and/or trying to impress her friends and/or trying to scam a discounted stay.
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you make a very good point.
Wow. This whole thread is quite a read, and I agree with those advising you to not give a refund to this ghastly woman, with her ghastly friends. I think she’s a bully and trying to scam a cheap stay.
In your shoes I would expect a bad review from her whether you refund or not. I would therefore wait the 14 days to review her, unless she does so first. Then I would enjoy writing a short, factual account (there’s a good one near the bottom of the thread) of her behaviour, with one star all round.
She might then even realise what a pratt she’s made of herself. No other host will allow her to book.
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One more thought – document on platform??
“I want to take the opportunity to respond to your statement that you would complain to Airbnb if I don’t refund you 50%. I don’t do business that way. We did our best to promptly and completely respond to all your concerns during your stay, including sending a maintenance team to adjust the hot temperature for you, and allowing your group extra time to check out.”
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OMG. That one has me rolling. 
This is a huge deal breaker for me.
I would get pissed if my towels smelled of smoke.
Usually I would not advise to give a refund but this is a long list of small things but in total it seems like a lot.
This is such an American sentence 
5 Likes
All the following should have been handled with strong language in your rental agreement. You need a very clear and detailed list of things that are not a reason for expecting a refund or cancellation.
Non-working appliance or TV or insect or wifi or unexpected construction or police emergency or weather events.
Cleaning/maintenance/repair issues should be reported to us to remedy, but are not reasons to expect refund or cancel…
Etc etc
“1. She found 1 long hair on one of the bunk beds on the third floor. So they all refuse to sleep in that room (it has 3 beds in it but there’s still plenty of other beds to go around in the house for them to sleep).
Reality: My cleaners are a group of women all with long hair. I talked to them to prevent this from happening again.
2. She found a lizard in the basement floor and had to “chase it outside”.
Reality: This cabin is in 3 acres of woods. Cabin is built with real timber logs with natural splits in the logs so I’m not sure how we can prevent the lizard from coming into the basement but the lizards tend to stay right next to the basement door.
3. She found dust on one window sill in the basement after running her finger all the way across.
Reality: This cabin is over 3500 square feet with 5 bedrooms. We had a 7 night stay right before them and my cleaners admitted they did not dust that window sill.
4. She said the hot water was barely lukewarm so they couldn’t take showers.
Reality: I sent maintenance crew there as soon as I got her permission and turned up the water heater a tiny bit and all was fine. The maintenance crew said it just wasn’t as hot as they liked. I do consider this complaint a valid complaint unlike the rest of the items.
5. She complained that my maintenance crew didn’t immediately know the location of the water heater and had to call me to inquire.
Reality: This was my backup crew because this was on a Saturday night close to midnight. I didn’t realize it was such a big deal that they had to call me which I told them right away where it’s at…
6. She complained that the TV and DVD player had no sound.
Reality: I told her to unplug the HDMI cable and plug it back in. She said there’s too many wires so she doesn’t want to touch it. I suggested to use the TV on the top floor, she said that’s the room she found 1 hair in. I suggested to use the TV in the basement living room, she said they are too comfortable on the main floor already. Finally 2 hours later someone in her group got brave enough to unplug and plug it back in and ALL WORKED FINE.
7. She complained there’s no salt and pepper.
Reality: I never claimed to provide salt and pepper although we usually do have salt and pepper but I’m guessing the previous group took with them.
8. She complained that we don’t provide a second roll of paper towels.
Reality: We provide 1 roll of Viva cloth paper towel and after they left, majority was still on the roll.
9. She complained that the towels smelled smokey.
Reality: One of my cleaners smokes and she admitted to transporting the towels in her car (inside a bag). I understand some people can be very sensitive to smoke so I can see this as a valid complaint as well.
10. She said she’d wash the towels herself except she can’t find any detergent.
Reality: The detergent is in a jar right on top of the dryer. When I told her this, she admitted they are indeed there but she was only looking in the cabinets.
11. She claims one of my beds is broken.
Reality: She couldn’t figure out how to strip the bed sheet from this bunk bed because the bunk bed is custom made (by the previous owner of the house) and custom fitted to the mattress. When she tried to strip it, the mattress became wedged in the frame so she claims the bed is broken. She’d have to unwedge the mattress first before the bed can be stripped.
12. She claims cleanliness is a known issue in my cabins.
Reality: She cited the one bad review from Mark that was on a DIFFERENT cabin (in a DIFFERENT CITY) as her proof. (Marks’ review was retaliatory due to the damages his group caused at my cabin.)”
$5 says she would keep that refund to herself
Reading through the comments above and I saw the one about clarifying on the platform about her leaving a bad review if you don’t give her a refund. Did that happen or was that a hypothetical? That is clearly against terms of service to try and extort a review for money. And that would actually make her review null and void and easily taken down
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Yes, I get that completely! But, end of the day, it’s always more satisfying to be professional.
1 Like