Update: Christmas guest actually was fishing for refund; is insane.

Posted about this yesterday. Lady messaged me over 30 questions in the month leading up to Christmas. Stayed the whole time with no complaints. Checked out and immediately texted me a list of issues (beds were uncomfortable, gnat infestation, unpleasant odors, etc). I was just in the unit the morning of her checkout, and there were no bugs and no odors. We don’t have a 5-star average from “awful” mattresses.

I apologized she didn’t enjoy her stay more and assured her I’d look into the issues. I told her I’d offer a discount on her next stay (she had family local and visits frequently). I asked her please consider not mentioning the issues in a review in return.

She said thanks and apologized for the amount of trash (they somehow filled our curbside can and left 14 more full bags piled next to it). I told her no worries on the trash; I have a truck and can haul it to a dumpster. Had assumed that was the end of it.

Got a notification she had left a review last night. She then immediately messaged me explaining how much emotional distress the fruit flies/gnats caused then. She asked to have one night of her stay refunded.

This is someone who had already pushed for discounts nonstop. I had discounted an additional night and not charged for extra guests already (original reservation was 8 people for 3 days. She updated to 10 people + dog for 4 days and I only charged her $200, well under our base nightly rate).

At this point it was clear the laundry list of complaints was more about getting a partial refund and I was done with it. She had already wrote her review and any damage was done.

I told her that I cannot refund issues that I’m not informed of within 72 hours of discovery, in alignment with Airbnb’s policy. I then copied and pasted the policy from the website. I told her that if the issues were severe enough to cause emotional distress, she should have informed me after the first night and I would have canceled/refunded their entire stay so they could seek more satisfactory accommodations.

Then went ahead and left her an honest review. “Guest was friendly in her messages, but was in constant communication with questions or odd requests for a month prior to check-in. I accommodated each of these. Guest made no contact during stay, then presented me with a laundry list of complaints at checkout, followed by a refund request.”

Here is the kicker. After submitting my review, I brace myself and go read hers. She left us a 4-star, citing “inadequate trash bin capacity” as the issue. In the private note, she said “we truly love your home and enjoyed it so much. We will be recommending it to friends!”

Not sure I ever imagined someone claiming emotional distress, demanding a refund, and promising to recommend our home to friends at the same time. 😂

Also, we continue to find trash left under furniture, I including open apple sauce. I think I know where the fruit flies came from.