Guest giving false reviews

[Lynne10]

I had a booking from a women, supposed to be one guest, she couldn't book so got her partner to book a 3 month stay. The review they left I feel is incorrect. My concern is this women will book and treat someone's place with the same disrespect. They complained about most things, I replaced and bought extra linen Etc. The vacumn was brand new she nearly burned it out, I replaced mattress so bought a new one. In the review they say they bought a new mattress. They put my cane furniture outside and cushions completely faded. The place was left absolutely filthy. They put the bike on the carpet in the lounge. The walls which were freshly painted had black marks every where. I gave a huge discount as I thought it was one person and she promised to look after it. The electrician that came to fix Rangehood refused because of the mess of the stove. I want other host to be aware of this women as it ends up being a bad and expensive experience. I supplied as much as I could and honestly want my guest to have a good experience however I feel as a host our places are important to us and spending 10-15 hours cleaning is down right wrong plus the cost in replacing damaged furniture. My plants, let's say they are no longer with us. I don't want any host to experience this guest. I did give thumps down to the partner who stayed and booked. Perhaps I'm over personalising the review but as a host I feel we are taking a risk at time. Please any advise would be appreciated.

[Marit-Anne0]

You are also taking a risk accepting bookings from someone other than the person actually staying.  And now you are unable to review the person, only the one who made the booking, risking other hosts to face the same problem with this lady.  

[Lynne10]

So true, I was thought I was helping... Fool me.

[Andrea9]

@Lynne10

See if you could always leave a reply to this review if possible (the person's profile seems to be unlisted, so not sure if replying is still  possible)

By the way, your property is absolutely gorgeous! If I were you I'd consider including a weekly mandatory cleaning service for bookings longer than a week. That way you will still have a certain control or be in the know about sloppy and/or disrespectul use of your unit.

It will also show quite quickly if a guest is scamming you by dishonestly trying to pass off as one guest only. 

It's important that hosts don't invade guests' privacy, on the other hand it's our right to show that we are invested in our property and enforce certain things.

[Lynne10]

Hi Andrea, Thank you, I appreciate your e mail. I'm concerned on how to reply, can I mention the women that actually wrote the review? I like your idea of doing a weekly clean, would defiantly flag up any issues. Thank you, yes it is a nice place however after this experience I'm noticing I'm questioning everything. I like all host want my guest to have a lovely stay. Thank you again, I appreciate your feed back.

[Andrea9]

@Lynne10

Hi Lynne, glad it helped!

I'd mention the name of the woman who booked (no last name - that's against ABB policy). As a host you're probably aware of replies being more a possibility of future guests seeing you handle a negative review, so I'd keep it unemotional and short while rectifying the situation.

As an aside thought - 

We hosts often tend to want to accommodate guests with friendly, reduced fees, yet from what I've read on this forum this often back-fires on the hosts. A ratio of guests tend to try to weasel out price reduction from the get-go. Usually a red flag.

Higher pricing and sticking to your guns tends to attract better guests.

[Lynne10]

Hi Andrea,

You are so right, I'm learning not engage, what is on my listing is it from here on in. Price is not budging.

I did reply, and luckily read your email before posting hence I deleted a lot, phew!

Again thank you, your comments have been valuable. I'm grateful for your help.