Crazy Guest or New Cleaning Lady? Or Neither....

[Luke Carl]

Had someone check out today. She was weird from the get go. Texted a lot. Said she drained cleaned and refilled the hot tub then later said she just added some water. Paid for 4 peole later found out she had 5. 

Cleaning lady called and said it took her 3 hours to clean and wanted an extra $30. She also said the comforter on one of the beds had 3 rips in it and sent pics to prove it. Sent a resolution to the guest to pay for the comforter and the extra cleaning fee. She basically said no chance in hell. She said the cuts were in it when she got there. 

Also the cleaning lady said the owners closet had been popped open. (it has a brand new deadbolt) Guest said it was open when she got there. 

Ive only had cleaning lady for a month and really have no reason to trust her or not trust her. 

Guest is denying everything and has no interest in paying. 

Some other holes in both the guest and the cleaning ladys story that just dont add up in favor of either of them. 

We're leaning towards eating the cost of the new comforter ($70) and the extra cleaning fees and begging for a good review at this point. We've only been in the game a month. 

Only charging $89 per night so half the money this guest paid to stay there is going to cleaning and repairs. 

Is it worth it to escalate the resolution or should we just move on to the next guest and be done with it? 

[Garry C.]

Theresa's advice is great. And I would trust my housekeeper over guests all day long. I've had a couple of guests like this in the past few years. Always from AirBNB, never VRBO.

With that said, if there is an upcharge from my housekeeper due to something that required extra cleaning, I always pass through those costs. I've only had one bad review from a traveler like this, mostly they know what they've done and don't try to fight it or lash out, just accept it and move on. However, if you don't have many great reviews to even out a possible bad review, you may think twice here and just eat those extra costs.

If you do get a bad review, be sure to respond to it publicly. Let people know that you are sorry that things didn't work out during that guest relationship. But don't 'fight back', or if you do, make sure it's done politely/delicately.
I had a guest show up a few hours prior to check in time and basically shoo housekeeping away, then complained that it wasn't clean and asked for a discount. When I declined, she left a 1 star 'complaint' review. I responded with the following:

"We sincerely appreciate your feedback, as we strive to make our mountain retreat clean, comfortable, and attractive for all of our guests. I’m truly sorry that we were not able to make you happy at the end of your stay. We will be speaking with housekeeping to ensure that the property is spotless in the future, even if guests arrive several hours prior to the agreed upon check-in time."

I believe this review helps me, and would with or without my reply. Any property with ALL 5 stars is probably going to be looked at with a skeptical eye. A small number of unhappy customers is natural, because you simply can't please everyone. When I see 40 great reviews and 1 bad one, I figure it's a great place and they didn't pay family and friends to write all those glowing reviews.