Quiet, Private, and Rustic Escape

My one-sentence reply is to suggest checking out the past two years of other reviews on this service (and you-know-whose service) that, over the past 2 years, are all solid 5-stars (with one exception written by a similar sort of couple). My more detailed reply includes acknowledging that while there is always room for improvement, there are also people who benefit by looking for problems. Even if everything Karen and Jon cited was accurate, it wouldn't warrant the urgent phone call I received (ten minutes after I had helped them carry in five pieces of their luggage) frantically implying the space was on the order of an uninhabitable slum. In fact, their communication was so disturbing and dramatic that I instantly left a social gathering at my neighbor's, contacted a nearby hotel, and offered Karen and John an opportunity to leave without any penalties. They interrupted with a "no" in unison before I even finished the sentence, but they gladly accepted a full refund for all cleaning charges. Later, I called my business partner and told him I wondered if I had just been grifted. That aside, I gave them another refund for their extra guest staying fewer days (than for which Vrbo had charged) and allowed their guest to stay for free. I mention all of this to illustrate that their review is not as balanced as it might appear. The filthy items included such things as a fragment of a lettuce leaf in the refrigerator crisper, two small dots of food splatter in back of the microwave oven, some dust on the wine glasses, some granules of dirt in two unused empty kitchen drawers, a couple transparent cobwebs, and some dust on a nightstand, lamp and trim base moulding (which I do believe should not have been there). In line with my comment about people looking for problems, Karen told me that, while sitting in the bathroom, she couldn't help but notice dirt under the bathroom cabinet. The thing is that there's no way to see that deep under the cabinet unless you get down on your hands and knees (which I had to do in order to see what she was talking about). Both Karen and Jim were critical of the furnishings (e.g., wanting more reading lights), despite everything being clearly available to see in the website photos. And she didn't like that there was some dust on the bathroom pendant lights. I politely responded to all of her suggestions and even invited her to let me know about anything else. The result was a three-page handwritten list: some of which made sense, and some of which did not reflect the realities of an Airbnb, including that this one is in the country (and thus not what you would find at my other city location) and that the circumstances are not always ideal. For instance, the rush cleaning was still a few hours and included touches such as literally removing the toilet seat for cleaning, scrubbing the cabinet doors, etc. The timing problem was caused by my previous guests (who booked two people and one pet) were actually three people and two pets who left past the checkout time, followed by Karen and Joan showing up a few hours sooner than they had communicated. As it is, my cleaning fee only covers half of the cost of a cleaner and, if I followed Karen's suggestions, I would need to allow for several extra hours. Karen ultimately acknowledged that his husband and she were very fussy perfectionists. That's fine, but had she let me know that ahead of time, I would have either allowed an extra day to prepare or suggested that she choose a different type of location. The irony is that after being scolded and lectured for allegedly being derelict in my duties as a host, I discovered their seventeen year old car was leaking large amounts of transmission fluid on my driveway, leaving sizable stains. When I politely mentioned it, they told me it wasn't a problem and, without apology, instructed me how I could clean it. I think that pretty much says it all. It is absolutely fair that people rate a place based on their own definitions of bad to excellent. And I am glad that Karen and Jane enjoyed their stay overall. Plus I believe it's not fair to expect that guests understand some of the challenges of hosting. That said, my biggest issue, and the thing that motivated me to write this response, was their instantaneously aggressive and nasty way of communicating.

Thank You Ann for the nice review and for staying. You both were very respectful of the property and left the unit in great shape. Me and The Boys are here waiting anytime you would like to return. Be well…… Lee