This is brilliantly handled by a host. Following is a synopsis of the conversation with the guest and host. (grammar is not great, included for context)

Guest: Hi, we have checked in, and the place is dirty, sand on the floor, glass on the balcony are dirty with some stains, mirror not hanged straight, door handles are half broken, toilet paper handler is hanging half broken, entry door to the place is all dirty and not really nice, some bad smell in the apartment. Even candles in the living room are used out, really not satisfied and not the same as the pictures you have. We want a discount. I took pictures of everything.

Host: Hi, I’m so sorry! it looks like our property did not match your expectations! We can give you a full refund if you guys check out tonight so we can find something where you are more comfortable.

Guest: (four minutes later) Well don’t think there are any other options. It doesn’t work like that, can’t find anything in an hour or so, everything is booked in advanced at least couple of days in advance. So we gonna stay. have no choice. And I guess sorry will leave an appropriate view of your listing!

Host: There are plenty of options available. feel free to at least take a minute to check. I’m sure you guys will be able to find somewhere where you are more comfortable and mirrors are properly hung.

We unfortunately do not refund for inconveniences, we can address them or offer a full refund for check out.

Guest: As you can see on my profile I’ve rented 4 times on Airbnb and didn’t have complains everything was great. It’s my first time for me getting in to a place like that. I’m not going to check out just letting you know your problems with place and what you should fix. And I’m not asking for a refund, I’m just asking for a discount. And the Mirror is the minor problem. you shouldn’t point it out like that, it’s not nice to your customers. it just doesn’t worth that money because of all those problems in the place. Have a good night!

Host: I’m reaching out to airbnb so they can assist you better with this reservation.

Guest: There is nothing to assist with as I told you just letting ou know the problems and gonna leave an appropriate review.

Host: That’s your decision, as long s you and your group understand that by staying you acknowledge that you won’t qualify for a discount, rebate or anything of that nature.

Guest: Hope it’s gonna get fixed for future customers who will be staying with you.

Brilliantly handled. Notes from the Host.

Sand on the floor? unlikely . . . but maybe. Can easily be fixed by my cleaner. Stains on the balcony glass to the outside, maybe, not a big deal. also fixable, Mirror not hanged straight? Broken toilet paper holder? half broken door handles? They don’t want their “issues” fixed, they want a discount, Surprising.

My thought process “if they have issues, I can easily fix it for them, but instead they want a discount and not for me to fix those. If they stay, they’ll leave me a bad review and will progressively find or make up new issues throughout their stay to qualify for a refund. (i have multiple properties where that happened) It seems harsh, but the only option is to call their bluff. I tell them to leave for a full refund.

Unsurprisingly, guests DON”T want to leave, and in less than 4 minutes were able to assess that there is not a single listing to meet their needs. They mention a bad review.

At this point, I consider asking “so what you are saying is that if I don’t refund you, you will give me a bad review?” which is an easy bait and if they say yes, it’s extortion under the Airbnb policy. I decided to insist on having them check out, while explaining that we are not refunding them. That if they prefer we can address their issues or they can check out and get their money back.

Guest goes on about his previous stays, and he did have four 5 star reviews, but all from management companies which usually means nothing because most of them review automatically. He then complains that I brought up his complaint of a mirror that wasn’t hung straight.

He has not mentioned how he wanted a discount AGAIN, so his mentioning of a review is “sandwiched” between two requests for money, and that should be enough to get it deleted. I proceed to call Airbnb and let them know what is going on and the agent agrees with me in the handling of the situation. I let the guest know that Airbnb is being involved and he doesn’t want it to be the case for some reason. He mentions yet again the review. Now I’m 95% sure the review is going away, and I make a point of stating that if they stay they will not be refunded for anything to prevent a post-check-out- claim. (I have had those in the past) Guest still stayed.

Final notes from Host:

They said they would stay, then tried to leave after staying two nights IF they were fully refunded. I took them on the offer of leaving, but not on the offer of full refund. They were very insistent on being refunded but failed to provide evidence for any of their claims, which I knew did not exist since I visited the property multiple times in the past month since it was for sale, and it flew by its pre-purchase inspection.Airbnb rep later called me and asked me if they could cancel the booking altogether, and when I asked for clarity, they meant “cancel on my behalf” so that they could give them a travel voucher, to which I obviously did not agree.They finally left today and sent me a message calling me an idiot on the way out, clearly very sweet and nice people