All Forum Posts by: Kevin Boyd

I did read everyone's response and appreciate each of them. However, your response of "I think I will add this response to the list of "101 stupid things to do when you get a negative review." was not appreciated. It is simple and cheap to file a small claims case. My opinion is that this particular review will cost me many thousands of dollars. I am in a very competitive market and a review that says the place is full of mold, unsafe, etc. will have people going elsewhere as opposed to my place which is priced higher than most others in the area (due to amenities). I'll be willing to bet once he is served he will remove his review. BTW, in addition to the bad review, they broke into the pool controls and set the pool temp to 103 degrees. Took 5 days to realize. I'm sure that cost over $500 in gas.

Maybe Ken you're the kind of guy who is OK not doing anything while someone is slandering you and effecting your livelihood. I'm not. I am having a mold report written by an expert today. Small claims action is already filed.  If Airbnb is more concerned with me  protecting my business than they are with the 5 properties doing over $600k in annual business with them, I can live without them. In the meantime, I will add you to my "101 people most likely to let dishonest people take advantage of".

Thanks for the replies. This has been a STR for about 4 years with over 100 5 star reviews. Eventually this review will be buried by dozens of good ones, but it will have an effect. This is the time of year I book up summer at very high rates. I'm sure it will be more difficult with this sitting at the top.

I am going to file a small claims action against his guest for $10k and hope to just get them to remove the review and I will drop the case.

I had a family booked this past weekend. After checking in they called and said there was mold in 1 of the 3 bathrooms at it was unsafe to stay there.  The truth is, there was a very small area of mold in the shower ceiling. It wiped right off with a sponge. Regardless, they refused to stay and received a full refund.

The guest then left a review saying all the bathrooms had mold and it was an unsafe house to stay in. Mind you, we’ve had 4 - 5 star reviews in the past 5 weeks.

His review was full of outrageous exaggerations and untruths.  Outright lies about a leaky roof, etc. Airbnb refuses to do anything about it. I had a mold expert out already who has verified there isn’t a mold issue and immediately took video that shows no other issues. What can I do to get the review removed?

I have a 3300 sq. ft. home on one lot with lots of room/amenities like pool , putting green, etc. 

There is an additional 1100 sq. ft. space I am going to finish as a 2 bedroom 1 bath. 

My idea is to try to rent both units to large parties. We get lots of multi families as it is. Lots of people coming for weddings, etc. That being said, I would like to be able to rent the spaces individually as well. When rented individually only the main house would have access to the backyard with the pool, golf, etc.  Does anyone have experience with this kind of arrangement? I don't know how to list them separately and together. I am concerned that some people would want just the main house and want the entire property to themselves.

Does anyone have experience with a property similar to this?

I imagine most of my bookings will still come from Airbnb/VRBO but there’s a lot of good reasons to have your own website. For me, I have 5 properties, so the cost per property will be fairly low. I do plan on doing some promotion with it. However, a website is easy for guests to share with friends, will allow for easy booking for return guests, etc. I have a plan with my website that I think will get hits on google searches organically.

 I do use Airbnb and VRBO. Have for years. The idea behind the website is twofold. First to book direct and avoid their fees. Second, those are pretty crowded fields. I can use my site to promote my properties in places without thousands of other options.