Guest Holding Us Hostage for a Good Review

We had a guest book last minute for our home, not a problem. The cleaning crew that we use was there to clean day of his check in. We just had a seven day stay leave so this was a very thorough clean. They reported everything good to go and the guest checks in. The evening passes without incident. In response to my next morning check-in message the next day to see how his stay was was, the guest let us know that there were stains on the couch that he was uncomfortable with, and he left right after arriving. He sends photos, they’re pretty large stains. Now he is telling us that we need to refund him for him to not give us a bad review. My partner and I have a few issues with the scenario. I talked to the cleaning crew, they are positive there were no stains before his check-in. They used the couch as a “home base” during the clean and not one of the cleaning crew saw stains on the couch. They are great cleaning service and I’m sure they would’ve noticed the sized stains from his photos. Even if there were stains, why did he not tell us of the stains right away? Who finds an issue so bad that they decide to not stay but then doesn’t mention anything that evening? Gut reaction, it feels like this guy had a little fun with someone on our couch, and now is trying to use his stains as a way to get a free rental. How would you proceed? This is our first time dealing with anything like this, and am open to all wisdom. --- **Post Details:** - **Subreddit:** r/airbnb_hosts - **Author:** u/thatsakneecap - **Score:** 58 upvotes - **Upvote Ratio:** 90.0% - **Comments:** 46 - **Posted:** 7/11/2025 - **URL:** https://reddit.com/r/airbnb_hosts/comments/1lxj4qb/guest_holding_us_hostage_for_a_good_review/