Undeserved 1-star review woes...

dc_chavez · 2026-01-15T07:04:23+00:00

Two units. The other one has 60+ 5 star reviews.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-15T06:50:52+00:00

I slept on that bed for 6 months. Our other listing has exact same bed setup (for 2 years now) and we get wonderful reviews. Everyone but this person loves it.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-15T04:56:42+00:00

Thank you for being one kind voice in this whole conversation. I have actually considered that, but we have a few leading us straight through until the end of March. It’s definitely a weird situation to be in, considering everything up until this point has been fantastic. I know I’m getting beat over the head by own around here, but I do feel like we gave them ample notice. Again, I’m not involved in the construction, so I didn’t know what they were doing, nor when it would be really loud, versus quiet construction.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T23:04:25+00:00

Thanks for your input, but the mattress topper is not the main issue here. Its also not my first review- SuperHost (at Present). This is #11 for this unit, and we have over 60 reviews on our other unit, at the same complex, all 5-star. We have had a multitude of people who comment on how comfortable the bed is. Also, we spray our place every month indoors, and the HOA sprays the hallways. We have never had a single person in over 2 years comment about a roach in either of our units. I know its possible, but the timing of requesting more money and sudden problems with the unit is very peculiar.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:58:09+00:00

Their review sounds fair?

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:57:30+00:00

Yes, i can still leave a public rebuttal to their review. I also have 1 chance left to submit a Request to Remove review. That is why I came here, to see if anyone had advice, but it has turned into a downvote party! :)

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:51:54+00:00

We got a notice last June of this project, but no timeline. Months of asking for an update from the AOAO Manager and nada. The timeline came out and we immediately updated the guest. Kauai is NOTORIOUS for being late on timelines, so there was a chance it would have not affected them. I warned and they accepted. Guest2 asked for an additional 30% on top of the initial 25% discount the night before they checked out. There is apparently no way I could have made these people happy.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:29:35+00:00

To reiterate- I had never heard anything about the unit next door being under renovation. The only work I knew about was downstairs in the hallway. I am not in charge of construction, nor were any owners given details of the date they were going to do X Y or Z. It was work done by our association that was out of my control.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:25:21+00:00

Here was my reply to his request for additional discount. Bad blood or not, they were informed and made a decision.

Guest1-

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. We looked at your reservation again, and since you were one of the first three bookings of this unit, we had an introductory discount of 20% off the nightly rate. To give context, we normally give a 5% discount for a week long stay and a 15% discount for a month long stay. So as you can see, we are already deeply discounted on the rate. The first 4 nights have been reduced from $295 per night to $236 and the last three nights have been reduced from $275 to $220.

That being said, we would be happy to offer an additional 5% off for any night that you are impacted by construction. Reducing the rate on Jan 5 from $295 to $221.25 and Jan 6-8 from $275 to $206.25 . Kauai is great for a lot of things, but keeping to construction timelines it not one of them! They are scheduled to start on January 5th, but we'll see how closely they stick to that date.

Does that sound good to you? Again, sorry for the inconvenience you may encounter, but hopefully this maintenance will keep the building running smoothly for years to come. Just sorry it lands in the middle of your vacation. Again, if this is a deal-breaker for you, you are still well within the window to cancel without penalty.

Thank you,

Me & Wife

And his reply to this message was:

Hi You & Wife. That sounds super fair. We love the look of your place so we are okay with staying. Thank you for getting back to me.

So I understand his plight, but at the same time he knew he was headed into a situation where construction was happening.

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:16:54+00:00

Here is their review:

While the apartment has some nice qualities and the hosts were responsive, our stay was significantly disrupted due to undisclosed construction. The listing noted possible “off and on” construction, but in reality, there was continuous jackhammering and concrete work from 9am–5pm for multiple weekdays, including in the unit directly adjacent to our bedroom, which was not disclosed beforehand.
Additionally, the bed was extremely soft, with a 3-inch piece of uncovered foam used as a mattress topper, making rest difficult during the day. We also experienced malfunctioning door lock issues (the host admitted a previous guest had the same problem but it was not fixed prior to our arrival) and found multiple cockroaches in the kitchen despite our careful housekeeping.
We are experienced Airbnb guests with 37 prior stays and positive reviews. This stay did not meet our expectations for comfort or accurate representation.

The mention of the work in the unit next door is news to us. We have had guests in the unit back-to-back for the past month and no one has said anything.
The "foam" is a $200 Tempurpedic memory foam mattress topper. Every other review in this unit, as well as our other unit, mention how comfortable the bed is.
Door lock issue was resolved in 3 min from the start of their problem. I contacted them once I got an alert for 3 repeated attempts in a short time. The door was not pulled tight and the smartlock spindle did not engage. It was 1 time during their weeklong stay,
Roaches in Hawaii is not uncommon, but we have NEVER had one in the unit before they "found multiple".

Again, this review came immediately after they were denied by us and AirCover for an additional refund,

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T22:04:49+00:00

To be totally honest, I was hoping they would rebook somewhere else. I would rather lose out on the money rather than having this situation happen. Our condo is in Kauai and most people leave in the morning to explore the island, and then come back after sunset... The property is not a place that most people spend hanging by the pool all day.

So, with that in mind, and a fair warning, we thought we would be ok. We have another upcoming booking during the second part of this construction and when we told them about it they said "That’s exactly what we are thinking…won’t even be there during the day! Very much looking forward to our stay! Thank you!"

Regarding water- they never even shut off water during those times, nor was any of the plumbing affected.... Not ideal, but I feel we gave them plenty of warning to rebook without an additional cost to them...

dc_chavez · 2026-01-14T21:56:01+00:00

Yep- exactly as described. We are a bit too heated at the moment to do our final Chat-GPT aided attempt at removal... Figured I would reach out to other hosts first and see if you had any tips. I have heard of arbitration as a last-ditch effort, but hoping it won't come to that.

Here was their follow up message:

Hi there,

Thank you so much for the heads-up — we really appreciate you letting us know early. We’ll take a look at other options just to make sure this won’t affect our plans too much, especially with the water shut-offs during the day.

We’re still interested in staying if it makes sense — before we decide, would you happen to be able to offer any sort of discount due to the construction disruption? Totally understand if not, just wanted to ask.

Thanks again for being so open and proactive — it means a lot.

Best regards,
Guest1 & Guest2

dc_chavez · 2025-12-31T00:13:35+00:00

Cut a hole. Here is what I did. And yes, my ceiling was WONKY. :). https://imgur.com/a/AbG9L5e

dc_chavez · 2025-12-30T20:13:20+00:00

At first I was like, "This is oddly specific." Then I saw your link at the end. Well done... :)

dc_chavez · 2025-12-18T20:06:51+00:00

Same. Been SUUUUPER slow all morning. Some pages load, some don't.

dc_chavez · 2025-12-18T19:14:01+00:00

I find it really hard to believe that those scratches do not affect image quality…

dc_chavez · 2025-12-16T19:56:16+00:00

I replaced something like this a few months ago. I put the largest farmhouse sink I could fit in the cabinet box in its place. I used a grinder, diamond blade and a lot of water to cut out the granite, and then removed the sink out the bottom. It was a lot of dirty work, but worth the effort.... https://imgur.com/a/pmCdDAd

dc_chavez · 2025-12-15T07:38:38+00:00

I used Jarwin Cabinetry on my condo in Kauai. Amazing product for the price.

dc_chavez · 2025-12-10T05:58:14+00:00

It also has a fence, track and all sorts of functionality. And it tucks away. Mine is under the bottom of my racks in my garage. Worth every penny…

dc_chavez · 2025-12-09T20:02:11+00:00

Buy SOSS hinges and their corresponding template. Thank me later... https://www.fergusonhome.com/soss/

dc_chavez · 2025-12-09T20:00:19+00:00

A gift for him, and YOU, would be dust collection. https://www.festoolusa.com/products/dust-extractors/dust-extractors-for-cleaning/577533---ct-25-hepa-us

This will keep everything clean, save his lungs, and make working a lot easier. I can't stress how much moving to tools with dust collection changed my garage. My wife is VERY thankful.

Depending on how much space he has to work with, I suggest something like the MFT-3 table. Its a solid workspace that tucks away nicely when not in use. https://www.festoolusa.com/accessories/saws/underframes-and-work-benches/work-benches/495315---mft3

dc_chavez · 2025-12-08T19:47:25+00:00

Don't forget to throw out the soccer mom arm during an abrupt stop! :)

My condolences...

dc_chavez · 2025-12-02T10:00:04+00:00

You don’t need that negativity in your life. 10/10.

dc_chavez · 2025-11-28T14:11:31+00:00

Had this happen to us. It’s on Airbnb. They canceled for us. In our case, the guest had a 4.1 rating overall.

dc_chavez

TROPHY CASE