First bad guest: help with review?

[Colleen469]

Morning!

We are new hosts and I’d appreciate feedback from experienced hosts on how to review our first (mildly) challenging guest. We did receive notice that she has already written a review for us. We are currently 3/3 5 stars. 

-Guest booked one night with no reviews. 
-Requested a two hour late checkout which was approved (and I thought generous?).
-Guest booked for 2 guests but 5 came. Relevant in that housekeeper was not expecting to change five bed linens when she agreed to fast turnaround clean. Also, 20!! Towels were used for a one night stay. 

-House was left in a bit of a mess to include makeup smeared on white walls and bacon grease spilled in microwave. This also increased turnaround cleaning time. 
-Checkout instructions were not followed. Trash was in the yard, bathroom cans were not emptied, trash was not bagged which is a big problem for bears. 
-Home was left unlocked and unsecured. Guests appeared to use back door to avoid Ring doorbell and all doors were left unlocked with no communication that they had left. 

-Nice living room throw blanket is MIA. 
-Guest did send a private message saying we were “lovely hosts and they would be back.”

I would love input on how many stars you would leave and whether you would factually include any of the above in a public review or private? I would use a Shiny Boot Sandwich approach and say something positive first. (Very pleasant in communication perhaps.) Or, are these just part of the host experience and I should let it go? 

Also, I’m unclear on current policy for blocking guests. If I block her in messages will that still prevent her from future booking? Reporting her as offensive seems disproportionate but I’m unclear on most up to date policies. I would prefer not to host them again if I have that ability. 

TIA for your thoughts!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Colleen469 just review honestly and the guest is unlikely to return. You should also click 'no' when asked would you host this guest again. If they do book again you can use a free cancellation (assuming you are on Instant Book) saying you are uncomfortable with the booking.

[Colleen469]

That’s helpful, thanks so much!

[Ann72]

@Colleen469  Guests cannot see their own stars, so don't hesitate to give 1 stars where warranted.

Both your cabin and your family photo are lovely!  I would suggest not accepting one-night, last-minute bookings.  They are so often, as you've discovered, more trouble than they're worth.  You won't deter good guests by having a two-night minimum and at least one day in advance booking notice.  (If someone can't plan at least 24 hours in advance, how can they plan to get the garbage out on time? 🙂 )  Also consider your price.  At the price I see, 6 guests could stay for $18 per person per night.  Could 6 people get hotel rooms at that price?

In the written review, I would go with your "Shiny Boot Sandwich" approach by saying something like, "[Guest name] was a nice person who communicated well upon booking, but she brought extra guests, disregarded our checkout instructions, and required more cleanup than usual."  We write these to warn other hosts, and possibly to educate the guests about what's acceptable and what's not.

[Lenore22]

Excellent advice here. Don't say away from 1 stars.

Overall- (you decide)

Cleanliness- 1*

Communication- 3* (they didn't communicate the # of people)

Observance of house rules- 1*

Check "no" for host again.

Honestly, This is the kind of guest most hosts try to avoid. If you feel generous, give 2* instead of 1 only because because there wasn't significant property damage. Be matter-of-fact, just like you were here and keep it short and simple.

***

Did anyone else feel like the "we will be back" sounded kind of like a threat? 😅

P.s. make sure you change the code after this group.

[Colleen253]

@Lenore22 Actually, it sounds to me like the guest left happy and none the wiser that their behavior has earned them a less than stellar review. Good chance their review will not be retaliatory. Fingers crossed @Colleen469!

[Suzanna43]

I just went through this process and gave Airbnb an earful as to why it is not easy to block a disrespectful guest from booking with you in the future.  HOSTS need more protection from Airbnb who is making tons of money from our hard work and our properties.  If they do not want to ban a disrespectful guest from their platform, that is one thing, but we should have a quick and justifiable way to block them from ever booking with us again.

[Colleen469]

Lots of helpful feedback here, I appreciate you taking the time to provide your thoughts! I like the succinct fact based feedback. I agree that I hope to provide helpful information to future hosts vs being punitive. 

[Colleen253]

@Colleen469 

You’ve already been given good advice. I will

just add that if you click ‘would not host again’, it only prevents the guest from instant booking with you. They can still send a request.

 Re blocking, just do it and don’t get hung up on how awkward Airbnb makes it. They do that on purpose, to discourage it. To block, you must first report the guest, and you must choose ‘they’re being offensive’. When I’ve had to do this, in the explanation text box I tell Airbnb that I’m not actually reporting the guest, but that I simply wish to block them, and suggest they provide a better way to do that, as feedback. Once that’s done, you get the option to block.

[Colleen469]

Oh that’s good to know, thank you! When looking online it’s sometime hard for me to tell what’s current information or has had a policy change. Providing the feedback to aairBNB is also a great idea. 

thanks for your help!

[Ann72]

That's so clever @Colleen253.  I have usually just said they're not being offensive, but I never want to host them again.  I'll keep your added note in mind next time.  Allow us to block guests without practically calling them criminals.  Sometimes it's just not a good fit and sometimes we just don't like jerks!

[Colleen253]

@Ann72 To be completely honest,  I usually do find the person offensive in some way, but it doesn’t take much to offend my hosting sensibilities. 😂

[Colleen469]

Haha! I don’t disagree.

[Ann72]

Haha same @Colleen253!  I’m offended they had the opportunity to make their stay a day longer, didn’t, then asked for late check-out.  I’m offended they didn’t read the house manual and set the smoke alarm off while cooking late on a Saturday night when I was at the theatre - then were offended when I sounded SLIGHTLY annoyed.  And I’m offended when they ask for something, get it, and don’t say a simple thank you.  🥸😅🥸

[Helen744]

. @ Colleen 469 Tighten up your vetting and your rules and your early communication because no one has said no to these guests ever, and you have let them roll right over you and well on the way to treating your house like a crash house. They must have had a lot of red flags and at least three times you could have cancelled before arrival You must toughen up and by that I do not mean losing your temper but looking at all the warning signs and communicating about rules, guest numbers ,arrival times, ids, vax certificates, full names of all guests and if you were booked for two guests dont leave twenty towels. also give them threes all the way .This is sufficient message to other hosts and just say these guests did not respect my rules ,or my house,and were very untidy H