First rotten guest- review or pass?

Jody141
Level 6
Auburntown, TN

First rotten guest- review or pass?

Hello!

I have searched this topic and found there seem to be two schools of thought- one is leave a review and the other is don’t leave a review and chalk it up to a bad experience. 
I will be as succinct as possible.

I’ve only been hosting since August and have super host status.  

Guy and his GF ( mid to late 20’s) and their dog checked in the Tuesday before thanksgiving. Really good communication prior to arrival. The first night he messaged me asking for olive oil at about 9 pm. I’m onsite (46 acre farm) so it was easy to bring some down. As a side note I supply a lot of cooking items because we are rural. 

 

Check out was thanksgiving day and my check out time is 11am. I was going to do the cleaning because my cleaner wanted to have thanksgiving with her family. 
So 11 rolls around and they are still there. 11:30 and they are there. So I messaged him reminding him of check out time. I don’t hear back but at noon the start packing and left at 12:45. 
I went to house and walked in and was shocked. There were liquor bottles on the couch and on the counters, there was two days of DIRTY un-rinsed dishes and pots and pans in the sink, the trash was overflowing, there was popcorn all over the couch and floor, and they had used both rooms (no big deal) and on one comforter there was lube or lotion or something all over it. 
They didn’t message anything like “crap we were hungover and didn’t wake up sorry” or anything that would maybe excuse this 

I was thinking of stating “guest was excellent at communicating prior to check out but in the future this guest would likely be better served by a hotel that provides a robust dish washing and cleaning”. 


suggestions? Thanks. 

9 Replies 9
Heather1086
Level 9
Boring, OR

I always leave feedback, especially in situations like this where it helps other hosts make informed decisions on whether to accept a group or not.  If it is a sticky situation I usually wait until the 2 week window is up and then leave it so that there is no potential retaliation... I would add and late check out to your feedback.

Thanks for your reply- we have to leave feedback within that 14 day window, correct?

@Heather1086 

Heather1086
Level 9
Boring, OR

@Jody141  Yes.  When I have a guest who didn't meet basic expectations I wait the full 2 weeks for  a couple of reasons.  First, it might prompt them to not leave retaliatory feedback.  Second, if they do leave a retaliatory review it won't show in my ratings for 2 weeks.  I had a guest blast me this summer (she was the only who has caused above wear & tear damage, left retaliatory feedback since I went after her in the claims center for it, and then she proceeded to report my listing falsely to airbnb and I was delisted for 2 weeks while it got sorted out). I have a bit of ptsd from that experience.  I gave her feedback similar to what you are leaving for the current guest which can be easily interpreted by any host.

@Heather1086  Wow I’m sorry that happened. So if they checked in Tuesday before Thanksgiving and left on thanksgiving do I have until their check out date?  And if they don’t leave feedback before that 14 day window they aren’t able to at all? Sorry for the dense questions. 

@Jody141 You have 14 days from their checkout.  If the guest doesn't leave any feedback within the 14 day window then they can't after.  Funny thing is, some of my  least favorite guests (including the one mentioned above) had the best communication before they checked in.  So strange!  

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

Your home is quite lovely and as evidenced by the 30 glowing reviews you provide good value.  Perhaps there are a few tweaks you can do in terms of communication as is usual for most of us, but I would guess all the wonderful guests have lulled you into believing all guests are responsible.  It is not evident from the listing if you have instructions at your home about the level of cleaning you expect, but I would suggest you do so.  Most adults are self-monitoring and would naturally clean up after themselves, but some treat a space as if their mother was sweeping up after them.

Also, do you meet the guests at check in?  Since you are nearby,  perhaps you can schedule to meet the guests and orient them to both the space but also your expectations regarding how they treat the space and clean up after themselves.  You might at least consider doing this orientation for those guests that do not have at least 2 positive reviews.

As to your own review, since the guest does not see your review until they do one as well or until after the 14 day period, whether you wait or not, is not important.  What @Heather1086  experienced was a retaliation by the guest for the claim process, not for an unpublished review.

As to the content of your review, the guest not only ignored your check out time and communications about that, they did not respect your space.  I would imagine you would not recommend these guests to other hosts or accept a booking from them.  Being clear, concise and honest would include:  "good communication prior to check in but failed to respect the space and check out times."

Good luck!

@Linda108  Thanks for your suggestions. 
Inside the house I do have an information packet that outlines expectations regarding the dishes and such (rinse and put in dishwasher) but I understand you think this should also be in my house rules which are included in the listing. Good idea and I will do this. 

I’ve toyed with the idea of meeting people to check them in, but I’m at times traveling so I’m not always here when guests arrive but I’ll give that variable some thoughts as well. 

thanks again. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

It's a good idea to send a message to the guests the evening before check-out day reminding them of the check-out time, rather than doing that day-of. Hosts have occasionally had guests who got their booked days confused and thought they had one more night.

You can couple that message with thanking them for booking with you, saying you hope they enjoyed their stay, and to please leave enough time before check-out to complete the before-check-out tidying-up list.

@Jody141

@Sarah977  It’s a good idea and one that I’ve started doing since they left. Thank you for your reply.