Hi I wonder if anyone could help please.
First I should say I am a Superhost with very good feedback from all my previous guests. I always try to be flexible to help my guests.
However in this case I had one challenging guest. He had booked single bed for 28 days, but a few days before arrival he asked if his girlfriend could come also. I explained that is was only a small room with single bed so it wasn’t possible. He was on strict cancellation policy so after a few messages of trying to sort a solution (that was discussed on another thread here!), as a goodwill gesture I offered 50% refund , and if I could fill the room, then he would get the rest of the money.
He declined that offer but said he would come 14 days later, for two weeks only. He eventually arrived but had his girlfriend with him, and they both brought all of their stuff into the house. After making him welcome with coffee etc, I asked what the girlfriend’s plan was. He spent a lot of time trying to persuade me to let her stay in the single bed with him, but I said it wasn’t possible (as I had said in all the messages). I was surprised that they had no contingency, but he said she would stay with a friend nearby - he wasn’t happy, as he wanted to stay with her.
In addition he kept changing his arrival dates. On the day he was due to arrive I asked him what time he expected to be there, he said in fact it would be the next day. So on the next day I asked him again his arrival time. I didn’t get any reply, until 11.45pm (when I was asleep) saying he would arrive at 1.30am from the airport (I didn’t get these messages until the morning as I was asleep)
In the end they never stayed at my place and when I got my review it was a two star. In the personal feedback to me he explained why:
- He wasn’t happy that I did not make an effort to sort out accommodation for his girlfriend (even though it had been discussed)
- I didn’t reply to his 11.45pm message and let him in at 2am (even though I had chased him for his arrival time that day and previous days)
From what I have read, it isn’t likely that AirBnB will let me challenge the star rating, but I wondered if anyone had any thoughts. Also I would like to change my own responses to these situations so it doesn’t happen again, so any suggestions would be welcome.
Additionally I have also heard, that if the guest does not even stay in the property , then the review/star can be removed. Is there any basis in this? (Luckily, in the personal message to me , the guest states categorically that he didn’t stay there)