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[Elizabeth2240]

I put this in wrong place oops . 

we have had all 5 star reviews . Then we got two reviews with 3 ‘s in the areas of communication and in check in .  
i wonder if they are valid or what else we could do ? 
Communication: 

they get a note the day of arrival.  
a personal note is written in house for them. 
the “ house manual “ is displayed in a basket. 
i check on them through text (  1 time) 

they asked 2 questions which were answered in 2 minutes. 
they get a thank you text . 
what else should I be doing? 

check in

the instructions are on web. 
they get a text instructing them how to check in. 
It is self check in and they get a door code. 
Keys are displayed if they prefer keys. 
Again, is there something more I should do ? 

written reviews were good ?, but they marked 3’s.  

thanks all , 

Elizabeth 

[Lorna170]

@Elizabeth2240   I recently got a 3 from a person younger than me because my communication was via email on the AirBnB site and written notes on the kitchen counter when she expected everything she needed to know to be on the phone app or Whatsup  (is that the name?)  We can't please everyone.

[Ben-and-Sam0]

@Elizabeth2240  There's no harm in messaging these guests and politely inquiring as to the reasons for three stars in those subcategories.  They may not respond, but if they do, you may learn some helpful things!

[Sarah977]

@Elizabeth2240  As the above poster mentioned, you can always ask.

But most of the time it isn't really due to anything you have done or not done. Believe it or not, guests will often mark down in a category because of their own inattention. For instance, they'll mark down for check-in because they failed to actually read your instructions and therefore had a hard time with the lock.  Or they ignored the host's driving directions, instead following Google maps, so they got stuck in heavy traffic or went miles out of their way.

Hosts have even had guests mark them down for accuracy, and when the host messaged asking them what wasn't accurate, the guest said the place was much nicer than it appeared in the photos! 

You can't win.  🙂

[Elizabeth2240]

Yes, I guess with some you can’t win’   
I was marked a 3 because I said we were in North Central SA , 17 miles from downtown.  However, she said we weren’t accurate as she thought we were downtown. 

[Gillian166]

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@Elizabeth2240 wrote:

Yes, I guess with some you can’t win’   
I was marked a 3 because I said we were in North Central SA , 17 miles from downtown.  However, she said we weren’t accurate as she thought we were downtown. 

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i'm sorry, you just have to laugh at these idiotic moments. That really is hilarious to read. and then she marked you down! omg, it's comical. 

I'm finding a stunning 80% of guests can't read or follow directions. So many get lost, can't open the gate, can't find the codes, ask me questions that I already gave answers to in my welcome message....   We are doing our best to just keep smiling and laughing it off. 

Of course, if only our income weren't tied up in the **bleep** rating system.... I'm blessed to be in a country area with not a lot of competition, so i don't get too obsessed with making superhost.  I still have to make time to explain to guests how destructive a 3* rating can be, but part of me knows 80% won't even read it! 😅

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

My home is a short walk (0.3 miles) from the station along one straight road, with zero turns to make, and all the houses have door numbers, so it's really easy to find. Nonetheless, some guests still manage to get lost so I do send them pretty clear directions to help them find the house. I also ask the guests to let me know if they are running late or have any other problems and remind them of my phone number. Still, some guests insist on ignoring all of this.

One of the most annoying experiences I had with this was a couple who didn't bother to inform me they were running hours late and didn't respond to my messages asking if they were on the way. Eventually, I sent a message saying as I didn't know anymore when they would be arriving, I was just going to pop to the shop but would be back in a few minutes. To be extra careful, I left a note on the front door stating the same.

Of course, after several hours of waiting for/messaging them, they showed up during the five minutes I was away from the house. I came back to find them stopping random people on the street, showing them a print out of my listing and asking how to find it (they were standing right outside and had a photo of the exterior as well as the door number).

They were very, very annoyed. When I asked if they had read my messages, they just told me they had turned off their US phones, like that was my fault too. Apparently, they were waiting to get here so that I could activate their new UK SIM for them (they treated me like a concierge/maid service throughout the stay).

They were grumpy from that point onwards and gave me a terrible review and ratings in which they also said I sent them check in instructions/directions, but only AFTER they had already arrived. I not only sent them the instructions a few days before their arrival (as I always do) but chased for acknowledgement when I didn't get a response. The guests confirmed in writing they had received the instructions and this was two days before their arrival.

Some people just like to blame others for their total cluelessness. They create problems for themselves, so are constantly frustrated, but can't admit it. It always has to be someone else's fault.

[Gillian166]

@Huma6 

again, I am still smiling at how comically stupid this is, I can imagine them standing outside your home, with a picture of it, still unable to work out where they were. Is it also possible that as Americans, the foreginness of the UK just threw them a bit? (depends on how well travelled they were, I guess). Whilst the USA is incredibly diverse inside its own borders, and I get why they don't need to travel much as they have it all in one country with amazing landscapes from tropical to winter wonderland, most Americans are just not diverse in their international experience/knowledge. 

The other thing that is a giant lie is that they claimed YOU didn't send them check in instructions, haha, the whole thing is automated and sent by AirBnb, and whilst guests might not know we can send scheduled messages, they do know that Airbnb sends all the check in details.

As for not being able to read a street sign, that is REALLY common here in South Australia, I don't understand it all. You have a phone, you have the address, why is it so hard? But here they tend to give directions via landmarks (like it's still 1880 and there aren't street names yet) and my favourite is when they say "turn left where the primary school used to be". 🤣 Still cracks me up. So when they can't find our farm, despite having a street number right outside on the footpath, I tend to give them instructions like "look for the row of tall pine trees".  I view it as a sweet, quirky idiosyncrasy of Adelaide people, and try to find it charming rather than annoying. They also can't park logically, that's another quirk of this state, but we'll save that for another thread! haha. 

[Elizabeth2240]

I had guests last night who couldn’t find the parking: after a picture, directions and even a lighted sign ! I helped them in at 12 am ( 2 hours after  check i ) , gave them the door code.  Then, I told them to have a good night and went on inside. A few minutes  later the pounded on my door to find where the  Air B& B was .. they were standing in front of it! You could see it all lit up! I just pointed.  !!! Uggg if they even see the picture!!!! 

[Ruth413]

@Elizabeth2240 Sometimes you can't win even how much you try.   @Sarah977   So true, and I just got low stars for accuracy last week because my photos don't do it justice !  You have to laugh rather than cry and I have found my shoulders are a lot broader than 2 years ago.  

[Gillian166]

I'm still in the "laugh, not cry" stage. Maybe when i'm more of a veteran like you guys I'll be more jaded. 😅  My daughter and I manage the airbnb together and we often reward ourselves with a bottle of bubbles for all the hard work we do. We live in a wine region, weekday drinking is perfectly acceptable! 😉 

[Sarah977]

@Ruth413  It's truly mind-boggling how anyone could think they are doing the host a favor by giving them less than 5*s because the place was better than they anticipated. Seem to be a lot of folks with dysfunctional brains.