No cable available. Would you refund?

[Donna249]

I have a cottage on the ocean water it's very well kept and not fancy but very clean very beautiful big windows peered and I'm a super host

I had people book in there for 3 nights without asking any questions in advance other them whether the dates were available. They arrived they haven't even stayed one night and they're already asking for a refund for the next 2 nights because there is no cable and they want to watch the basketball tournament.

It does state there is ATV but no word do I say I have cable. I've never had anyone ask for a refund before for this reason most people ask a lot of questions before they book.

What should I do? Any advice is appreciated

[Emilia42]

In a bubble . . . even I knew that @Ann72 🙂

[Fred13]

@Ann72 You just have to get with the flic. 

While here - they have tournaments in basketball?

[Huma0]

@Donna249 

I have a TV with cable, but I have thought about cancelling the service as no one, including me, ever uses it. I only had one guest who asked me about it and he was fine when it turned out the channel he wanted wasn't available here. People seem much more interested in the WiFi so they can stream on their devices. On the other hand, I don't host families, so that might be different.

I wouldn't go to the trouble of investing in a new TV if hardly anyone uses it and this is the first time an issue has come up. I absolutely would not refund the guests because they made an assumption about your listing.

However, yes, it is best to be as clear as possible on the listing (although some would argue it is better to keep the listing short). Also, as @Sarah977 says, it's a good idea to check with the guests that they have read the full listing before their stay. I do this before they book, or as soon as they Instant Book. I insist on them confirming this in the message thread.

That's not to say that they then won't later complain or mention it in their review, but then at least you have comeback. I had a host stay once who, after the first night, complained that the bed was too small. I responded, "It's a standard double, as mentioned on the listing." He then said that he could hear the traffic from the road. I responded, "Yes, that's mentioned on the listing too. You did read the listing, didn't you?" That nipped the complaining in the bud and he ended up leaving me a 5 star review.

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

I do agree that more guests are not requiring cable, but they do appreciate the ability to view their streaming content on a device larger than a laptop/table/phone.  Guests appreciate the availability of nice amenities even if they don't want to use them.  My suggestion was a relatively inexpensive way to help boost the ratings of @Donna249's cottage, because with 32 written reviews there is something that is making the guests give a lower than 5 an overall star rating, and the value rating is the lowest.  There have been numerous discussions about the significance of the star rating, but it is another marketing item, along with Superhost, to make listings stand out from the crowd of others.  

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

Yes, you are right that value is the lowest rating on the whole home listing. We can't be 100% sure why that is, but I'm not convinced it has to do with amenities.

Many of the guests mention in their reviews that the cabin has everything they needed, that everything worked. This is repeated over and over again and there are no complaints regarding amenities. However, a few mention that the place needs some updating, so that might have more to do with it. This is the only one that actually mentioned value:

"We loved the quiet, and the location near St Peters Bay; although not on the water as the photos might suggest, it was close to it. A real "cottage" flavor to the place, but certainly everything worked fine. Price maybe a little high, but that seems seasonal. And it was certain nice to be so close to the Confederacy Trail."

So, it could be that the place is not competitively priced compared to what else is on offer, or that is simply the guests' perception of it. I've posted about this before, but my best and most popular room gets lower ratings than the other two, even though there's little difference in price. It definitely gets much lower ratings on location, even though it is the SAME location.

Why? Well, I concluded it was simply to do with guest expectations. The better room attracted fussier guests. Sometimes there is not much rhyme nor reason to guests' ratings.

Perhaps @Debra300 has gotten some private feedback from the guests who rated her low on value and can provide more insight into that, but if no one apart from these recent guests have complained about the TV facilities, perhaps that is not the place to be spending the money. I would focus spending on issues that come up more frequently.

[Helen350]

@Huma0  "... guest expectations. The better room attracted fussier guests."

- That is SO the case chez moi..... - I asked a local shed-in-the-garden host, with all 5* ratings, why my best & biggest room has the lowest rating ..... "Expectations!" she replied.

[Debra300]

@Huma0,

I believe you meant to say perhaps @Donna249 can give some insight into the private feedback she's received.

[Huma0]

Sorry @Debra300 .

Yes, that's exactly what I meant to say, but clicked on the wrong name. 

[Ann72]

@Huma0 @Debra300 @Helen350  Very helpful discussion re: value and expectations.  I am at 4.9 for value at one place because of the occasional 4s.  I believe just about everyone who has given it a 4 for value has received a discount of some kind, so I'm not sure if it's the price or the previous reviews that have raised expectations.  Rather than lower the price I might remove all discounts completely.  Then the people who feel they deserve a discount - the same people who leave 4s - won't book.  

[Huma0]

@Ann72 

Interesting. I've never given discounts, other than the long-term ones and all long-term guests get the same discounts, so I have never noticed that difference in ratings. The only time I had a guest booking using one of those Airbnb special offer promos, he didn't even know he had gotten a promotional rate.

You may be right, but as I have no experience of that, I can only put it down to guest expectations. One couple rated me down on value. I think they were pretty happy with the price, until some friends of theirs told them they got a hotel with breakfast in Central London for the same price. I don't know how their friends got that deal to be honest, or if they were staying in an absolute dive, because I am pretty sure you can't get two dorm beds in Central London in high Summer for the price my guests were paying.

I actually rarely get rated down on value. Location is more of a bug bear for me.

[Robin4]

@Donna249 

Donna, I notice on your Peggy's Cottage listing you do state you have a TV, but you give no details.

This problem used to come up frequently and Airbnb have included an edit box to show exactly what sort of TV is offered to guests. It stops these problems.

If you go to your listing details page and under the amenities section click the TV icon and this box will appear.......

It is imperative that you fill that edit box out, if you don't the guest may well have reason to complain because, the omission was your fault not Airbnb's, or the guests. Before Airbnb offered this box the host could legitimately say......"Well Airbnb don't give me an option to show what I offer"....but that's not the case any more. Here is what the guest sees in a general amenities search if you have edited TV......

When you fill that edit box out the features you offer will show alongside the TV icon, and if they don't appear there you can refuse the guests request.....they simply did not read the description carefully.

You do have to be precise in what you offer because guests associate amenities with what they are used to. This guest might only use cable at home and it wouldn't cross their minds that you don't offer it.....to them, it's just TV. You have to be specific! My feeling is you are going to have to offer some sort of compensation Donna, sorry to say that but, the guest does have a case!

Cheers........Rob

[Debra300]

@Robin4,

No, @Donna249 didn't make a mistake with the TV option that she selected.  There is a separate option for Pay TV (cable TV on the US site).  The plain TV option is default for over-the-air transmission, because all of the TV amenity subcategories are for add-on services, and there isn't anything to select for antenna/OTA.   

[Robin4]

@Debra300 

Debra, it is not what Donna said she didn't offer, it's what she said she did....too little information!

Deb, what you see in the US is the same as what we see here in Oz. The crazy thing about this company, they scream from the rooftops all the completely unnecessary irrelevant self promotional information they can think of, but they never tell us about important changes that really have an impact on the running of our business.

I came across this about 2-3 months ago when I went into my listing settings to change one of my amenities.....and lo and behold all these editing options were suddenly there......what sort of soap do you supply.....what sort of air conditioning, and so forth. There are heaps of editing options now to nail down all aspects of what a host offers. 

Great, why didn't we get told!

Deb, it is not that  Donna has said she does not offer cable, what she has not said is what she does offer....and that is what is now important .  Hit that TV icon and tell the guest what you do offer. It is no good just saying you have TV any more, you have to be specific what TV you do offer. 

What has happened Deb is, Donna is not aware of these changes....and you can't blame her for that, we are all simply mushrooms kept in the dark when these things happen and we just have to suddenly stumble on them. 

About the same time as this platform alteration came into place the format of our listing changed, photos, access. I can no longer log -on and go straight to my Inbox from the drop down menu. I have to go to my home page, or calendar page first before I can access my Inbox. A bit like going from London to Plymouth via Manchester.

We have to check our listings and our account settings daily to make sure Airbnb have not made some subtle variation that they felt was not important enough to tell us about!

Cheers.......Rob

[Debra300]

@Robin4,

I think you hipped a lot of people to the updated amenities list, because most other hosts in this thread said they didn't know about it, including me.  It even prompted @Huma0 to start a new thread on the topic.

BTW, have you checked your listing as a guest?  I just looked, and the TV is listed without details.  I am not sure that the additional information is actually being displayed on the listing page.

[Huma0]

@Debra300 

That wouldn't surprise me. When I go to edit the amenities, the options are wildly different on one listing than another, even though all my listings are private rooms in a shared house. I reckon this is so new that there are still a lot of teething problems and perhaps the changes are not going live straight away?