Post lockdown super critical guests?

[Alexandra199]

Anyone else noticed that since opening up again after lockdown guests seem to be over critical and more than willing to mark down for everything and anything?

I have  had consistently good reviews until we were shut down and reopened at the beginning of July. Since then, I have had lots pf requests for discounts and guests trying to bargain with me for their stay. I have decided not to agree to these because as this is my business and I am trying to recoup the losses I have incurred from lockdown. I am pleased to say I have had excellent occupancy.

I have however noticed that guests seem to want to find reasons to find fault. These are really little things but it is becoming noticeable and ever review I receive is getting stressful. They seem to leave a pleasant description of their experience and then hit me with 4 stars in the categories and a  private note saying what they felt was wrong. The last guest decided to tell me that a second toilet would have been useful in a cottage that is advertised as having one bathroom...she marked me down for value because the cottage had one toilet? Really? 

I'm getting really fed up of guests thinking they should be getting more and more. Is it just me?

[Robin4]

@Ann72  

Absolutely Ann, all my worst guests.....nah I probably shouldn't say that, I have so few poor guests. But, those poor guests that I have had are all guests who have come by reservation request.

*

If you remember Ann, back in 2017 Airbnb virtually forced us all into using IB by putting all IB hosts ahead of RR hosts in a general listing search.....IB's were given preferential search ranking. I resisted it, and like a lot of the contributors here said, "I want to speak to someone and see what they are like before I accept them"! I was bloody annoyed with Airbnb for doing this, disadvantaging me like this. By October 2017 my bookings were slipping away with my search placement and I decided to throw in the towel an activate IB.....

Hands down the best thing I ever did! All of a sudden I just got a heap of great guests come out of nowhere and I started to realize my problem guests were ones that wanted to know something before they booked!

I sat down and did an analysis in March 2018, I went back over the previous 6 months...and when you are accepting around 13-17 guests a month it doesn't take long to build up a bit of a database....a reference point!

And that is when I came to the conclusion IB's just want to stay! They have liked what they see, it is what they are looking for, they book and send a nice message saying they are looking forward to the stay!

That's it, no if's, no but's....they just want to stay.

With reservation requests came the problems....'can I bring along my two dogs'.....'Can I cook up some entree's in your kitchen for the pre-wedding party' .....'can I have a few friends over for a quiet drink in the garden' ....'We have a restored Buick vintage car, can we have the use of your garage while we are staying' .....'My husband has an occasional incontinence issue, can we have the bed  serviced daily'.....Can you supply vegan condiments and soy milk instead of the bacon and eggs' and regular milk! 

Ann, I have had every one of those....... and a dozen more. Then I realized, IB has polarized guests, it has put them into two distinct categories!!! Guests who just want to stay use Instant Book....guests who want to jerk you around and push you into something you don't automatically offer will send a reservation request.

There is an obvious psychology behind the person who always needs some sort of clarification....

Salesman......."The next delivery of  those front door mats will be on Thursday morning"! 

Customer......"What time"!

But I won't go into that here, I have described the consequences of dealing with a 'haggler' before, and this post is getting a bit long!

Since I have used IB I have not had a problem with an IB stay and with one exception they have all given me a 5 star review. The two really poor guests I have had both came courtesy of reservation request, less than stellar reviews come from reservation requests and, if I had the option I would disable reservation request and only accept Instant Bookings.  

Cheers......Rob

@Susan3734  @Alexandra199  @Debra300 @Kelly149 @Sarah977 

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Ditto, in that I also never wanted to use IB but felt forced to as my bookings took such a dive when Airbnb really started pushing it. I was dreading it, but it's worked out fine, especially as I was able to cancel suspect guests penalty free, although I haven't had to do that in a long time either.

I don't have any problem with request bookings though. Firstly, I have all the filters built in for IB so first time guests have to request anyway. Secondly, I host long-term guests now and only a small minority of them IB, which I find understandable. I would also want some prior contact with the host if I was booking a long stay.

It's more about the questions that they ask. If it's a list of demands for concessions to rules or it's clear that they haven't read or understood anything, that's a red flag, but at least you get a sense of that with requests before someone books, whereas with IB you only find that out later.

I think there are good and bad guests in both categories. I can't say I have noticed a higher or lower quality of guests depending on whether they IB or request book.

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  My favorite guest question is "Anything I can bring you that you can't get in Mexico?"

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

Funnily enough, even though I much prefer long-term hosting, one downside is that long-term guests rarely ever bring gifts or cards :(, whereas when I hosted short term, that was much more common.

Oh well, there is only so much green tea and random souvenirs you need. Not that I was ungrateful. The thought is always touching. Anyway, I never know how to answer that question because you can get ANYTHING in London.

[Ann72]

Also @Susan3734 don't leave us hanging without telling the story of the couple you had to report! 🙂

[Anna9170]

.@Susan3734
IB is my favorite tool, and in most cases they are adequate wonderful guests! I don't like to ask questions when I'm satisfied with the description and rules. But people who write me big letters and eat my brain instead of the "book" button is always the biggest problem.

[Ann72]

@Anna9170   💯!!!

[Ann72]

@Robin4  Brilliant - thank you.  Aside from remembering this, the trick is to come up with a clever way to dissuade them from booking after you've said no to all their requests...  I got one couple with endless questions to go away when I gave them a lengthy description of the ferocious wildlife lurking right outside the cabin where they would be staying with the dogs they hoped to be able to let run free.  But Robin please give us some of your other ways of getting them to go away.

The discount-seekers usually go away after a flat @Ute42-style NO.  That way they never become hagglers.  I've had two recently from another platform.  Both used the word "pricey" in this way:  "We would love to stay in your beautiful home, but it's too pricey for us.  Can we pay X amount?"  And I wrote back, very eloquently, "No."

[Robin4]

@Ann72 

Ann, as I have said, I don't deal with hagglers! I am very accommodating and I will offer lots of things to guests. But I won't be asked for them!

My radar is all the time searching for that guest who is trying to strengthen her ground and at the same time weaken mine.

They don't just do it to you and me, it's a powerplay that they use to get themselves through life, every question they ask that you offer an affimative answer to makes them a bit stronger and you a bit weaker, you find they will always have some other little 'triviality' that will require satisfying until, you get to the point where you will give in to anything.....just to get them out of your life!

We come across them every day.....you are in the fast lane at Woolworths and there is some antagonistic male/female arguing with the checkout chick about the price of a six pack of bacon short-cuts, gesticulating to a specials catalogue they are waving in one hand that William Caxton possibly ran off on the first printing press. Everyone behind gets agitated and that just makes the haggler all that more determined to get his/her way! We have all seen it 1,000 times.

* 

Ann, here is how my psychology works!

If I see from the guests initial message they have a toddler or an infant, but have not made any special requests, I will respond to them "I have a Fisher Price porta cot, a highchair and a tub of toys, would you like me to have them out for you, save bringing your own? " I will offer it!

But if the guest says in that initial message, "I see in your listing description you allow children, what infant bedding and other childs things do you provide"?  I will say, "My listing is basically a studio for two people, I am not really set up for children  but you are welcome to bring them provided you can cater for them"......There you go I haven't offended them, but I have set the ground rules.....I won't haggle with them!

Many nights I will be spent with company over a bottle of red wine or two....but I won't tolerate being asked for it. Some guests will let slip in the review what a great night they had in the mancave with a nice drop of great wine. A future enquiry will see that and seize on it and slip in the question, "Is the bottle on wine included in the rent".......no way José ...the door to the mancave will stay firmly locked!

Some requests are just downright bloody ridiculous so, that's the way I treat them........

Within 10 minutes the reply came back.....'Stay not possible'......

Mission accomplished!

Cheers........Rob

@Susan3734 

[Ann72]

@Robin4  I was hoping you would post that exchange about the appliances 🤣🤣🤣

I don't call them hagglers because they don't get a chance to haggle...Is there a discount?  No, there isn't.  End of conversation.  They go away, and nine times out of ten someone else comes along for the exact same dates who falls into Rob's #1 category of Like it, book it, no fuss no muss.

[Robin4]

@Ann72 

Sorry, got called away, you may have turned in for the night!

Ann, I removed any length of stay discounts that Airbnb suggest should be offered to guests when they book....ie, weekly 10%, fortnightly 15%. I do not set automatic discounts!

I do offer a discount but, I will offer it as a refund at the conclusion of the stay where I can calculate what discount is appropriate.

I do this because a guest can cancel 6 days into a two week stay. They will be refunded the remaining nights at the percentage of what they paid overall and the host gets stiffed for offering a 6 night hosting at a 14 night price (minus 15%) with no chance of re-letting the remaining nights.

Setting length of stay discounts can work to your disadvantage, don't set them!

Cheers.......Rob

@Colleen253  @Alexandra199  @Debra300 

[Ann72]

@Robin4  So smart the way you've thought ahead on those discounts.  Thank you for sharing your wisdom.

[Debra300]

@Robin4,

I think it's people like Cliff that are the reason why the amenities section was updated with those "add details" links to list the refrigerator and shampoo brands, and if the washer and dryer are in the unit or the building.

[Colleen253]

This (along with @Ute42’s NO tutorial) should be framed and sat by the bed of every new Airbnb host, to meditate on every night before retiring. It is probably the best nugget of wisdom Airbnb has in the archives @Robin4 
😜

[Robin4]

@Colleen253 

5 years ago, I was a greenhorn I knew absolutely jack shi* about hosting, but thanks to some wonderful people here on the CC I got my act together. They told me what to look for and how to be a successful host.

Would you believe we are in the middle of a difficult hosting period with many guests (as @Anonymous  says)  having to in their minds, settle for something less than second best, and yet, my last 47 reviews have been 5 star!

Conceited it may be, but Colleen, I have become a polished host, I know exactly what to look for and how to avoid hosting that train wreck. I have rejected maybe 7 reservation requests since COVID-19 came on the scene, but my radar doesn't let me down.......I read words and I understand the implications of putting those words together, much like the way a chef understands the consequences of what they do in the kitchen.....they understand what flavours go with each other to achieve a fine result.

Individually Colleen we lack a lot.......but collectively, there is nothing we here on the CC do not know and cannot solve.

That's why the CC is great value to Airbnb support, more than 60% of users who come here with their problems have them solved right here  by  @Anonymous  @Sarah977  @Inna22  @Huma0  @Mark116 @Susan151 and long time contributors like @Rebecca181 @Helen427 @Helen3  @Helen350 and of course our dearly departed  like @Susan17  @David126 who were unceremoniously bumped off the platform....... and many more.

Colleen, if my words can help, great, I don't need any more out of life than that!

Cheers.......Rob