Guests Who Do Not Read Entire Listings

[Russell68]

What can hosts and Airbnb do to  deal with guests who do not take the time to read and understand entire listings?

Sometimes they go on to cancel, ask for refunds, give bad reviews, blame the host etc.

Hosts spend a lot of time wording and rewording their listings.  Do you find it disappointing that some guests only read headlines, prices and a few other words?

[Mary-and-Ben0]

It appears that very few guests read the listings. I've been discussing this with various airbnb customer service people all week. I just left the following at  https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

"Airbnb is not matching us with the guests who are looking for what we offer. We've had to cancel 10 guests in a row because they did not read the description of the place and were not aware that we're offering premium lodging for chemically sensitive individuals, and they were not prepared to comply with our needs on their end (fragrance-free, etc.) On the flip, the guests who do (often direly) need us report they have not found us on Airbnb, but through other, difficult-to-use-and-rely-on means, like word-of-mouth and Facebook groups. Up to 20 percent of travelers will choose a fragrance-free, eco- and chemically-conscious lodging as their first choice. This is a huge market segment. I am aware that many people have asked you to bring back your search terms feature as this was very helpful to people looking for chemically-sensitive and eco-conscious lodging. another option would be to add a check box for hosts , 'Chemically sensitive, eco-conscious' or the like which would allow the guest to only view properties that are suitable for them. "

Also, just FYI, we are preparing our home to be an EMF Sanctuary which will offer a low/safe EMF environment for the increasing numbers of us who are terribly EMF sensitive. Please let me know if you want to find out more information about our efforts in this regard. Love to all fellow lovers of Earth --

[Huma0]

The guest who reads the whole listing and house rules is the exception, not the norm. I ask all guests to confirm they have read both, but mostly they simply lie and say they have. There's a trick question I ask which catches them out almost every time! Other times it's often very obvious that they haven't by the questions they ask, at which point I will reiterate that XYZ was stated on the listing/in the rules, and AGAIN ask them to read it. Sometimes I have to ask over and over.

I recently had guests who did not make the booking themselves, although it was done from their accounts, e.g. a son who booked for his mother and a husband who booked for his wife. In both cases, the person booking pretended to be the guest and confirmed they had read the listing/agreed to the house rules. In both instances, it turned out that the actual person staying had not read ANYTHING at all and started breaking house rules before they even arrived!! I tried to explain why this was not okay, was against Airbnb policy etc. but they did not get it at all.

Not reading things properly is a general problem, but the App really does not help at all because it shows the guest a summarised version and it's not easy or obvious to find the rest. Yesterday I was messaging back and forth with a future guest who confirmed she had read everything when she booked. Then she asked for something which is against my house rules. I asked her to please re-read them. Next, she asked for information that was in the rules, saying she couldn't find that info anywhere on the listing, plus other info that is in the Location section. I pointed out again that it was in the rules, please could she make sure she read them! Finally, she said she had been using the App and hadn't seen any of these things there at all.

I've only ever had one guest leave early (asking for a refund) for something that is clearly stated on my listing (traffic noise) under Guests Must Also Acknowledge. She said she hadn't seen this. Where was it? Although it was easy to see on my laptop, it is true that it was not easy to see on the App. Shouldn't something as important as the points that guests must acknowledge be highlighted in bold?

That being said, Guests Must Also Acknowledge appears at the end of the house rules, which she had previously confirmed she had read in full. When I pointed this out, she admitted that she 'never reads the rules because I'm not a rule breaker'. What??!! How do you know you won't break the rules if you don't know what the rules are?! What if my rules said 'Guests can only use the toilet between the hours of 3 and 4am'? Anyway, luckily she was reasonable and accepted that she would not get a refund. That's not always the case though, is it?

[Helen350]

I had guests who failed to read  "Must also acknowledge  - Must climb stairs."  They left on arrival, demanded a refund, then left 1 & 2 star ratings in the review, despite NOT having spent the night there, & despite admitting it was their fault for thinking there were no stairs. Needless to say, airbnb staff gave the usual guff about it can't be removed, cos does not violate community standards.

I'm sure this info used to appear high up the listing, but now appears at the bottom.

I've also had several people request early check ins, one before the check out time of the previous guest! They all said the app invited them to do this... & all denied seeing the check in  time on the listing (at the bottom.)

[Manda7]

I'm the exception to the rule of not reading, I read too much. Anyhow, I was thinking for the pople who blantly disregard the house rules and such, to make index card notes to leave around the house so they cannot say "It didn't say it anywhere"

[Sam-and-Adam0]

Now I actually say:

"Just want to be sure you've read our whole listing? (Just that we (and Airbnb) are pretty different from a hotel :)"

I've just had a run of 'incesent questions that would be easily answered if they read the listing' guests. It's worked out well because I'm assuming it usually makes guests go back and read it so they usually reply "Yes, and looking forward to it" etc... or once someone said "Oh, I didn't realize it was a studio appartment with a day bed" and withdrew their request~ but better for me than getting dinged in reviews afterwards.

We recently had a review 'Nice place but next year would like a pool and scheduled activities for the kids"-- then book that!!! (Or a hotel 😉

[J-Renato0]

@Russell68

It is very rare the guest that reads the entire list.

They look the pics and read the text that appear in the first lines  of the property page.

So, the most important information must be available in the first lines.

Still, there will be few guest the does not pay attention in anything, that read nothing and usually book looking only for prices and probaly aiming the location they want to stay. Meaning, they seach for accommodation filtering the listings by range of price. When the price suits their badget they book and expect that the listing suits their "whims" !

Those few guests are the worst type of guests and are prone to write bad reviews!

[Marcos202]

I had an issue that the platform didn't pass the information from the spanish version to the english one, so the guest "didn't know" the house rules, and although i pass all the don't do to the guests orally, in case they didn't took the time to read it, and there is also a don't do printed page in the room, in conclusion they used the buildings swimming pool, not only to swim but to do things you do in private, remembering that's totally forbiden for guests to use, only residents are allowed to do so, and i fine them originally 100€, but after a long apology and tears i got it down to 70€, they payed and now they claimed that they didn't know and airbnb returned the 70€ to them, although the airbnb agent saw the rule and the fine in the spanish platform he decided to return the money because it was in the English version, whose fault is it??? Do i have to check every language?? 

[Shawna11]

I completely agree!! I have had two out of the last three guest read only price dates and location and give me not only a bad review but false accusations and out right BS as payback!! I have contacted Airbnb Dionne multiple occasions proving a guest intentionally padded a bad review as a result of not getting something their way and Airbnb won’t do a thing 

[Shawna11]

I wish someone could help me understand how I can get 2 or 3 back to back 5 star ratings and my progress to super host sets only one thing left almost there yet my overall rating stays the same or barley goes up yet one unhappy guest (and we all have had the guest who expects a lavish hotel stay ), and my overall rating nosedives!! The rating system is not fair it gives all the power to the guest and seems not to honor the rights of the host of which Airbnb should at least honor their own policies! 

[Petra103]

That is exactly what I mean, Shawna.

 Guests can do whatever they want and hosts have no rights at all.

[Helen586]

Yes I am finding that guests don't read the listing - especially those new to airbnb.  Last weekend I had 3 ladies, with 2 children and 1 baby,  I had messaged to say I was happy to take the booking, but please bring EVERYTHING you need for the children/under 2's as I don't have anything here/no cots anything.  Of course they arrive (late) and are surprised it is my home, and I am also staying/living there - as they expected me to just hand over a key (they have booked private room, note entire home) - and said they hoped I would sleep through all the crying etc!!  They only bought one travel cot, complained about having to share their beds with the kids, didn't bring plastic cups etc.  They were worried because I didn't have a stairgate and suggested I get one for future bookings!  I'm fairly new to this and I'm going to use the line mentioned above to ask that they confirm that they have read the listing as I am sure people seem to think they are just getting a house with no one in it, as opposed to room/s in a house with shared communal space - any suggestions for highlighting this better in my listing would be appreciated!

[Rachel711]

I can help you write your listing if you would like - I see many things that can be done to improve it. 

[Helen350]

Hi fellow Helen in the UK! - Have a look at how I spell out in my listings all the aspects of my shared home/space, so that no one can claim they did not know they would be sharing one bathroom with myself, my lodgers and/or other Airbnb guests!

[Oomesh-Kumarsingh0]

@Russell68 We are all well aware that many guests do not read the description of our listings at all but I noticed that the majority of hosts who complain that their guests do not take the time to read all the details provided are the ones who wrote full paragraphs which guests usually do not want to read.You may say 5 minutes is not a long time for guests to spend on reading but unfortunately nowadays 30 seconds is the maximum time they are will to use for this process.So my advice to all of you who wants your guests to read all the information on your listing is to make the use of bullet points which will surely make it easier for guests to access.Adaptation is one of the major keys to success on Airbnb.

[J-Renato0]

I agree with you @Oomesh Kumarsin

Information must be short and to the point.

Complete information must be passed along, but in a briefly and compact way.