Many, many guest demands...

[Denise405]

When booking, our current guests made no mention of religious requirements for their stay.  Upon their late arrival around 9pm, they called angry that the refrigerator had non-kosher condiments inside and demanded we completely empty the refrigerator and sanitize it immediately.  We immediately came over and stayed until 11pm cleaning and making the kitchen kosher.  With notice, we could've prepared for this but the guests mentioned nothing prior to their arrival.  Our home has a pool and is on a busy street.  For safety, all doors have an opening audible charm.  They have a 5-year old in their party.  The guests insisted that these charms had to be disengaged at 6:45 p.m. tonight but want them immediately turned back on tomorrow at 9pm for a religious observance.  We have ATT digital life so we worked with ATT to disengage the charms.  At the last second tonight, the guests said the fact that the system will log the door opening is a religious prohibition so we have to figure out how to disengage the system entirely.  We called ATT and after the past 2 hours of transfers and instructions, we think we can disengage the entire system. We called to do so, but the guests were not home and they did not want us in the house when they are not there. They said they would be home at 5 but now say they will be late and we must wait outside.  Sabbath starts at 645pm so I'm sitting outside waiting for them to return, hopefully to successfully disengage the system and control panel in the window they are providing.  ATT cannot re-engage the system after hours (9pm tomorrow when sabbath ends) and they are upset about that.  They have had a myriad of complaints we have tried to remedy (house AC "not strong enough" bc whole house only at 74 when set at 71 and it's 110 outside, more lights outside around pool when there are over 40 garden lights, house lights on 8 doors, string lights over patio seating, dining light and fan by outdoor dining pavillion, pool lights, tiki bar lights), cable signal "not strong enough" bc they can't figure out the remote, wifi "not strong enough" for unspecified reason). We have met all requests with grace and immediate action but...has anyone else had guests like this and how did you handle this? 

[Paige73]

Denise,

Please please please post their review!!!

[John1574]

@Denise405  @John1080  @Pete28 @Pete69 @Clara116

I enjoyed reading this wonderful, though painfully,  instructive thread.  Thanks for posting here, Denise.  I empathize with you.

And hats off to you, Denise for handling it, sharing it and filing it away as a learning experience.  I for one learned some things, and I reaffirmed a few things, that I have not yet experienced in hosting but will now be ready to respond to in a professional manner that will protect myself and my business.

As for your review, we may be all premature in this, but it is important to write a review that the guests cannot get deleted.  Short & not so sweet, I think, is the best agreed upon way to go.

This is a 1st draft:

Jack & Jill booked for four, long, eventful days with us. We tried our best to accommodate their many requests for extra services and amenities that we do not provide per out listing.  We hope they were satisfied with all our extra efforts to accede to their requests for extra service.

I like the way this conveys to future hosts that this was not your usual guest.

"four, long, eventful days",  tells you something, doesn't it, the respective use of the word "extra" to convey the guests demanded more than usual,   And there is not one overtly negative word in the paragraph -  it's all in-between the lines.

And it can be used as both response and review.

[Clara116]

@John1574 @Denise405 John, your draft is NOT really clear as I read it that Denise went to all this late night - and days - ridicous efforts for these folks. I understand you don't want them to have any recourse to have conflict, removal, etc. 

But I might be just alittle more to write something like this!

It is NOT rude, and never bashes these intense guests. 

My idea might read:

Jack n Jill stayed 5 very long nights and had a long list of requirements/adjustments/amenities that they needed and demanded done for them. We are hopeful that although all these demands were NOT on our listing and we never provide them to guests - we did our very best to accomodate and remain terrific hosts at the same time. In reality our place was not a correct fit  for their wants, needs and demands. For the future we wish them well. 

my 3 cents

happy hosting, Clara

[John1574]

@Clara116   @Denise405 @Douglas109 @John1080 @Pete28

Clara, I love a good debate.  I must admit that I disagree with you, and that I am adament and unaminous in that.

I wrote mine with the knowledge I learned from two recent threads, copied below, where one of the topics related to crafting a removal-proof review, i.e. one that a guest can't get removed by a complaint to AirBnB.

My goal was to write a removal-proof review AND at the same time warn potential hosts of what hosting these two would entail.  I believe I succeded on both counts.

I think you wrote a generally outstanding review (except for the mis-placed em dash) but I think your review could still be removed by a complaint from the guests, Jack & Jill,  mainly because you imply they were demanding, which relates to their personal behavior, by using a form of the word "demand" three times.  The review also reads a bit defensive in my opinion. The part about being terriffic hosts, mentioned several times.

John:

Jack & Jill booked for four, long, eventful days with us. We tried our best to accommodate their many requests for extra services and amenities that we do not provide per our listing.  We hope they were satisfied with all our extra efforts to accede to their requests for extra service.

Clara:

Jack n Jill stayed 5 very long nights and had a long list of requirements/adjustments/amenities that they needed and demanded done for them. We are hopeful that although all these demands were NOT on our listing and we never provide them to guests - we did our very best to accomodate and remain terrific hosts at the same time. In reality our place was not a correct fit  for their wants, needs and demands. For the future we wish them well. 

I think they both work, but I think one has a better chance of not getting removed.

Hopefully, we have given Denise some help and a lot of to think about in crafting her review.

Thank you for sharing your ideas.  Good stuff!

And the links below provide more food for thought on this subject.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Guest-Had-Airbnb-Delete-Negative-Review/m-p/781129#M1876...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/how-to-write-feedback-when-guest-is-not-good/m-p/778219#...

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[Terry15]

These are just mean people.  It happens.  Take a breath - learn from it.  Nothing you can do to accomdate mean people.  Move on.

[David126]

"The Airbnb community is committed to building a world where people from every background feel welcome and respected, no matter how far they have traveled from home. This commitment rests on two foundational principles that apply both to Airbnb’s hosts and guests: inclusion and respect. Our shared commitment to these principles enables every member of our community to feel welcome on the Airbnb platform no matter who they are, where they come from, how they worship, or whom they love. "

The Guests should be reminded of this. They obviously have no respect or sense of inclusion.

[Claire446]

What horrible guests. I'd take the hit to my reviews and tell them where to stick it. Remove them if you can, saying your place is not suitable for their religious needs but that AirBnB can probably help them find another place. Perhaps remind them that Jewish people are not allowed to ask other people to do things for them during the sabbath. 

[Fred13]

All things pass @Denise405. You were an angel and for that you deserve a lot of credit. Next time however... 🙂

   Personally speaking, I  deal with all the differences of my guest's backgrounds, countries, race, traditions, faiths, orientations, politics, etc.  by actually totally ignoring them. They have nothing to do with my place; relaxing, bonding and having a heck of a unique island experience does. 

[Clara116]

@Fred and @Denise405 Yes, Fred, Denise is amazing that she hung in there.  I could NEVER have even started with the first of the demands.  For stamina you get super credit. AND hopefully many hosts have learned a few things.

It is surely curious how our filters and upbringing will dictate how we host and deal with others!  And on the flipside there are the guests who also have their filters, upbringing and expectations

Fred's way and approach is ideal and we can all learn from it and strive in that direction indeed.

happy hosting, Clara

[John540]

Tell them to hit the road. Asap

[Andreas-and-Anna0]

anyone who observes kosher wouldn't go to a non jewish listing or at least they would be very specific in the very beginning to avoid problems...Why would they set themselves up for failure? in fact, sounds a but like a scam to get  a free stay.

[John1080]

@Denise405, update?! I'm sure we would all ove to hear how things ended up with check out and what you decided to do with regards to a review and whether they've left one.

[Dawn244]

I would request for them to cancel there stay.  Have a casemanager with Airbnb assigned. Would be nice if AIRBNB would support us with guest that are unreasonable.

[Sara455]

I tell them they can go to a hotel or rent a sublet where they have more control.

[Alexandra316]

@Denise405 So what happened? Did they review you? Did you review them?