Picky, picky picky... How do you handle THOSE nitpicking and/or demanding guests?

[Huma0]

Oh, so here we go again. I had a guest check in yesterday evening and I already have a bad feeling. Okay, so she hasn't said or done anything major, but it's only a day since she arrived and, already:

1. Asked some questions, but ignored my questions and then instant booked anyway.

2. Wanted to check in at 1am. My check in is from 3-9pm.

3. Agreed to check in the next day, but was vague about the time and seemed surprised that I would want to know. I asked her in that case to give me an hour's notice, to which she agreed. Instead, she messaged me 15 minutes before arrival.

4. Didn't mention to me prior to booking that she has an allergy to cats. I have three of them and clearly state in my house rules to not book if you are allergic.

5. Making comments about how many stairs there are to her room (not only on the listing but reiterated to her in the message thread before she booked).

5. Asking if she could keep her toiletries in the bathroom, to which I said yes, but then she wanted to put them in my personal cupboard, to which I said no. Now she wants me to provide an 'attractive' basket for them.

6. Complained that the WiFi in her room doesn't work properly and has disrupted her work meeting. WiFi is working fine for everyone else, but I go up to check and there are five bars. All seems to be working fine, but I reboot anyway.

7. When asked if the room was warm enough, said yes, but later said the radiators weren't working properly. When I asked if it was okay to go check them, suddenly she says they are working now. I literally haven't adjusted anything so that makes no sense.

8. Questions about the door handle on her bedroom door. She is having trouble using it.

9. Asking for 'communal' food items that are neither specified on my listing, nor shown to guests on the check in tour, when they are clearly shown which things are there for their use and told not to help themselves to other food.

10. There was also some miscommunication RE her work set up, which I am not totally comfortable with.

So, this is all small stuff (I have probably forgotten something), but has all happened prior to or within 24 hours of the guests arrival and she is here for one month. Normally I would have asked the guest by this stage if everything is okay with their stay, but I hardly need to as she is quite happy to find ways to keep me on my toes.

[Helen744]

@Huma0 Huma I really think the kitchen is where small Airbnbbers have it all over hotels and when guests  really grasp the concept and 'point of difference ' of an Airbnb. I agree about  guests expecting food because when you unravel Airbnb it does mean Air bed and breakfast. Many hosts also offer homemade goodies these days but  I dont because that just adds another layer of litigation .My house is not certified by the health department  but I do remind guests before they turn up that the house has milk tea coffee ,sugar and a few other things but is'self catering' and they should remember to bring those things they require to be comfortable and prepare a meal, in both England and Ireland hosts can and do provide substantial meals but  it is just not really a good idea in Australia . Most people who are busy 

when they turn up here will go out for a meal or takeaway food is delivered or they can pick it up .Others who stay for maybe a week or have children will cook a meal . Breakfast is the big one really . I used to leave bread and various milks but everyone is so different these days that they end up spoilt,the foodstuffs I mean . I may leave a treat like biscuits or chocolate so that people can at least have a cuppa before they unpack their cars and while they get settled in but otherwise I make it very clear that it is their job to fill the fridge not mine . People do appreciate a welcoming snack but unlike yourself  I can exit, I explain where the shops are where the takeaway food shops are and where the pubs or cafes are and opening times. I would encourage in home  guests to go out for cafes and 'the local  scene' H

[Gillian166]

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@Helen744 wrote:

My house is not certified by the health department  .... in both England and Ireland hosts can and do provide substantial meals but  it is just not really a good idea in Australia .  

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So true, i'm not sure what the current rules are but I'm wary of providing any food for people. As it is we pour milk into a sterilised glass bottle for guests (I was so sick of the waste of plastic bottles from the 1l milks) and even this I worry about, ridiculous as that sounds. We are on a farm, people around here drink milk straight from the cow!! haha. 

I bought a big box of Byron Bay shortbreads (like 1000 of them, individually wrapped), and as much as it annoys me to have that single use plastic, there's just no other way around it, and that's the only snack I provide. 

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

Yes, I get the whole Air bed and breakfast thing but I think that the majority of my guests, who are long term, understand that it's self catering accommodation and not a bed and breakfast in the traditional sense. Bar one couple when I was still hosting short term, no one expects me to cook for them at all, and that includes breakfast. Even for short term stays, providing breakfast is very unusual for Airbnbs in London, although I know it might be more common in less urban areas.

You are right to think about litigation. You cannot just provide food as part of a paid service without a licence, proper inspections etc. There used to be a wonderful Italian restaurant near me which suddenly closed down for no apparent reason. Turns out they didn't bother to get that license. 

My guests don't just eat breakfast here and maybe cook a meal if they have children (I don't accept kids by the way). My guests are long term. They eat out very occasionally, and cook most of their meals at home. With people working or studying from home more and more these days, that could well mean three meals a day! 

That is all fine. The kitchen is advertised as available to them. What is not advertised as available is MY food. I live here too so naturally I have my own food in the kitchen. Luckily, most guests realise this and do not just help themselves or start asking for this, that and the other. My post was more to ask if other hosts are experiencing what I have been lately, which is that more guests seem to think that an Airbnb should cater to their every culinary whim. 

Also, to put things in perspective, the nearest supermarket is a one minute walk away and is open until 11pm seven days a week. About 2-3 minutes away is a larger supermarket (open until 10pm) that is also very, very cheap. There are other supermarkets within a five minute walk as well as delis, several cafes, restaurants and a 24/7 shop. Yes, all within five minutes' walk! If there is something very specific that they can't find in any of those, there is a huge supermarket a 15 minute walk away. Again, open until 11pm. So, there is really no excuse for them not to be able to buy their own food.

The guests I am referring to just expect to get as much for free as they can. However, I am not going to be pressurised into this. They do not pay anywhere near enough to justify these kinds of demands. I supply white sugar, brown sugar, sweetener and honey. If you want coconut sugar specifically to sprinkle on your yoghurt, sorry, you can buy your own.

[Helen744]

@Huma0 , We are all stuck between a rock and a hard place here. The more you give the more they want.Such a weird space in time we are all in at the moment. We will keep doing our best I guess H

[Huma0]

PS Same girl who wanted the coconut sugar also wanted slippers, bath salts, a yoga mat, detergent for woollens (even though I specify that guests buy their own laundry detergent), to use one of my own hairbrushes because she wanted a very specific kind etc. etc. 

After she checked out, she booked a listing close to mine. She continued to message me asking for tips on the most random things. She messaged me at 11.30pm on a week night asking if she could come round to talk. I thought it was something urgent. Turns out she just wanted to talk about boy troubles. We went out for a drink (I paid). She then ordered food, which was not inexpensive (didn't ask if I wanted to eat anything) and seemed to expect me to foot the bill for that too! 

What is going on? Guest expectations seem to be going through the roof. I don't even make that many demands when I stay in a 5* hotel. I certainly don't pay for a room and then expect the hotel to throw in dinner, drinks and laundry facilities for free.

[Gordon0]

We don't allow kitchen access (there are dozens of coffee shops/breakfast places and cafes within spitting distance) and, 99/100 this isn't an issue; people get it. But occasionally, the more elderly guest will think (thanks Airbnb) that we're a B&B.

Two such guests are due to arrive tomorrow.

The initial enquiry concerned me when they referred to my place as an 'establishment' (Fawlty Towers, maybe) which I quickly straightened out by saying it's a room in our 'humble' home. They got it, I thought.

After answering a whole load of their questions "via email, please, we're technophobes", more and more kept coming. I made my excuses and said I'd be offline for a while and to chat with their London-based friends, but not before they questioned my knowledge of how to pay for their travel in London (I work for Transport for London) as a "friend had given them other advice.". Red mist...

We're almost at day zero - only a few days ago - and they informed me they're arriving on Sunday at 05:00, not 5pm as originally advised as "oops, we made a mistake, so we expect to be at yours for 6am - please let the maid know to expect us."

They ended their message with what time they'd be taking their breakfast and how the like it...

Despite a clearly-worded email to them in response, I'll need all the luck and patience to get through the coming days, @Huma0.

 

[Huma0]

@Gordon0 

Oh good lord. 

I don't know where to start. You'll need the patience of a saint I think. Then again, it could all work out fine. It's just bringing back some very bad memories for me!

Did you agree to their 6am check in? I checked your listing and saw you have a check in from 2pm. Are they going to use the self check in facilities or are they still expecting 'the maid' to be waiting there for them? I take it that you dispelled all of this in your response, as well as the expectations for breakfast.

I think I have only had one pair of guests who acted quite like this and it was a similar situation, even though they weren't elderly (mid to late 50s I'm guessing). They seemed to expect meals, not just breakfast, for me to plan every detail not just of their visit to London but even stuff they were doing after leaving here, and for me to basically be their concierge and 'maid'. They were also a bit technophobic, but to my mind that is no excuse for failing to read basic information, but check in became a nightmare too.

I hope you are more successful than I was at managing these guests' expectations. I'd be very interested to know how it goes!

[Mark116]

@Gordon0  Are you going to let them check in at 6am?  Yes, it sounds like you're really going to have to steel yourself, hopefuly its a short stay, LOL. 

[Helen744]

@Helen744  @Gordon0  La di da. Good luck . It is really difficult if people expect cooking, why do they? Why? A  maid ? Who has a maid these days ? These people need to stay home . H

[Kelly149]

@Huma0  the 2 suggestions that come to mind are:

- offer absolutely nothing in kitchen consumables. Nothing

- offer a "price sheet" for kitchen items (like the mini-bar pricing at hotels, be sure to mark it way up), so that they can pay for what they use and/or take themselves to the market for what they like

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

Those are very interesting suggestions, neither of which I had thought about.

- So, tea, coffee, sugar and salt, pepper, cooking oil I thought were basic requirements and something that most guests seem to expect (even if they end up buying their own and don't end up using what you provide). Would guests not feel put out when you don't have any of those things (when most hosts do) and mark down for value?  Many certainly expect salt, pepper and oil at least. It's still tempting, as most of the stuff I provide is stuff I don't really use myself, e.g. I don't drink tea or put sugar in my coffee and rarely eat breakfast cereal.

- The price sheet sounds promising. I can imagine doing this for soft drinks, snacks and alcoholic beverages, but these are things that most guests do not help themselves to. I am not sure how I would feel about charging for a tea bag or a slug of oil. Would you put a whole box of tea or whole bottle of oil on the price list instead?

[Kelly149]

@Huma0 removing the salt, pepper & oil was a Covid change I kept. That is one of the “opportunities” abb tells me to add back. And truth be told there is salt pepper and some other spices there but I don’t promise it and so there’s no expectations. 

since I started I’ve steadily raised my prices and reduced my offering. Early on every guest got fresh flowers, a handwritten note, a tray of crackers, cheese & fruit, fresh coffee cream and a variety of beverages in the fridge. No more. There is a pitcher of water in the fridge, cheap coffee grounds for a small pot, the place is clean & private. No more extras. 

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

So interesting. And you haven't found this has impacted guest satisfaction/reviews?

I can see why it made sense to remove that stuff due to COVID, but since then, people are less wary about contacting it through touching surfaces. To be honest, I've yet to come across any guest, even in the earlier days of the pandemic who was the least bit interested in the enhanced cleaning protocol, whether I was vaccinated or anything else!

I always aim to underpromise and overdeliver and what I provide is somewhere between what you started out with and what you offer now. That used to work out just fine. The guests saw the extras as exactly what they were - a bonus - and seemed to appreciate/be impressed by them.

I feel lately things have changed and guests seem to want more, more, more. What else can I get for free? And what else? I don't know when this mindset changed. These are economically challenging times for most of us. However, if anything, the nightly rates should go up given the extra costs the host has to bear with utility bills, inflation etc.

[Kelly149]

@Huma0 no, we’ve had no ill effects (that I can tell) and as you say, given what’s happened with oil, gas, and all other consumer products, people should be expecting less right now, not more. 
One of my kids last week at the grocery store said “hey! This used to be bigger” so even the teenagers know that everything is more these days. 

[Huma0]

@Kelly149 

Mmm, I wish you were right about the "people should be expecting less right now, not more," and that "even the teenagers know that everything is more these days."

Even though I haven't put my prices up (yet), I've casually mentioned the energy crisis/rising fuel costs to recent guests, either in casual conversation or, most lately, in the context that it's especially important now more than ever to try to be energy efficient (something I have always encouraged in my house - I used to work for the Energy Saving Trust after all!).

Rather surprisingly, not a single guest seemed to be aware of this. I mean, really, not one. They either respond, "Oh really? That's bad," or they just look at me in a clueless fashion and change the subject. These are people in their 20s and 30s, not teenagers. I understand that if you are at an age where you are not yet used to paying your own utility bills, this might not be as much on your radar BUT my 12-year-old niece seems more clued up about environmental issues and surely these people read the news from time to time?? Apparently, not...