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 Sometimes you cannot warn people really.Throw in the word 'unique' . something like 'As a host I get to meet many people  , all are unique and special in their own way . Thanks for staying [  ?]. and then add something about cleaning.H

[Stephanie365]

@Huma0  You could go something along the lines of, "While Penelope seems nice enough, she does have very high expectations above and beyond what is considered normal for an AirBNB home share. Future hosts should prepare to set boundaries. She left my home clean, and she communicated often and well."

And leave it unmentioned that you'd host her again.  And of course it is up to you whether you will check the box to host again.

[Huma0]

@Helen744 @Stephanie365 

Thanks for the ideas. 

No, in this case I don't think I would mention that I would host the guest again (I save that for guests I genuinely feel that about) and never mention in the review that I would not host them again unless they were truly terrible, which is not the case here.

There were actually some cleanliness issues during her stay, although nothing horrendous, so I'm reluctant to says she was very clean, because that wasn't my experience. It's kind of like that in every category. There were positives and there were negatives, but I want to write a long and detailed review picking her personality apart. Therefore, I think I'll keep it quite neutral and consider both of your suggestions.

[Gillian166]

@Huma0  Oh i had a similar guest recently, who asked a lot of questions that just showed he hadn't read the listing or the guest manual. like "am i missing something, I can't find the TV". I was sure he'd leave me a 3~4* review so i mentioned this in his review, that he might have benefitted from reading the listing more thoroughly, to avoid a disappointing stay. and then, he leaves me a glowing 5* review. I felt pretty bad after that. I hate the review system. 

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

Yes, it's a tricky one. I would feel bad if I write something negative about her and then it turns out she leaves me a glowing 5* review. I just have no idea which way her review is going to go. She really didn't give much away in that respect.

Most of my guests say nice things about the house when being shown around or during her stay, but this guest just asked specific questions, like "Where can I keep my stuff in the bathroom?" When she left, she didn't write in the guest book, nor did she say anything about her stay, just "It was nice to meet you." Again, unusual.

That doesn't necessarily mean she was disappointed. Perhaps that's just her style of communication. Most guests say something nice about the listing when they contact me, e.g. "Your house looks beautiful and I'd love to stay," but this one just asked really specific questions about her needs. No mention of why she chose my listing.

I've read the several reviews she left for other hosts and they don't give much away either as they vary enormously in terms of length, content and style. It's almost like they were written by a bunch of different people.

Of course, as we cannot see the star ratings individual guests leave for hosts, we are in the dark, but I suppose guests are even more in the dark because they don't even get to see the stars we leave for them!

The review system is frustrating in many ways. However, I do believe that it's right that it's a blind review process. I just hate all this second guessing.

[Gillian166]

@Huma0 
so i was just catching up on my reviews and discovered one that was v disappointing. 
ok, firstly, it was at least 5 stars. and she wrote a really nice blurb. 

BUT gave me 3* for value. 
that girl had 4 guests, occupying 4 beds over 3 rooms. they paid $80 each to stay. on my @ $5million dollar farm in the glorious adelaide hills, we've poured our life savings and our lives into that farm. god i was furious that some idiot 20yo even gets an opinion... but somehow, we still got 5 stars, so sure, it's fine. Btch was from Sydney and perhaps just typically utterly clueless as sydney people are. (disclaimer, i lived in sydney for 3 years, love it but **bleep** if the people aren't just so utterly brainwashed about the glory of sydney, which IS glorious in many places, fair,  but other places are also amazing, like the Adelaide Hills!! which is why i moved back there, cos sydney food is meh/instagram)

anyway, thanks, needed a dahrntootin (this is how one swears on ABB) good #rant. but i do have a teaching point, you just don't know what guests will say in a review. 
also had another guest recently who managed to vomit seemingly everywhere, and i charged them $125 in extra clean up fees, they paid it, AND they left me a nice 4 word review with 5 stars. ha! 
so, i have no advice on what to say. I always start with the idea of leaving a 5* star review, and they have to be pretty annoying to make me drop it to 4* across the board (millenial girl wasn't perfect, didn't respond to messaging, didn't read the rules - missed the easter egg cue, didn't recycle, used 4 beds cos she didn't tell me who exactly was coming, and before the "oh you must get ID" crowd chime in, note this girl thought $80pp was 3* value. look at my listing, and still, i gave her 5* cos she didn't do any damage physically to my property). I actually have a note in my guest manual that i will not comply with ABB and "mark them like primary school students" on their performance.  frankly that's how i see the whole process. ABB asks us both (host and guest) to tell the other what we can do better. Seems odd for a company that virtue signals a lot and never want to hear any real feedback.
somehow I don't think ABB staff are quite so open to that level of regular "review"!! I get it 3-10 times per week. 

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

No, you just don't know what a guest will say in a review or, rather, I find the star ratings to be more surprising than the reviews themselves. 

Value, like Location, is often a problematic one. I've always thought it's a bit pointless even having that rating. After all, the guest chooses the listing knowing the price (even extras like cleaning or linen fees, Airbnb guest fees etc). If there was better value available, they would have booked that instead. Therefore, the only reason to rate down in value is if something promised was not delivered, and that falls under Accuracy anyway. To me, it's common sense.

The last time I stayed in an Airbnb, it was for a weekend away with my mum. When I told her the rate, she thought it was overpriced and I do understand why. If I wasn't using my Superhost bonus vouchers, perhaps I would have gone for something cheaper. However, the location seemed ideal for our plans and there was a full breakfast included (it was a traditional B&B) and it looked nicer than the cheaper options I saw. I imagine it would have been cheaper to book direct without Airbnb fees. So, I left 5* for value even if it did seem a bit overpriced, because I chose to book it at that price and we got what was described.

Annoyingly, some guests don't use that logic, but rate Value on their budget or what they would have LIKED to pay, not the reality of what things cost. Again, if they could find the same or better for less, why didn't they book that?

A few months ago, I had a guest who asked for an extra discount, which I said no to because there is already a long term discount and my rooms are competitively priced even before that. She ended up leaving a nice review but 3* for value and overall. When I asked her why, she said that she had really enjoyed her stay, the house was beautiful but it was over her 'original budget'. As if her original budget is relevant to how my listings are priced. I don't price them based on what each individual guest would 'like' to pay!

[Gillian166]

---

As if her original budget is relevant to how my listings are priced. I don't price them based on what each individual guest would 'like' to pay!

---

haha, IKR. 

in my recent example, a guest paid $80/pp/night and then gave me 3* for value, i'm really wondering what her original budget was!  

the same logic applies to location. they searched, they chose it, they paid. How can they then say the location isn't good when they chose it?! 

Baffling! the review system needs an overhaul. They need to do a host survey and ask us for feedback. 

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

---

@Gillian166 wrote:

---

As if her original budget is relevant to how my listings are priced. I don't price them based on what each individual guest would 'like' to pay!

---

Baffling! the review system needs an overhaul. They need to do a host survey and ask us for feedback. 

---

The thing is, Airbnb has tonnes of feedback about this, about the review system in general, but in terms of categories, especially about the location rating, which most hosts seem to hate (for the reasons you gave above). There must be hundreds of threads about it on the CC and probably thousands of posts from hosts saying the same thing.

However, it seems Airbnb has no interest in changing it. The response has always been that the location rating is important to guests in helping them choose which areas to stay in and that, as it doesn't affect the overall rating and Superhost status, it doesn't impact on hosts.

WRONG. Of course, any category you ask a guest to rate on is going to affect the overall score that they leave. Also, the location rating shows on the listing.

Guests often have a nonsensical way of rating location (and therefore overall). For example, in all the years that I was hosting short term guests, my nicest and most popular room had a much lower rating for location than the other two rooms. The rooms are in the same house in the same location!! The only difference is that the other two face a busy road and a not so lovely view, whereas the room with the lowest location rating faces a row of pretty gardens and, beyond those, beautiful period houses. There's no logic to it all at.

[Stephanie365]

But it's not about the review she leaves you. It's about your experience with her as a guest. They are not related.

If you provided a 5* experience, you deserve the 5* review.  If she didn't behave like a 5* guest (and clearly she didn't), she doesn't deserve a 5* review. 

[Helen744]

@ Stephanie365 how can they not be related? The hazard is always losing superhost because of the way a guest feels ,not from the way they were treated or the value they were provided with or the communication of the host. huma always hits the nail on the head and that is why the review system is wrong and not fit for purpose because as Gillian166 points out ,an airhead with a credit card but no job will devalue a five million dollar farm with a swimming pool because she has never paid for anything in her life, and a strange person who may or may not be mentally well can do the same thing ,or someone who has had a fight with their,dog/ cat/ boyfriend/dentist could do the same.Its difficult to treat everyone the same when some people you may find it easier to get along with than others as well. Thats the name of this odd system so its better to leave out personalities and hope they leave yours out too.H 

[Gillian166]

---

@Helen744 wrote:

 so its better to leave out personalities and hope they leave yours out too.H 

---

100% agree!  We've no idea what people are going through in that short time they are with us, good, bad or otherwise. 

[Helen744]

@Huma0 Sorry fat fingers H

[Stephanie365]

@Helen744   The reviews are not related to each other. They are blind so one literally cannot influence the other unless you write your reviews based on an assumption.

Again, your review is (or should be) based on your experience with the guest, NOT what review you THINK the guest might leave for you.

If your guest was great, you should leave a 5* review even if you think they might leave you less than 5*.  Your review should be based on facts, not supposition.

For example,  based on the behaviors of guests in 2022, I was really wondering if my last guest would leave me a 4* review (or worse) because she claimed the washing machine was broken. It wasn't; she just couldn't figure out: "Turn knob to setting, pull knob". It worked as advertised.  But for her, it didn't work at all. I offered to come start it for her but she claimed she didn't have time. Upon her departure, I verified the machine worked as it should. I also sent a 7 second video showing it worked with the caption, "In case you encounter a similar machine in future travels, here's how they work."

Aside from this, she was a great guest. She left my home clean, followed my rules, communication was perfect. She deserved a 5* review even though I had concerns she would only give me a 4*.

Had I reviewed her based on my concerns instead of her actual performance as a guest, I would have come out looking like a real a$$ because she left me a lovely 5* review.

I have had guests leave me 5* reviews and I've left them 1* reviews. As a host, I performed extremely well and their review reflected this. On the other hand, their performance as a guest sucked. Rules violations or what have you. They were reviewed accordingly.

[Helen744]

@Stephanie365 Not exactly sure what you mean here Stephanie. It is indeed possible to be in conflict with the guests review , but sometimes that is the truth. In fact this usually works the guests way as ,behind a good hosts back a guest can make a complaint and get a refund for a downright lie ,at the very least a misrepresentation.Hopefully the new guidlines where a  major complaint from the guest would necessitate the guest quitting the home and going elsewhere instead of 'having their cake and eating it too , will work out better.I personally call it as I see it , along my guidlines ,airbnb guidlines and normal human interaction. The fact that hosts are often not honest about their guests has less to do with how the guest behaved and more to do with ' maintaining face'.no one likes conflict but it exists and will continue to , . I would go so far as to say that those who are more 'hands on ' with guests set themselves up for this and experience this more than more remote hosts . but this is only part of the home host experience which is a much more nuanced experience all together , than the stars have any possibility of reflecting.Why are guest reviews and hosts reviews different ?Because sometimes as in a relationship ,   One side has different expectations H