Difficult guests

[Meg143]

Hello,

I recently hosted a guest who, in my opinion, had unreasonably high standards for cleanliness.  Our house is not as sanitary as a hotel of course, but it was cleaned very thoroughly before renting.  Our guest had complaints about "dust" and a moldy smell to the extent that they cancelled their reservation with full payment and I'm sure wrote a scathing review (I haven't read it yet).   I spoke to her on the phone and got the impression that she is quite high maintenance and just not used to the expected cleanliness level of renting a lived in home as opposed to a hotel or something else.  I am new to hosting, and from reading reviews from other places I'm starting to realize that these kinds of guests are inevitable sometimes, but I'm wondering if there are any tips for weeding out/managing guest with unreasonable expectations.  I'm also wondering- if I don't write them a review, does their review never go public? Would that be appropriate to do in a situation like this one?

Thanks community!

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0 · Accepted solution]

Hi @Meg143  Welcome to the community!

The bad news is... if your guest reviews you then, after 14 days it will be public regardless of whether you review her or not. The good news is... you might have had a proper grown up guest who realises she is high maintenance and could give you a good review after all.

Expectations of guests staying in accommodation expect higher standards than when they are staying at home, and that you can't get away from. If there's any way you can raise your game to cater for these types of guests then it would be good for you in the long run.

Mold smells indicate some dampness somewhere, so find it and dry it, then keep it dry. Air the area as much as and often as possible. Wipe or vacuum the dust - or both. Our vacuum gets more use than it would normally after vacuuming down the sides of wardrobes, tops, behind beds, the corners of rooms, chimneys, window sides - everywhere. And it takes time.

Take on board what your guest said, try not to worry about it and try to improve on those areas she mentioned, then hope for a more understanding guest next time.

Good luck !

[Mark116]

@Meg143   Is this your home that you sometimes rent out on airbnb?  

I have a few suggestions, if you can't remove some of the clutter, at least retake the photos so the shots, especially of the living room are brighter.  You might turn down the quilt in the bedroom.  You also might rethink the number of people you are allowing...8 people, air mattresses and then a tent in the yard?  Do you really want that many people renting your small house?  I'd also try and tidy up the back yard.  Lastly, I was a little confused by the wording on your listing about blocking off common areas, since it looks like you are renting it as an entire house?  Or are you still on site and sharing the spaces w/guests?  I'd try to make this more clear.  

As for the review, just remember that your response is not for the guest but for future potential guests who will read the review and response. 

[Meg143]

Thanks Mark, I will take this all into account and update my profile keeping some of this in mind.  It is my home which I live in most of the time and offer it up for others to enjoy if they want to stay in this area.  It was a little confusing to figure out how to list it with the number of people, I'm still ironing it out and I appreciate your suggestions.  Thanks again!

[Kelly149]

@Meg143 "not as sanitary as a hotel of course" Why??

I've stayed in some pretty not clean hotels; I can assure you my house is cleaner than just about any hotel you've ever set foot in and my place is a literal Barn.

I think a homestay can be many things, but dirty isn't one of them.

I think cleanliness is something you will find most guests care a great deal about. If you don't, then I would specifically discuss this in your listing:

"we're pretty lax about cleaning so best suited to those who have fair to medium tidiness standards"

Maybe this guest was extra fussy or maybe you need to up your standards, none of us can know that for sure, but the review is happening either way and you have a brand new account. Good news is that you get the first 3 stays before your star ratings are shown. Good luck

[Meg143]

Haha, yes that is a fair point.  I guess if we are talking about substandard hotels then yes, I would say my house is more sanitary than a hotel.  I guess I should have said, it's not kept up like a 5 star hotel.  I truly appreciate your feedback and will take a lot of this into account.  I realize guests care a lot about cleanliness, which is why I would never leave a dirty home for someone to stay in.  But no one can know who of us is more accurate unless you come to my house I guess!  I am definitely going to take your suggestion and make my profile more explicitly in describing the cleanliness standard we live by here.  "Lax" feels a little harsh, but something to that effect should help weed out people who have different standards than I.  Thanks again for the help!

Meg

[Mark116]

@Meg143  You could say something along the lines of "this is our home and it has a 'lived in' quality, which we find charming, but if you want something pristine and devoid of personal items, this listing may not be for you".  

[Thomas1603]

I will be creating a rental agreement that will limit some of AirBnb's guest favorable terms, like its extenuating circumstances refund policy. I will also clarify the time I get to resolve Travel Issues and what the guest must do to resolve Travel Issues before they are entitled to a refund.

Guests must be notified in your listing that before making the reservation they will need to enter into a rental agreement. (This notice was already added to my listing.)

I have hosted over 200 guests and just recently encountered a "challenging" guest that requested a complete refund for a multi-night high season stay in a vacation resort on the check in day.

Despite my 4.9 cleanliness and overall ratings, at this moment, AirBnb is siding with the guest. Why wouldn't they? They are giving back mostly my money. This could be a total loss for me since my guests start reserving dates in January for summer stays. I am appealing their decision and am considering arbitration.

No matter what the ultimate outcome is, I learned the hard way what I need to do to protect myself as a host from "challenging" guests.

[Cas7]

Ive just got two new guest too, both french! I've never had any problems before , but first they turn up earlier then expected, so I took the up to the flat and tryed to show them around but, the women husband was almost throwing me out! I said I haven't shown you where everything is, he replied we only here 3 days ( no actually give days)I said I've just got to screw the bathobat handle back on from yrsyester guest! He took it out of my hands and said no go go! I found him rude and they wouldn't listen! 

I managed to say either phone or message me via WhatsApp or email via Airbnb, today I received a message via email, saying the electricity has gone off, and they checked the trip switches!

And they haven't had any power since yesterday! I message back saying Iam on my way! And I also pointed out, if I wasn't rushed out or the flat I would have shown thenm the main switchboard as being in Spain you put two many appliances on at same time this can happen,when I got they they was just leaving for the beach I explained that if they listen I would have shown them this,she said oh the sheets and bedlinbed was dirty I said the towels maybe abit old but everything was washed and cleaned in fact the linen is brand new as is the other spare set in the draw ! So there's no need for you to wash everything again! Obviously I can't prove the towels or sheets was clean🤐 I am now expecting a bad review when they leave, which to be honest I think Airbnb would have a report page where you can report this sort of thing while there still staying, and Airbnb and they should tell them they can't comment negatively they either leave it blank or say positive stuff, really why should we have our stars lowered by these sort of people who like going around moaning!