First complaint from guests

Stephanie1115
Level 2
Wilmington, NC

First complaint from guests

I’ve only been hosting for about 2 months now and so far it’s been great.  I had a guest book this week and they sent me a message saying they were leaving a day early because they can’t sleep in my small bed, which is a full size and listed as full size in my description, and they were hot every night even though I allowed them to turn the thermostat down to 70 and there is a ceiling fan in the room.  I pretty much froze every night but there stay was just for 4 nights so I’ll live.  I did however turn the thermostat back up durning the day because it is my house and I don’t want the air to be running all day and end up with a high power bill when no one is there durning the day.  Then they complained that the trash smells but that could have easily been something they could have mentioned to me to take out. I’m not sure what even to stay back to their message or how to even apologize to that. 

 

“We will not be back. We have not been able to sleep in the small bed and even though I would turn the air down to 70 degrees each night, I would wake up hot in the middle of the night and the thermometer was back to a higher temperature. The trash needs taken out from the kitchen trash. It has been stinking since Thursday evening. We left the key in the room.”

8 Replies 8
Ana1136
Level 10
Ohrid, Macedonia (FYROM)

@Stephanie1115 why didn't they just take out the trash if the smell was so bad? Was it specifically your trash? Some guests expect to treat them like babies and go after them to please their every need. They haven't asked for a refund so don't mention it. Write an honest review on them. Probably they will leave a bad review too on which you can respond publicly but make sure to be short, respectful and factual keeping in mind that the responce if for your next guests to see. 

The trash was located in the kitchen. So even if they did not want to take it out, I would have been more than happy to take it out if they said it was bothering them.  I usually stay gone most of the time when I have a guest but I stay in town and provide my phone number just in case.  I honestly had no idea their stay was not going very well every time I saw them they seem to be happy and polite. 

Mark116
Level 10
Jersey City, NJ

@Stephanie1115   I would say something as neutral as possible, 'Thank you for letting me know you have decided to leave early.  I'm sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your stay.'

 

Don't accept any responsibility for any of their alleged issues, 70F is pretty cool, so unless you were turning the temp back up during the night, it seems unrelated to the A/C.  If a full bed was too small for them, that's their own fault.  Don't spend energy trying to explain anything or asking them why if the trash smelled bad, they never said anything...all of these details are only important if they want a refund and you refuse to give them one, otherwise it's water under the bridge. They will probably leave you a bad review regardless, even though so far, they have not asked for a refund.

Thanks for the tips. I pretty much just said thank you for the feedback, sorry you had a bad experience and I’m sorry. 

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

@Stephanie1115   I agree you need not get into a long defensive response to this guest as other hosts have suggested, however IMO it is always good to see what can be tweaked in your listing and/or hosting given negative feedback. 

I would suggest you add captions to the pictures addressing the bed size and also highlights what the pictures are showing.  I would also make sure that guests are oriented to trash disposal if you want them to feel free to dump the trash in your absence.  Also, if your guests are sleeping past your 7 AM departure for work, turning up the air conditioning might be uncomfortable.  Perhaps you can look into some type of timing device for your air conditioning.  You are just beginning just like we all did at one time and we have all used guest feedback, positive and negative, as the best information about our listing.

Pete69
Level 10
Los Angeles, CA

Threads like this are why I turned my master bed and bath into a separate in-law suite by walling it off from the rest of the house where I live.

I hear ya! It was the first bit of renovating I did to my house. It didn't stop a high maintenance guest from not approving of my apartment layout recently in a review though. Sometimes I wish I could put some guests in the next county, as even that is too close for my liking!

If there was an option for me to make my guests room completely private I would!