Guest Didn't Read House Manual - Gave me 4-Stars

[Caitlin44]

Call me a perfectionist but I'm a little bummed about receiving a 4-star review on "Communication" because the guest did not know which apartment door was mine once inside the main entrance of the two flat.

They said it wasn't a big deal and left me 5-stars on everything else but said I should mention it to others in the future.

However, it is mentioned in the House Manual right at the very beginning:

*****

House manual

Access

The keys are in a lock box on the right-hand railing.

Code: XXXXXX

How to open the lock box: https://youtu.be/gdZeeGA5qXc

The Chicago Bears key unlocks the front door (top {turn right} and bottom {turn left}). The Chicago Blackhawks key unlocks my apartment door with the silver X {turn right}. Please lock all doors behind yourself upon entering and exiting. Return the keys to the lock box upon check-out.

***** 

If guests don't read the information provided to them, is it fair to be dinged a star (like I said, I'm kind of a perfectionist)?

Are there any other tips that experienced hosts are willing to offer me?  I'm always open to constructive criticism!

Thank you kindly,

Caitlin

[Jack90]

Hi Caitlin,

Definitely a bummer to get 4 stars. A lot of people aren't in tune with Airbnb's rating system, where pretty much anything less than a 5 is a failure. By many peoples metrics a 3 is average and 4 is decent, which would be an absolute killer if anyone wants to be a superhost/strong ratings.

I try to make the effort to meet guests at check-in or at least give them a phone call. Giving away keys to my property without some sort of personal verification just doesn't feel secure and a personal touch makes guests much more inclined to give you strong reviews. I mention that I strive for a 5 star review and if there's any minor things, just give you a call privately. It seems to be working for me, after being initially inexperienced and copping a few 4 star reviews really just because of miscommunication, I now have nearly 90% 5 star ratings. 

Also, don't feel too bad about getting a 4 for communication, it's the overall rating that matters and appears direclty on searches and affects your superhost eligibility.

Good luck hosting!

[Caitlin44]

Thank you for your thoughtful response, Jack!

I am interested in your approach of mentioning you strive for 5-star reviews and request they call you with any little inquiries.  This seems like a useful approach which I may adopt from now on.

[Paul154]

Caitlin, look at this as a chance for improvement.

Like you, I have been flummoxed by people who can't correctly read the checkin steps.

They are tired, they are confused, they are just too lazy to do it right.

I now send them a picture of the actual door/door knob, with the code written the door itself.

I no longer get those stressed out calls because they went to the wrong door or couldn't get the code to work the first time.

Although pedantic, it is a service that most guests really appreciate.

[David126]

I am not sure if there is an answer, I do not have a house manual, but I do have issues with people expecting GPS to work as well up here as it does in the City. They get detailed instructions, and a reminder a day or so before hand and I am pretty obvious, the building is even marked on Google Maps And they still pay no attention, just follow their phones....

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Caitlin44

I'm still a new host and only hosted a handful of guests, but a friend in the service industry told me as I was leaning towards hosting that I should absolutely "idiot-proof" my home and manuals for my own sake and sanity. 

You need to work with the assumption that people will not read your house manual carefully. You'll be lucky if they skim thru it and even remember there will be 2 keys waiting for them in the lock box. I'd suggest you "number" your keys (make it as SIMPLE as humanly possible) and prepare visual aids for those who "can't (be bothered enough to) read".  I think @Paul154 makes a good point as well - having pictures of the actual doors will help. 

[Nutth0]

@Caitlin44 I sometimes got 4 in Location ( That we cannot move ) and feedback says "Local" ... yes, that is what we are. Cleanliness is sometimes 4 stars ... but I think this depends on personal sensitive. 

I think if you still got 5 stars in the overall experience. That is great! 😄

[Rebecca-and-Jason0]

I've had similar issues with the house manual and check-in instructions. It seems to me that sometimes the guests are having difficulty accessing the check-in instructions and then they are stuck outside if I can't get to my phone at the moment. I am starting now to just send every guest a message with the instructions so that they don't have to rely on whether they can see the instructions on the app. 

[Cecilia155]

Caitlin

I'm in the same boat as you.  Had a guest stay with me on two occasions.  First time everything was 5 stars - except with communication.  I got 4 - because I missed 1 phone call when she phoned me, (left the phone downstairs and I was upstairs at the time - called back straight away!).

This time she gave me a 4 on everything - nothing changed.  Same room, did EXACTLY the same as the first time.  Sent her an email requesting what I could do differently - will gladly take the advice of the guest on ways to improve - no response! I did however take it off smart pricing which meant it increased by $4.00 per night, that's the only thing I can put it down to.

I'm on the cusp of getting Superhost status - so am really careful to ensure everything is done to achieve this goal.  Do understand when you get 4 stars - my first one and boy was I not happy!  I'm a lot like you a perfectionist.

Best of luck

Cecilia

[Neil76]

@Caitlin44 I've been testing a new idea to get guests to actually read the house manual and I thought I'd share it here. I hate reading long and boring manuals too so I symphathise with guests that don't.

I like the idea of sticky notes in relevant places but I hate splattering my place with notes so I built a way to create digital sticky notes that guests can view around my house whenever they need information. I can basically share it with my guests as an app they can use to look around my house and access all the information I need them to see. 

Here's a link to it. Check it out and if you want to try it, let me know.
http://vertical.ai/placenote/

[Caitlin44]

Oh! My! Goodness!

That looks AWESOME!!! I would love to try it!

Thanks for sharing!

[Szilvia5]

OMG! You rock! i would love to try it!

[Ibolya4]

I keep getting 4 stars for communications from people who either don't communicate or don't want to communicate or act weird in my apartment. Yet I keep giving everyone who respects my house rules 5 stars for everything. I don't even ask them why. I see it as lack of communication or understanding on their side which may have caused them frustration that they didn't talk about. What can you do? 

[Ibolya4]

I also got a 3 star for communications from the 1st young couple who stayed at mine. I felt disheartened as I felt deceived but still hosted them. Someone else booked on their behalf, then it turned out they are locals who got evicted from another place and quickly needed a place. Then they asked me if they could stay long-term which I refused because that's not what I do on airbnb. I still stayed very kind towards them, gave them all the space, tried to communicate but after the first few days all communications dried up and they were almost like sneaking in and out of the place. I gave them all 5 stars because they left my place clean and respected my house rules but could have given 1 star for their communications but I guess I'm not that kind of person to ruin anyone's reputation.  They also gave 4 star for value when they got half my apartment cheaper than it would cost if they were living here long term! Ahhh.. they will learn I'm sure.