Guests leaving after one night, when they have booked for 3

[Betty124]

Hi  airbnb hosts!

This is only the second time this has happened...

This couple arrived last night .. they are here to watch their grandson graduate from college today.

I received a text from them today at 7 am saying that they were leaving, saying that they were too cold.

My guest suite is in the basement, and yes , it snowed last night.    But I have two good space heaters that I 

leave in the room,  plus blankets and a down comforter.     And even in the dead of winter, no one has 

ever complained about the cold.

My guess is that they just skimmed over my listing....   the wife said, "oh,  we're going down all these steps?"

The husband did leave a comment on my guest book, "not what we expected".

I remember reading here one time , that a host included something in their listing that said,

"If you are interested in booking, please include the words XYZ in the request. 

That will tell me that you have  really read  through my listing."

I would like to find those  discussions, because, really!  I would be MUCH  happier if people

knew what they were getting!

Thank you very much!

Betty

[Betty124]

YAYY!

I found 2 GREAT  ideas about how to tweak my listiing to get better responses from potential guests...

These ideas were both listed under Hitomi's lovely  post from 11-16-2017.

One was suggested by Todd and Reese, right here in Denver!   I will copy and paste the section of their reply that I saved for my own enrichment..

 "Be proactive.

We started messaging as soon as they book with the two biggest issues we've had with non-readers: "Hey! Just making sure you noted that you are booking a room and bath in a home and not our entire house and also that we have cats. If you made a mistake, you have 48 hours to cancel the reservation penalty-free."

We may change this up depending on their incoming message like if they ask a weird question about dietary needs so we have to tell them we don't actually offer breakfast.

So, in your case..."Hi! Thanks for the booking. Just want to make sure you noted that I live in a busy traffic area and you might need earplugs or a noise-cancelling app on your phone if you are a light sleeper. If this is not okay, then you have 48 hours to cancel penalty-free."

What a good idea!  I will make something up similar,  and  put it in my SAVED MESSAGES  and send that out with each request,

Thank you, Todd and Reese!

The other idea was written by Brent is St Petersburg, Florida.

"In my picture gallery I use captions to add certain disclosure stuff. Sometimes I tell booking guests, "If you have not done so already, please be sure to read the caption to the very last picture in my gallery."   

I REALLY  like that!   I think many people only look at the photos any way... One of my  photos shows my 

TV on the 1st floor... I will change the caption to say, "THIS IS THE ONLY TV IN MY HOUSE.  NO TV IN THE GUEST SUITE.  PLEASE WATCH THIS ONE ANY TIME." 

Great idea, Brent!

If you have any other tricks that have worked for you,  I would love to hear them!

Thank you,

Betty