Guests not reading the description

[Sally68]

Hi, I've just started hosting. My cottage is in a remote location on the west coast of Scotland. There is no road and access is by boat only. This is described in the property profile. I also repeat it in check-in details when guests book. My latest guests said they were kayaking but, when I checked their arrival time 3 days before, they admited they had not read the description and were intending to drive to the property. After a lot of messages where I had to keep repeating that there really is no road, they booked a charter boat (contact details are given on my profile). They have now given me a low review for accuracy. Any ideas how I can avoid this?

[Sandra126]

@Sally68, Wow, what a listing! I have marked it to my wishlist should I ever have the time to come and be remote for a while. You are very accurate I think, says so clearly, but you could change the name of the listing to ''island'' instead of ''coastal'' in the header.

[Sally68]

Thanks for checking the profile! It's not actually an island, just very remote ... I had an initial headline of "off-grid retreat" but folk still didn't read the description!

[RobandAnna0]

It is a problem for many hosts but your situation is crucial that guests have a clear understanding. You could try BOLD letters or ***. Good luck.

[Leona4]

Hi,

I understand where you are coming from. Our listing is a hill farm in the Peak Distrtic and the second word on the listing desription is small and during booking I again say this before confirming the guests reservations and I still get "oh we did know it was small!!" It used to upset me but now I put it down to poor reading skills!!

Keep smiling you will meet some lovely people who do read the listing corrrecting and will love your listing.

Leona

[Tina63]

Ask each guest when they enquire (before you accept their reservation request) if they have read and understood the details of your listing. If they say yes and then go ahead and book they have entered into a contract with you thus protecting yourself against future claims of inaccuracy. If they can't be bothered to read then it's not your problem - reflect this in your public response to their review albeit respectfully and this will lessen the damage from a negative review i.e. you made them fully aware and it is then their choice if they go ahead and book...no-one had their arms up their backs. Unfortunately the location star rating is subjective...as long as your location is clear on your listing then tell them they chose to reserve with you.

[Karen-and-Bob1]

I'm new to Airbnb. My first guest loved our place, etc.  The second guest sent me a private message that says he did not know there are cats on our property and that arrival instructions are not listed.  Both of these items are CLEARLY laid out and in several places.  How can I respond to them telling them it is in there - or should I respond. I don't want them bad-mouthing me to friends because they are coming in for football games and that's where I'm hoping to have guests for future games.  Help. 🙂