How to recognize a bad guest at a first glance ( part 2.)

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

They are late and of course unreachable.

You call, you text, you call again...

Crickets.

You wait.

You call the bus station and find out their bus arrived almost an hour ago ( Bus station is 10 min by taxi or 25 min walk away)

Maybe they missed the bus? God knows! The next bus arrives 6 hours later.

You have cleaned for hours. You are hungry. You are tired. It's hot and you are sweating.

You have other work to do and you have to leave.

They finally arrive and suddenly they are able to text and call 10 times in 5 min.

You call your mum for help.

She leaves the lunch on the stove and jumps in the car.

She needs some time to arrive from the other part of the city.

They are waiting on the street (despite 3 cafe bars within 30 m radius) and they are angry.

Their attention is needed for the lock and keys instruction but they are busy talking to the phone.

They come in and immediately ask for WIfI password and the washing machine .

They immediately turn on all the lights. All 15 of them! Your mum grabs her sunglasses.

They discover 2 lights are not working ( in the room with 8 more lights) and want an electrician to come and fix it tomorrow because they can't be (I quote) IN THE DARKNESS 😄

You find and schedule an electrician for tomorrow and let the guests know (through ABB and WhatsApp)

No answer .Of course.

They will leave in 2 days.

You can't wait 😄

[Mark116]

@Susie111   We've been thinking of just doing a self check in, but since we've had 2 guests who broke the stove by not understanding how to turn the burners on, the last one costing us $300 to fix....I sort of feel like it's important to meet the guests, show them where various items are, answer their questions, and now, always, always demonstrate how to work the stove.  I would be worried that guests with no greeting/Q&A session would be causing more damage and would feel less happy with the location because they won't get the tutorial on how to take the bus and subway to New York from our house.

[Sally228]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Thank you to all those who answered me ......... Of course there is always one who is of no help other than stating how great he is and has no problems at all. 

Personally, I think it is pretty poor show not to want to greet your guests who have paid good money to be there - some people have forgotten that this is the service industry!  Actually, it is due to the fact that we all (most) want to serve, that we get so frustrated when we cannot offer the level of service we wish to, when our guests don't communicate with us.

Meanwhile, back to all the other hosts, as I say, a big thank you for your feedback.  I used @Branka-and-Silvia0 idea last night of it'll take me an hour to get there, etc ... and guess what?  Yes, they turned up immediatly!  I will so use that again.  This evening I have a wonderful couple who said they would arrive at 4pm and arrived at 4pm ......... we all know that this is the mojority of guests, it is just good to know that there are like-minded hosts out there to share ideas with, when the problem guests turn up ...... or rather, don't, ha ha!

Have a great evening.

Sally

[Susie111]

@Sally228  I find it funny that you think that l’m stating how great l am.

If you could’ve been bothered please take some time and read my guests reviews and see for yourself. That l do actually do Welcome my guest very personally. And FYI there are guests that just want privacy and to be left alone. I have found that especially in the business guests who book. But in my circumstances l can give them the time they need to check in whenever they please as long they respect my check in time.

@Mark116 of course if l would be in your shoes l wouldn’t do lock box either.

[Sally228]

@Susie111 

Was it you I was speaking about then???? 

I don't know, I was professional enough not to dis' anyone by name. So, do you think that description fits you then?  Obviously you do!  Was there something that rang true with you?  It must have come from you, because it most definitely didn't come from me!  In fact I even referred to the host in the masculine!

You are right in one area, I do take peoples comments at face value and I don't (as you put it) "bother" to check them out first - but then I am the same in the real world (as opposed to this cyber one), I don't ever feel the need to check someone out before I listen to what they have to say! 

Take care and I hope you'll be feeling better soon.