How to respond to negative feedback

[Carol265]

Just has a couple of bits of negative feedback which upset me, perhaps because it’s so rare and this is my home they’re talking about so it feels personal. I’d like to know how you’d handle it.  My inclination is not to engage in a conversation but I also don’t want future guests to get an inaccurate impression.

Guest #1 marked me down because there are no cooking facilities in the guest space.  This is covered in the listing where you look to see what’s available and what isn’t, so she might have noticed up front.  She said nothing about this at the time.  I also let her use the washer (which isn’t included) and went so far as to bring in some of her laundry whilst  she was out because I thought it would rain.  She didn’t pay me (it’s clear there’s a small charge) and I didn’t pursue it.  And she had dietary restrictions which I went out of my way to accommodate.  

Guests #2 seemed to enjoy their stay and were friendly and appreciative.  However they marked me down on kitchen cleanliness without any specific explanation.  Nobody has ever done that before and I have no real idea what made them unhappy.  Again I’d gone out of my way to make them welcome by lending them crockery and cutlery so they could eat their takeaway.  

I feel like both were saying about me, “she’s a nice person but her house isn’t up to scratch”, which is disappointing.  What would you do?  

[Rachel0]

@Carol265 It looks to me as though you have a lovely place and some wonderful reviews so presumably the feedback you mention is in the guests' private comments which future guests will not see. I know it is hurtful but I would just ignore it - I have had some similar issues in the past and I put it down to their ignorance rather than my failings.  

In my listing I stress very clearly in the description that there are no cooking facilities available and that guests are welcome to ask me for cutlery and crockery to use when eating a take away meal or a cold snack, and that food must not be eaten in the bedroom but only in our kitchen diner.  Perhaps you could add something like that in your description.  

All in all  though, don't worry.  It also says at the top of your listing that 10 recent guests mentioned that the place was "sparkling clean" which is what future guests will see.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Carol265 🙂

You have wonderful, wonderful reviews and I'm sorry some of your guests marked you down. One important thing to know is that if you reply to a review the guests most likely won't ever know as they don't get a notification that you wrote a reply. It is only upcoming potential guests that will read it. If you would like to get some feedback then I would write privately to the guests. I do that and some guests reply some doesn't. Some guests are just really nit-picking 😞

[Ana1136]

@Carol265 there is no way a single accommodation will please every guest. There is always someone who is used to different things and might find your place inadequate. I understand that you have described everything in your listing but if only guests read 🙂 Don't take it personally, there are people that think they are helping with their nit-picking and they will find even the tiniest bit to point out. Just hear them out, thank them, if it is something constructive accept it and if not, move on. 

[Carol265]

Thank you all for your support!  It’s helpful to know what guests do and don’t see, and I guess I’m fortunate the more critical issues were made privately.  I have followed up a couple of times before, in the early days when this was all new to me, and nobody ever responded.  

I’m pretty much fully booked for the rest of the summer, so as long as I have no more blips I shouldn’t lose my rating, which was the real worry!