How to review a stupid guest..

[Kelly58]

I had a guest and his dog (the guest is aso a host in another country) that in general were good guests but for one hugely stupid thing.  He contacted me about a plumbing problem (the previous guest left the night before and indicated in their review the shower being on the fritz and used the bath instead...even though they never once told me or used the second shower since they were renting the whole house).  Turns out that shower head ended up with blockage that didnt allow much water pressure.  Replaced that as soon as I got the negative review and well before this stupid guest checked in.  He contacted me saying the shower wouldnt shut off and was making a loud noise.  I asked him if he had turned off both the hot and cold water.  He said he did.  I got there as soon as I could (had to leave work and was there within 30 minutes) and all I needed to do was turn the hot water off.  He had turned the cold water to the right and off but thought that the hot water knob needed to go to the left to turn off (why I dont know).  When I told him he didnt believe me so I had to actually show and teach him.  SO in the end the hot water ran on full blast for 2 hours just because he didnt turn it off!  That and it cost me time and gas to deal with it.  I am expecting he will probably also be stupid about the review, even though it was his issue.  WHen I asked him about the loud noise he had metnioned he said it was the noise of the water hitting the shower...duh!

So how should I review him?  Here is my initial draft but I would like feedback before I go final.  I am not very experienced and many of you are very much so.

"Roni and his beautiful and well behaved dog were great guests and I recommend them to any host. Very good communication as his arrival time was delayed by his vehicle being slowed by towing a load he was not used to.  However, I was surprised that he contacted me about a plumbing problem when I arrived to learn that the hot water had been running for 2 hours because I had to teach him in person that you must turn both hot and cold water knobs to the right to turn them off."

Thank you in advance!

[Miranda4]

I would't mention it, personally. Everyone gets to make one stupid mistake sometime, and it will just make him upset. I don't think it is super useful to another host to know this, but maybe I'm wrong! 

[Dean19]

I would disagree, the host had to take off from work to come and help the person. There shpould be a service charge for problems like this.

[Hellen1]

I disagree also. This is a common sense thing. Yes, every one makes a mistake but not to realize that leaving the hot water running for 2 hours may cause a problem is beyond just a simple mistake. The host had to leave work and sort the "problem" out and still be confronted by what I can only describe as a very inconsiderate guest. I would state that in my review and thank you for posting your question. I was here searching for clues and the exact same topic - i.e. what to do when a guest is extremelly unhelpful and unconsiderate and spends way above my electricity allowance ( in one week they spend MORE than the 4 guests who'd stayed in my property for 21 one days! and they were only 2 as opposed to 4 people!). They also failed to read my driving intructions or open the link that I had sent them with my property location on google maps. As a result we have to go rescue them because they had gotten lost. When I finally managed to call them on the mobile / they had turned it off so as not to pay roaming charges, i found out that they had no data on the phone so there was no point seding the link again. So I sent the driving directions as they appear on the google maps application. Still no luck we had to fetch them or they would not be able to find their way from the airport.

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

I agree!

[Alexandre205]

When guests are clearly irresponsible and will bother their host instead of using their common sense, unless they don't have, we must report the issues in the reviews. If we let everything pass, we don't protect the future hosts from troublesome guests.

We don't have to recommend guests who create troubles. And some deserve to be sanctioned as much as they make us worry.

In the same way, we have to praise fantastic guests.

Those who always write "clean and tidy" for every guests don't serve the community of hosts ...

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Personally, I think you will come across worse off in this review - people make mistakes, it was nothing spiteful, intentional, etc. 

If he leaves a poor review then you can reply publicly to it.

[Pearse1]

Ermm sorry to say but yes you are clearly inexperienced as you should never refer to a guest as "stupid" 

[Mike77]

I would refer to them as stupid if they were stupid.  I would also review them publicly and privately and state what they did that was stupid.

I have had a set of guests that broke a swing at the treehouse, did not tell me, tried to sneak out without telling me.  I reviewed them as people that will break things and not tell you, and try and sneak out without telling anyone anything.

People that are dishonest need to learn that there are consequences for their actions.

Mike
AirBnB Treehouse for Rent
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7292887

[Heather32]

I will be sure to avoid renting from you Mike. However, your treehouse is amazing!

[Mike77]

Heather, do you break things and then run away?

🙂 

Maybe you should not rent from me.

Mike
AirBnB Treehouse for Rent
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7292887

[Paul381]

Well said....ALL hosts need to be able to read HONEST reviews when deciding whether to accept 'stupid' into their premises!

[Heather32]

I just had a very similiar problem. I had 2 young ladies staying in my unit tell me they could not get any hot water for a shower the night they checked in. I was not in a position to drop what I was doing at the time and sent out a maint. person knowing it would cost me a $35 fee.

He called me back laughing because they were turning the knob the wrong way. He also had to teach them how to turn on the shower.

I've been doing this awhile (not just Airbnb), and the reason he was beligerent is that he was embarrassed. He knows it was an idiot mistake. I would stongly advise against sending any public feedback that will embarrass him further. It serves no purpose, even to letting other owners know. This is a mistake he won't make again.

You can and should though, tell him in private feedback that you're glad you were able to get the problem fixed, and you appreciate how propmptly he called to let you know there was a problem. I'm sure you have had moments before. We all have.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Yes, guests who report the problem promptly and seek help from the host instead of making 'stupid' attempts to fix it themselves are to be praised, not punished.  Says a host who had one guest that didn't know how to flush an RV toilet and perhaps thought we wouldn't notice if they covered up the s*** with a whole roll of TP.  And another guest who tried to light the pilot light for the oven but when they failed to do so, didn't know they should turn the gas to the unlit pilot back off.

[Mike77]

Some people don't have common sense about how things work, or don't work.

Gall Darn City Folk, don't know shi* from Shinola.

Mike
AirBnB Treehouse for Rent
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/7292887