My first guest gave me a bad review

[Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0]

I hosted my first guest last weekend and I thought for sure they were impressed. 24 hours after their stay, they hit me with a terrible review saying the house was not clean. I called and talked to the guest and his sister and they told me the pool table was sticky so they gave me 1 star for cleanliness. What has been your experience with replying to a review, is it even worth it or should I just let it go and remind the cleaning lady to wipe down twice?

[Helen3]

Hi@Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0 

Did you go over to your listing and check that you were happy with the cleaning as it was your first guest?

Have you given your cleaner a brief on which areas and activities you want her to cover during the clean?

If the pool table baize itself is sticky I am not sure how you would tackle this in the cleaning process. Would it need to be replaced? If it was the wood then yes that should have been cleaned.

Quite frankly however,  it is ridiculous for a guest to give you one star for a sticky pool table if the rest of the place was immaculate - it sounds like you got a narky guest.

I would suggest you respond. Something like;

"I am sorry that on this ocassion we weren't up to our usual standards when it came to cleanliness because we missed cleaning the pool table surround. However we were rather disappointed that XXX gave us one star for cleanliness because the pool table was a little sticky in a house that was otherwise immaculate. Had XX told us that the pool table surround wasn't cleaned properly, we would have been happy to ask our cleaner to return to clean it again.

"Our cleaner has been reminded to include the pool table surround in her cleaning routine, so guests can be reassured that it will be as clean as the rest of the house ".

By the way your profile name is a little strange - most people just use their first name.

[Ana1136]

@Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0 as @Helen3 said, using your first name is just fine and enough. As to the review, giving a 1* for cleanliness where everything else was fine is a bit much but nothing you can do about that. You can write a short, respectful and factual answer remembering that it is for your next guests and not for the one who left the review. I would also suggest changing your pictures. They are blurry and dark. Make them ligher and more inviting. Maybe download some editing app like Lightroom and try adjusting the sharpness and colors. You will need to work a bit on your listing with this being your first review, but nothing is lost yet. You can add something special for your next guests, like a box of chocolate or a bottle of wine in order to make an impression. 

[Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0]

Thank you for the suggestions! I wanted the pictures to accurately depict what my house looks like so I used my phone camera without filters. I have sinced changed a couple of light fixtures and even painted, I will update my photos to reflect this. 

I do have snack baskets on the table and restock my wine rack for each guest. Is it ok to ask them to leave a review or is that something they have to want to do on their own? 

[Mark116]

@Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0   It looks like you may have gotten a very picky guest as your first, which is a shame.  IMO 1 star for cleanliness should really only be given if the place is filthy, not some 'sticky' pool table issue.  

I would say something maybe very neutral in the reply:  We are disappointed you did not enjoy your stay, and wish you had alerted us to any issues you had with the house so we could have dealt with them during your visit, but we always appreciate constructive criticism.

Something along those lines, you acknowledge what they said, show you are willing to address guest issues and sound professional.

I'd also recommend you may want to redo your photos to be a little bit brighter, but otherwise, your listing looks nice.

[Ange2]

@Mark116   @Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0    I would mention it was just the pool table if not it gives teh impression everything was bad. e.g.  "we are sorry that the pool table was sticky and it ruined your stay. We aim to give guests a comfortable and relaxing stay and encourage guests to inform us of anything that is amiss and we will address it promptly.  I do wish you had mentioned it at the time, the cleaner could have wiped it down in 5 seconds"   Maybe the last sentence is too snarky,  but really a sticky pool table!

[Mark116]

@Ange2   Their public review just says it wasn't clean, there is no mention of the pool table, that was what they told the host in the private feedback.  

[Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0]

I actually called him and asked him what didn't meet his cleanliness requirements. He called his sister on 3-way and she was the one who told me the pool table was sticky. I think she actually did the review, he was quiet during the entire conversation. 

[Ange2]

@Mark116    Yes,  but wasn't clean implies the whole place wasn't clean and from what I can gather it was just the pool table. I would want to make sure  that future guests did not think the whole place was dirty. It's a damning review as it stands with no details.

[Mark116]

@Ange2  Yeah, I know, but going into all this detail about a pool table being sticky, to me it sounds too defensive, so I'd just say, we're sorry you found something amiss and wish you had told us so we could fix it, keeping it as short as possible so as not to draw attention to it, but I get what you're saying.  It's too bad because she gave the guy a great, glowing review and he basically s***d her as a new  host.

[Ange2]

@Mark116    Yes, a real shame with that great review he got, you just never know with guests. I'm pretty shrewd these days but sometimes I get the occasional passive-agressive guest review that astounds me.  If it were my listing I may even delete it (if that is possible)  because there is just one review and it's a terrible one. If not I still say mentioning it was just the  pool table that was 'dirty'  is important.  Less snarky than my last offering: "We are sorry about the pool table being sticky. We aim to give guests a comfortable and relaxing stay and encourage guests to inform us of anything that is amiss and we will address it promptly".

[Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0]

I will definitely respond, as I wouldn't want any other guest to feel my place won't be clean when they arrive.  Thanks!

[Sandra856]

@Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0

I'm really sorry to read you have had such a terrible first time experience as a host. 

Did he write any private feedback to you? As the other suggests make sure to sound professionel in your reply to the review. The guest most likely won't read it as he won't get a notification that you wrote a reply. It will be the upcoming guests that read it. That is why it is so important to clarify what happend and to make sure that future guests can expect a professionel and calm host.

I think maybe he left a 1 star over all review and not 'just' a 1 star for 'cleanliness' because it says 1 star on the profile.

I'm a bit confused. Airbnb used to wait until the 3rd guest had left a review to show the star ratings on the profile but it show 1 star? What do you say @Ange2 @Ana1136 @Helen3 @Mark116? And why just one line of stars?

[Sip-And-Solve-With-The-M0]

Waiting until the third guests' feedback to post a rating would definitely feel more "fair" than allowing this one to show. I didn't even think to check behind the clean up crew, but I have been doing so as of late. 

I will definitely respond in a peaceful manner, I'm actually grateful for the feedback though I wish the guest would have given it to me in private. 

[Ricardo741]

Some people are unable to tell the difference between a dirty white sheet and a cream colour sheet! Going farword you may want to change your colour sckeme to full colours, white black, blue and without much variations. Stay closer to hotel style, white sheets, towels etc.

Sorry about that review.  My first review was worst but the guest dissobeyed several policies and as such it was removed.  In your case it is a little bit different and as such you may want to keep calling Airbnb to have it remove given that the person was your first ever guest.  The truth is your listing is nice but seem a bit pale. That is probably the reason why the guest even gave you a very low score. 

Based on my experience so far, people  rate a listing according to how they feel rather than to used the facts present. Change your lighting in and out, used some vibrant colours. I know how you feel and I am really sorry especially knowing how it will affect your listing. Do not used any more pity on your guest. Busines is busines. Dont give away free ratings and espect gold in return.  I once saved a month for a potential guest who promised to book and end up changing her mind. Again, let all guests understand how your place operates. 

First guest in a new listing, delete and start over again. You dont have much to waste. You may also want to reply in a calm, decent and respectful way. include sufficient details but not all.

Airbnb cant manage to do much, especially knowing that it is the guest spending the money, so they will always sides with the money. Write some house rules to combat bad guests. Also remember people are spending money to destress and cool out for a while. So, always be respectful, understanding and robost at the same time. Whatever you do, dont allow guest to force you into anything, the bad guests are always in a hurry.