Negative Review

[Martine14]

We are fairly new to Airbnb, and this is a bit of a long story.  We recently had a renter stay for a month and they informed me at the end of their stay that they had given the key to someone else who stayed at our house (don't get me started on that) and they did not put the key back where it needed to be for the next renter.  When the next renters came they could not get into the house because the key was not in the proper place (I had given a new key to the cleaners who dropped the ball, but that is ultimately my fault).  The new renters said they would arrive around 5 or 6pm.  When they arrived they did not call me to say their was a problem.  Our rental house is a three hour drive from our permanent residence, but we have a contact person there who has a key and could have helped.  The next morning the renters called, after spending the night in a hotel, to tell me their was a problem.  They got into the house within minutes of calling me.

Now they have left a very nasty review which rightly includes the fact that there was no key.  He then wrote that there was not a trash can in every room, the internet was spotty (he misread a c for an e), we didn't leave them firewood, there was not a reading light for every bed (we have a bunk bed and a trundle bed).  

My question is how do I respond to him.  I get that he was frustrated with the entry, but we have owned this house for 25 years with the lighting, and trash cans the way they are and we have rarely have a problem with the internet.  Does it make matters worse to respond negatively or defensively?  Thoughts?

[Chi0]

Hi Martine,

I think you should apologize in your response. No matter what happened before, it is not fault of the new renter who came to your place and did  not get the keys. I would have called several times to make sure they get in because this is the least an Airbnb landlord should do - they provide a place for guests and the guests should gain access for the time they booked. 

I can understand your frustration, and here I guess you mixed two things together:

1. The guests did not get the key and had to spend a night in a hotel instead - this is really horrible experience. I would have got really mad, too. So I think you really have to apologize for that and offer them compensation.

2. The guests did not find your place nice, either. Well this could be also caused by the fact they didn't get in at the first place. But there is no point arguing if this is subjective from your renter. They are very unsatisfied and you bear 100% responsibility (even if the last renter made mistakes, you are the landlord who has to make sure things work out.) If you can't do anything else to make them feel a little happier, at least apologize and let them know they have the right to be mad.

These are only my personal opinion, though...

Good luck! (by the way I'm new to Airbnb, too and I just posted something new, I guess mine was also quite maddening, hope this doesn't happen a lot!)

best regards,

Chi

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

Best approach is probably to thank them for suggestions for improvements. With keypad locks and smartlocks easily available, there's really no need to distribute physical keys. Maybe there is an opportunity to upgrade your router to one that supports the current standards? Maybe the cleaner can add checking the firewood supply to their checklist (or make it clear in the listing that firewood is not included).

It looks like you accepted a guest with no prior reviews. When you're first starting off, you might want to be a little more selective and make sure that you only rent to those with multiple positive reviews AND who have left positive reviews for others. Even if it means earning a little less your first few months, it's really worth it to do everything you can to make sure your first few guests leave positive reviews.