Review

[Bairbre0]

My second booking turned out to be not such a postive experience.

They gave me 2 stars on cleanliness and I have had no enquiries to book since.

My previous guests gave me a great review.

I did feel they were booking my place as a last minute option so staying in a country cottage was not for them and that it wouldnt work so in hindsight I maybe should have not accepted the booking

However they also didnt respond to my last few messages to confirm meeting time so I was not one hundred percent if they were coming which I said in a public response.

However any tips guys on how to recover from this.

I did pay extra attention to whatever I could to make sure it was tip top shape in terms of cleanliness.

[Melanie58]

I haven't had a bad review yet, but I wonder if seriously dropping your price for a while might help?  I feel like most people will overlook things for a stupid low price.  And at least at my other job, when we have a bad review, once it is buried 2/3 deep it seems to be "dead".

[Bairbre0]

Thanks Melanie

That is a good tip. I think I will try that for a while although I dont want to be perceived as low quality either.

My review was ok in general it was ok they just rated cleanliness at 2. 

They said it was a nice property, good for the price. I think if my translation is right. 

[Maryam-Al-Fakheer0]

@Melanie58 - Guests do NOT overlook anything for a lower price at all. Lots of my guests are very high demanding as if I am a 5* hotel while my rate is only 24 USD a night (including breakfast!)

[Sandra126]

Hi @Bairbre0, that is not the reason. Your stars don't show until you have more reviews. You also don't have any bad reviews, as the guest would have said that in a private feedback. Publicly they said ''sympa'' so all good. When you give review feedback like you did, you are alerting future guests to what was said privately so it is not a good idea to respond in your own review!

I would reshoot the pics though, as they are very glary and hard to see, especially the bedroom picture. Or at least make it lower down on the list so it is not the first one guests see.

All the best.

oh, and maybe look at other listings to see which ones you like in terms of writing style, profile writing etc. You are bound to get some good ideas!

[Bairbre0]

Thanks Sandra 

That is helpful. Yes I need to make the pictures look better.I wonder if I can remove that public response now.

The reason I am surprised is in the first week I had 5 people book and two more enquire to book all in the space of 7 days and since they stayed or that weekend at least I haven't had any enquiries and that has been in the space of 10 days now.

[Sandra126]

It is simple. When you are new, you get prime positioning to encourage you to get started and get a few reviews under your belt, after the initial period you get to fight it our amongst all the other listings. This means you have to be as good as you can, as attractive pics/writing as you can, be active, update your calendar etc and your ranking will be as good as it can be. The more reviews - the better.

No sorry, you can't remove the response. Just never do it again! I have done it too, but only the once... Live and learn. You will soon have more reviews which will override that one. It is a good idea to be underpriced when you start out, and have short stays etc to get the bookings initially. To take advantage of the prime positioning given to new hosts I feel that many hosts are not using it well enough as they only work on improving the listing after the position has slipped, but with a great listing initially you have a much better chance of staying at the top! Respond to everyone, accept as many as you can, generally follow the guidelines and you will be alright.

All the best.

[Bairbre0]

Thanks Sandra 

This is helpful.

Wishing you all the best too. 

Bairbre