Tips for Reviewing a Challenging and possibly crazy Guest

Florence293
Level 2
McCordsville, IN

Tips for Reviewing a Challenging and possibly crazy Guest

I'm new to Airbnb and uncertain how to review challenging guests. We've only hosted 5 guests. 

 

  1. Three were great: a Japanese family (that didn't speak English but were so cute!), a musician and a marathon runner ... all really dream guests. 
  2. Our first guest I suspect had a learning disability. His car broke down and he expected me to drive him everywhere. I connected him with Uber and I did give him two rides when the trip was on my way but he sent me a message saying he was dissappointed that I didn't provide at least one ride per day as he was tight funds. I was polite but firm in establishing I had gone above & beyond. He didn't thank me or even give us a review.  I really question if giving him a ride was smart or foolish on my part?  Also he was our first guest so I didn't want our very first review to be bad.  So very awkward.
  3. And our last guest (last night) came with her teenage daughter.  I spoke with her for a long time last evening as she clearly wanted to talk.  She went on and on about Haitian voodoo ... I didn't understand most of it so politely nodded. We have a no smoking policy but she wanted to smoke outside. I didn't say anything but just felt nauseated and ready for her to go. Then this morning I had to wake her up when she had not checked out by her check out time (I sent two reminder messages). She then announced that I needed to burn sage in the guest room as she had trouble sleeping due to a spirit in the room that was trying to hug her all night and it was not welcome. At one point she said she was concerned the spirit was going to rape her.  The daughter just rolled her eyes. I have no idea how you manage something like this. It was peculiar to the point where I almost thought it was a practical joke. How do you rate this type of guest? Should I post  a welcome message in the room with the checkout time and no smoking  on the premises policy?    
6 Replies 6
Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

You do not need to hold your guests' hands, or engage in long discussions that don't interest you. Yes, check-out time and no-smoking rule can be emphasized with notes in the room, but to prevent the smoking issue state clearly in your house rules (which guests must agree to before booking) that no smoking is allowed *anywhere on the property*.

 

Regarding reviews, they should be short, unemotional, and factual. I don't think guests' theories about voodoo and spirits are relevant. For the first guest:

 

"Assumed personal livery service was included in nightly rate."

 

For the last guest:

 

"Had some difficulty checking out on time."

 

Re. the smoking, you can include or not. This one is kind of on you for not making your requirements clear.

 

Thumbs up or down: just be honest, would you or would you not host again?

 

Hang in there. You will get better guests as you acquire more good reviews, so you are right to be very focused on that for your first ten or so.

 

 

Lisa

Thanks, good tips on how to review.

 

I do have no smoking on my listing but just added additional wording in our description.  And I will add a posting in the room. 

 

I also raised our rates last night. Would rather have fewer guests with a focus on quality.

 

And to be clear, I'm not judging the spirits or voodoo.  But the spirit "rape" comment needed context and gave me concern. When do we need to report to Airbnb if a guests comments are of substantial concern vs. just sketchy?

I would report a guest to Airbnb only for an egregious violation of house rules, significant intentional or negligent damage, or for threatening me in some way. I don't think I would have felt threatened by those comments. If she had been making them about a member of my family rather than a spirit, I would have, but as-is she just sounds peculiar, not threatening. Other hosts might feel differently, of course.

Florence293
Level 2
McCordsville, IN

Lisa - agreed. She didn't seem threatening or accusatory ... just observing the spirit world. Thanks. Flory

 

Dawn33
Level 10
San Marcos, TX

Can you imagine how her poor daughter feels in her daily life?

 

She seems harmless, but out of touch in our reality. Go buy some sage and cleanse your house ASAP.

 

I had to laugh when you mentioned raising your rates after she left. Raising your rate is thrilling after a bad guest, isn’t it?

Florence293
Level 2
McCordsville, IN

Yes I lauged too! Raising our rates was a bit retaliatory!  I was trying so hard to be friendly and accommodating so I asked if the Russian Sage growing in my garden would work. She said yes. So a few minutes ago I cut some and put it in a vase ... the room does smell divine! No burning allowed in my house even for overly friendly spirits. #smelltheroses #sage2