cheap guests

[Ros23]

I have been a super host for several years. This summer I have had 2 separate guests who gave me a 3 or 4 star rating for value. I charge $48-$50 a night and they get a full continental breakfast (bagels, croissants, toast, cereal choices, tea, coffee, cream, jam, cream cheese) along with home made cookies in their room on arrival. They have fresh flowers, freshly laundered and IRONED linens, duvets and curtains. I vacuum and dust EVERYWHERE including under the bed. They have their own key. Anyway one 'extra' guest cos they brought a friend in so I charged an extra $20 for the week for the extra guest said it was not worth it. I would like to see them get a full breakfast for under $2.50 a day. The other guest say he gave me THREE stars for value because "everyone wants to pay less". Is this a new trend that guests are giving low star ratings so that they can get a discount afterwards?? I am so upset about this and consequently have closed my doors for the rest of the year. This person also gave me 4 stars for location (we are 6 mins walking distance from college and 10 mins from town that is clearly stated on my homepage) check -in was 4 too - I left main door open for him since he wanted in before the 4pm check in listed (he also had his own key). Accuracy - I have no idea why he gave me only 4 stars since everything on the site is what is in the room. The communication 4 stars really cheesed me off too since I answered him straight away and gave him my personal text number (which he did not use) told him the address and to make sure it was not the wrong village.  So I am really cheesed off.  He said he lived in the bronx and he NEVER showered  during his visit nor seemed to change his clothes, so go figure out how much cleanliness meant to him. These people seemed like cheapskates in general from the conversations I had with them. The extra guest that did not like the $2.50 actually charged up a car battery every night for the whole night for the week.  So now I am just letting off steam. However, why should we superhosts be held 'hostage' by these cheapskates. I avoid giving bad ratings to people (99.9% of my guests are wonderful) 

[Lawrene0 · Accepted solution]

So, @Ros23 , the solution is going to be to charge more.

I kept reading that in this forum: charge more and they will value you more. 

But I was like you. I kept my price low in the early years. My reasoning was that I wanted the hiker crowd, the students. (Other hosts don't want that bunch, so I sure wasn't stepping on any toes.)

And not always, but more and more I was getting dinged on value. 

So I took everyone's advice, and charged more. Not a lot, but more than I thought I could.

It worked. I still get my hikers. They find a way. Since raising my prices two years ago, I have never taken a hit on value. 

So here's my advice: Close down if you want to, but if you don't want to, try an experiment. Up your prices. If no one comes, no problem. You were closing down anyway. If they come, you will be rewarded with some extra dollars, and maybe extra value stars. It won't be so frustrating.

What do you think?

[Ros23]

Thanks Lawrene I think you are right this would weed out the cheapskates. So many of my other guests are fabulous, leave me gifts such as bonsai trees, books etc. So I do see that 'cheap' rate has cheap people who have no idea what a beautiful place means. Also these cheapskates usually leave the place in a bit of a pigsty which tells me again what they live like.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Ros23 also, block them so they can't book again and review them in full.

[Ros23]

Mike and Helen, I did not know I could block them. Yes the weird thing is they say they would come back again! I will do as your recommend:) Thanks.

[Ange2]

@Ros23    I agree with @Lawrene0  definitely charge more. For some unknown reason the cheaper something is the more people seem to think they have a right to complain, be disrespectful and demand more.  Of course not everyone, some guests are truly appreciative.  I noticed this "I demand more for less" attitude a while back when I agreed to a discount for two guests.  A nightmare of entitlement, disrespectful behavior and petty complaints followed.  They even wanted a more of a discount on arrival because they said they weren't going to use all the amenities offered!

[Ros23]

Dear Ange2

Unbelievable!! Yes out of all my guests these two separate ones had me floored:) I felt like their 'reply' to my questions seemed as they would change my star ratings if I offered them a refund. That cheeses me off cos this is downright bribery. I will definitely put up my prices (I am the cheapest in my area) as you and Lawrene suggested. I have so many lovely guests over the years and several who keep in touch with me. Many have given me leaving gifts too. However, these 2 bad reviews made me sad and mad:(