1st bad experience with guests

Natz0
Level 2
Vancouver, Canada

1st bad experience with guests

Hi community,

 

I have been Airbnbing since Nov last year, so far great experiences. But my last guest (a couple) are the reason I have included a lot of things you would think are common sense on my House Rules but not sure how many things could you include to not sound very strict as Im usually a very easy going person. I was also thinking about taking a break from Airbnb as having this type of guest is not worst it. My other question should I leave a bad review or should I just not review them, not sure if Im exagerating or Im supposed to allow this in my home when Im hosting?

 

Some of the things really bother me were:

  1. Not turning off the lights (they would leave the bathroom light on thru their entire stay, even  through i would turn it off, they would leave it back on, same with the bedroom lights they will leave it on even when they were not going to be in the room)
  2. They will leave water run for hours!!! (Im not exagerating hours).
  3. I only cook 2 times a week and safe food to reheat (as I know its a small apartment an cooking everyday leaves an unconfortable smell) They would cook every day, twice a day (Fish, Meet, with tons of spices)
  4. Cleaning after their mess was really poor done, so I would be cleaning everyday kitchen and table after their cooking.
  5. They put hot a cooking pot over my kitchen counter top (if I would be there they would have damage it)
  6. My fridge was packed with their food and they were not even staying for long time (1 week and a half), they used at least 8 rolls of toilet paper in this time (not sure what they were doing with it).
  7. The girl was very nice but her husband would not even say good morning.

 

Please advise,

 

29 Replies 29
Alain3
Level 3
Choisel, France

I think you should leave a bad review, to warn other hosts about them. But that is just my personal opinion.

Sandie0
Level 2
Saint-Constant, Canada

@ Alain,
I had a similar situation. However, my guest has booked for a 2nd month. She initially wanted to avoid using Airbnb for the second time and offered me cash and I stayed firm that I am loyal to Airbnb as they send me referrals. Although it took a week to convince her she finally booked this second month through Airbnb:)

My question is where do we as hosts, read reviews about the person staying with us?

I'm afraid to leave a bad review or any negative comments because this will only create resentment and she will leave me a bad review!

However between hosts I would like to warn people about a few of my guess peculiarities and also the fact that there was a tremendous amount of water waste too. She did not respect the econonmical hours to do constant laundry.

Thanking you In advance

Sandie

Hi Sandie, 

The Guest does NOT SEE what you wrote until they submit theirs.  How do you not know this? 

Always write a proper and honest review.  This is your responsibility. 

Get the "AIRREVIEW" extension so you can see reviews the guest has written for previous hosts. 

Ash-and-Dasha0
Level 10
Redwood City, CA

I don't think anything you listed warrants a bad review, except maybe the water waste. I am not sure how / why they would leave the water running. Is it in the shower waiting for the cold water to drain and hot water to start running? if yes, let it go. If they are wasting water during handwashing/ teeth brushing, during putting on make up, etc. - let it go, it's their personal choice. 

 

I learned to tolerate guests not turning lights off, some even sleep with the lights on for whatever reason. 

 

Don't complain about the toilet paper usage, it will sound petty. 

 

About the kitchen use - it really depends how you initially conveyed the kitchen use. Seems like they had the impression they could use the kitchen. 

 

You can leave a gentle review saying something to the extend that they were polite, but their personal habits would not make them a good fit for your place again. 

You should write an honest review and as the last post put it so well. 

I will use that same wording myself should I need to again. 

Surely the whole point is, it is your home and guests  should respect your standards.

we know how difficult it can be and yes small matters can be tolerated, but not especially wasting the water.   Maybe you could have mentioned it to them at the time and asked if you could assist

if there was a reason for such over use.    We have in the past had similar problems withAsian students . It is just a cultural issue and was easily solved once we knew the reason. Maybe there was something they did not understand about the shower/ bath....?

best wishes.

michelle

 

 

Hi Dasha,

 

Thank you for your comment, I would use exactly your words for the review.

There is nothing preventing the hot water to start running it starts running right away. They would leave the water running for every activity if it was the shower 1 hour running water, brushing teeth in the morning 30 minutes running water, if they went to wash their hands same thing.

 

About the toilet paper use it really bother me because I storage all the toilet paper in the guest bathroom ( I prefer them not having to ask me and they can replace it as they need) when they came week and a half I grabbed 2 rolls and put it in my personal bathroom (so I don't have to enter their bathroom) 8 (or more) rolls were left and I though to myself oh that is enough for now, this morning I run out of toilet paper in my bathroom and when I went to grab for more there was no rolls left, I think they should at least let me know.

 

Kitchen use is fine with me, I'd had in the past other guest using the kitchen I even received a family from another country for 1 month in my place, and they would cook every day, but they would make sure to don't leave the house and kitchen smelly, full of grease and dirty (they cooked 3 hours ago house still smells horrible)

 

Today was their last day, and I should have taken a picture of the conditions they left that bathroom.

I'm afraid that in this case it would bug me, but I would just tighten up my house rules and NOT say something about seemingly small (to anyone reading the review, I know it's important to you) things like the amount of toilet paper.   I wonder if a different approach could be to read their review, and then if they say something about "how cool to be able to cook, we loved having a kitchen" you can reply to their review with "thanks for your review X, and to future guests the kitchen is available for reheating, simple meal preparation ONLY and guests are required to return the kitchen to the standard of cleanliness in which it was found" and so on.  So you take whatever points the guest makes in the review of you, and you reply in a kind way to clarify.  So to elaborate they say "plenty of hot water" you can reply with - "yes, our hot water is instant so we are very careful to not be wasteful", etc.

 

The hard part for me is to be a warning about potential issues/problems to future hosts, and to be kind enough in the review that a guest doesn't just shrug and say "screw it, I got a bad review, next time we go to a hotel"

 

Lana54
Level 2
Birmingham, United Kingdom

I agree that guests might waste water, electricity gas and toilet paper. That is why I don’t want to drop the rent price,In my view cheap rent will get cheap guests too. The price of the room including hosts effort to do cleaning, communication and household bills.

Gail706
Level 1
Peterborough, Canada

As a guest I search for the lowest rates due to my budget. I am quiet, respectful, and always leave the place immaculate. Please do not generalize about people who may have limited means. I am always so appreciative when I have the opportunity to stay in a decent place for a reasonable price.

@Gail706  It also irks me and I am a host, not a guest. Everytime I read on a hosting forum that "low prices attract low quality guests", my hackles go up and I respond, trying to correct that attitude.

 

While it's true that if a place is absurdly cheap, it might attract indigents and the unemployed, or someone just looking for a hook-up space, a place which is priced for the budget-minded traveler is needed, and doesn't automatically attract bad guests, by any means. That notion is really discriminatory.

 

I have a budget priced listing for my area and I have gotten nothing but lovely, appreciative, respectful guests. Most leave their room and bathroom super clean and tidy, and they always clean up after themselves in the shared kitchen.

 

And just because a guest is budget-minded when choosing a place to stay doesn't mean they are really low-income or cheap. Lots of travelers don't care about fancy digs. As long as it's clean and comfortable, and convenientt to where they need to be, that's good for them. They may prefer to spend their money on buying gifts to bring back to family, local crafts to decorate their own home, eating out, taking a surfing lesson, or whatever.

 

And those "cheap" guests have brought me hostess gifts when they arrive, come home with a bottle of wine to share, cooked dinner and invited me to share it, insisted on giving me gas money if I drop them off somewhere, even if I say no need, I was going this way anyway, and even taken me out to dinner.

 

I love my budget travelers.

Robin4
Level 10
Mount Barker, Australia

@Natz0 

Hi there Natz.....Look, this a part of hosting! You have to expect that others will have a different set of values to yours. It is possible that they were not going out of their way to be obtuse……It’s just that that is the way they live. I try to anticipate what guests will do, With regard to consumables I only put into the cottage what I am prepared for them to have. I am generous with food and drinks but, I set a limit of 6% of the tariff that I receive. I am a canny shopper and get the very best deals on things that I know I will be supplying. Sometimes I will buy a two month supply of something or other, because it was available at half price, or less, at the time….So it’s amazing how far that percentage will go if you are careful, and I very rarely reach that 6% limit

The bathroom heating is on a push button timer so it will not run for more than 10 minutes! After that, the button has to be pushed again. I only have an 80 Litre storage hot water heater (quite deliberately) because that will give the guest about 12 minutes of decent pressure hot water at any given time, even less in winter. But this is enough, anyone who expects a shower longer than that is just plain wasteful!! And it reheats again in about 15 minutes! All external lighting is on motion sensors which give ample time to access the property but will get around the risk of being left on,

In a shared space have locked cupboards for things you do not want your guests access to and have your extraction fan (be it range hood or whatever) in the kitchen hooked through a motion sensor timer so that it is impossible to cook, or interfere, with the fan while cooking or until the kitchen is free of smells. You can have the timer, along with an override for yourself in the locked cupboard. Put self- closers on the doors. These things are passive measures….you don’t even need to give your guests a list of do’s and don’ts…it just happens automatically, and Natz, the bulk of the time your guests will tell you what a thoughtful touch that was.

 

Natz, I know you regard this guest as the guest from hell, but in reality she just does things differently from you. I don't only cook twice a week, but I have measures that ensure my kitchen stays smell free. The only thing that would concern me would be the damage to the benchtops. I have read another post here where the host is up for thousands to replace a damaged benchtop. But there are available in-expensive thin bench protectors...they are a bit like a 600mm (2 ft) wide roll of thin semi-clear cutting board which would protect your benches from all but the most serious of saucepan heats. I don't need it in the house because the benches are black granite and there is nothing you can do to abuse these, but I use it in the cottage, and do you know what Natz....almost every guest says...'Gee what a good idea is that". 

 

Natz, you must protect yourself! Don't think just because it's a 'house rule' people will follow it.....they won't......Cheers...Rob

Carol-And-George0
Level 3
North Port, FL

Leave a bad experience review, after they do their review. I had a similar guest and my husband was ready to show them the door. I did my review first and couldn't go back and add that they were terrible guests. How can we solve this problem? We all want good reviews, 5* but what do you need to do to get one? Bribe the visitors? Come on this star stuff needs to be addressed, it isn't fair in any way. One necessary comment about taking off shoes and you get points off your review. The guest just have too much control on the host, I feel like I am captive in my own home. Come on Airbnb do something to make this fair.

@Carol-And-George0 You are right guys....I just got my first 4 star review and I didn't think I did anything wrong! I welcomed him and spent a lot of time talking to him and I thought we did ok. Everything clean and tidy, lots of fruit, complimentary beers in the fridge (which he availed himself of) big full on breakfast.....It just sits there looking at me, that one 4 star review, but there you go that's what the review system is all about, and on the other side, I have got great reviews so....4 star.....stiff!!

Hi Carol,

 

Thank you so much for your comment, with this couple I felt the same way like a captive in my own house, and then I can't even say anything because the feedback I have received so far is that is ok. I agree with you that the guest have too much control over the host. I do my best to make my guest feel welcome but is not like is their house, they are guests that should feel welcome but not like they have right to everything.