Are these unrealistic guest expectations

[Krystal16]

Perhaps I am looking for a place to vent and sorry for making this so long, but I have a guest in my home for 3 days. I should specify this is not my home this is a secondary home that I chose to Airbnb because of the flexibility Airbnb allows. What I am wondering is when it comes time to review should I click recommend or not recommend, by clicking not recommend this impacts the guest by them not being able to instantly book but by doing this it allows future hosts to review previous comments before accepting. Therefore I guess the question is would the hosting community want the option to review this guest before accepting them?

I received the following communication late at night from my current guest,

“Good evening, we have things to tell you about the house: the chairs break the wood does not hold it is very very dangerous ... there is no stove nor enough glass of wine for 5 people there has no salad bowls nor peel vegetable and little dishes for a complete family! Given the price of accommodation we are disappointed!”

This message and the messages there after seem to have rubbed me the wrong way, and I wonder upon check out should I be giving them a poor review and not recommend them to other hosts, would other hosts not want to host this guest or am I over reacting. I am not sure if it is the accusatory tone in the message or the over use of exclamation marks but I am sure this will result in a negative review from the guest.

A little more to the story, this guest is a fell host and is from France, I have hosted other hosts in the past and I would expect the communication would be more fluid and less accusatory more helpful as in hey we would really like some wine glasses can you bring some over.

If a guest leaves my home and private messages me that I should add this or that to the home, I generally will pick it up and have it there for the next guest, if they message me during their stay and I feel it is reasonable I will get what they need and drop it of asap.

In this scenario the chairs, yes one of the chairs broke I am assuming that the chairs have been misused by past guests and wear and tear has occurred, they obviously will need to be replaced soon. In relation to there being no stove, they meant there was no pans for a family of 5 when I went over they only found 1 small fry pan 2 large pots, 1 small pot, previous guests put the other two large fry pans and the baking sheets in the drawer of the stove and the guests did not look. The vegetable peeler, they are right I don’t have one, personally I don’t use them I use a knife to peel vegetables, and there are three knives at the home. The house has 6 salad plates, 6 cereal bowls, 6 dinner plates (just found out only 5 as someone has broken one), 6 spoons, forks, butter knives, 6 coffee mugs, 4 espresso cups and saucers, 6 glasses, 4 plastic cups, 2 wine glasses (left by previous guests) am I expected to have every comfort of home including wine glasses, potato peelers, lemon zesters etc. I have bowls I guess they were looking for a large mixing bowl to put a family size salad in. I feel my price is reasonable, they are paying $152 Canadian dollars for a fully furnished 3 bdrm home with a kitchen a bathroom and newly renovated, considering hotels in the area without a kitchen would cost about $250-300 for 4 people I considered the $152 to be more than reasonable but obviously as they stated they are very disappointed. Is this a guest that other hosts would want to be warned about?

[Michelle498]

Krystal, I feel your pain...I really love my Airbnb and like yours it's a second home I own. I put everything into it & for the most part I get great reviews. But there are things that are out of your hands sometimes & there's nothing you can do... For example I had a women write in a review that my neighborhood was dirty ...wellll it was big garbage day and she knew it ...but held me responsible in the review ... Or my neighbor had a fire & another lady complained of a boarded up house (it had just burned) ....or the lady on the 4th of July said it was noisy lol... Sometimes ya just gotta laugh & do the best you can ...I won't lie I've cried a few times ...but then I put it into perspective & realize most people are truly thankful & enjoy their time ..and that gives me total joy 

[Krystal16]

Thank you for the support Michelle, what I am wondering is would other hosts want to be warned about her.  I find it so strange as she is a host herself you would expect a level of understanding.  She will be checking out tomorrow AM, if I don't recommend her is that being vengeful or am I doing a disservice to other hosts who have the instant booking function on by not allowing them to review the guest first?

[Linda108]

@Krystal16  You might be a little sensitive and the tone of the messages from the guest probably didn't help.  Not sure if the tone was related to English as a second language or not. Certainly, if there are wine glasses at all, there should be 6 of them and if the furniture is getting old, you should check to see that it is stable.  It is always difficult to receive feedback that finds weaknesses in our listings, but sometime it can be these type of messages that allow us to tweak our listings for the better.  That your price is lower than competition is not really a defense.  On the other hand, you have many positive reviews, so most guests are enjoying your place.  😄

As to the review, if you truly believe the guest is so difficult and problematic, then your review would be a thumbs down.  Actually if the guest has other positive reviews I wonder if a thumbs down would preclude IB.  An in between review could possibly include something like, "the guest might have had unrealistic expections of the place",

[Krystal16]

Hi Linda thank you for the insight.  I agree about the second language, that is where the stove not being there was an issue, they meant pans, but explanation points is the same in each language, I guess I was thrown off by their disappointment, I stayed in NYC for 4 nights I was left enough coffee pods for only the first morning I didn't complain about this and the price was 3 times the amount of my listing. 

I always do take guest feed back and tweak my listing adding in additional items that guests have requested so they are there for the next guest.  I wasn't trying to use the price as an excuse, it was more they had specified in their complaint that given the price they are very disappointed, also any hotel I have stayed at in North America there has never been wine glasses or vegetable peelers in my room even the rooms with kitchens

[Ange2]

@Krystal16    It's a pain and disheartening when guests are disappointed.  I have learned not to take it personally, it's too stressful and frustrating and people's perceptions and expectations are as unique and varied as people are.  I have also learned that everything must be checked when a guest leaves before the next guest comes. I had a similar experience with a rickety chair that previous guests had broken but put back together to look secure, fortunately my new guests were more amused than dismayed but since then I check everything.

In my experience, communication from people who do not speak a language fluently can often come across as brusque, rude, even accusatory.  I try to address what they say rather than how they say it, in fact, even if they are fluent I approach it the same way, as a problem to be resolved rather than a personal attack to be upset about.  It keeps me sane even though I have mostly fantastic guests.

If you do not want to thumb them down, you could say in your review that their expectations were better suited to hotel it would alert hosts to read prior reviews and cancel if they had any misgivings. I always read prior reviews even when it's an IB – but maybe others don't so it depends how strongly you feel about not recommending them.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Krystal16

in the apartment for 6 people we have 8 plates, glasses, forks, knives etc... . And we have wine glasses, vegetable peeler, big salade bowl , a thing to squeeze a lemon juice, a cheeze grater... and our price is half of yours.   It's not a big deal, those things all very cheap and for few € we make everybody happy .

I think it is not what your guests said but how she said it what hurts you. But most hosts are pretty judgemental as guests so I am not surprised 🙂 I don't know if you should give her thumb down but you could write something nice first and then maybe ad something like: "... she had higher expetations then my other guests "

[Mark26]

I don't think these are unrealisic guest expectations, and I don't think you need to warn fellow hosts that they identified areas in which you fell short in meeting their expectations.  If a chair broke, I'd be mortified.  I'd wonder how I managed to miss the fact that it was damaged, and in need or repair or replacement before the next set of guests arrived.

Something that I do every now and then is spend an entire day in one of my rentals.  I bring my laptop, and sit and work. It becomes my home for the day. I prepare a meal or two.  I relax, and hang out. I watch TV.  I look for anything that might need to be updated.  Is the WiFi Signal good and strong? Is the picture clear on the television? Or has a previous guest messed with the settings, adjusting the color, contrast, and audio quality? Can I whip up a pot of pasta sauce from scratch?  Can I cut up Onions and Peppers with ease? Or have the knives been dulled?  Are the cutting boards all in good shape?  Skillets and fry pans all in good order? Or did some barbarian put scratches in the teflon coating, and bake hideous grease splatters onto the sides and handles? Are there enough mixing bowls, or have a few mysteriously disappeared?  Can I bake a pie or a cake? Can I roast a chicken?   Does this cookware look like I'd want to use it every day for the next month or two? Or does it look like something that should have been donated to the local homeless shelter five years ago?

I want my guests to enjoy their time here.  I want them to have a memorable trip.  I don't want their memories to be of a kitchen that felt like they were on a camping trip.

If you've got a Three Bedroom Home you are going to be attracting families.  Families do family stuff.  They cook big meals. They eat and drink. They relax and laugh. Don't cover the absolute basics. Go above and beyond.  If you've got six people in there, they don't want to have to wash a plate, cup, bowl or glass every time they want to grab something to eat.

Don't count the items in the kitchen. Go there and cook a family dinner. Pretend you live there.  Ask yourself what needs to be improved, what needs to be added, and what needs to be replaced.  Could you LIVE there and be comfortable without adding a thing? If you wanted to prepare Thanksgiving dinner there, could you do it? Do you have everything you think you could possibly need, and more?  Or do you feel like someone shopped at a thrift store and got the absolute bare minimum?

Do you have an Ice Cream Scoop?

[Linda108]

@Mark26   Love your quality control style!  Recently I stayed in a home in Hawaii, my first Air BNB entire home experience.  I was nervous that the pictures would be better than the reality.  Fortunately the home exceeded my expectations and I would love to return and would recommend to anyone who asks. 

Exceeding expectations is a great goal to always aspire to.  Thanks for your posting.

[Lizzie]

Great idea here @Mark26. Do you often find little things to mend or add during this time?

[Ellen128]

my experience is that these types who complain about everything usually start asking for refunds on days stayed...i have had people on 3 occassions make unrealistic demands and when i offer reinbursement for days not stayed they refuse to leave and ask for refund of their entire vacation. i have also had a guest go behind my back and try to make a deal with the manager for additional days at a discount after complaining about the accomodations. i sometimes feel threatned with a bad review if you dont hop through all their hoops...my manager once drove 20 mins across town to get them additional toilet paper! i charge the same as the motel 6 down the street that has 24hr police presence! people are people...you get the good the bad and the ugly...just please warn other hosts! that being said i have had absolute great hosts who i keep in touch with...those are the ones who make it all worth while!

[Marit-Anne0]

@Ellen128

In all fairness, enough cutlery and crockery for the number of guests is not unreasonable regardless of the price asked.

[Krystal16]

@Marit-Anne0

In all fairness enough was supplied 5 dinner plates (1 plate broke by previous guest) 6 salad plates, 6 cereal bowls, 6 coffee mugs, 6 glasses, 4 plastic cups, there complaint was about no large pans (which they called no stove), they didn't look in the oven drawer if they had they would have found them.  Wine glasses is not something that is supplied in hotels in North America, nor is vegetable peelers.  They also wanted a large salad/serving bowls, I personally don't prepare family style meals in that way I plate the food onto a plate and serve the plate on the table I didn't think to have large serving bowls.

Given the comments I have received I will be putting in 8 of everything, I will have wine glasses, and even a potato peeler, am I also expected to have a corn peeler too, where do we stop?  Oh and yes an ice cream scoop, I also never even thought about having a measuring cup or pie pans, (I get my pies from the professionals)  these will be things that I am adding.   But to @Ellen128 point these type of guests who make complaints might often be the ones looking for a discount which might be why see alluded to the price.

Ellen is also from North America, this might be why she can understand my side a little more, we have cultural differences/expectations in this great world, wine glasses are found at the bar not in the hotel room.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Krystal16

I own holiday rentals that I list on airbnb and I also stay in holiday rentals found through airbnb or through other rental portals.  I choose rentals rather than hotels because I need and like to cook.  A shop-bought pie would make me sick and ruin days of my holiday. Many holiday rentals lack even the most basic kitchen utensils, so I always bring along things when that is possible.

Hosting Europeans also means you should try to meet their needs.  A peeler, a drainer, a measuring jug, chopping boards, sharp knives, a grater, those are basics.  A large saucepan for cooking pasta - a favourite quick holiday meal around the world. 

I get guests from all over the world and I am always astonished by those from the US who say they will not cook or even make a cup of coffee in the apartment. It is much more common to eat out in the US than in Europe. The French have their lunch out because it is necessary, otherwise going to restaurants is done at week-ends and on special occasions and a few times during a 2 week holiday. Old habits die hard. A holiday for the French also means having time for cooking and enjoying a meal together, wine included. 

[Mark26]

You know, you are absolutely correct.  Wine glasses are not usually stocked in a cheap motel room.  But... I have found them in the bedroom alongside a welcome basket when my wife and I have stayed in actual Bed and Breakfast operations in the past.  I don't drink. We didn't use them. But they were there.

You are renting a Three Bedroom House.  You are attracting families and groups.  I'd suspect that your guests are quite similar to mine, and many of them enjoy a glass or three of wine while relaxing and getting away for a few days. I don't pry, I don't count, and I don't ask, but I do see a good number of wine bottles in the Recycling Containers when I haul them to the curb each week.  I'd have to assume they were deposited there by guests.  We supply wine glasses.  We don't supply enough.  We supply more than enough.  I've never had a guest complain that there were too many wine glasses, too many plates, coffee cups, water glasses or anything else. 

My question about the ice cream scoop was not to suggest that you need to have one, but to get you to stop and think about the small things that you may have overlooked, that go a long way towards making a guests stay memorable.  I don't want to meet a guests expectations.  I want to exceed them.  I think that should be your goal as well. To exceed your guests expectations, and turn them into raving fans.