Demanding guests and the negative reviews

Nicola333
Level 2
San Gwann, Malta

Demanding guests and the negative reviews

Am i the only one who has noticed that guests are becoming more demanding as time goes on and to add to that leaving really poor reviews for things which shouldnt be provided to them. Case in point i recently hosted an old italian couple who i had a hunch were not familiar with how air bnb works, I left them breakfast items in the fridge (at my own expense) fresh clean towels and sheets. They were with me for 4 days, after the first night i received a message that ''no one had changed their towels'' i replied telling them simple that i do not change their towels however should they feel the need for clean towels on a daily basis they may use my washer and dryer. I did not hear from them till check out upon which they wrote a digusting review '' 2.5 value for money - baring in mind they paid 70euro a night for my studio which included their own bathroom , kitchen, ac, balcony, city centre, breakfast items, clean sheets and towels'' ''they also said they found a single hair on the bed - how can i even argue this? was it there ? wasnt it there? i cant really tell four day later and if so i said it may have been mine when making the bed this stuff happens ! " "i left some pre open bottles of wine in the fridge should they wish a glass in the evening - i do not offer wine as part of the package but some previous guests left them with screw caps - they complained that they were expected to drink someones opened wine , they complained that the cheese had no expiry date ??? Fresh cheese?? bought from the market. Honestly this is just a drop in the ocean to what i have dealt with this summer. AIR BNB WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HELP US HOSTS???

8 Replies 8
Holly201
Level 2
Devon, PA

I find the negative reviews to be frustrating as well as you say sometimes people aren’t familiar with how Airbnb works or perhaps even typical housing in your area. I recently had a 3 star review as a 9 consecutive quarter super host. Their comment was that the house was “adequate” and that it wasn’t as bright as the photos. I have pictures posted of every space in the house. They were all taken with a cell phone and haven’t been altered. We do our best to go above and beyond with our small suburban house. Our listing is very accurate and transparent. These sane guests were in the top 5 for leaving it a mess out of about 80 guests.  I was far too nice on my review and now feel guilty that some other host may get an undeserved negative review. 

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

when we start hosting I forgot to change a price for New year evening so our French guests booked at a regular price of 35€ / night and then gave us low rating for value.

Next year we've charged double and got 5*  😄

 

 

 

That happened to me as well, unfortunately. Then he wrote the floor was squeaky :))

 

Susan151
Level 10
Somerville, MA

@Nicola333 I have no doubt that these people were not going to be satisfied with your AirBNB offering, however, it is unfortunate that you responded to their review which didn't mention wine, hairs, or much else with a full-out rebuke of what must have been their private feedback.

 

Remember that your future guests will be reading your response to their review. Those people are your audience.

Exactly this! The original review is written in Italian and didn't get automatically translated for me so I would have just scrolled past it without a second thought, but the long response made it stick out and gave way too many details. As a potential guest I would have been put off by this while I would have never even noticed it otherwise.

Yolanda197
Level 2
West Palm Beach, FL

I had guests who didn't read the my listing throughly and wanted to utilize my kitchen.  I reached out to them prior to their check-in date and told them to ask any questions. Upon check-in, I showed the guy around and I didn't say much about the kitchen(why, because it's not included) and when I asked if he had any questions, not once did he mention the kitchen.  He ended up cancelling the same night that he checked in and stayed and extra night since I guess AirBnB charged him a cancelllation fee.  (I'm not sure how that works)  He left a negative review that I was missing basic kitchen needs, but I don't offer those needs, so how are they missing?

Yolanda, your responses to your problem guest’s negative reviews are very efficient and respectful. It’s just a shame that their low ratings are given any weight by AirBNB. 

 

As a host, I don’t feel supported by or a priority for AirBNB and it’s very unfortunate because in the beginning I really did. 

 

Best if luck!

Deb174
Level 2
West Palm Beach, FL

I’m sad this is happening to all of you wonderful sweet hosts!

 

I’ve been renting my whole house (5-bedrooms, pool & spa on 2-acres) for 3-years now. After a horrible experience last July where my guest pre-sold over 250 tickets to an unauthorized party (there are no parties/events allowed) at my home resulting in over $10K in property damages, of which AirBNB picked up $7K. Great background check on this guy AirBNB!

 

I just hosted again Christmas week. I was Leary as they had no reviews, which is mostly the case in my area of South Florida. They were very nice and mature adults with a few teens and sadly an aged dying father, so I agreed to host them. Once checkedin they asked permission for some family (10-15 outside guests) to visit their Dad for his last Christmas. I agreed and didn’t charge any extra fees.

 

On Christmas Day, while we were out of town they had many requests and FaceTimed for help with the pool etc... I accommodated them even though I already went through the steps with another member of their party day before. I went over and beyond to accommodate them like I usually do, for fear of a poor review, and they still gave me low ratings for value and also cleanliness because cupboards under outside bar were dusty! They even complained that we had clothes in our closets and left our car  at end of our circular driveway so they couldn’t drive straight through and tiki torches around pool we’re out if oil!

 

There were small damages I won’t bother reporting and I already left them

a nice review because the house was left pretty tidy. 

 

I’m hurt and I take it all too personally I guess, but these guests lately take my generosity for granted have ridiculous expectations! And they barely need any credentials at all for AirBNB to allow them an account.