GUESTS ARE MORE THAN EVER DEMANDING ...

Nuno60
Level 3
Dublin, Ireland

GUESTS ARE MORE THAN EVER DEMANDING ...

i have been hosting for nearly 2 years now and things have changed so much now . guests are more and more demanding my last guest send me over 30 messages before check in most of them things they could have just search online themselfs but i allmost feel at the mercy of guests do to the simple fact that we are at the mercy of reviews ... how do other hosts feel ? have you guys have told anyone there is a thing cold internet ????

30 Replies 30
Paulo162
Level 2
Adelaide, Australia

I do agree with you guys!

AirBnB most of the time tries to pull your price down.

 

I set I reserve price which I think is fair to cover my expenses.

I also change my price up if I now a particular event is happening near by, despite Rbnb trying to sell the reserve price.

 

I think, us as hosts, need to fight it back. After all, it is not just a place to stay, is my home!

 

Cheers

Kelly305
Level 3
Petersburg, NY

I have to agree with most of these comments. I have only been hosting for just about a year, and have always gone out of my way to make sure each guest is comfortable. I have put much time and money making my guest house a lovely place to stay. I completely renovated it (maybe i should put up before and after photos, bu ti still dont think that will help some people). I have gotten several bad reviews as of late, where previously I had never received such types of reviews. One lady told me I need to replace my bathroom floor and gave me a terrible clean rating because of it. It was older, but not dirty. How do I know? Because i hand scrubbed it before they came. My listing was paused for a day because of it , and Airbnb did nothing to back me up. I ended up replacing the floor in fear of more negative ratings and my listing being pulled for good. Another lady and her husband booked giving me less than an hours notice. Thankfully I was home and didn't have to cancel. I ran around making sure everything was perfect and turned on the AC as it was unusuall hot for this time of year in Upstate NY. The place was nice and cool when they arrived. We had a great in person convo... then she gave me a very low star rating on just about everything claiming an odor because the place must have been closed up??? Hmm no the windows were closed because I had the AC and fans on for them! Again, zero help from Airbnb. My recent guests were again very nice, left me 4 + 5 stars across the board, but only 3 stars on my public rating. They said they had a bad allergy to cats which my cats dont go in the guest house. I am feeling VERY frustrated. This is not what I signed up for. I am a photographer and rely on renting out my guest house to make ends meet. But I am starting to think that this may not be the way to go, and maybe taking off instant book and being more choosy about who I do let in is. Which completely goes against how I actually feel, and then of course I risk getting reported for being biased. Seems hosts these days can't win. I'm not sure what the solution is, I just keep plugging and hope for the best at this point!

Wow. That's bad. There seems to be a consensus that Instant Book beings in more problem renters. Also, though this is just a hunch, I would guess that early AirBNB adopters understood that they were going to someone's house. These days I think -- no evidence but I think -- that as more people use the site they want a full-service hotel at a cut-rate price. You already replaced the floor; I don't know that I would have. In any case, state clearly that you have cats, that though they are not allowed in the rental, it may not be suitable for those with extreme allergies. That seems the diplomatic way to put it. And I would push back on the inaccuracies in reviews. Good luck. I rent only in summer; like you I need the money. But already I dread the coming season.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Kelly305 

 

I would not take same day bookings. I think you are setting yourself up for trouble if a guest can book one hour before check in. Besides the fact that you may not be able to get the place ready in time to a satisfactory standard, what would have happened if you hadn't been at home? What if you had been on a job somewhere?

 

I used to have a one day notice window for bookings, but I changed that to two. Even with one day's notice, it could be very stressful if I had a busy work schedule. The only last minute bookings I will take, i.e. with a day's notice, would be repeat guests. Even then, I wouldn't let them come the same day.

We started without instant book on and had great guests 95% percent of the time and event those 5% that weren't great were bearable. Then they forced instant book on us (we are in a large city) and now we have 10% great guests 70% meh/okay/whatever guests and 20% horrible. Now that we can see the star ratings, we will be more proactive to cancel bad guests before they arrive, but we are still thinking of turning off IB altogether and vetting everyone. They are staying in our home and we need better people that we don't want to avoid.

20% is a big number, especially when you can't really get away from them. Are they more likely to be the IB guests?

 

Totally agree. In my case, some more! In less that two months (double room):

9 guests

1 perfect (11%)

4 ok (44%)

4 awful  (44%)

 

Then the guests who ask to SEE THE PLACE FIRST.  I just reply to keep the reply rating but basically ignore the message.  Thank you for your message, we have a guest now and unable to disturb him, thanks!

 

Umm--if its pre-listing questions usually they won't book!  So end it.

 

If it's post-listing, I have a very detailed check-in message that I send.


Follow the messages that the other guest posted --  no need to give in, and if they are likely to leave a bad review just don't ask them to leave a review.  Most guests don't leave me a review unless I ask them so be selective on who you ask.

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

Any guests that sends 30 texts will, in all likelihood, turn out to be a living, breathing nightmare. After 4 or so, the red flags should have gone up. On the 5th, I simply would have ignored them.

 

The new Airbnb clintele is now the 'public at large', not the old funky traveling aficionados, but a whole new being. Best to adapt accordingly; sharpen your swords and reinforce your shields, the barbarians are now at the front gate! LoL

Oh wow Fred... YOU ROCK!   ahahaha   fantastic... plus we have the same market as neighbors... validating to read   thank y ou buddy.. thank you.. I am smiling .. thanks so much!

Donna12
Level 3
Cozumel, Mexico

Recently saw an online video of a very sweet couple who rent rooms in their home ...the video to help others get started in air bnb... so kind and humble.. they said when it rains there is a less than half inch small puddle in their walkway from the street to their front porch... not enough to cover the bottom of a shoe... these sweet hosts  stressed how important it was that guests paying even 1 dollar expected perfection ... and that it is imperative to mention in advance the possibility of a quarter inch small  puddle if it rains because guests expect perfection and human nature is to comment on any negative.... Validation for your post, hosting since 2015 , 4 listings... as giving caring people in the hospitality business we as hosts have bent over backwards to literally give until it hurts to our guests... you dont like the artesenal mandarin soap and must have an organic shower gel?  okay... the result... AN ENTIRELY NEW BREED OF GUEST I call an airbnb hole... entitled beyond measure... there is nothing we can do besides placate them and serve them..our review may still have a chance to escape their tantrums  and toxic  spews for attention before the obnoxious  crawl back under their bridges on departure back home where they become completely unimportant once again .. especially if they have broken and damaged things even though you did not ask for a penny or mention it to them.. you are held responsible for their taxi ride to your home,  the happiness or lack thereof of their marital and family relationships during their stay, whether or not the sun shines in your city while they visit, imbalances in their prescription medication, mental and emotional problems,  state of their drug use and  drunkeness.,.. the price of housing in an entirely different land body or dangerous city , personal unhappiness and so much more. 

 

 

Donna, here on the other side of the atlantic in Wales, it is a very similar situation. More and more guests expect the comforts and amenities of a  Premier Inn or Hilton and rate you accordingly. That they chose you because they are paying but 25 % of what a hotel would charge does not seem to cross their minds. Hosting has made me quite cynical about the human race in general and brits in particular.

Lynn151
Level 2
Paris, France

I wonder whether we shouldn’t be pushing back a bit. AirBNB runs ads that encourage guests to expeçt the Four Seasons for less than the price of a budget hotel.  They attract a lot of first-timers, who don’t know any better.  My younger relatives, in particular, don’t even think to check the competition. The very ordinary hotel nearest me charges 100 euros a night for a room with bath. For very little more, I rent them a 4-bedroom house. No need to get snarky, but maybe a note to that effect, somewhere in the guide to the house, might be a good idea.

Jessi22
Level 2
Trapper Creek, AK

We live in a time where we are expected to regularly rate our satisfaction with nearly every human experience. How sad. Fortunately for me, my property is remote, has no Internet/WiFi service available, and extremely limited cell phone reception. I may get a number of inquiries prior to a guest's arrival, but rarely a peep after they arrive. I get messages after-the-fact about their pleasant stay, regardless of the lack of connectivity. I DO try to anticipate what issues any potential guest may have, and try not to be offended when they ask a question that should be obvious from my property profile or photos. And just appreciate the experience even more when their payment is deposited to my bank account. 

Doris104
Level 2
Meaford, Canada

Hello I too had a unreasonable guest just leave, communication was good before her arrival for a three day stay but after the second day I contacted her to ask if she was enjoying herself and I got no response. She responded two days later telling me that after the first night they all (4 people) had a bad night and wanted to move to another place. She complained that I have two 53” double beds not the 60” queen beds that are listed. I was told that my listing is not fair to other guests and hosts as my listing is wrong and needed to be corrected and that she wouldn’t mention the bed issue if I changed the listing . I sent her a picture of the tag on the sheets and she came back and said again I must correct my listing it’s not fair to other people. Then I went to unit and showed her six pictures of the measuring tape on the beds with surrounding floor so that she could see the difference then she finally agreed they were the right size and she wanted to know how to change her review so this tells me she had alright made a false review under an assumption that she was correct. I then gave an honest review of this person and what had happened I also mentioned the fact that there was no shoes allowed going up my 16 steps to unit and this is on my house rules in listing plus a big sign at the bottom of the stairs this was not followed and the steps filthy dirty. She then proceeded to reply to my review with all sorts of lies when I was stating the truth because isn’t this what reviews are all about? So now it’s in the hands of Airbnb because she posted the unit had double beds not queen.