Guests full of complaints—what to do?

Guests full of complaints—what to do?

Guest who checked in last night has several complaints right off the bat: fridge is noisy, Netflix is in Spanish—I asked previous guest to change it when they left but I guess they didn’t. 😞

(Still, it should be easy to change back), and finally, she says the place smells like cigarette smoke. I immediately am horrified and contact cleaning crew who said they smelled no smoke at all only hours ago. I messaged her saying I was upset and sorry to hear this, and would try to figure out why. The people we bought the house from last spring used to smoke but we have cleaned the carpets and sufficiently cleaned it out since then. No other guests have complained of smoke and we haven’t smelled it since last spring. And of course we have a very strict no smoking policy.

This guest did qualify it a little by saying that she is a breastfeeding mom so may be sensitive, but she is messaging us constantly—right now she still having trouble changing the tv back to English.

 

So far her experience has not be great. Should we comp her a night? Offer that they can stay another night free? Or not do anything like this? Is she just a complainer?

I’d like to avoid a bad review if possible. Would giving her something do that? Or will she still write a bad one? Or am I worrying too much?

35 Replies 35
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

She sounds like she is going to keep complaining, whatever you do.

 

I would confirm to her that the cleaning crew who cleaned the place thoroughly a few hours  before her stay did not smell smoke or hear the fridge being noisy, but you are happy to send someone around to check.  @David-and-Annie0 

 

You can go in and change the language on Netflix by logging into the listing account.

 

Personally I would say if she is not happy with her stay, you are happy for her to cancel and find an alternative space, that better suits her needs. In fact I may contact airbnb and insist the booking is cancelled.

 

I can't see any reason to refund her anything until you check the property. Whatever you do, she can still leave you a bad review.

Thanks for your response—this actually happened last night (I made a post about it but put it in subject “help” and got no response, so changed it to “hosting” today.) 

So I’m thinking it’s too late to cancel her reservation...I wish I’d offered that to her last night. 
Now what to do...she did end her messaging last night with an apology for bugging us so much. 
I did tell her I contacted cleaning service and they had detected no odor of smoke just hours before, but she insists that she knows what it smells like because she used to smoke. 
They are checking out tomorrow am...I really don’t want a bad review...maybe I can comp their cleaning fee? She may still leave a bad review, but I feel like if she doesn’t get something, she will definitely leave a bad review. At this point I’m just hoping for no review. 

You're going to get guests like this - don't comp her anything - just apologise, say you and your cleaners couldn't smell any smoke, fridges do make some noise, she can change netflix and if she doesn't know how, then she can find the instructions in google ......

and yes, you could get a bad review, but don't let it worry you .... you get the opportunity to reply publicly .....

you're in business .... put this one down to grumpy guest, move on

 

Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

@David-and-Annie0   If your actions of refund or anything like that are to avoid a bad review,  more than likely you will not be successful.  Even if she states, smelled smoke and couldn't change the TV to English, and provides a 4 star rating, it will impact your review average.

 

Let's look at this situation from the guest perspective, even though I know that is not a popular stance on this forum.  You smell smoke, possibly because you are a nursing mom.  You are told that there was no smell because the cleaning crew did not smell it.  You cannot watch TV because you only speak English.  While everything else is lovely, this is a negative part of your experience of your holiday.

 

Let's look at what this situation can teach you as a host.  First of all, you are hosting in Big Bear but live in Burbank.  You cannot inspect what you expect, which is a lot according to all your rules.  Your cleaning crew might not notice a slight smokey smell, partly because they are using cleaning chemicals and partly because they are not paid to inspect your property at your high standards.  I thought Big Bear requires a local contact for STR, (which is another problem for you if I am correct) but if not, perhaps

you can identify a local contact, give him or her a check list, to add to quality assurance.

 

I hope this all works out for you, but like most of us, we learn to be better hosts by having to deal with situations like this.  Good luck!

Thank you—yes, I am trying to look at it from her perspective and—in addition to trying to avoid a bad review—I would like to do something to make her experience better. We do have a 24 hour emergency contact person and she also cleans. She was adamant that the place did not smell like smoke, so I didn’t think having her go over there to disagree with the guest would help. I took the stance with the guest that I believed her (the guest).
I also go up there often to inspect the property and keep an eye on the house. I was just there on Thursday and I detected no smoke. (But maybe this guest has a more sensitive nose) And then we did have another guest there Friday—Sunday. (The ones that changed T.V. to Spanish.) It’s possible they broke our rules and smoked, but cleaning crew said it didn’t smell...


What I’m trying to figure out now is how to make this guest’s experience better overall. They are set to leave tomorrow...I could offer her another night for free but if she doesn’t like it there, this might not seem appealing. Maybe we should comp a night? Or comp the cleaning fee?

I am open to suggestions. 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@David-and-Annie0 some guests are just high-maintenance. As others have said, she may leave negative remarks in her review regardless of what you do. If you are highly motivated to minimize the chances of that as much as you possibly can, obsequiousness can go a long way with some people. You could send a message profusely apologizing for the smoke smell, and explaining that while you thought you had done everything possible to eliminate it, you will now pursue further remediation. Likewise with the Netflix, you will now put a process in place to be sure this doesn't happen again. Explain that you are so sorry her weekend was impacted by these issues, and that you would like to compensate her for her inconvenience. Suggest a significant amount; the cleaning fee is probably in the right range, and ask her whether she will consider this reasonable compensation.

 

Other hosts will argue strenuously against this course of action, as it encourages bad guest behavior and might not work anyway.

 

Another approach is to just let the chips fall where they may, and focus on writing a brief, professional, and dispassionate response to reassure future guests if in fact she leaves a negative review. You have enough great reviews at this point that it won't harm your listing significantly, especially if your response is not defensive or emotional.

 

I agree with @Linda108 that hosting remotely without a local co-host is an invitation for eventual trouble of a much more serious kind than this.

 

 

Danielle476
Level 10
Toronto, Canada

I'll be the voice of dissent here - I have and will continue to offer partial refunds to guests who are inconvenienced in a way that I deem to have been preventable.  I don't know that Netflix being in Spanish would be a deal-breaker for me, but I have found that even a small gesture helps calm guests down.

 

Instances I've provided small refunds:

-The guests ran out of toilet paper and I had to send them down to my storage locker to retrieve more (the cleaners should have left some extras in the closet, but forgot)

-The building's heat is turned on by property management in mid-October, but we had an unseasonably cold September and I did not yet have a space heater in the unit

-Guests found a HUGE half-smoked joint and ashtray that had been stuffed in a cabinet by another guest, and my cleaners had missed it, etc.

 

In these cases, I offered varying amounts between $10 and $50 (cleaning fee) as a refund.  In your case, I would suggest messaging and saying something like 'I've confirmed with my cleaners that they did not detect any cigarette/other odours when they were present, so I do apologize.  It may be possible a neighbour has partaken and you're able to smell it - I'd like to offer you a reimbursement of $20 as a gesture of thanks for your patience and understanding.  I apologize for the Netflix mix-up and will make sure future guests set the account back to English when they leave.  If you have any further questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out!  All the best.'

 

I'd rather lose $20 and possibly get a repeat guest than have my account littered with bad reviews, but that's just me.  I know this is more of a 'business' for some, so their bottom line is all that matters.  Good luck!  

@Danielle476 I do the same, and didn't mean to imply otherwise. (And my bar is pretty low; "the customer is always right.")  I just know that it's not universally agreed by all hosts to be a supportable course of action.

 

@Lisa723 Oh for sure!  I know plenty of hosts who won't give an inch, and to each their own.  I try (much like you) to put myself in the guest's shoes and consider how frustrating/disappointing it can be to have your much-anticipated vacation turn cumbersome.  The trials and tribulations of a host, I tell you!  🙂

Just an update for everyone: I ended up refunding the guest’s cleaning deposit and she seemed really happy about that. Hopefully that made her experience better and helped balance out some of her disappointment. As of now she has not left a review (she still has 8 days, though). 

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

Thinking from a guest's perspective . . . I read threads like this and I thank whatever higher power that I am a flexible, easy going person. I couldn't live with the stress of being bothered by such trivial things!

You mean the guest being bothered by these things she was complaining about? 

@David-and-Annie0 

Yes, just guests in general being bothered by the slightest things. You have such a beautiful home, I can't imagine not being happy there. I wouldn't in a million years contact a host to mention a faint smell or complain that the dishwasher wasn't empty or that the shampoo was low, etc. If there were rats running across the bed or the roof was leaking, then yes, but 99% of complaints are so trivial. I would just adapt and move on to enjoy my stay.

In general I agree, but if the trash was full or there was no shampoo, I would mention it to the host. If the host attempted to fix problem, I wouldn't count it against them. Some things are just simple oversights as you may know. If it's something you can look past, I would still send the host a private message and explain the issues. As a host, I'd love to know so I can fix the problems.