Hjaaoo...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

.... another 4* for accuracy and a reproving private comment from the guest who didn't read neither our listing's description nor our message... and, as we all know, assumption is a mother of all fuc*ups...

I feel like a big mamma dealing with ADHD kids... again ...and I am not motherly type ...  I need a vacation ... or at least a glass of mulled wine... oh, what a hell, a pot  😛 😛

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Maybe you need a beach holiday in Mexico 🙂

BTW, did your Dec. "Rose" guest we talked about in private messaging show up yet?  Or is this her?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

oh I forgot about her , she came and went few months ago :)))

oh @Sarah977 if I ever go there you know I will book with you and we will drink tequila and mariachi ay ay muchacha bonita  😄 :)))

I am affraid I would never leave hahaha

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Same here if I ever make it to Croatia. One of the great things about this forum is I know exactly which hosts I'd book with in various places around the the world if I ever went there.

I know you were being sarcastic about the ADHD thing, but I think there's actually quite a bit of truth there. In the modern world with all these people constantly on their devices and accustomed to communicating through 3 word text messages, complete with texting abbreviations the older among us can't keep up with,  there is a problem with many people's attention spans now. There's been studies on how these devices and staring at your cell phone screen all day is affecting people's brains. If most of their communications happen through brief text messages, 2 line tweets, etc, reading through a whole page of information  is either something they're incapable of concentrating long enough to do, or else they just consider it an unnecessary bother.

When my kids were growing up, I never had a TV in the house, I didn't want them growing up as TV addicts. I wasn't some kind of fanatic- they sometimes watched TV at their friends' houses, it wasn't forbidden, just not part of our daily lives at home. One of my girls' favorite pasttimes was for me to put on a story tape (we had lots), and they would draw or do some art project while listening. I could always tell which were "TV kids" among their friends, because these kids were totally bored by this activity- they'd participate for about 5 minutes and then get antsy because they weren't being bombarded with constantly changing images and didn't know how to concentrate on doing something other than passively watching a screen for hours on end. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

yes @Sarah977 and I know exactly which hosts I can't book... those who forbid smoking anywhere in -on- near-arround the property :)))) How is it regulated in Mexico? Is smoking allowed on public places, bars, restaurants etc...?

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0  Yes, smoking is allowed in bars and restaurants here- I don't know if there are official laws about it, there very well might be, but it seems to be up to the individual owner in reality. Some restaurants do have no smoking signs. Because almost all restaurants have an outdoor seating area and it's warm here pretty much year-round,  it never seems to be a problem. However, if I'm in a restaurant inside, and want to have a smoke, I'll usually step outside out of respect for other diners. It's not like you're out there shivering in frigid temperatures. 

And you can certainly smoke walking down the street or in an outdoor public area. The only people who who ever complain are American or Canadian tourists 🙂

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sarah977

In Croatia we have a lot cafe bars. A LOOOT ! It's a cultural thing... we socialize there with coffee almost every day with our friends, colleagues, neighbours... . If you meet someone on the street you will always end up in the closest cafe for at least an hour 😄 So, few years ago we got a new law and smoking was forbidden in all cafe bars, stadiums, clubs, restaurants etc... Everything was ok during summer but when winter came all those places were empty, no customers, no business... so many of them had to close. Few months later new law was abandoned :)))) Now it is just forbidden inside the restaurants.

[Sarah977]

@Branka-and-Silvia0   When I lived in Canada, I found it so ironic that you'd go to some newly built office that had a no-smoking sign on the door that said "We have a clean air policy" and then you walk in and the place reeks of the formadehyde and other toxic, cancer-inducing chemicals in the new carpets and countertops.

And people can sit down at the next table in a restaurant wearing so much strongly-smelling perfume or aftershave that you can hardly breathe and it ruins your meal, yet there's no laws against that.

[Huma0]

 @Branka-and-Silvia0

@Sarah977

Guest review (4 stars overall and 4 for accuracy):

Large & lovely room in Victorian house near tube

Public feedback

Huma’s place is ideally located for public transportation. The only thing was as a non-smoker I was not aware I would be in the same house as a smoker. Maybe a good idea to let people know in case they choose not to be exposed to that. Thank you Huma for allowing me to stay in your home.

 

Private feedback

 This is just for you. It won’t appear on your listing or profile.

I would have preferred to know that I was going to be sharing with a smoker. Otherwise the place was well located and the room was lovely.

Accuracy

 

No mention that you would Be in a house with a smoker

 

My listing:

 

Other things to note

We have three cute cats, so please bear this in mind when booking. Also, some of us do smoke, so please don't book if this bothers you.

House rules:

• Smoking is not permitted in guest rooms. However, it IS permitted in communal areas. Please do not book if you are uncomfortable with this.

In THREE separate messages to the guest prior to stay:

"Please confirm you have read the full listing/house rules (not just the summaries), paying particular attention to the points about the cats, smoking and check in/out times."

I politely messaged the guest to point out that the smoking policy is clearly mentioned in the listing and house rules, which she confirmed that she had read, and that I also highlighted it in my messages. I asked if she would please request the review to be removed because it is not fair to say she was never informed or to imply the listing was inaccurate if she hadn't read it all.

Her response: "I am not sure how you can judge my understanding of your ‘accuracy’ isn’t it for my judgement, it is my review."

I called Airbnb and asked them to remove the review, as it was clear from both my listing and the correspondence that the review was completely inaccurate. The rep was not helpful. He said it didn't break any policies and was the "guest's experience". I pushed the point, saying that I had previously had a review removed for inaccuracy. He said he would look into and get back to me. I never heard from him again.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sarah977heh, yes, that's ironic :))))

We allow smoking but very rarely our guests smoke inside. And when they do smoke and leave, we never sent any smoke smell. They all vent the apartment so often and so thoroughly that the air is acctually much better then after the average non smoker. Non smokers don't vent at all, just use A/C so we can smell their cooking, parfumes, smelly sneakers, sweat, toilet... you name it ! :(((

@Huma0

yes, the same thing, superficiality is IN nowadays 🙂 aahhh...

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Huma0@Sarah977

😄

[Huma0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Sarah977

LOL. Smokers unite!

[Huma0]

PS Every single doctor and nurse I have known personally is a chain smoker (not to mention the booze and the drugs).

[Sarah977]

@Huma0  Professional dancers are also major puffers, which would surprise a lot of people. I remember going to a dance performance years ago of Ballet Jazz de Montreal, and I went outside behind the theatre during intermission to have a smoke and all the dancers were out there chain smoking like crazy.

Actually the worst people as far as being revolted by cigarette smoke are ex-smokers. Not only do they love to lecture you about it, they seem more disgusted by it than non-smokers. I do get it, though- I quit for almost 3 weeks last summer when I went to Canada because my daughter can smell it on me, even when I walk down the block to have one and hates it (oh, it wasn't easy and I'm so bummed with myself for starting again, but it's hard when you're staying with friends who smoke like chimneys, which I was, after leaving my daughter's) and I found when I hadn't had a smoke for 2 weeks that even the smell wafting over from someone standing outside a restaurant smoking actually made me feel sick.

That's so unreal- the woman who read the listing, then booked anyway and complained and rated you down and the CS rep's response was typical, but nonetheless unaccceptable.

With my guests, I tell them I'm a smoker when they arrive, since I smoke outside only, in the yard and 25 ft from the house or else out in my shop building, and the guest bedroom/bath is upstairs anyway, and so far only one guest has indicated that smoking bothered him- when I said the first day that I was going to step over to the other side of the yard to have a smoke, he said "Thank you". All the rest have either said it doesn't bother them at all, or that their boyfriend smokes so they're used to it, or that they're ex-smokers themselves, or that they don't buy them , but usually bum one a day from someone.

If I lived in a house where it was all closed in in the winter, as opposed to where the doors and windows are almost always wide open, I'd menton it in my listing, for sure, but from your experience, I can see that there's almost no point, if they don't read it or book and complain anyway.

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0

I think it's universal Branka, I have had 3 in the last month....one for value, which you have seen in another thread and 2 for no other reason than, it needed to be a 4.

I am finding newer Airbnb users give the best reviews while the most experienced users give the worst. It appears that when somebody joins it is whole new world and they love what they get. 

As time goes on they get used to the way things work, feel they don't need to read all the bleep that comes with booking, and build up expectations in the minds of what the listing should be....not what it is and is described as!.

I can see the time approaching when we are going to routinely get overall 3 stars simply because the guest was satisfied with what they got!

All the best from the sunny warm south!!

Cheers.....Rob