Hosting - not off to a good start

[Tim647]

Hi folks,

I'm a new host, and I'm hoping to get some feedback from experienced hosts.

It seems my first venture into hosting is already getting off to a rocky start. I want to know if the following situation will cause me to get a negative review:

I just started listing my property 10 days ago. Within 48 hours of publishing, the first reservation came in through instant booking.

I live on the property in a sectioned-off area, and guests have their own entrance and the place to themselves. I make it clear in my listing that I am on site during guests' stay.

The first guests arrived the night before last for what was to be a three-night stay. However, I noticed last night in my inbox they had canceled their stay, 24 hours after arriving. 

Apparently, they decided the place wasn't to their liking, and they left and went somewhere else. They weren't even on the premises for more than half an hour.

Airbnb issued them a full refund. I wrote the guest a polite note apologizing for their needing to cancel, and asked if they could provide an explanation to help me understand what the issue was that caused them to change their mind and leave.

I'd be curious to hear from other hosts if a) you've experienced this, and b) can this cause me to receive a negative review from the guest?

The potential for a negative review before I've even gotten off the ground is my biggest concern. What is your take?

*Of note: before anyone responds obvious fault-findings such as with "did you clean?" the answer is yes--I will see what the guest says, I just want to know what the potential consequences of this situation are.

Thanks in advance!

[Tracey207]

This seems odd...

Usually if a guest arrives and isnt isn’t happy with their vacation rental, Airbnb tells them to contact you (the host) to explain the issue and to give you (the host) a chance to fix the issue before the guest gets a refund.

You should contact Airbnb customer service and ask them why they refunded the guest without contacting you first...and why the guest was unhappy.

[Tim647]

Thank you @Tracey207. I did contact Airbnb. They were refunded because I had a flexible cancellation policy at the time they made the booking. I have since changed it to moderate.

Also, I contacted the guest directly, and I was able to get from them what their reason was. You can read about that in my other responses below, if you'd like. Thanks again for your reply. 🙂

[Mark116]

If I had to guess, I would guess they expected that it would be an entire house as your headline says, and didn't read the fine print that it's really a shared space where the owner is living in a part of the single family house.   So, I would suggest that you change around your description to make it more clear on first look that this is realy a shared space, unless I'm not reading your listing correctly.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Are there locked doors between you and the guests 100% of the time?  Then it is an 'entire house' even if you live on the same lot (in a granny unit for example.) 

Wait for them to review you and if they do then leave a pleasant neutral review for them  right away so that you can reply to theirs if unfavorable.  Don't be accusative or defensive.  For all you know they had a medical emergency and Airbnb accepted it as an extenuating circumstance.  If you ignore their messages it may be because they don't have them forwarded and are not looking at the App, they may be horribly rude or just distracted by their own stuff.

If they don't review you (Aribnb will send you a notification if they do) then wait until the last possible minute or do not review them at all (so they don't receive the Airbnb prompt.)

[Tim647]

Thank you @City-Limits-Ranch0. The answer to your question is yes. Locked doors 100% of the time. The entrance to my place for guests is through the front door, so it is a separate entrance, and they have the entire main floor and upper floor to themselves. Only one room on the upper floor is locked off. The entire lower level where I live is a mother-in-law apartment which has its own entrance, so their is no cross-traffic with guests.

I did find out why they left because I followed up with them directly. So I do know the situation. 

Unfortunately, they did review me already. So I have no way of knowing how inflammatory their review is.

I have not posted my review of them yet. 

[Lisa723]

You need to change your listing type; it is not a "whole house" and people do not read. I would change it to "apartment" or "guest suite" -- otherwise this is going to keep happening.

[Ria16]

Your place looks beautiful @Tim647.  My only question is do the guests have to come through your front door in the bottom half of the house to reach theirs and Is their half lockable ? 

[Tim647]

You are very kind @Ria16, thank you for the kind words and compliment! The answer to your question respectively is no and yes. The entrance to my place for guests is through the front door, so it is a separate entrance, and they have the entire main floor and upper floor to themselves. Only one room on the upper floor is locked off. The lower level of the property where I reside is also locked off and has it's own entrance and exit for me.

[Paul154]

@Tim647

Welcome to Airbnb! It is fun to be a host, but it is a learning process. Things will get better.

Once in a blue moon a guest will come and not want to stay. They have their reasons. Don't fight it,  just move on. (I think of it as a marketing cost. I got the chance for revenue, but it just didn't work.)

Entire houses do command a premium. Your house may qualify depending on the configuration.

Is their space 100% private? Private entry? Private bathroom? Is the common area well delineated? If you share a kitchen, I would call it a private suite. 

Your house should stand out, cuz you are offering the top floor. Mosts hosts have a basement apartment.

[Tim647]

@Paul154 thank you! Best advice I've gotten yet. 🙂 I appreciate your positive reframing the perspective of the situation. 

It is an entire house. Private entry, private bathroom, private common area, all of it. Nothing shared.

As I mentioned in my reply to others, guests have the entire main and upper floors to themselves (except for one bedroom). The lower level is a mother-in-law apartment which is locked off from the rest of the house. 

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Tim647

Scanned the thread and then took a look at your listing - remember guests read the top section (most won't click on the 'read more' which is where your important info is. It looks to me like you are renting an entire house, and that is reinforced by reference to the lock-box. I would not mention this as if you are home I assume you will meet and greet the guest. If not, then two weeks out you can tell them about that.

You will keep getting unhappy guests until you change this as suggested by others to guest suite or - Top floor suite or similar in your property title, and also the tick box option for entire property etc.  

I'd also go less heavy on the James Bond theme copy in your profile - it's pretty clear from the picture. Putting references to JB in every paragraph will turn off a lot of people. It's the reason hotels go for neutral but nice decor - it offends no-one. 

No harm in putting a description of yourself and saying something like: As you can see, I'm a JB fan, happy to spend time chatting and exchanging ideas to other JB'ers!

Good luck!

[Tim647]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0 Thank you for the response and the audit of my listing, I appreciate it.

For all practical purposes, I am renting out my entire home. I am giving some consideration to staying with a friend who lives nearby while guests are staying, to keep with integrity of the listing.

I will also give consideration to the suggestion of rewording the description to something different to accurately reflect the conditions.

The one thing I will not budge on is the Bond theme. It is exactly what is attracting guests. Would it surprise you to hear 90% of the reservations so far have been made by women? I am not concerned about offending someone...and if they are, they have every right to choose another place. Putting references in every picture is intended as good-natured humor...and if you can't get that, you may be a stiff, stuck-up British twit. 🙂 

In seriousness, I do appreciate the feedback, and thank you for the well wishes. All the best.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

 🙂 no problem and good luck - oh and I’m Irish so you have insulted me more than you know. JB better tread very carefully from now on

[Tim647]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0 Whoops! I stand corrected. I'm Irish also. (American but 2nd generation Irish descent.) Now *that* kind of offense I did *not* mean. Worst kind of insult indeed. 🙂 My apologies and respect. (Bow, tip of the hat)