How should I respond?

[Inna22]

Message from guest

Please make sure before we arrive. things are cleaned. lights,Toilet flushes are working. Stove too, just wanted to, As we had bad experience in Austin this trip.

I think I have three options: say nothing at all, say something really polite like I’m sorry you had a  bad experience, cleanliness is of our out most priority blah blah, or say that if you’re going to take a loupe in inspect my listing or your own house or an operating room, you will surely find a speck of dirt. I can only guarantee that we will do our best. 

[Fred13]

Once we had such a tacky pre-stay reminder. I told her to - RELAX.  My wife who is a clean-freak extraordinaire took it as an insult. I ignored her during introduction and kept her back peddling until she brought it up on the last day and shared some of her past experiences. Trip ended very well after all.

I would ignore it, just happened to be in a fighting mood that particular day.

[Pat271]

Express your sympathies for her previous less-than-perfect experience, assure her that your place is checked and re-checked for the items she mentioned before every arrival, and leave it at that.

This one of the times when it’s useful to ask yourself “How would Guest Services at a hotel respond to this?”

Although we are not hotels and don’t try to be, we are in the hospitality business. One of the tenets of hospitality is to leave egos out of it, and just attempt to assure our guests, calmly and cheerfully.

[Huma0]

@Inna22 

This would annoy me too (think it could have been worded differently), but if it was prompted by a bad experience, hopefully it's just because of that and the guest is nervous rather than super fussy.

What was the rest of his/her correspondence like prior to this? Has the guest got any reviews and, if so, have you checked the reviews they have left for other hosts. That might give an indication as to whether this is a fuss pot or not.

[Inna22]

@Huma0 only one review. The rest of the correspondence was slightly odd. For example, she told me without being prompted that it’s just going to be her without her husband but other relatives. I never asked her about her husband, she was the one booking so the comment was out of place.

She is also from a culture that tends to be a little more nitpicky than others. I hate to generalize things like that but this has been my observation over the years.

[Huma0]

@Inna22  I also don't like commenting on that sort of thing but, for sure, I have noticed that people from some cultures (with exceptions of course) tend to be more nitpicky. It makes me wary of hosting future guests of the same nationality, but of course I do not discriminate and turn people away based on that. One has to take every guest at individual face value. 

It's tricky though. The only thing I can recommend is trying to learn as much as possible about cultural differences in order to pre-empt that. I did mention to some guests a few months ago, and only because it naturally came up in conversation, that people from their particular country seemed to like to moan and complain. They thought about it for a second and agreed it was true. They ended up leaving me a glowing 5* review, but I'm not suggesting that as a tactic in general!

[Mariann4]

Now I'm curious 😄

Mariann 🙂

[Inna22]

Does she really think that a host who doesn’t bother to clean will do so just because she told them? It is such a silly expectation.

[Kate867]

@Inna22   I agree with @Huma0  that It would be very irritating to be asked, particularly as the majority of hosts make every effort to ensure that everything is as perfect as it can be for incoming guests.  This lady clearly  had an extremely bad experience which she does not want repeated.  You can’t ignore her though and as hosts we should offer every reassurance where we can.  I would refer her to your numerous reviews, super host status and let her know that in the unlikely event any issues arise you will make every effort to resolve them in a speedy and satisfactory fashion.

[Mark116]

The thing is, @Inna22  can't prevent a light bulb from burning out during this stay unless she goes in and changes every single bulb, which would be silly.  Or, god forbid, what if something breaks?  Plus, who is to say, maybe this guest is one of these nightmare people who break everything, perhaps she broke the stove and clogged the toilets at her last rental.

I would say something like 'Sorry to hear of your previous bad experience with an Airbnb.  Please be assured that the house/apt is professionally cleaned before each guest and appliances are in working order.  Should any problems arise during your stay, or if you have questions on how any appliance/feature works, don't hesitate to reach out.

[Inna22]

@Mark116 I agree with you, I am reluctant to assure people like this. What if a spec of dust flies from a deep dark corner when AC goes on and lands in the middle of the room illuminated my a ray of sun from the window

[Kelly149]

@Inna22  I agree that saying “of course all will be perfect!” isn’t a good idea but Austin is full of high priced, poorly run, investor, ABB is EASY $$ types. I’ve seen some doozies. 
You could try the “oh no, that’s terrible, tell me what happened?” tactic and see if she’s the crazy or the listing??

[Inna22]

@Kelly149 I line that!

[Robin4]

@Inna22 

I don't know if you remember Inna but I once got an enquiry like that, and a few other hosts here got the same enquiry, none of which ended up with a booking so, I decided to have a bit of fun with it!

Ten minutes later I got a message back....'Stay not possible'!.......Mission accomplished!!

Cheers.......Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

Did you actually send that reply?!

You are a truly an inspiration.