Despite adhering to all the things other hosts have supplied in this thread, I have experienced some eye-rolling complaints or lowered reviews in my first year of hosting. I was meticulous in describing the property accurately, providing instructions on almost everything, communicating as clearly as I could yet people still didn't comprehend. Some examples (not exclusive to ABB):
- no wifi. This was one of my first bookings. As well as listing it with no wifi, I had explained in the property description (right near the top) that there was no wifi until July and had priced my rates down to accommodate this (that bit wasn't in the description). I suppose the guest had read so many property descriptions they couldn't differentiate and got confused with somewhere else they had been considering.
- Beds in twin too small (they are standard sized single beds). Bathroom cabinet too low so guest hit their head on it. Cabinet is standard sized at standard height for standard sized person to look in the mirror, but apparently guest common sense was my responsibility, yet no one else seems to have had a problem with it, not guests, not us, nor friends and family who have visited. They also had to text me to ask if the wifi code contained an O or a zero as they couldn't work it out themselves. And no stickers on the remote controls for the TV, etc., so they didn't know which worked which appliance. Point and click is not a viable option these days, it would seem.
- (best one) in the private feedback, guest rated me down a star on everything, but most notably for me were value, communication and accuracy. The guest didn't speak any English, wrote all their messages to me in their mother tongue which I had to run through a translator to understand and replied in their own language by doing same. How could they downgrade accuracy on a listing description written in English that they obviously couldn't understand in the first place? I sent them several messages during their stay and prior to it, without being too invasive, yet they rated my communication only 4 stars. I couldn't have telephoned them as they didn't speak English so, short of going on the actual holiday with them, not sure what else I could have done. (oh, I don't live by the property, so I make an extra effort to send messages so they know I am available to answer questions or if there are problems).
The value one got me probably the most. They booked for the first week of the summer school holidays (the most in-demand week of the year) when I offered a discount upon listing the property, which meant they paid just 60% - maybe slightly less - of the normal rate for high season, yet they only gave 4 stars on value!
As this is all private feedback, I was unable to respond if I had wanted to.
Anyway, I'm not moaning about it, just thought I'd share to highlight that you get people who are never happy no matter what you do or need so much hand holding it begs belief. I just laugh about it, the quirks of human nature, otherwise I'd go mad. Or maybe I need more time to become jaded! There's quite a few OCD cases out there, too, you know. You can't do anything about that. Just take it on the chin and listen to the things that sound valid. If the toaster isn’t working properly, replace it. If the wifi code isn’t in an obvious place, put it somewhere where it is.
Obviously, if they have a valid complaint or feedback which I think needs addressing or implementing then I take it seriously, but there's just no point getting your knickers in a twist about these things. Some people are never satisfied. As I'm not aiming for superhost as it seems such a flawed system, considering there are guests that think five stars means hotel five stars, no matter what the price. I'm not bothered that I'm currently on 4.6 stars. Potential guests will see the rates and reviews and decide on that. When I think of my first and only ABB experience as a guest in Italy where, when anyone took a shower, the water streamed down the kitchen wall, I don't think I'm doing too badly.
I'm still new to this and still testing out what works and what doesn't. I still have a huge learning curve to experience but I have committed not to let it stress me out when it comes to things like this. It's just not worth it. Change what's within your power to do so if you feel it is valid and important but don't stress about what you can't -- finnicky people will always be about.
I have some friends who host on ABB and they once received a review where the guest complained it was really boring and nothing to do and gave a poor star rating (the flat is in a major city destination -- the equivalent of New York or London) and their response went something like this:
'We're so sorry you didn't enjoy your stay. and that you missed out on all the wonderful venues the city has to offer, such as the xxx museum just five minutes around the corner from the apartment and the xxx gallery just next door to that. We had hoped you would experience the wonderful xxx restaurant just two minutes away with the best seafood menu in town, or the concert hall a kilometre away in the city centre, or maybe even the vibrant nightlife in xxx quarter.
If you ever decide to visit again maybe you could message us with what types of activities interest you and we could help you put an itinerary together. Such a shame we didn't get the opportunity to help you out this time around!
All the best...'
etc., etc.
Obviously, the guest didn't go out the flat or research anything prior to his trip. How can you rate a host on your incapacity to organise your own holiday, especially one that is located centrally in a major global destination? But people do. And I thought this was the best response - it highlighted their own stupidity, or laziness, or whatever, while sounding very polite and sincere (Don't forget, my version is paraphrasing, so it might sound a bit more patronising!)
What you don’t want to do is get all defensive in the public reviews. Not a good look.
