Recent guest experience

[Marcia102]

I recently hosted a couple with their 8-yo son.  At the time she booked the apartment she asked who lived upstairs and I told her that it was currently vacant.  About a week prior to her arrival, someone else booked the upper unit.  I informed her of this as I do with all of my guests/tenant.    The morning after her first night, she sent me a txt message telling me that there was a lot of noise upstairs.  My daughter had been in the upper unit in the morning and the upstairs tenants were reading a book and on their computer. 

The morning after her second night (Sunday morning), she sent me another txt stating that the second night was worse than the first, and that they were checking out.  I talked with the tenants upstairs, and they had just been doing normal walking, no big parties, no loud noise makers, or anything of the sort.  In her text, she asked me for a refund of half of the amount. 

Then in the review she left me, she talked about the noise, she mentioned that there was hair in the bathtub and some food on the dishes in the kitchen.  She stated that there weren't enough dishes for a week.  I always clean the tub after someone leaves, and i have made sure to outfit the apartment with enough pots and pans and dishes for awhile.  Perhaps I missed a hair or two.  She complained about having an exterior door repaired at 8:30 in the morning which I feel is completely appropriate.  She complained that my furniture was outdated that it was depressing.  The pictures I have posted are of the current furnishings and nothing changed from the time she booked the apartment until the time she arrived.  I have a 3-seater leather sofa with some nice end tables and lamps.  And my price reflects what is in the apartment.

Anyone have any idea how this review will affect me?

Thanks

[Andrew157]

How many dishes do you need for a week?

We have a sleep 2 apartment which has 6 sets of dishes and 6 tea cups and mugs. We also provide was washing up bowl, sink, washing up liquid, washing up brish and tea towels for the provided dishes to recycled through the guests stay.

A would appear to many people, your guests are a few plates short of a dinner service and therefore the sort of guests you want want to stay will discount this review.

[Robin4]

@Marcia102

Well the reviews have been posted and Marcia, her review was not complimentary but we all know that there are some guests who you will never please, no matter how hard you try....and there is nothing you can do about that.

What is going to be a bit unfortunate for you is the way you have handled this review....Marcia you have made a massive issue out of this hosting. In your public review you should have simply said.......

"I found Dana difficult to host and it was not one of my better hosting experiences. She came to me with one previous review, and I feel may become an acceptable guest to host once she understands the difference between home hosting and a hotel"!

Marcia that is all you need to say, you have made your point, everyone else gets it and you have not aired any of your 'dirty laundry' in public!

You knew her review was going to be a poor one because you jumped in with yours before you knew what she was going to write, and actually her review was not vindictive it was objective and just her perception of the listing, but, had you, in your review response, just restricted yourself to a couple of carefully selected sentences like...

"I am really sorry that Dana felt my accommodation was not to the standard she required. I did offer her, every alternative to make her stay enjoyable and went as far as to offer to re-locate her and her family. I wish her well for the future, will take onboard her feedback but would struggle to recommend her to other hosts at this stage"!

Now if you had restricted yourself to this Marcia you would have shown yourself to be a gracious host who has struck a difficult guest. Instead of that you have indulged in this 'she said/she said' epistle which has done nothing more than draw attention to the all the items the guest did mention and a few that she didn't and it will keep on drawing other peoples attention back to this review!

Marcia, you must never get into a debating match with a guest, you will always loose!!

You have to remember that what you write is going to stay on your reviews for as long as you host, you can't backtrack and have another crack at it! 

A difficult guest and their baggage will soon disappear Marcia, if you let it! When something like this happens, be objective to warn other hosts, be brief and sympathetic....it will show you in a much better light and will give others the impression that you are the wounded party and she is someone to be avoided.

I so wish you chosen another path where that review is concerned Marcia.

Cheers.....Rob 

[Annette33]

@Marcia102 , this is all around unfortunate , and I can only concur with what @Robin4 has said above. Please take it to heart. 

 You had posted just about the same thing 2 days ago in community help, asking if the guest would be entitled to a refund. Now you are asking here how the review will affect you.
I sure hope that review will be a wake up call to you, and that it will affect you such that you will make changes in your  hosting  in order to attract the right kind of people, so that all, you and guests will have a positive experience.
Out of consideration one would just avoid having workers at the place on Sunday morning at 8:30 am , or when a guest already mentions in Dec. 2015 that there aren't enough pots and pans, one would do something about it right then , then the current guest wouldn't have complained about the same thing.
So, sorry to say, your listing has quite a few problems. First thing you might want to do is get better pictures, right now all are rather drab and hint at a place not well taken care of.
Wouldn't you want to take pride in your listing and enjoy hosting, make improvements instead of getting low marks and into long public arguments with your guests? Maybe compare and see what other hosts offer, it might give you a good new perspective. If I may say so, my listing is not that much higher priced than yours, and my guests are all super happy with what they get - and I am sure happy about that!

[Mark26]

You can never go wrong by exceeding your guests expectations.  We use annodized aluminum cookware in our apartments.  You know... those 18 piece sets they sell in a giant box in the cookware department of Macys or Sam's Club.  When guests mention the cookware it's usually to say "I can't believe it... they're better than what I have at home"   You had a guest complain about the cookware in a review two years ago, and in your reply you promised to take care of it right away. And now you've received a scathing review that again mentions the cookware.  OUCH.

Buy some nice dishes, glassware, and cookware. Make your guests feel like you care about them. Don't use the mentality of "It's just a rental" Look at everything you buy for that apartment and ask yourself "Would I want to use this myself every single day?"  Your guests are not on a camping trip. Make their stay special. Show them that you care about them, and collect rave reviews.

If something needs updating I shop for quality furnishings. That doesn't mean I spend $5000 on a sofa, but I don't buy things in second-hand stores either. Buy quality furniture that is built to last, is easily cleaned, and is going to look new for years to come. And don't stop. Keep looking from a guests perspective, and ask "What can I do to make this space better than it is?"  You're never done.

I'm constantly doing maintenance on my building.  It was built in 1905, and it demands constant attention. I'm also fairly well booked up. It is a rare day when we don't have someone here. But I take my guests into consideration. I try and do any noisy work when no one is here. As in, when everyone is out playing golf, sunning on the beach, visiting with family, or doing what ever it is that they came here to do. Swinging a hammer and doing structural repairs at 8:30 in the morning is insane.  I wouldn't even dream of doing that if we had no guests here at all simply as a courtesy to the neighbors. There is a lot of landscaping and general clean up to take care of here. I do it all myself, and I try not to use any power equipment when guests are around. That means that sometimes I have to wait half the day to use the leaf blower to clean up the porches, walkways, and decks because guests are relaxing in a rocker on the porch reading a book. If need be I'll get out the broom, but I'm NOT going to make noise and disturb a guest.  They didn't come here to listen to me work.

That last review, and your response are going to be with you for a long time, and will be difficult to overcome.  It's time to update, upgrade, and add new photos.  Show prospective guests that you've learned from that last review, and have made appropriate changes.  That, or consider finding a long term tenant who provides you a steady income without all the work.  Sometimes a little less income for a lot less work is a good thing.