Responding to disappointed guest / mediocre review

[Tabitha26]

We recently received the worst review we've had so far, and I would love to get any feedback ya'll have to offer. The guest's complaints were:

1. House smelled like a wet dog.

2. Guest had "no privacy" because our listing was "just a room in a townhome."

3. Our dog jumped all over him and we didn't do anything about it and "didn't keep him put away." 

I don't know what to make of the comment about the smell. We thoroughly and regularly clean the house, and all but three of the 36 guests who have reviewed us have given us five stars for cleanliness. The other two guests who have had an issue with cleanliness didn't mention a smell, even in the private feedback. But I realize that we probably wouldn't notice a dog smell ourselves, and I am going to ask a couple of guests and friends if there are any bad smells in the house.

Our listing clearly states that it's a private room in a townhome, so I think the guest just didn't read the listing thoroughly and was expecting something we don't offer. He also had no prior reviews, so I suspect he is totally new to AirBnb and may have been disappointed overall with the experience of renting out a room in someone's home. I am going to start including a mention of "your private room" in my welcome message to guests just to emphasize that we are not offering a totally private residence.

The comment about our dog is the most confusing to me. It's true that he is a puppy who still gets very excited when new people are in the house, and he does have a tendency to jump. But we always stop him when he is jumping on guests. When he was jumping on this guy in particular, my fiance went over to grab him as he always does, and the guest just kept petting him, said he loved dogs, and insisted the pup was not bothering him. I still get that the jumping is annoying and the guest was probably just trying to be polite, but it's not true that we were just letting the pup jump all over him without doing anything.

He also mentioned in the private feedback that our dog is "untrained," which is not true. He responds to "sit" and "no," no matter how excited he is, and our house manual (and a welcome note that we leave in the room) clearly state that he will respond to these commands and that guests should use them if he is ever bothering them when we aren't around.

As far as not keeping our dog put away, I mean...the guest was with us for three days. We're not going to keep our dog confined for the duration of a guest's stay. We have had several people book our listing (which clearly says we have a dog) only to find that the guest does not like being in a home with a dog. So I'm going to include a picture of our dog in the listing photos with all the info about the jumping and the commands he responds to, and I'm going to put all that stuff higher up in the guest manual and in the welcome message we send out to guests after they book.

I also responded to the guest's review with the following:

"We're sorry to hear that you weren't totally happy with your stay. I am not sure about the issue with the smell, as we have not had any other complaints about this. As far as privacy, our listing clearly states that this is a private bedroom and bathroom in a townhome, so I am not sure how we could have served you better in that respect.

We are also a bit confused about your comment regarding Mas. We realize that he is an energetic puppy, some people like to interact with him, and some people don't. We always try to follow our guest's lead in either allowing Mas to interact with them or keeping him away. When my fiance came over to pull Mas off of you, you insisted that it was fine and that you didn't mind. If you had at any point indicated that he was disturbing you, we would have taken care of that immediately. Again, we're sorry you were not happy with your stay, and we do appreciate you taking the time to offer your feedback."

If anyone has any suggestions about other ways we can improve in light of this review, I'd appreciate it. I'd also like to know if anyone finds any issues with the response I posted, if it seems defensive at all, if something could have been worded better, etc.

Thank you!

[Moudi1]

I think this is a major problem with everyone who is listing a room in their homes ,  I’m facing the same problem ! Unfortunately a lot of cheap guests always have extreme expectations! They pay for a room and expect a resort ! 

I would just be honest and say you might have accidentally booked my place if you had this kind of expectations, I would recommend to pay more attention to the listing and you might be more comfortable renting an entire house which going to cost more than what you booked.

[Tabitha26]

Thanks for your comment, Moudi. Yeah, the vast majority of my guest complaints have been about things that are clearly indicated in my listing (unattached bathroom, room on the second floor, location, dog, etc.). Some people just don't read the listing thoroughly.

If you're also having trouble with this, I'd recommend including the mentions of what the guest is getting in more locations (in the welcome message you send them after they book, for example). I'm going to do this even though it's a bit annoying on principle; really no one should be booking without reading the listing. But people do it all the time, so I figure I'll just tell them as many times as I can what they're getting, and if it still doesn't get through, it's out of my hands.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Tabitha26 🙂

I think your response is great! I think your upcoming/might be guests reading your response will know that your guest didn't read your listing before booking when expecting more than a room.

If you would like a reply from your guest make sure to write him privately as he won't get a notification that you replied to his review. Only upcoming guests will read your response. How did he rate you star wise?

Best, Sandra 

[Tabitha26]

Thanks, Sandra! I didn't respond to the guest directly. I don't expect he'll be booking with me again, and even if he did I would reject the request, since I know he might be unhappy with things during the stay without communicating it to me. 

He gave me four stars for overall experience, accuracy, and cleanliness, and five for everything else. He said my listing was inaccurate (I think he just didn't read it carefully), and that the bedroom and common areas weren't clean enough. He didn't specifically complain about anything cleanliness-wise except for the smell, and I almost always get 5 stars for cleanliness, so I'm not sure what he was unhappy with there. 

[Ann489]

@Tabitha26  I think your response is well-written/worded.   The issue here are the guest's expectations.  We all know from experience that most potential guests don't bother reading a listing in its entirety and then end up being surprised/disappointed.  We have four Highlander cats who, although never allowed in the guesthouse, like to hang around to greet our guests and interact with them.  This is very clearly stated in  our listing, yet I cannot tell you how many people end up being surprised, stating that they actually are allergic to cats.   

Since the first thing potential guests look at are the pictures, I am going to add some pictures of the cats with a caption.  Maybe you could do the same with Mas?

PS: how did this guest rate you star-wise?

[Tabitha26]

Thanks for your response, Ann! I'm definitely going to add a picture of Mas to the listing with a caption about his tendency to jump and the commands he responds to.

He gave me four stars for overall experience, accuracy, and cleanliness, and five for everything else. He said my listing was inaccurate (I think he just didn't read it carefully), and that the bedroom and common areas weren't clean enough. He didn't specifically complain about anything cleanliness-wise except for the smell, and I almost always get 5 stars for cleanliness, so I'm not sure what he was unhappy with there.

[Ann489]

@Tabitha26   some people just have super-sensitive noses, I guess!  😉  Don't lose any more sleep over it; you have great ratings and your place looks lovely! 

[Gordon0]

It's a bit daft this guest mentioned the 'no privacy' thing. Despite hosting 250+ guests in a similar situation we haven't had this issue, but I know it happens.

I think what's more worrying is it's the second time your pup has been called out. I think a photo of it, up front, should weed out all those who are not comfortable with excitable puppies (and dogs in general).

And the smell? My friend has a dog and swears blind her house doesn't smell of dog - and it so does! Part and parcel of owing a dog.   

[Tabitha26]

Yeah I'm definitely going to add a photo, and I like the advice on providing it towards the front too. I figure if a guest has too short of an attention span to read the listing, they're probably not going to scroll through a lot of photos either.

I'm sure the house smells differently than it would if we didn't have a dog, so I do definitely want to weed out any guests who aren't used to sharing space with a dog. And I am going to look into other ways we can deodorize the house as much as possible. I know we go nose-deaf to a lot of things in our home.

[Mike1034]

@Tabitha26 The guest is reasonable whe he had given you 4 stars and 5 stars in all categories. At least this will affect very little in the search of your listing. Each person’s feeling is different. Therefore, it is very hard to meet everybody’s expectation because of that. You seem to have very high expectation toward your work as a host. But later or sooner we will all get a less than 5 star ratings. I have a guest who wrote me a great review and put 5 stars in all category but put a 4 star on overall experience, which she said she did it by accident. Don’t be discouraged and move on. You have done great job!

[Tabitha26]

Thanks, Mike! I think you're absolutely right, and I do get a bit neurotic about hosting. I definitely get more worked up about reviews than I should.

[Linda108]

@Tabitha26   I have been hosting for several years and I refer to my dog, a greyhound, as my "co-host".  She gets almost as much mention as I do!  My dog is older, chill and very well behaved, still I usually have her stay in another room until I have completed my orientation of the guests and then make the introduction.  That allows me to assess how interested the guests are in interacting with her and reduces the guest distraction from my orientation.  Because of an increase in newbies on Air BNB, I always confirm with the guest that I am in the home with my dog and require that they respond back before I accept.  Even if they have reviews and have booked on IB, I still confirm as they might have had an entire place before.

[Tabitha26]

That makes a lot of sense, Linda. I am definitely going to start being more proactive about making sure guests confirm their understanding of the listing.

[Sarah977]

@Tabitha26  As far as the guest complaining about privacy, that's absurd, he obviously didn't read the listing description to know what he was booking. Also asking for you to put your dog away.

But a couple of things- if you allow your dog to get up on the sofa or other furniture, and/or have carpeting, your house will smell like dog to others, no matter how clean you keep the place.

And "It's true that he is a puppy who still gets very excited when new people are in the house, and he does have a tendency to jump. But we always stop him when he is jumping on guests."

If you allow your dog to jump up on anyone, including yourselves, that is simply bad dog training. It took me one day to train my dog, when she was a very rambuncious puppy, not to jump up on me, therefore she doesn't jump up on me or anyone else. It's unfair to the dog to expect it to make the distinction between jumping up on you, or jumping up on others. Dog brains don't work like that. And your hosting will go smoother if you take the time to train the dog properly, rather than having to intervene each time so she doesn't impose herself on the guests.