That one guest!

[Robin4]

I have been lucky, always had a great bunch of guests...struck a Malaysian family once who didn't quite understand how the system worked.

But I just struck the one I keep responding to here on the CC. Everyone else gets them, now I have!

My most recent guest ruffled me a bit though, best she gave me was a 4 star, major reason in her comments......'the polished concrete floor was cold'....room wasn't, neither was the bed....just the floor.

She was a first in almost every respect though, she gave me.......

A 4 for Accuracy, now that is a first for me, in 160 guests not copped that one before. I would defy any other guest who has been here to tell me what wasn't accurate!

A 3 for cleanliness...she found a cobweb, God knows where, but she found one!

A 4 for location....that defies any sort of logic....she booked it and I can't move it!

A 4 for value...................??

I charge $85 AU ( $63.37 USD, 49 pounds) per night, with, at that point, no cleaning fee and this is what every guest gets thrown in....

Plus all the regular condiments like tea, coffee, jams, spreads, soap, toilet paper.

And I get a 4 star for value! Some guests really are loonies. If I had given this woman the listing for nothing for the two nights....it still would not have been acceptable value!

But guests like this have a negative impact on all users because, I have now set a cleaning fee. Not much of one, but obviously I am not doing the job properly and it will enable me to get a cleaner in once a week to make absolutely sure there is not a lurking cobweb.....period. Every future guest will pay a bit more because of this one woman. My 'Alice in Wonderland' image of Airbnb guests is just a bit tarnished and I hope that doesn't show through to future guests

Never mind....I knew I would cop one sooner or later, just been lucky till now but, this is the job we are in, sink or swim!

Rant over!

Cheers......Rob

[Sarah977]

@Robin4   I don't even see that latest review- did you manage to get it removed? 

[Ben393]

Hehe, I did the same, wanted be judgemental on the sight of the profile pic. Am I bad?

[Robin4]

@Sarah

I am absolutely jiggered if I know what is going on with the 'tagging' software this morning. I cannot tag any contributors into this thread that are already here. I am having to pick up tags from other posts, most frustrating.

Sarah, the review is there, it is the last one, that 4 star overall sitting on top. The review was good, you would never know by the review, it was the category star ratings and the personal comments which cut me down to size.

Yeah I know, a storm in a teacup you are saying but, it's a bit like a duck on the pond, all serene on the surface with the legs going like hell underneath.

Regardless of what might be said publically Sarah I take it to heart when someone leaves here feeling less than totally satisfied with their stay.

I will stay true to my utterings and make no mention in the review response! I always leave a review response and I will just thank her for her feedback and assure her that the only way we learn is by our guests telling us how they feel and leave it at that.....the duck on the pond will paddle serenely on it's way!

Cheers.....Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Robin4I've heard a hundred times to charge more and get better guests. Smart move.

[Farah1]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 sometimes this can be dangerous too as people's expectations are getting higher. It is a tricky situation and I think the simplest way to see it is that I cannot make everyone happy. I try and will always do my best, but there will always be "the one" who won't be pleased.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Farah1of course but $60 wo cleaning fee, for a cottage with all this extras is really low ...I think

And the cheap/expensive is so rellative... for example we offer to arrange airport transfer for 20€, most guests accept it but chinese guests not, for them it is to expensive.. they rather spend 1,5  hour on a public transport  (or even longer if they get lost ) and use bus + tram + walk then to pay 9€ more (for 2 of them) and arrive in half hour by taxi . It always surprises me bc they do have money to pay airplane ticket from China to Croatia 🙂

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Farah1

You are both absolutely right girls. I have always felt....and I have said it here before, 'The less a guest expects the more they will be happy and satisfied with what they get' and I have gone out of my way to do deals and supply things that will give a guest far more value than what they are actually paying for. 

That cheese plate alone would cost any of you $18 if you went into a supermarket and bought those cheeses from the cheese selection fridge, I get them for a max 30c per cheese!

We produce our own electricity so I am not concerned how much equipment is used in the cottage, there is not a cost to me. 

No guest night costs me more than $6.50 AU ($5.00 US) but if a guest had to purchase what is automatically supplied it would cost them over $50.

I keep the cost down to get the happy guests.

But @Farah1 is right, by raising prices you get pickier guests and potentially more issues to contend with.

There is a middle ground that I would like to chart but no matter what that middle ground there is going to be that odd guest every now and then that will not be satisfied.

The thing I do find really strange here, I have only ever had two guests who gave me a 3 star in any category and marked me a 4 in every other category including location and value....and both those guests were proud (and made repeated mentions) of their unshakable religious faith!

It strikes me that the closer one gets to the centre of religion the less charitable one becomes!

Cheers.....Rob

[Bruna-and-Siana0]

@Robin4 That's interesting. Our experience is the opposite. When our prices were low, we got more problematic guests and worse reviews. We raised prices and we get much better guests and better reviews. I also see a pattern on the nationalities who book depending the price. 

Our typical guest areare busy business travelers, majority men (we are in silicon valley). I think in most cases the company pays so they don't really care about the price, they want flexible check-in and easy comfortable stay. 

We also provide some amenities and extras that guest really appreciate but don't cost us much. We were constantly getting 4 on value, now  we have a full basket with toiletries, snacks, coffee and tea, we generally get 5*. Most of guests don't even use anything but still give us 5*.

[Robin4]

@Bruna-and-Siana0

Yeah Girls, your situation probably differs from here a bit. I have had the odd business traveller but most of my guests are Asian tourists from late teens throught to retired couples. And they are all wonderful to host. If I am going to be marked down it will be by late middle age women who seem to live in their own bubble life.

I had one here a couple of years ago....... I don't know if you ever saw it but, there was an English comedy TV series called 'Keeping up Appearances' a few year ago, and the lead character (Hyacinth Bucket...Bouquet she called it) was this completely dippsy woman who flustered around doing anything she could to appear a bit better than she was!

Well, this woman I hosted was exactly like Hyacinth Bucket, she waved her arms around when she talked in a huge Wagnerian voice, wanted this and that, wanted a lift to a party she was attending in the area, wanted to take a bottle of wine along (which she had forgotten to purchase) from my wine cellar. She said she would pay for it....and didn't. When she departed the next day she left her dresses draped across the bed and I ended up having to post them to her......

She gave me a 4 star overall!

This woman lived in her own bubble and if there is going to be downgrading in the review process this is where it will come from, never younger people!

Cheers....Rob

[Ria39]

A very smart business advisor once said to me "Double your prices and halve your clientele." Same financial result but you have the time and inclination to service fewer clients better. Give the clients you do have, such exceptional service they will always stay with you and recommend you to others with high standards.

[Robin4]

@Ria39

There are two camps when it comes to Airbnb hosts Ria.

There are those who host because they have to in order to service a mortgage and there are those who host because they enjoy it.

If I doubled my prices and halved my clientele I would not be interested in hosting any more! It would not be fun. I would be under so much more pressure to get it right, the class of guest I got would expect so much more and the sheer joy of hosting would be gone. I don't have a mortgage, I don't need to be doing this, I do it because I enjoy doing it, I learn something from each guest and I just like interacting with people.

One night I was out with my eldest daughter who is something of a livewire, and I said to her..."What is your idea of a good night out" ? 

She thought for a second and said, " To go to a party where I don't know anyone"!

I though wow that's a big call...and then I thought, hang-on I am like that...... I love new experiences, to go to a party where I don't know anyone, that's cool, it's a blank canvas, there are all these new faces to bulls*it to, trott out all the old stories to a new audience....yeah thats me.

Ria, If I listened to your smart business advisor, I 'may' make more easier money....

But I would ruin my life!

Cheers.....Rob

[Ria39]

Sorry Robin - just an opinion - I didn't mean to ruin your life 🙂

[Farah1]

Haha @Robin4 now you experience this personally. Sometimes it is just ridiculous. 🙂

[Tomaz5]

Hey @Robin4. Don't worry too much! Some guests are just impossible to please. You could have done everything perfect and they would still give you less than 5 stars. It happens to me from time to time. It sucks, but there is not much you can do about it. Just stay a good host, keep on doing a good job and it will be fine :)! Best of luck!

[Ria16]

@Robin4 I feel for you and I just got my first 4 for cleanliness and value.  It’s like a knife through the heart. I did write back to him and ask how he thought I could improve on my standards he said they were driving and not really looking properly at the star system. 

 ‘Shrugs’ its just a tick to them but to us it’s no much more.