Unfair situation and unfair review coming up

Monica1599
Level 3
Santo Domingo, DO

Unfair situation and unfair review coming up

I recently came back to hosting in Airbnb after a 3 years pause. 

 

I was recomended by a friend to advert our large 8 bedroom Samana home,  for independent rooms too, so I did.

But when I did, Airbnb set the inmediate reservations without me noticing, and this caused me a stressful situation.  

 

A guest called Rudi, made an inmediate booking for one room.  He wrote a message  just saying he would arrive in AN HOUR with wife an child.

 

I was really stressed cause I live 4 hours drive away from that property, but the staff was able to get the place ready and wait for him.

 

But when he arrived to the car park (at the back of the main villa)  they never stepped out of the car.  He told our secutity guard that the place was too far away from restaurants, and that they woulnt stay. So they left inmidiatelly and didnt even respond my calls.

They didnt even look at the place.  Something that never happened to us since its a really gorgeous Victorian Style belle. What made us believe they had anotner reservation made in another platfform...

 

So yes, Samana is  an almost virgin area, surrounded by wilderness and cocotals. As described in advert.  Restaurants are in main village over 8km, as described in advert too!  They left cause they wanted, and not form a misleadind advert.

 

So anyway, they NEVER stayed in our place. And we just received a notification that he wrote a review??? What??? 

 

I contacted Airbnb support but they said tbey cant do anything about it. Really dissapointing. I told them I dont even want to collect his money since he never stayed at our place.

 

So I feel very frustrated and I feel I must write a review myself, stating he never stayed at our place, not even looked around it. What should I do???

 

I was so dissapointed at Airbnb that I decided to take down that advert for rooms only. I really regret advertising it in the first place.

I dont deserve a bad review from this guy 😞 

 

3 Replies 3
Rowena29
Level 10
Australia

@Monica1599 

It is certainly a very unpleasant situation and I would feel similarly frustrated with this guest.

 

However if I may say so, a lot of what went wrong you very much had in your power to prevent. You say you have hosted before, so surely you are aware of booking settings and the very necessary need for you to ensure that you have things set up the way you want them -  including IB vs request to book; a minimum booking window so reservations cannot be made just an hour before for example; - before you made your listing active and open for bookings -  very especially if you are a remote host. 

 

I was new not all that long ago and I certainly have made my share of mistakes and bad calls, but I did spend a great deal of time ensuring I had my settings just the way I wanted them before going live.  I also am a remote host, so you have to be very very careful to get your settings to suit your circumstance or it's a recipe for disaster as you have discovered

I hope you dont' find it patronising but I am going to include a link to a thread that a really experienced host shared to help everyone ensure they set up their listing thoroughly and just the way they wanted.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Back-to-Basics/m-p/988528

 

Re being able to leave a review without staying there are many many threads on this forum complaining and discussing this issue.  Most think it's stupid, but the fact is it's there and has been for some time. ( The rule is is a booking is cancelled less than 24 hours before booking both parties may still review) I dont' know the exact circumstances of your guests cancellation, but to me it seems unlikely that he would go to all the trouble of turning up adn then leaving because he had already made a booking elsewhere. He certainly sounds entitled and unreasonable adn quite possibly he did not read your listing carefully enough, but as you've taken down that listing it's hard to make a comment

As he has left a review for you, It's probalby best you do the same, but possibly in a few days time when you are feeling calmer. Try to keep it brief and factual. Regrettably xxx cancelled his booking after viewing the apartment from the carpark. Had xx read the listing descripitio carefully and/or communicated with us I feel confident his disappointment could have been prevented" Mark him down on communication.

It's a great idea to post what you plan to say on these boards first - for other hosts to help you to shape it prior to posting - there are lots of people willing to help

You may find it useful to continue to read these boards where you will find a great deal of information and insight about all the things that routinely occur as well as strategies to manage so such things do not take you so much by surprise.

Good luck

 

Monica1599
Level 3
Santo Domingo, DO

Thank you for your input! 

 

I think my mistake was using the app to create a new listing. Cause in the app I never saw the yellow thunder which you see using the chorme version.

 

Funny thing about this situation is that the guy never stayed in my place, he got to write a review even though he never left his car, and on top of that I havet got a payment.

 

I said to Airbnb that I shouldnt get paid for that booking, but thats BEFORE he wrote a review. Now he did, oh  yes I expect to be paid.

 

In my opinion, there was a  communication conflict between husband and wife.  I think they didnt agree on the type of accommodation they were looking for.  O think one made the booking,  and when they arrived to our property,  the other spouse was looking for something different and thats why they left.

(There are many accommodation options,  and small hotels in the area).

 

Yes! I will write a pre-preview here and see what you guys think

@Monica1599 

If the review is bad - which it most probably is - you're best off just scrapping that listing altogether, and starting a brand new one. You don't need to be getting into all the claim/counter claim headaches with this situation. 

 

Regardless of how well-crafted your review response is, the guest is likely to given you low star ratings also, which will be a pain in the rear to try and overcome (particularly as this would be your very first review on your listing)