Unjustified complaint from guest

Tracy0
Level 10
London, GB

Unjustified complaint from guest

So a new to AirBNB group of 3 stayed in my London flat -- renting a ROOM -- but I happened to be away a lof of their stay so no particular restrictions on their use of the flat. They commented that my home was not big enough for their needs. Now, they were renting a room shared for 3 in shared flat for £46 a night for 3 nights or so, NOT the whole home.  Private comments and ratings: misdescribed size of home.

 

What the heck??

 

My advert - in the first paragraphs - clearly describe the room and flat size in meters and feet.  And it's good sized for London!!!

 

"Your private bedroom is a bright and airy room 13.7m2 large (3.5m x 3.9m/ 12' x 13') with two large windows, a full length mirror and a cosy king size bed. Everyone LOVES the bed!


Your bedroom is the closest room to the modern shared bathroom so you can have a nice long soak or a powerful shower after a full day of sightseeing or work! The bathroom is shared with us (we use only one room for hosting so no sharing with other guests).


The flat is a light and bright 66sqm two bedroom second floor flat (third floor counting US flights of stairs) with a clean, well lit communal entry."

 

I wrote and asked them if they could help me out by letting me know how to better describe the room size...you know, aside from Meters and feet.....

 

Feeling very grumpy.....

 

PS this lot also walked off with my GHD hair straightener....



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7 Replies 7
Jonathan6
Level 10
Mamaroneck, NY

You have the ability to respond publically to the review.  You should state, “I’m sorry if there was confusion about the size of the room, we feel it was clearly indicated in our listing but we will be sure to review it so there is no confusion for future guests.  Thank you for bringing this to our attention”.

 

If you respond in a defensive manner then future guests will get turned off by it vs. turning it into a positive where you appear to be an honest, respectful and responsive host.

Ok what happens if it is your firts review and you got 2 stars for client misreading the size of the apartment?  Mud sticks and you will not get many bookings unless they read review in detail and the hosts repsonse. Otherwise  next to the property you have a huge 2 STARS to be proud of albeit it iwas a mistake !!!!!!

Donna242
Level 2
Madison, WI

I feel for you. The same thing has happened twice now to us. We've been hosting since April 2017, and we just received notification that we made "super-host" for the second time, but our most recent review came with a notice that size of home was not accurate. DH and I are both skilled photographers, so we did our own pictures. Somehow, people get the impression that the space is bigger than it actually is. After the first complaint, I listed the actual size of the room. I also use the word "cozy" in the description, which in American terms should be translated "not large". I'm at a loss to know what more I can do to make sure my listing is as accurate as possible. Thankfully, the complaint was not a public one this time, so I don't have to respond publically. 

Elaine199
Level 1
New York, United States

I have had 2 guests who didn't know how to use the lockbox, so left feedback saying they had a "hard time" getting into the house.  Meanwhile every other guest didn't have a hard time, yet airbnb lowered my rating and said I "had to do better in this area"!!!  How do you get them to reverse that?  It makes no sense.  I had 10 people, and all had NO complaints and used the lockbox correctly.  It isn't fair that airbnb just automatically makes you at fault, and there is no way to rectify it, or explain that the guests didn't know what they were doing.

 

Any ideas or suggestions how to change that rating via airbnb?  Or is it just a stupid alghorim that gives a hard working host a bad rating.  

David126
Level 10
Como, CO

I was talking to a friend this morning who has just started listing on ABB and told him to avoid reading the reviews as it will drive you bonkers, he says he can not, finds them fasicinating but has already had a weird one.

 

It will get old once he has been doing this for a while.

 

Dittio the automated messages you get from ABB, they are why there is a delete button.

 

Also told him that anything he says if he wants to reply should be short and weet and directed at future guests, if you want to rant do it somewhere else.

David
Julia1038
Level 2
Iowa City, IA

Do both host and guest need to complete their review in order for one to be posted? So, for instance, if I post a review but my guest forgets, will my review show on their profile? Or, if I forget and my guest posts, will theirs show on my profile?

Thanks!

 

 

 

@Julia1038 If you write a review, it will be published when the guest writes a review or when 14 days has elapsed, whichever comes first. The same is true in reverse.