Very upset, room taken off,

Magdalene5
Level 2
Hereford, United Kingdom

Very upset, room taken off,

I am very upset, I have had one of my rooms removed by airbnb. I had a guest stay in  the room, I feel I have described my room accurately and it is really really cheap for the area. Basically the only cheaper thing in my area is a tent in someone's back garden. It is a double bed in a reasonable sized room with nice furniture and clean linen towel etc. I clearly describe my home as part way through renovation and it is also a family home with pets so there is hair. I have a cleaner and I do not allow the animals into the airbnb rooms. The cat litter trays are away from the public spaces and they are rigorously cleaned twice daily, sometimes more as I am fanatical about the smell. The second I catch a whiff I run speedily to shovel it into a bag and then light a joss stick. I ask my cleaner every week if she can smell any animal smells and she says she never can, so I think he has just blatantly lied to be nasty. In spite of putting all information into the description the man who stayed was really rude, he talked to me like i was something on his shoe actually. I have had so many positive reviews from lovely chilled out people who actually read the description I feel it is really unfair when I get one who clearly hasnt read the description and is demanding things every two minutes which are not included and I do not provide. He complained about the temperature of the house and it was during the snow storm and when he asked me to turn the heating up, which I did, he even complained about having to ask me, like I am supposed to be a mind reader. The house is really warm and I have never been asked to turn it up by anyone before. Last time I got a bad review I went away and altered my description to be SO clear so people know what to expect and so many people have been completely lovely. What do you suggest I do? is there any way to appeal this as this man was just a meglomaniac and a very unpleasant person.  I dont think people should be able to do spite reviews. They should be relative to the description.

9 Replies 9

@Magdalene5 I'm sorry this has happened!

 

What exactly did the message from AirBnB say?

Often these listing suspensions are temporary, to give you time to address any issues raised by the guest.

 

Magdalene5
Level 2
Hereford, United Kingdom

Yes It is 24 hours, However I do think my property is acurately described and I usually have really lovely people and this man was vile.  All the things he mentioned are already covered in the description.  Why go somewhere just to pick holes in it. I barely make anything my room is so so cheap for the area so I do expect some respect and gratitude for opening my home up. I often get lovely people who are on short term contracts for the local hospital and I know how hard it is for them to get accomodation locally but this man just kept asking for things that I do not provide and got really huffy and angry when I said no sorry but that is not included. Or no I don't have one. I just don't know what he was expecting and it was such a relief when he left. I thought that was the end of it at least but now he has left a one star review.  I didn't give him a review I was just happy to see the back of him. 

@Magdalene5 some people are just difficult, and very hard to please.

(Also he is mean. The bit where he says "I guess I am just being polite and not using the word 'disgusting'"... well, he totally *is* using the word. Jerk.)

 

You can contact AirBnB support and ask if they can remove the review. Hosts usually do not have a lot of luck in getting reviews like this removed, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Emphasize that all your other guests felt your house was very nice and comfortable and have given you stellar ratings.

 

Even if the review is not removed, it should quickly be buried as it is pushed down the list by all your other glowing reviews. As a guest, if I see that a listing has all terrific reviews and one terrible one, I figure that the problem was that one person, not the host or the listing.

 

Keep providing great value and service to your appreciative guests, and hopefully this incident will just become a forgotten footnote.

Yes he was a complete jerk.  Very unpleasant I feel sorry for his patients.

Perhaps just add in some more detail to the description. I've been really clear we have kids, live upstairs, noise etc.

 

I am more than happy to refund folks who are not happy. They then realize that they can't find anywhere near the same value and try and stay ! 

 

Airbnb seems to bring out the worst in some people. I have had someone stay for one night, then write multiple pages of what I should change. It all takes time and money. No one does Airbnb for the joy of it after a while - simply need to make a little more money for bills, kids, food etc.

Magdalene5
Level 2
Hereford, United Kingdom

I have mentioned all the things, I could maybe go into more detail. I do describe it as a hostel style room and it is A lot nicer than any hostel i have ever stayed in and way cheaper for a double room. 

Alexandra316
Level 10
Lincoln, Canada

@Magdalene5 Can I just ask why you didn't review the guest, when you had such a bad experience with him? Taking a few minutes to put a review together could help other hosts to avoid a similar bad experience.

Because I am really bad at critisising people and I am very laid back on the whole. I do give good reviews. Also what I think is too much might be ok for other people. He was clean and tidy just talked to me like crap. 

Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Hi @Magdalene5, you offer very good value. But many people don't read the listing, or understand what it means. I see that you don't have Instant Booking turned on, that is good because you have a chance to make sure they understand what your house entails before they actually book. For the first six months of my listing being up it was very much in the throes of a renovation, holes in the walls and whatever. Wash up in the laundry. That kind of thing. But I only took bookings from people I had spoken to in order for them to understand and all was well. So make it clearer than clear. There are several listings on Airbnb which have a question in the listing text which has to be quoted or they won't accept the booking. Like ''tell me your favourite movie'' or quote a  line from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (that one's from a host in Hawaii, can't remember her name). And then make things as clean as you possiby an despite renovations. Guests ding heavily for clean, and Airbnb is keen to see high ratings on cleanliess and will remove your account if it isn't clean enough. You can do this! Onward and up! Lots of cat fans out there, make the cats a selling point. I stayed in a room which came with a cat on the bed. I was thrilled, a novelty. If you have cats, get guests who love them. You are in the UK, promised land for animal lovers.