Hola!
I have to agree with @Elena87 “don’t take it personally.”
Like you, we take pride in our role as Airbnb Hosts and I think that shows in our reviews. So, if we were to receive a less than “gleaming” review, it’s hard not to take it personal… and we did.
We had a very similar situation happen to us as well. Long story short, we had a couple book with us, locals from a neighboring town (red flag #1). The 2nd Red Flag was when they showed up to our home. The original reservation was for a female and her sister and a couple had showed up at our door instead. We didn’t make a big deal out of it, as the original guest that booked the reservation on Airbnb was there and we assumed the miscommunication was due to a language barrier.
Here’s a back note, with our guests, we always try to maintain good communication, prior, during and after their stay. To do so, we have Saved Messages on Airbnb we send to guests at various times to try and save time and misunderstanding. Since this situation, we kind of added a few more messages and “beefed it up” a notch.
But I digress…
Unfortunately, they were supposed to stay with us for two nights and they ended up leaving/cancelling the morning after. They said there was a family emergency they needed to tend to right away.
Looking back at it, we really should have read the signs. When guests arrive, we always try to greet them at the door. We provide them a tour of the home, go over some of the key house rules and answer any questions they might have. We’ve since also included a “Welcome Message” asking if they needed anything after they had settled in a bit and/or questions.
Suffice to say, these guests assured us everything was fine with the room but cancelled the next day. We felt like they weren’t being completely honest with us, but we didn’t want to pry. Plus, they said it was a family emergency.
At the home they inquired about a refund and, due to our Strict Policy, they were technically not entitled to one. Instead of going into detail however, as they were already walking to their car, we told them to cancel their reservation on Airbnb and send us a request of refund.
They did, and we declined. We did, however, offer them a discount of the same amount of the refund they request for a future stay, as we figured if it was a family emergency that pulled them away, they may want to return and try again.
It became apparent that this was not the case, when we read their review, and saw their score of 3 our of 5 a few days later. Here is their review, it was in Spanish so we translated through Google:
Public feedback: “The accommodation is very good the location is easy and close to many shops to eat and buy toiletries. The hosts are very friendly and the whole place clean and beautiful. The only fault is that you do not feel very comfortable and / or with privacy because they live inside the same house and you limit some things. But everything else is fine.”
Needless to say, we were shocked.
We did call Airbnb to try to have the review, and scores, taken down but, because the guests’ didn’t violate any REVIEW GUIDELINES, that was not an option. However, there was still something we could do!
Luckily, Airbnb allows you to respond Publicly to all reviews left on your page. So we did. Here was our response:
Public response: “Hello [Guest], Thank you, we have read your comments about our house on Airbnb, and we greatly appreciate your taking the time to write them down. In your review you mentioned: "The only flaw is that you do not feel very comfortable and / or with privacy because you live in the same house and limit some things ..." We believe that you may have misinterpreted the listing, A "Private Room" in front of "Casa Completa". In addition, our list clearly states in Guest Access that the guests will share the house with our family ... "In addition, in" Interaction with guests ", we read:" We are happy to welcome visitors to our house ... and the love of interacting with our customers ... We also understand that some customers prefer their privacy and we will be happy to provide you with the space and tranquility you are looking for. "As this was your first Airbnb reservation, we want to make sure you have A great experience. We recommend that for future bookings, be sure to read the descriptions along with the "House Rules" carefully before confirming your reservation. You can even narrow your search by clicking on "Room Type" in the drop-down menu… [a good host will] answer your questions in a timely manner and are willing to answer any questions and / or concerns prior to booking. If there is anything on our list that may have caused confusion, please let us know so that we can make the proper adjustments for the future, since the satisfaction of our guests is our top priority! We hope you continue to use Airbnb and the services it has to offer; It really is a wonderful travel / lodging tool. Thanks again! We look forward to welcoming you and [your guest] again soon! Happy travels, Izzie & Marlo”
Google Translate kind of reworded it a little too much. But I digress.
In the end, we chalked the situation up to “lesson learned.” We made a few tweaks on our listings, added some Saved Messages and reminded ourselves, not to take it personally.
To be 100% honest with you? I think they were expecting to throw a party but was surprised to find the hosts at the home. But that’s just speculation.
Hope this is helpful! Thanks for sharing your story! Let me know if you have any questions, happy to help!
Happy Hosting!
Izzie, Co-Host
LOV Puerto Rico
