I recently hosted my second booking. OK so I'm new to this but I'm not stupid....and I'm very familiar with sales and marketing having worked for many years in that domain.
.....So I have spent a lot of time trying to get my listing right, and right from the outset I knew how important it is to describe exactly what you are selling in with the price.
Firstly, these guests have reviewed me with false information about accuracy, and that has resulted in only a 3 star rating. I don't think it is right that they should be allowed to do that, after all it is a public information/advertising domain and could be construed as libellous (if serious enough a dispute to go to court). I believe they should be made to retract the statement.
I make it clear I do not rent out the whole place, that they are joining me their hostess at home. I also make it clear that the kitchen is not available on a self-catering basis. I do not allow guests to 'take over the kitchen' because for 2 reasons: I am living and working here and don't want my life to be disrupted by guests taking over the kitchen for their own meal times at their own holiday agenda. Also the kitchen is very high spec-deluxe and the security deposit wouldn't cover any large damages (eg. for instance breaking the ceramic hob by dropping a saucepan on it). The wording states that we do not offer "self-catering" so the kitchen is not for guests' general use, however, they are welcome join the host for dinner at home (extra charge of €20 per person including wine for this, which is fair for a 3-course home-cooked meal). Unlimited tea and coffee is offered in the kitchen during their stay.
So because of the non-self catering status, (which was clearly stated in the listing), the guest has published his review stating in a very negative way saying that the kitchen is "out of bounds". ....this is an outright fabrication and he shouldn't be allowed to publish that. Once they arrived, I did in fact relent and offered to let them cook their own meal, we even talked about doing a sunday roast dinner and eating together/sharing the cost...but they chose not to do this in the end and ate out every night. I would like to ask AirBNB to have this statement removed from their review as it is categorically false.
The next thing they made negative comments about was the fact that it was possible to take advantage of the lovely communal living room upstairs, because they said the host and her friends were up there. When they arrived, I told them they were most welcome to make themselves at home and chill out up in the living area, use the TV, stereo, games etc....also to help themselves to unlimited tea and coffee anytime in the kitchen. They went out to eat every night after skiing. The came back very late and from the odd times I opped downstairs to see them, from what I could see, they just went in their bedrooms back onto their Ipads/phone screens. Not once did they bother to come upstairs and socialise with me. I had 2 friends round for a drink on the first night (which was unplanned), and the guests would have been most welcome to come up and join us for a drink/chat/game of cards/watch a movie. I serously believe that this is a sign that the younger generaton are so glued to their electronic screens they are losing the skills of comunicating and socialising on a human level....if they were too shy to come upstairs, that's not my fault. I told them they were very welcome, what more can I do?
They also mentioned breakfast in a very negative way stating that is is "very simple" and listing the items offered. On my listing, I don't pretend that it is anything other than simple. The listing of breakfast inclusions is clearly stated. I offer what we English describe as a "continental breakfast" as this keeps it dead simple for me. It means I can just lay out everything the night before and go off to work, letting them get on with it and help themselves at whatever time they like. This keeps things flexible for all concerned. I could be really strict and tell them breakfast is only available between certain hours (as I know some other establishments do here). If guests wish to order a "Full English", they can do so the night before and there is a supplementary charge for that, as is perfectly normal anywhere in the world. In fact, I made them porridge one morning, and offered it again the next morning, I never mentioned anything about it costing extra.
In my listing it is stated that a car is advised. I have described exactly the journey time on foot to the nearest bus stop and various local points of interest. In their review they have made it sound like a surprise to find that it cold be challenging to do the journey on foot with skis and boots, or in a car without winter tyres. I live in the high Alps, an area where nomal people would arrive with snow-chains as well as winter tyres on their cars. (One of the guests lives in Geneva, Switerland, so again this comment is a bit silly and rather unfair as, again, it is described perfectly accurately in my listing.
These are the main points, the one that is most upsetting is the pure fabrication that the kitchen is "out of bounds".
In fact none of the points they have marked me down for inaccuracy is in fact inaccurate in my listing.
I'd be interested to know if anything can be done to make the guest retract his statement/ammend his review.
Thanks in advance for any support and feedback.
Regards
Jane
