AirBnB guest are horrible

Chris14432
Level 1
Lakeside, OR

AirBnB guest are horrible

Almost all of our AirBnB guest complain about our cabins. However, we also rent them through our own and OUR guest leave us tips, great reviews and even book future stays. AirBnB customers expect the Hilton with room service and a live in maid. I don't know if these people come from California and are stuck up or they simply don't understand that our cabins are listed as "rustic." We have had more scams by AirBnB guest that any others. The AirBnB guest always have high demands and always complain about everything. We are to the point now, where we are considering just abandoning AirBnB altogether and switching over to VRBO. 

4 Replies 4
Linda108
Level 10
La Quinta, CA

I agree you have some very negative reviews, mostly related to the condition of the cabins.  I wonder if you are right.  People who use other platforms might have more realistic expectations.  Air BNB does have a marketing direction that can create unrealistic expectations.

@Chris14432   I notice that your listings all describe the community as (in your own words) a "5 Star Resort."  That strongly implies a different degree of luxury than you're offering. And while the word "rustic" might seem to speak for itself, it's not very useful as a description because it means something different to everyone.

 

Glancing at the more critical reviews, none of them mention the lack of room service or a maid. The comments tend to focus on problems with the internet, the lack of hot water, and physical maintenance issues. It doesn't sound like these people were expecting more amenities than you advertised - they just felt that some of those amenities were in a state of disrepair and not up to a basic standard. Several consecutive reviews mention that windows and screens were badly damaged, but your responses haven't indicated any intention to fix them.  

 

I can't say enough what a bad impression it makes when several guests leave constructive feedback about the same home maintenance issues and the host doesn't respond. That makes prospective guests think that you're not attentive to guest's concerns and you're not taking enough care of your properties. Your best potential customers will find this very off-putting and book elsewhere, so the only people left to book are the ones who aren't paying attention and reading.

 

This is all quite fixable, but I think it's worth first taking a closer look at what basic things you can fix in the cabins. And then, overhaul your listing descriptions to reflect the recent changes and also more narrowly target the type of customer who's best suited to your offering. There's nothing wrong with being explicit about aspects that some people might find negative (such as the WiFi or lack of hot water) in order to set up accurate expectations. But at the very least, even in the most rustic cabin, nothing should be janky or broken.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Chris14432  let's not forget Airbnb guests pay about 20% more in service fees than guests who book directly with you.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Chris14432 So you advertised that the property had internet and then think the guest is bad for complaining when it doesn't. Whilst guests are occasionally better suited to hotels it seems that in this case the host would be better suited running a different business.