Angry guest blaming me for neighbour chopping down trees!

[Nikki339]

Hi.

Urgh. So, welcomed a guest here on Sunday - I left her a cheese plate and a welcome cocktail - she messaged me to say that finding them in the fridge was the 'nicest moment she'd had in a long while..' so - I know she was happy with the suite... BUT - my neighbour had scheduled three trees to be chainsawed down yesterday. Noisy and annoying. I had no idea about it.

She was really annoyed - with me. Said that my home was 'not a calm space' and that she couldn;'t cope with it all. She complained that she couldnt work out how the fire turned on (obviously there are detailed instructions that everyone else has been fine with) - so while she was out I went and turned it on for her - and saw she'd left a sweet thank you on the fridge.

Got several annoyed texts from her about the noise yesterday - and I saw her leaving today (I was returning home after walking the dog) and she just glared at me. I went up to the suite - she'd actually erased the thank you note... All of this is a long way of saying - I'm about to get a STINKER of a review I think - about something that isn't my fault at all.

What advice can you give me on how to avoid this?

Which is worse for losing points?

Not leaving a review - or risking her absolutely trashing me? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Nikki339 whether you leave a review or not the guests review will be published. You will get the chance to respond to the review - just do so recognising you are addressing future guests not the guest who left the review

[Sarah977]

@Nikki339  Whether you leave a review or not doesn't incur "losing points". But as Mike and Jane point out, you not leaving a review in no way prevents the guest's review from being publíshed. 

I would have just explained to the guest that I was very sorry that the neighbor created a noise disturbannce, but that you had no advance warning of this, nor do you have any control over whether a neighbor chooses to cut down trees, mow his lawn, use a leaf blower, or anything else.

And you really should never enter the guest space without clearing it with the guest first. It's an invasion of privacy, regardless of why you did it. Obviously if it's an emergency situation, like you see smoke or water pouring out of the house, there may be no time for advance notice, but otherwise, never just enter without asking the guest.

Not only is it an invasion of privacy, if the guest reports it to Airbnb, it is considered a serious trust and safety issue and they can suspend your account or delist you.

[Nikki339]

You very much misunderstand! She asked me to go into the suite. I would never and have never entered without guest permission!!

As for the rest - that’s exactly what I did. I called the neighbor to ask how long & then messaged the guest explaining the situation and apologizing for the inconvenience but of course - nothing I could do.

It’s useful to know that the review goes up no matter if I do it or not, so will post mine and take my chances. 

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Nikki339  Ah, sorry, you didn't make that clear.

If you haven't gotten notice that the guest has already left a review, one strategy hosts use if they anticipate a bad one, is to wait until the review period is almost over, like 15 minutes before, to leave a review yourself. That will leave the guest almost no time to fill out a review form and submiit it before the 14 day review period is over.

But if you've received notification that the guest has reviewed , there's no point in waiting.

It's also true that hosts have been sure a bad review is coming, only to find the guest left a complimentary one. Or anticipate a glowing review, as the guest had no complaints during the stay and even said they had a good time, but then leave a complaint-filled review.

So it doesn't pay to fret about what might be coming- just leave an honest review yourself and deal with a bad review if it happens.

[Nikki339]

That is such good advice. You're right. I've just never had a guest SCOWL at me when they left before! Or say that this place 'isn't calm.' It really rattled me. 

[Sarah977]

@Nikki339  Yes, she sounds like a real piece of work. We try to avoid these sorts in daily life, it's too bad when we have to deal with them as guests.