Guest Contact with Owners

[Jeanette240]

In the past year or so,  I've had guests contacting me constantly when they are at the house. It's always something different, so it's not like I can update my listing with a question that is commonly asked. 

For instance:

- Asking where the patio cushions are and they are in a huge deck box right on the deck. 

- Asking if we provide condiments. 

- We have two bathrooms and have 3 rolls of toilet paper in each and I leave one roll of paper towel out, they use it all and contact me for more.  

- Text me menus from two different restaurants and ask if its the same place. 

- Text me at 11 at night,  knowing I'm in EST, asking if we have TV channels when we clearly have dish hooked up to all TVs in the house and all of the remotes out and functional. 

- Ask how to work the shower when I put a diagram on how to operate it right where the bath towels are. 

- We have a HUGE full bar, with all barware imaginable, including glasses for every type of drink, a guy texted me and asked if we had bigger drink glasses.  I'm not sure why a pint glass wouldn't have met his needs. 🙂  

- Run out of dish soap, coffee filters, etc. and text me to get them more..

These are just a few of the many questions I get. I understand that things to come up, but when I rent a home, I never, ever contact the owner. The only time I would contact them is if there were an emergency.  If supplies run out, I go buy them. 

It's getting very aggravating, to be honest. I'm actually thinking of pulling my listing because it's becoming such a disruption and I'm always on my phone answering questions...it's taking time away from my family.  

Have others had this issue?  It's just becoming much too time consuming. 

[Laura2592]

@Jeanette240 its sadly the way many guests are. They don't read. They would rather reach out and ask a question than find the answer. And many don't retain information even after you tell them.

We have a physical house guide on the coffee table. It has a page titled "where are..." and a list of commonly asked for items. When guests start asking I direct them to the book. If they ask more than once I say "Sorry if that wasn't on the page in the house guide where commonly asked for items are. I will be sure to add it. The item is in X spot." But it typically IS on that page and they get a gentle nudge to go and look at that page. 

I review these guests a bit lower on communication-- 3 or 4 depending. I might say "guest had a lot of questions during their stay" just to let other hosts know this person requires a bit more emotional labor. Some of our guests are just really lonely and would be better off with a home share vice a remote host. To those I say "This guest was very communicative. I wish I were on site hosts as I feel that I could have better answered questions." 

Its all part of the gig. 

[Kelly149]

Raise your rates!

pandemic hosting is more work

[Sarah977]

@Jeanette240  For starters, you should make it clear to guests when they can reach you for non-emergencies. There's no reason for you to make yourself available 24/7. You can say something prominently in the house  manual and the info you send to guests along with check-in info, " I can be reached for non-emergencies from 10AM to 6PM. Please respect my family time. The plumbing springing a leak is an emergency. Not being able  to locate the hair dryer is not. Please refer to the house manual if you can't find something or aren't sure how something works. The answers to almost everything will be found there."

And people are lazy  and don't bother to read. Make it easy for them. Instead of just text in the house manual, take photos. I.e. a photo of the deck box with a large arrow drawn on saying "Patio furniture cushions in here."

As for the ones who don't even trouble themselves to look at the shower diagram on the wall in the bathroom, and call for explanation instead, you can't do much about that. 

[Anonymous]

@Jeanette240  One thing we've seen since the pandemic began is that a huge chunk of new Airbnb guests are people who are far more accustomed to hotels. In their time, any nice hotel would have desk service on call 24/7 to answer any stupid question and accommodate some of the most random requests while summoning the superhuman feat of masking their irritation and rage. These people understand the physical difference between an Airbnb and a hotel, but they're often unprepared for how the hospitality is also different.

I like @Sarah977 's idea of having dedicated hours for non-emergency contact.  You could even take it a step farther by asking that voice calls be made only in emergencies, and direct all other queries to Airbnb messenger or text. 

Another thing to try is sending a welcome message on the arrival date saying that you've provided a starter pack of bathroom and kitchen essentials (TP, spices, etc), along with the address of the nearest shop where guests can re-stock when they run out. 

Those things might not stop guests from bugging you, but they imprint on guests that you have boundaries and expectations. Most people would rather know the boundaries up front than make an awkward mistake.