Guest review

[Elizabeth3327]

Long story! Stick with me. Our AirBnB has been listed for about a year. It is a mother-in-law apartment on the lower level of our home with a full kitchen, bedroom, living room, and designated workspace. There is also designated off street parking. Due to local ordinances, our guests are exclusively long term. We do not accept bookings <31 days. We have had two guests so far. One was a night nurse who slept during the day. She rebooked twice for a total of around ~9 months. Then we had a traveling professional who stayed for ~2 months. Neither had any complaints, and gave us 5 star ratings. Given that the apartment is on the lower level of our house, and we have a young family, our listing description explains that noise should be expected. I reiterate noise expectations before approving a booking. 

Last Sunday, a new guest checked in. On Thursday, she wrote me a novel of a noise complaint and said that she was hearing "banging" at all hours. We were already sending our kids up to bed (3rd floor with a whole floor between) at 8 pm, so the only thing I could think of was our roomba. I told her I would vacuum during the day and asked her to let me know if she noticed any improvement. I also said that if the apartment was not meeting her expectations, she was welcome to check out early and I would give her a prorated refund. Two days later, she checked out at 6 am with no notice and wrote me a scathing message - again complaining about noise. She also added that the fact that we had a dehumidifier must indicate moisture problems and pointed to "mold" she found on a throw pillow. The "mold" was pen marks. My bad for missing those prior to her check in, but there is NO way they could be mistaken for mold. We have a dehumidifer in the apartment for guest comfort as we live in a very humid climate. The check in instructions say as much. There is no expectation that they use it! 

This evening, she sent me another furious message saying that AirBnB had been calling and demanded that I return their calls and approve a refund. AirBnB support literally messaged me 2 minutes before that message asking if I approved the refund. I had not received a single message or phone call prior to that. I approved the refund because gosh, what a nightmare. 

Question 1: I am very worried that she is going to leave us an awful review even after receiving a frankly unwarranted refund. I can point to the listing description and have screen shots of my caution about noise before booking, but what do I do about the fabricated "mold" complaint? I hate to assume the worst, but I feel like she made that up because she knew the noise complaint wouldn't stick. Since we only have long-term guests, every review counts quite a bit. 

Question 2: How do I review HER? She had multiple 5 star from previous hosts. She was quiet and left the apartment very clean but was a nightmare to deal with. The fact that she checked out with no communication and the expectation of a full refund is really leaving us in the lurch. 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Elizabeth3327 just review her honestly. You can only hope her review will not be too damaging and you can leave a considered response to it. Make it positive like 'I hope this review will encourage those light sleepers to not book this accommodation as we don't want to disappoint.'

[Helen3]

She sounds like an awful guest and likely will leave you a bad review whether you refund or not.

There is no reason for you to refund -  as you say it mentions  in the listing clearly your family lives upstairs so there maybe some noise . @Elizabeth3327 

I would say something like ' I'm so sorry that our listing proved to be not what you were looking for .

That your listing clearly states that your family lives above the listing so guests should expect some overhead noise and this was reiterated to her in the welcome message you sent her.  (Share screenshots of this) .

that for your guests comfort as you are in a tropical location you have a humidifier . Which is commonplace in your location.

that you understand she is upset but that it's not acceptable for her to be so rude in her messages, that her request for money back has been denied as you delivered the listing as promised and Airbnb will be dealing with her going forward .

i would then block her on your phone and Airbnb.

[Marie8425]

@Elizabeth3327 

Sorry yes you basically had a jerk, we all get them occasionally so do not beat yourself up about false complaints.

Reality Giving someone lying a reward by refunding more than they deserve doesn't suddenly correct bad behavior.

You will probably get a nasty review,

Your response should be only professional mistaken pen mark and unidentifiable noise,  Your response is something everyone in the future clicks on your ad can read basically advertising you the Host.  

If otherwise she was fine personally in those cases I will give 5s but communication for me a novel to complain I would mark 2.  Then just leave the truth everything good but poor communication and cancellation only communicated by Airbnb..

Because of lengthy stays less reviews so yes a negative will hurt your score

Also, be mindful though the other 2 Guests gave a 5 overall.  Your listing when you look at the ceragoes doesn't have a 5 in Accuracy and Value.  She is probably also not give a 5 in those areas.

Everything is fixable just requires some work by you,

Do an Airbnb Custom Promotion.  I know you require longer stays but don't have to discount 31 nights.  Sometimes I pick 4 empty days, set up the 20% off for 4 days and Airbnb markets for traffic for me.

I do contract workers also, sometimes you have to help them find you.  

They may use a general internet search.  Internet Searches are always reading the Airbnb Website.  Another computer so it looks a modification date old date no interest,  You don't have to rewrite your ad about every 3 or 4 days I change photo captions or ad a photo or change title.

Who in your area brings in contractors?  Some of my bigger markets is contractors for a Nuclear Plant Arizona so a State Solar Proje4ct and the Prison contract nurses and such.

I found out about the Nuclear Plant contractors because they have pages specific for housing for then.

Identify "keywords" for that market.  Sprinkle the "keywords"  In your ad, photo captions, and Guidebooks you create.

Be careful a bad review and a big discount in price will attract the wrong Guest.  

[Alex]

Hi @Elizabeth3327! 👋

Hope you had a great Monday! I'm sorry you are dealing with this situation at the moment. Were you able to find the solution?

I see you have received some comments on your post. Were you able to check them? If you need any other advice, let us know how we can help!

Best of lucks! 

Alex