HELP! Guest demands services not offered, doesn't read house rules gives bad revenge review!

[Claire1328]

I need some help with my first nightmare guest who didn't read my advert, booked something not suited and then wanted services I didn't offer - after she had checked out and woke me up. Because she was such a nightmare I refused to do more favours after vacated and this is what had triggered this no doubt terrible review

She has reviewed me

I know it's going to be bad. Probably one stars all round. Ruining all my hard work with five star reviews. I was about to get Superhost even

with a shared bathroom

This is what happened:

My listing and booking messages state in multiple places it isn't self check in and an appropriate arrival time is needed before booking (so I know if I can accommodate) and a firmer time evening before. Also in house rules and in listing states that luggage drop off isn't offered

By the morning of her arrival, I still did not have a time of arrival 

I thought this was perhaps because she was new to Airbnb (just joined no reviews) however, even after politely explaining to her the difference between self check in and a check in window  listing where the host need to be home to welcome and give a key, she thought she should be entitled to arrive anytime she wanted as the response to my message was she "hadn't booked a check in time" 

After further messaging trying to explain and get an approximate time of arrival (on the day she was due), she then informed me (not asked) that she would be arriving any time from 13:00 (two hours before my check in window started) and 23:00 at night.

I again explained about the check in window and said I could accommodate earlier than 15:00 however, I would need an approximate time as I couldn't sit in for ten hours. She told me 14:00. however, turned up nearly three hours later with zero contact, in spite of my  attempts to get any response

 she only lived 1.5 hours away! So she hasn't even left at the time she said she would be here

I was told directly when she did arrive  that she had "no reason" be hours late and didn't let me know because she "couldn't be bothered". This set the tone for the entire one night stay

Very demanding during her stay - all of which I accommodated:

• eight slices of bread that were intended for other guests breakfast I made into sandwiches for her lunch! On the day she checked out!
• She informed me she'd ordered food late at night and then didn't answer the door for it, so I had to bring it to her
• Asked an iron and ironing board at nearly midnight (I set it up for her, then she didn't use it or put out away)
• Refused to let me know what time she was checking out.
• Worst part - AFTER she had vacated in the day of check out, and with no mention prior to booking or at ANY point during her stay that this is what she wanted, rang my doorbell insistently AFTER SHE VACATED (waking me up) to INSIST that she leave a bag at my house to collect later.

When I explained that this was not a service I offered and that this was mentioned in the advert and house rules. She replied that this is something she wanted and I should do it as a favour or she would give me a bad review.

I declined to take the bag and said she had checked out and needed to leave. Thus, my no doubt bad review after all five star reviews..

I'm so angry about this. By the time I realised what she was like it was too late to cancel or get out of this booking without penalty for me, so I  tried to tough it out for the one night.

However, I draw the line at being woken up and blackmailed into taking bags and then having to sit in for another day while she refuses to communicate what time she'll be collecting the bag on a day she isn't even checked into my room!

QUESTIONS

Can I get her review removed because she tried to get me to do something not listed after she vacated and (verbally) threatened bad review? I can't prove this as she made sure to do it verbally

If I can't get the review taken down how do I review her? Do I stick with the classic?

"Unfortunately can not recommend to any host. Only suited to hotel. One star for both communication and house rules as neither seemed important to her and she seemed unwilling to accept any kind of reasonable boundary at all even when mentioned in advert and house rules"

Or do I go into more details?

And what should I write as response to her revenge review?

I've updated advert and rules to make it even clearer I can't have turn up whenever you like with ZERO communication and I have also made it even clearer in not taking your luggage after you check out (there isn't the space and I just don't want to sit in another day unpaid for people to collect luggage when there are paid places you can leave luggage in my city) and hope that helps for future. But that doesn't help me now

 please please help

Any advice appreciated

[Anonymous]

@Claire1328   What a horrible guest. 

There's not a way to get a review pre-emptively removed before it's published. If the written content turns out to clearly violate the review policy, there's a long-shot chance you might get it taken down. But unless you have evidence of that extortionate threat in the Airbnb messenger, you're probably stuck with it.

Your response should only address the publicly visible text of the review (not the star rating, which is hidden, nor the private remarks). The most important thing to remember is that the audience is your future guests, so the tone should be calm and professional even if you're screaming inside. If the review says something untrue, you can correct it, but if it just says something vague like "worst AIrbnb ever," a suitable response might be:

"Unfortunately ____ was not a good fit for my home; she required services that are not offered in the listing."

As for your review of the guest, I don't think any further detail is necessary. Keep it short and simple. Once that's out of the way, the next priority should be to figure out how to avoid stays like this in the future. For homestay hosts, I recommend setting a longer minimum stay (1-nighters are often trouble) and requiring Request to book so that you can get a feel for each guest's character and expectations before accepting. People as flagrantly disrespectful as this guest will usually throw up some red flags in the first correspondence, and sometimes you've just gotta decline.

Also, I've found that the best way to communicate about arrival time is to present it as a scheduled appointment, rather than "check-in" (which sounds too much like a hotel). My rule is that if you haven't communicated your arrival time at least 24 hours before the booking date, your default window of arrival will be 7 to 8 PM (the last hour of my advertised window).  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Claire1328 My only disagreement with your review is that you say the guest is better suited to an hotel. I am not sure even hotels would want a guest as bad as this one.

Wait about 13 days before reviewing the guest so that her damaging review goes live as late as possible. Then perhaps return here for further ideas on how to respond.

[Mark116]

@Claire1328  I would suggest you might need to work on being more firm with your guests.  You went to a lot of trouble for a single night reservation, which in hindsight, you should have contacted Airbnb and asked for a neutral cancellation because the guest refused to follow the rules on check-in.  After someone told you straight up that they could not be bothered to give an arrival time after having the need explained to them more than once, why would you deliver her food to her and give her an iron at midnight?

As for your review of her, I'd keep it simple. 'XX was a high maintenance guest who seems better suited to a property that provides 24 hour staff service.'  If you want to add more detail you could say that communication with the guest was extremely challenging and that she made numerous requests outside of what was offered in the listing.

As others have said, your repsonse is to future guests, so you want to be concise and professional in whatever you say.  

[Claire1328]

Thank you to all who have commented so far.

I have one night as min I'm near a ferry port and most of my bookings (with least hassle) are people traveling to and from the ferry. They turn up late and leave early with zero issues. They wouldn't want two nights. 

I didn't have any red flags beforehand otherwise I wouldn't have accepted. I am definitely going to ask more questions now before accepting as this was a total nightmare.I don't have instant book and have one day advance notice

I made the food and gave the iron to avoid the dreaded horrid review as she was not the kind of person who understands no and I didn't want the aggro. It was just for one night after all. So took path of least resistance 

I've got two rooms and about twenty reviews between both most with the other room to this as I've only just started renting this second room. They are all five star and this is the first time I've had to deal with someone so unreasonable and unpleasant

. I didn't know I was able to cancel with no penalty as air BnB aren't the most helpful. Next time I will definitely do this. Thank you. I will definitely do this in future.

QUESTIONS

I thought it was too late to cancel her as it was the day of her arrival.Can I still cancel her on the day when her attitude started? I  do wish I had known this. Would have saved a lot of hassle. I feel like I've been through hell for nothing

QUESTION what order are reviews shown? The date they go live? Or the date the review written? Or date of booking?

Is it better to review her now so other reviews go on top of her?

Or leave as late as possible and hers will go underneath people who have recently stayed after her?

there won't be that many to bury it with so far as she stayed in the room I've only just started renting not the one I've got twenty or so give star reviews. obviously want her review to be as far down as possible.

 I'll  stick with one Nights to try and get as many review to bury hers with then maybe try two night minimum as one night stays mean I have no life and I want to enjoy my summer

Her review will totally mess with my star rating and super host chances. This is just so unfair that these guests who don't read the advert and have rediculous demands can do this

[Ann72]

Everyone's advice about this nightmare of a guest is spot on @Claire1328 so I would only add one thing:  if she does give a terrible review, delete your listing and make a new one.  I only suggest this because you say it's a fairly new listing with few reviews.  Keeping her low-star review on will drag you down forever and a day.  

And I say this with love - no more doormatting - repeat after me - you are no one's doormat, you are a Host!

[Claire1328]

I've two rooms though. I don't want to set the whole thing up again twice . I thought the reviews attached to the profile not the room?  surely the twenty or so five stars on the other room form a collective score and so are going to count for something? I'm not sure how it works. If it were that easy to just delete the room and then re add surely  everyone would just do this? Can I keep the other room and just delete this one? I've no idea how it works. And surely if I delete then use same details to re create the reviews so he re added. I'm sure I read this ear the case somewhere

[Ann72]

You only need to set the one room up again @Claire1328.  Yes, the reviews attach to the host, but the star rating attaches to each listing, so as @Huma0 noted also, this one bad review won't drag down that listing.  I believe you can even duplicate the listing before killing it so you don't have to do the work all over again, but I'm not entirely sure about that.

[Chris2003]

@Claire1328 Don't delete the listings.. your first 19 reviews have all been 5* and that's quite unusual.

Whenever I see a place that has 1 bad review and loads of excellent ones, I just assume there was something wrong with the guest.

[Claire1328]

I've also replied to all the other positive reviews I can. So that the eye isn't drawn to hers when it is the only one replied to. Jesus. The hassle these nightmare guests cause us goes far far beyond the initial stay

[Mark116]

@Claire1328  Airbnb will always pressure you not to cancel, but since she was clearly not abiding by the check-in rules, it seems like it would have been worth a shot.  Airbnb may not always agree to a neutral cancellation.  Also, if it is an Instant Book  you get 3 cancellations a year, but you have to contact Airbnb to do those to make sure you aren't penalized.

Depending on what exactly her review says, you might be able to get it removed either for being inappropriate or for being irrelevent, you would have to read the rules and then make your case to Airbnb [don't assume anyone at Airbnb knows their own rules, so always have the wording right in front of you and cut and paste it in any written communication.

Since she's already reviewed you, I don't see that it makes too much difference if you review her now or wait, and I don't know the answers on the timing of reviews and how they are displayed.

[Claire1328]

Thank you

[Louise1073]

So sorry this happened @Claire1328 it sounds like a nightmare. What a relief it was only 1 night booking.
I think your guest review sounds great but suggest to wait before posting it so it doesn’t appear top of your review list when it does come out.

hoping some future lovely guests will soon make you forget the bad taste of this one.

[Claire1328]

Just to let people know... The reviews are loaded according to when the person stayed (as had a review I left to the last minute and that didn't go top but went under others who stayed after him) so thanks for all those who suggested it. It pays to leave the review as late as possible until you've managed to get some other guests who have left a nice review, so any bad one it isn't sitting right at the top. This way people can see it as an exception, guest caused, issue and not a true reflection.

Thank you for all this commented.

I'll be back after the 14 days to get thoughts on what to reply to her no doubt nightmare review of me.

And maybe a check of my final text re her review.

What an admin nightmare these problem guests are

[Ann72]

Absolutely @Claire1328 I always wait until the end of the 14 days to review anyone who might leave a problematic review so it is immediately superseded by others.  In addition, you'll get views during those 14 days and that's two weeks when no one is seeing that review.