How do you handle negative experiences with guests?

[Elisa]

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well today.😊

It’s impossible to deny that handling challenging situations with guests is something most hosts face at some point.

Whether it’s dealing with unexpected mess, following house rules, or communication challenges, every situation is unique. Some hosts prioritize addressing issues directly, while others prefer to document incidents and seek support in other ways.

I’d love to hear about any experiences you’ve had with guests and how you handled them.

What advice would you give to newer hosts facing their first difficult guest experience?

I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Warm regards 🌻,

[Armend17]

First thank you for your response, I have been hosting for 5 months now.

[Alissa131]

Hello Elisa,

Handling negative guest experiences can be tricky. 
It’s important to communicate in a calm, professional and positive way. I look at these experiences as opportunities to improve our listing and to educate guests.

My first negative experience was a guest that left the place a mess, overflowing garbage,  pizza under a white pillow,  wrappers and bottles under the bed and left in a hurry and took my keys with him. Luckily, I had a fee to replace keys already in my listing so I was able to send him an additional charge. All of my messages were in the app so Airbnb was able to help to clear things up.

I was very respectful and understanding but at the same time highlighted the rules and he was happy to pay the fee.
 Wishing all future hosts and guests the best of success!

[Abby358]

I’m going to block the guest after their visit. I know this isn’t what most hosts do but I also go above and beyond for guest, flowers candy, special itinerary for their specific stay, snacks, paying for lunch whatever it takes but at the end of the day you will have guests that untrustworthy/unreasonable. I have two more recent incidents recently. One guest booked with me because he thought he would meet me in person. He was not aware the home was shared with other guests prior to booking. Even though it’s displayed on my listing clearly. He said he wanted alone/personal time. When I informed him I wouldn’t be in the home for his arrival, he wanted me to cancel because he wanted to speak to me personally. He even went so far to say I was a fake vegan because my refrigerator downstairs had meat products that belonged to other guests currently staying in the shared home. I have entire kitchenette and refrigerator in my room for my food by the way. He even bribed me that he would forgive me for being a fake vegan if I gave him a refund and in return he’d give me a 5 star review… all on the Airbnb messages. I was so scared to be home with the guest I never returned during his stay and had to change my profile photo. In this situation I involved the platform to assist him at locating another stay but he didn’t want to leave. He has not left a review yet but he was extremely upset in several messages I was not home. I even had my co host assist him but he wouldn’t speak to him. I dealt with this by blocking him.l after his stay.

[Cindy83]

From the many replies so far it sounds like the Airbnb community is doing it right! From maintaining a calm demeaner to documenting every little item the guest damages to offering discounts when there are disappointments...these are all best practices and the same ones we implement.  I would add that poor guest behavior, while incredibly frustrating, shouldn't be taken personally.  You never know what drives a guest to do what they do but by maintaining calm, understanding that you, as the host, are not the issue and requesting Airbnb assistance with claims is the right path. 

When the negative experience is caused by the home or any property issues or failure, we always ask the guest what we can do to make it right.  And whatever they say is what we do.  It breaks my heart when something happens to a guest...even when out of our control.  This is, after all, the vacation they've saved their hard earned money for and have looked forward to...so being empathetic goes a long way!  Someone mentioned the "Golden Rule" and that is a great approach to the business...even if the guest isn't abiding by it!