Irrelevant Guest Reviews

[Rob9392]

I am a super host with over 350 five star reviews approximately.  All of our guests love our  5 suites.  Our average is 4.96 stars or something out of hundreds of bookings.   Recently one of our guests checked out and before she wrote her review, i brought it to her attention that she damaged one of my face cloths (wiped makeup off with it) not a big deal but we may have to charge a damage fee.   It really set her off...she trashed us in the review.  She would have given us 5 stars if we didn't mention the face cloth, but I pissed her off and she lied in her review....Ive had discussions with Airbnb support to take the review down, because the relevancy is basically zero, she lied! However airbnb support won't remove the review....Furthermore this this girl only  has 5 reviews, and thus is very new to the community  and has no experience.  I can not believe airbnb supports this guest over a super host.   It makes me want to leave the platform and take my 5 suites elsewhere...Does anyone else agree with me that this is a terrible Airbnb Policy? Thanks, BobF

[Gordon0]

Kalhiea won't see your response, @Rob9392. Your would-be guests will. Unless you want them running for the hills, remove it, pronto.

And if something like this makes you want to throw the towel in (NPI) with Airbnb, be warned - the grass isn't necessarily greener elsewhere. 

[Rob9392]

very true, thanks for the info!

[Gwen386]

@Rob9392 Extremely surprised that you brought up the issue of a dirty wash cloth. I view all my sheets/pillow cases, towels/washcloth/hand towels as the cost of doing business. TBH, I would have been too embarrassed to mention it to a guest, much less say there would be a

damage fee. If this really bothers you, offer makeup remover disposables in your rentals. 

[Rob9392]

We do offer makeup remover disposables in plain sight...We don't see sheets/pillow cases/towels/ washcloths/ and hand towels as costs of doing business.   We provide high end linens and towels and expect our guests to treat our suite like they would treat their own place.  Is that to much to ask? 

[Gwen386]

@Rob9392 Be careful what you ask for. Since no one knows exactly how someone else treats their own home—could be … yada yada yada. 

[Mark116]

@Gordon0 It's annoying though. 

I wouldn't put in a claim over a wash cloth, but I am annoyed that Airbnb stacks the deck against making a claim for anything.

Our last guests...despite there being make up wipes, directions to use the white wash clothes rolled up in the bathroom for make up removel with a specific note to do this because some skin care products bleach out towels and sheets...bleached not the towels or the sheets but the comforter set.  The comforter and both pillow shams are now  unusable.  Thankfully I had a bad feeling about these guests and their children so I put the absolute cheapest set that we own on the bed.  But. I. Am. Still. Annoyed.  I gave multiple alternatives and a heads up about not bleaching out our linens and they were bleached out.  I'm tempted to put in a damage claim because now I still have to go buy another 'cheapest' use for the children set for the small bedroom.  

[Gillian166]

@Mark116 

yes, when a guest does damage to an item that is equal to the profit from the stay, then I think we have a right to be upset. A wash cloth is not a big deal, but it was apparently the whole set of towels, not one wash cloth, and I'd be super annoyed too because we buy high quality towels. @Rob9392  also said he supplied make up remover pads, as do we. We buy cheap ikea face clothes though, so i don't care if they get wrecked. 

I had a guest leave some weird stain on a doona cover once, i had to replace it (cost me $130 from a $200/night stay, which is the profit margin) and she denied doing it. I didn't have receipts for the original linen so i just let it go as i wasn't in the mood for the fight. She tried to tell me it was "probably done by a previous guest", like we don't put brand new linens on ! I opted to not start a fight and get the good review. It sucks to have to do that. 

[Helen744]

@Rob9392 as most of us say in the cheap seats , if you cannot afford to lose it dont use it . worse than a facecloth which is 'poof' we once had a lady so covered with spray tan that she re died the entire toilet seat . It took us a while to get it out by soaking in a bleach bath for days and when the sun is in the right direction you can still see it , but if you are using white everything then you will attract those who swathe themselves in makeup . not everyone does . thank goodness and our sheets and pillow cases are unique and different colors but sometimes stains happen . things that really bother you should be adressed in a humourous manner if at all possible , otherwise get someone else to do it . We offer one face cloth per person and most people dont use them. Families do though.they are cheap to buy pur cotton and easily cleaned .We love to give people nice towels but they are something that doesnt match either . We buy Them three at a time as they turn up  at good prices. They can be expensive .H

[Huma0]

@Helen744 

This is what prompted me to start providing make up wipes. 

I took a photo of the above not because I was angry about it, but because I was rather astonished that anyone would think it was normal to leave something you do not own in this state. I wonder if she does that at home? If so, her towels can't last very long.

I was much more annoyed about the brand new, expensive large bath towels that another guest ruined with hair bleach, but I don't get upset about face cloths. Although the make up wipes have reduced this significantly, I have just resigned myself to the fact that guests will stain the wash cloths and so I buy cheaper ones now. My cleaner likes to use them for various stuff, so the stained ones at least get a second life. 

[Anonymous]

@Huma0   If guests know you use a professional cleaner, it's not a stretch to imagine you also use an industrial laundry, like hotels and hospitals, that magically makes everything disappear.

When they see that the man behind the curtain is just a host frantically pre-treating a humble towel over his/her washing machine, they tend to soften. But you can only pull back that curtain when your brand is completely detached from any notion of "luxury."

[Huma0]

@Anonymous 

You make an interesting point. I don't know if my guests ever assume that I use laundry services (I couldn't because the prices in London are prohibitive) but I doubt it because they see me constantly washing sheets and towels.

However, I believe you are right about the psychology behind this. 

My cleaner only comes for three hours a week (which is still a great help to me) and then I do the rest, including the guest bedrooms. Although I am pretty sure the house is cleaner over all now that I have a bit of help, I noticed that guests raved much more about cleanliness when I was doing it all myself. Why? Because they would SEE me cleaning. I would often need to do this in the evenings or at weekends to fit around my day job.

I don't know why it should matter WHO is doing the cleaning, but it seems to. Guests think nothing of making a mess right after the cleaner has been, but if they see that I have just cleaned the stove for example, most of them are really careful not to make a mess on it.

Perhaps they respect my time more than that of someone they do not know, i.e. the cleaner.

It's not logical really. Of course, the cleaner gets paid for her time, but I still have to work hard to earn the money to pay her!

[Gwen386]

@Huma0  I believe my guests believe that I clean my own rental because I don’t charge a cleaning fee. After reading several posts since joining airbnb, it appears a majority of guests believes the cleaning fee is paid to professional cleaners, not the host. 

In a shared space, you’re right. At least the guests SEE the cleaner behind the curtain. 

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

I don't charge a cleaning fee either.

I wonder though, if I did charge a fee, but then did all the cleaning myself, if guests would then suddenly feel 'short changed' because there was no 'professional' cleaners?

I think a lot of it is down to perception/psychology rather than reality. I remember one guest who wrote in her review that I cleaned the bathrooms every day. I do not clean the bathrooms every day! I'm very thorough, but slow, when I clean, and I have 3.5 bathrooms so that would take me a whole day at least.

But, before I had a cleaner, my schedule would not allow me to clean the whole house in one go, so I would do a bit at a time. Therefore, the guest saw me constantly cleaning and that to her equaled the place being 'cleaner', which is was not. 

[Gillian166]

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@Huma0 wrote:

I wonder though, if I did charge a fee, but then did all the cleaning myself, if guests would then suddenly feel 'short changed' because there was no 'professional' cleaners? 

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@Huma0  I don't tell guests that it's us doing the cleaning, because i don't want them to assume we aren't "professional".  I watch plenty of youtube cleaning vids to be very professional and learn all sorts of clever tips, plus my 20+ years as a mother to 3 kids, I know how to clean better than any cleaner i've ever had (which is few because generally i am disappointed by them). But you're right, some guests have this idea that if the hosts are cleaning it's somehow not as good as some rando lady from the village. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Huma0]

@Gillian166 

That's why I always clean the guest bedrooms myself as I know no cleaner is going to do it to my satisfaction! I guess the guests don't know before arriving that I'm the one who has done it, and I do have a cleaner come once a week, but I can't avoid the guests seeing me doing some cleaning because it's a shared space. Of course, I can't afford to have a cleaner come in daily for the rates that I am charging. 

No one has ever mentioned it, but I do wonder whether they expect the cleaning to be done by 'a professional' or they don't care as long as things are clean...