Reviews / Complaints

[Chaz35]

I have been hosting for a couple of years and in the last 6 months or so my business has grown a lot. Is it normal to deal with so many complaints? I put a lot of effort into the interior design of the properties I work with, they are all in great locations, the vast majority of them have amenities like jacuzzis, pools, etc. yet I get guests all the time that have all sorts of complaints or feedback for me. I am honestly very burned out and fatigued by it. I care a lot that guests have a great experience. It has become a norm that when a guest has any sort of slight issue they leave me a 1-3 star rating, regardless of what I have done to resolve it for them. Even when everything else is perfect. They constantly demand refunds for the most trivial things. I’m curious what other experienced hosts do to mitigate this. I am not sure how people can scale their business to over 1500 reviews and maintain a 4.9+ rating. I feel like I am torn apart by guests for every tiny little thing. 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Chaz35 

To me it looks like you're doing great. I appreciate the honesty of your post - we all feel that way at times.

I'd say part of the problem is that one offers a home. Every person who books the place, has some form of a home where they come from, so every guest arrives with an already-formed an opinion on what a place to stay or vacation should be like. As these views can be very different, it's hard to please everyone. 

I think your specific hosting situation does naturally expose you to criticism and review issues, and you'll have to accept it will be difficult to get consistent great feedback:

- You have 19 listings. In a large property management business, it can be difficult to stay on top of all issues for all 19 of them. You won't be able to personally control every aspect of interaction, cleaning, preparation and maintenance in detail. 

- Whenever you host a property that you don't own, you have to depend on the owner for fixing some of the reported issues and doing upgrades. You can't simply and quickly make every change on your own. 

- Some of the listings cater for large groups, which can make them disproportionately difficult to clean and prepare, and exposes you to a party risk.

- The amenities provided in some of the listings are very high maintenance and something can easily go wrong or be considered less than perfect by a guest.

When you look at review scores of other hosts, be sure you're comparing like with like.

Hosts have different motivations. If, for example, someone isn't specifically in it for profit and chooses as a hobby to host a small space at a low price with incredible amenities, they're likely to be very hands-on, offer great value for money and get great feedback. 

You'll probably feel very good about your own hosting performance if you find some listings by property managers of a similar size that offer the same type of listing and take a look at their feedback. 

[Paula]

Hello @Chaz35, Thank you for sharing your experience in the Airbnb host community.

I’m reaching out to some fellow hosts who can empathize with your situation and might be able to offer advice on how they have handled similar situations: @Michele-and-Dana0 @David11470 @Kirti18 @Kwabena9 and @Evan1118 

Regards,

[David11470]

@Chaz35 

First off, 19 listings in two years! Congratulations on your growth. 

I have one listing (my second home) and I’ve been listing it for just over two years. Like you, I care. However, STR is not my main source of income and I only have been successful because of the team I hired to manage the listing for me (on the ground; I live full time in CA and our listing is in Puerto Vallarta). 

Distance forced me to hire someone. I was introduced to an operator who had Airbnb Luxe experience and deep roots in hospitality. My business acumen and vision coupled with their operational expertise and network has resulted in 35-straight, 5-star stays.  I’m proud of the work we’ve done together to achieve this result, which has always been guided by delivering a 5-star experience — through thick and thin.

I am in control of the listing’s direction, pricing, ultimate dispute resolution and I’ve empowered my team to handle the rest. We communicate frequently, but since they are “there”, I must trust them to make good business decisions. I pay them a monthly retainer for inspections and period services, plus a bonus for every 5-star review. Year-over-year revenue is up and we are on a record pace in this third year.

I share this to offer you a different perspective. You’ve grown your portfolio to 19 properties. That’s admirable and it requires not only a service team to keep up with each stay, but a management model that can deliver the high-level experience you’re aiming to provide. I read the frustration jumping off the page and I’d ask you to consider:

- Individually and as a portfolio, have you measured the profitability of each against the ROSE (Return on Sweat Equity)? You may decide a smaller portfolio is better or simply some listings are bringing you down emotionally and in energy.

- What’s your goals?: growth ( > 19 listings), deliver 5-star service, be profitable, have fun, etc.

- Do you have the right management infrastructure in place or do you need to consider reorganizing and maybe handing off ‘operations’ to someone else while you focus on growth?

- Think back to when STR as a business went from fun to frustration: how many listings did you have, how many people working for you, etc.

I hope this perspective and questions will help you regain your mojo so you can be in the place you want to be personally and professionally. Keep up the good work and best wishes, David