Sense when is the use of your backyard a condition to your listing? I never said it was available for use.

[Dorothy122]

Amazing guest hold it against you if they don't get to use your backyard. It's not listed. Thay can use the deck and BBQ. Just leave my garden alone! Anything that you tell them no to,  sets them off to try and sabotage your earnings for Hosting. Example. Wood burning stove gets to hot. You can only use it during the winter. But because I set this limitation, they try to run all the heaters on high. The circuit breaker flips. Then they complain that there is no heat! Then give you a bad rating for no heat. The nasty games people play. How do some of you deal with this?

[Linda108]

@Dorothy122   Every host eventually gets a bad review based on the guest experience, no matter how unreasonable.  You have a great number of positive reviews, so you might just provide a very short professional response to the negative review.  Just state the facts and do not be defensive.  The audience for your response will be potential guests who will be more impressed with the good reviews.  

On another note, I was confused that your listing shows 9 guest accomodations but only three beds.  Is that a mistake?  If you have air mattresses or some other way to handle the 9 guests, it might be good to add that to your listing description.  Just a thought.

[Dorothy122]

there are actually two new confortable queen size sleeper sofas in the living room. I can comfortably sleep 9.

[Dorothy122]

It is listed. Another problem the listing page needs to be made cleaner for people to read. So that guest know exactly what they are getting. Right now guest fear hidden costs and resent it. A lot of them come with attitude of "your trying to screw me, so I'm going to screw you". Hence you get the "I'm  going to get as much extras as I can out of this". 

[Linda108]

@Dorothy122   You can add this to your listing description.  I did not see any information about that and I have seen hosts penalized for not being clear about accommodations.  

[Mark116]

@Dorothy122  Why did you give them a good review?

[Dorothy122]

The star rating system is flawed. From other Airbnb host who have learned the same lession. if you give bad reviews to guests you lose your good rating.

[Mark116]

@Dorothy122  I think that is wrong, because the guest can't see your review until they write their own.  At least, why not write a neutral review, you gave these guests, who according to you failed to follow your rules about use, overloaded the electrical circuits and then complained a very positive review.  I don't get it.  

[Anonymous]

@Dorothy122   Now you're making me wonder if Airbnb really did slip an "8-ball" into your coffee. What on earth are you talking about? I fully agree that the rating system is deeply flawed, but the rating you give to guests has no effect on your listings' rating. Those are two totally separate metrics.

Given that every host is vulnerable to unfair or retaliatory ratings, no matter how hard they try to please the guests, you basically have two choices. Either you screen the guests to make sure they're a good fit and appreciate the unique qualities of your property before you accept the booking, or you accept that sometimes you're going to get one that's a pain in the butt and drags your ratings down a bit. The latter choice might give you a higher occupancy rate and more profit, but if you're really sensitive about negative feedback I wonder if it's really worth it.

[Dorothy122]

I do screen them and you will still  get abusive guests. I have been "nice to their guests" as an Airbnb representative put it, until a guest behavior is so bad I have to call them to intervene.  It's part of the be a good host package. And yes, I am seriously thinking about using another booking agency.  It's not sensitivity, it's a life time of experience. I am an old soldier who has seen a lot. The red pill of human nature is big and hard to swallow. Best of luck to you. And thank you for your comments. They are insiteful. I have stirred  up a lot of people. Just trying to find someone to talk to. But, the haters are starting to mob me. So I am closing the discussions.  

[Linda108]

@Dorothy122  I am sorry you see "haters" in the responses you have gotten about how to handle the occassional bad guest and review.  Your decision to leave the platform might be a good one given that you are only able to handle positive reviews and positive feedback.  I am a big fan of the feedback that @Anonymous  has provided to many hosts.  He has correctly advised you that you are misinformed about providing honest reviews.  Many hosts have key sentences that are neutral but informative to other hosts.  As part of the host community, I accept that I will have to provide accurate honest reviews for other hosts.  Sometimes an issue is related to the type of listing the guest has selected  and I try to make that perfectly clear.  I would hope your taking the time to post your issue has been a constructive one, but getting unexpected feedback is part of the experience.  You have a lovely listing that seems to be exactly the type of host experience most guests expect. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Dorothy122 

Guests can be high maintenance. If there’s an ‘on’ switch you can pretty much guarantee it will be found and be switched on whatever it is, and in spite of weather conditions. AirCon, heating, windows and doors open, wood burner lit... Yep, had that!

Before you blame guests for their complaining and consumption - which they do think is their right and legal entitlement- there are things you might consider doing:

When in use, your Heating shouldn’t over run the fuse board. That’s just an indication that there’s something wrong. Guests will be annoyed and you will be annoyed.

Your Yard & Garden is listed as an amenity but your description makes it off limits. Guests don’t read - so there is potential conflict there.

Your place is listed as an entire home - but you share the kitchen. I’m sure that might be an issue with some guests not fully understanding how your place works.

Many guests will look at photos rather than read your listing details. On your photos, make sure that you use the title space to state for instance “Backyard - No guest access”. I’m not sure whether you do this already as I never ventured onto your photos, but most hosts miss that and the guests expectations are that whatever is in the photos is theirs to use. Having the descriptions there makes your message clear.

I hope that helps.

P.S. Heading over for a legend breakfast.

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0   "On your photos, make sure that you use the title space to state for instance “Backyard - No guest access”."

No, there shouldn't be any photos at all of areas the guest doesn't have access to.

@Dorothy122  It is wrong to list as an Entire Home if there are shared spaces. There are many things in your listing which are misleading and contradictory. I'd be confused and mad if I was one of your guests as well. Many of the issues you are blaming your guests for are due to your own confusing presentation of your listing.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Sarah977 

For the majority of the world who browse accommodation on a Smartphone, often the only place they will see any text is with the photographs. Hence, using the caption area to reiterate whats included, excluded, off limits, available for rent, whatever.. is a good place to put it.

Heck, I state everywhere, No Dogs. If I don't get 30 enquiries a season asking can the guest "bring a well behaved small pooch" - (that sheds like a fountain, eats furniture and sleeps in beds provided for humans), I believe I'm going to have to put a picture of a pooch with a big red cross through it and the description "Don't even ask!!"

🙂

[Sarah977]

@Ian-And-Anne-Marie0  Oh, I agree that photo captioning is quite useful. What I meant was that a host shouldn't have a photo of the backyard in their gallery at all if the guests have no access to it.