Post by High Priestess on Nov 24, 2015 5:53:09 GMT
Shannon 1 shared Nov 23 2015
Unsure
I just had a guest check out, who left a very critical note behind, part of which was read to me over the phone by the person who does my checkins and outs.
Among her complaints:
-The bathroom scale was dusty
-There was no bath mat (The bath mat is terry, like a towel, but larger than a hand towel, if that makes sense) Apparently, that was not to her liking
-I should have had breakfast there..."Muffins at least" (It is marked on my profile that breakfast was not available.)
-I should have left a bus schedule or taxi schedule.
I'm not sure as to what else the note contained yet, but I'm concerned. It sounds like she is going to leave a less than kind review, when I have more than a dozen reviews, all of which are excellent.
My question is: When it comes to review her, do I mention the condescending nature of her note and her difficult attitude?
?
Raymond & Elaine
In your public review, I wouldn't mention the note. I'd leave a true account of her stay. Did she respect the house rules, did she leave the place clean and tidy. Did she communicate well with you? Now she has already mentioned a few things she found wrong with your place, it's probable that she won't mention them again in her review. In fact she has remarked on four very usefull points which you can take in account. 1, the style of the bath mat is being confused with a towel 2, Check the scale to ensure its clean,3, Although you don't provide breakfast alot of hosts do in fact on airbnb's advice, provide fruit juice, tea,coffee and muffins or cereal bars and 4, it's a good idea to get as much local information as possible to help guests get around. I would write in private, now and I'd thank her for the feedback and say you will act on her suggestions. Pre-empt her review .
Shannon 1
I honestly feel like she didn't even read the details of the listing. Coffee, juice, hot cocoa, and teas are available, and it states breakfast is not. While I did not leave a bus schedule, it states on my listing that taxis and Uber are available. There is no taxi or Uber schedule, obviously. I do like the idea of pre-empting her review, though. I will definitely do that. Thank you for your response
Raymond & Elaine
Alot of guests don't read our well prepared listings. That's what makes it so frustrating and unfair. But we can't force them to read, we can only be polite in our response which all future guests will see and judge us on. You could ask for an early or late check-in fee of 25 euros, this normally puts them off taking advantage of you.
Shannon 1
That's an excellent idea. Thank you so much for your advice!
Jeannene
Great advice on a rebuttal
Shannon 2
Wait for her review and then you will know how to best respond.
Deb and Dave
What did you think of your guest before she wrote the note? I would write a review based on that. If she does write a negative review, you can reply to her review. She might be giving honest feedback even though she thinks you should provide muffins.
I believe "The bathroom scale was dusty" and "bus schedule or taxi" are legitimate things to be brought up. I am not sure this guest is complaining so much as bringing items to your attention. In regards to the bath mat, if it looks a lot like your towels, she might not have noticed it.
I am sure others may feel sympathetic towards this but you MAY be getting a little defensive off the get go and she might just send these suggestions as private comments in your review.
Shannon 1
Honestly, I was a little irritated with her to begin with. She told me her train would be arriving at the station about a mile from my place at 7:30 Saturday morning, and that they were planning on being to my loft around 9. I said it was fine, but to please contact my mom (who was letting them in) 45 minutes before they planned on being to the loft. She lives about 30 minutes away. The guest called me at 7:35 Saturday morning, informed me they were at the station and ready to head over to my place right then. She then seemed annoyed when I told her ti would be at least 30-40 minutes before someone could meet her because they were coming with no notice. My listing states no early morning check ins or outs. She wanted to leave at 8am, which was perfect. Yesterday, she tells me they were thinking about leaving around 7am. She then messaged me at 5:30 this morning to let me know they were ready to leave because they needed to get an early start. I had to tell her to leave the keys on the counter and the apartment unlocked.
Anne
Wait and see what the review says. Her note/private feedback could be interpreted as direct and business like when it's not so fresh. Other than the muffin, the comments could help improve your guest experience .
caitlin
Yes, I have written a nice review for 2 guests was horrible only to find they gave me low rating. I am a super host but there ratings effected me in not getting it in July. It didn't effect my booking since I was completely booked. If you don't want to write this on her page at least it the arrow that states you do not recommend her as a guest. Also buy a real bath mat and always make sure your towels are newish. I also provide yogurt and coffee.
caitlin
Yikes I need to wear my glasses when I text- sorry
Shannon 2
Haha. It's ok. I speak typo! A wide variety of coffee, cappuccino, teas, hot cocoa, apple cider, and bottled water are all available to guests, as well as a breakfast drink. I make sure they know this upfront.
Andreina & Rosie
We leave snacks in the room to avoid the "no breakfast part"... We put 2 granolas bars, 2 squares of chocolate, and 2 bottles of 32oz water. A box of 6 Kellogg's granolas, a case of 35 Zephyrhills waters and a pack of Ghirardelli about 24 squares end up costing about $1.25 for the whole set, so it is definitely worth (at least for us) to offer the goodies and to be honest most of the time they end up not taking it all, only a water or a chocolate.
Hope this helps for future reference
Clare
Shannon, I know exactly how you feel. Even the slightest criticism from a guest is a dagger to my heart and it takes me a while to get over it. It's like getting a B- in school where you thought you'd get an A+. I do take these things to heart and have improved in the areas they commented on. As for the rest of this lady's behavior that's just rude!
Shannon
I know! I try not to take it personally, considering she is the only one who has had a complaint, but it's still hard!
helga
I have small carpets in the bathroom, have towel like mats on the shelves and for years, after every Summer, I found the plastic safety mat taken from the bathtub and placed before the tub, which is really strange because the suction cups don't even suck onto the rough tiles. Last Summer I got a heavy, fluffy mat with rubber bottom and that helped, that seems to be clearly a bathmat to everyone.
Elaine's advice to react to the note by mail before she writes a review is very good and if she is only attention seeking or tries to be helpful to excess, it might prevent an annoying review.
I leave always some food in the apartment when I rent the whole apartment, cans and staples for the starving late night arriving guests and some things to snack or crackers - the more different stuff I leave, the more it increases over a season. A taxi phone number in the house manual is useful. If your public transport has an app, you could mention that in the description of the listing, so they can download it.
Sara
Wow I'm off to triple check towels I put down instead of bath mats
My new Italian guest sent me an email at 1pm saying she was coming tomorrow at 12. And that she was at work
As I had taken day off I was annoyed our appointment was 3 today so I left the house actually to buy bath mats miles away
Anyway she phoned me at three saying she was in front of my door denying the email
I told her to go to a coffee shop and trudged back very teeee ed off this woman had not communicated properly from after her IB I met her in coffee shop paid for her coffee and took her home once in the house I showed her the email dated and timed post 1pm today including her photo
"Oh yes I forgot but I sent that yesterday " no apology and she has gone off till tomorrow
It's not about the money she is so scatty I'm concerned I have to baby her but can not take another day off work anyone else think I'm over reacting?
Christine
I only communicate through airbnb messages, I think that helps avoid the time stamp email issue. I would be highly annoyed too but try to treat her as any other guest from this point out. Answer her questions but encourage her self sufficiency for your own sanity!
Clare
Scatty? New word in my vocabulary! Just be firm and tell her you have a life too and that she needs to communicate better. "that was yesterday"? How about today!!
Raymond & Elaine
Its an English word meaning silly and often forgetful. A person who forgets things easily or does not think seriously about things is called a scatterbrain.
Sara
Scatty in UK is short for scatterbrained
The email came today so I believed her
helga
Maybe you can offer her a bracelet with your phone number so police may call you if she is lost somewhere? I'd go to work. You don't become the legal guardian of your guests, it's just a rental agreement;-))
Shannon 2
LOL Helga, a bracelet!!! Only you could think of t hat.
Thilana
Goo
Will
I would absolutely mention the note. Be honest! Airbnb is not a "Cheap Hotel" as I commonly hear people describe it today. Just last night infact. We are sharing our homes so that others can have better comforts and lower prices. That comes with the cost of dealing with things are more like home than a hotel.
This sounds like a terrible and critical guest and I would absolutely want to know about this experience before hosting this guest. If you do not tell the truth, you are simply allowing her to continue to spread her negative attitude to reviews across the world and potentially damaging the reputations of great guests for no reason.
When I have to leave bad reviews, i am brutally honest. At the end, I always mention that my hope is that the review will teach the guest to respect our homes and uphold the airbnb community standard, and that future host should give them a second chance. But at least a host has the choice!
There will be enough guests for all of us! So lets get rid of the bad seeds. And lets help eachother have a great community of safe, and fair guests.
CouchSurfers is fantastic at this. So why not Airbnb?
Unsure
I just had a guest check out, who left a very critical note behind, part of which was read to me over the phone by the person who does my checkins and outs.
Among her complaints:
-The bathroom scale was dusty
-There was no bath mat (The bath mat is terry, like a towel, but larger than a hand towel, if that makes sense) Apparently, that was not to her liking
-I should have had breakfast there..."Muffins at least" (It is marked on my profile that breakfast was not available.)
-I should have left a bus schedule or taxi schedule.
I'm not sure as to what else the note contained yet, but I'm concerned. It sounds like she is going to leave a less than kind review, when I have more than a dozen reviews, all of which are excellent.
My question is: When it comes to review her, do I mention the condescending nature of her note and her difficult attitude?
?Raymond & Elaine
In your public review, I wouldn't mention the note. I'd leave a true account of her stay. Did she respect the house rules, did she leave the place clean and tidy. Did she communicate well with you? Now she has already mentioned a few things she found wrong with your place, it's probable that she won't mention them again in her review. In fact she has remarked on four very usefull points which you can take in account. 1, the style of the bath mat is being confused with a towel 2, Check the scale to ensure its clean,3, Although you don't provide breakfast alot of hosts do in fact on airbnb's advice, provide fruit juice, tea,coffee and muffins or cereal bars and 4, it's a good idea to get as much local information as possible to help guests get around. I would write in private, now and I'd thank her for the feedback and say you will act on her suggestions. Pre-empt her review .
Shannon 1
I honestly feel like she didn't even read the details of the listing. Coffee, juice, hot cocoa, and teas are available, and it states breakfast is not. While I did not leave a bus schedule, it states on my listing that taxis and Uber are available. There is no taxi or Uber schedule, obviously. I do like the idea of pre-empting her review, though. I will definitely do that. Thank you for your response
Raymond & Elaine
Alot of guests don't read our well prepared listings. That's what makes it so frustrating and unfair. But we can't force them to read, we can only be polite in our response which all future guests will see and judge us on. You could ask for an early or late check-in fee of 25 euros, this normally puts them off taking advantage of you.
Shannon 1
That's an excellent idea. Thank you so much for your advice!
Jeannene
Great advice on a rebuttal
Shannon 2
Wait for her review and then you will know how to best respond.
Deb and Dave
What did you think of your guest before she wrote the note? I would write a review based on that. If she does write a negative review, you can reply to her review. She might be giving honest feedback even though she thinks you should provide muffins.
I believe "The bathroom scale was dusty" and "bus schedule or taxi" are legitimate things to be brought up. I am not sure this guest is complaining so much as bringing items to your attention. In regards to the bath mat, if it looks a lot like your towels, she might not have noticed it.
I am sure others may feel sympathetic towards this but you MAY be getting a little defensive off the get go and she might just send these suggestions as private comments in your review.
Shannon 1
Honestly, I was a little irritated with her to begin with. She told me her train would be arriving at the station about a mile from my place at 7:30 Saturday morning, and that they were planning on being to my loft around 9. I said it was fine, but to please contact my mom (who was letting them in) 45 minutes before they planned on being to the loft. She lives about 30 minutes away. The guest called me at 7:35 Saturday morning, informed me they were at the station and ready to head over to my place right then. She then seemed annoyed when I told her ti would be at least 30-40 minutes before someone could meet her because they were coming with no notice. My listing states no early morning check ins or outs. She wanted to leave at 8am, which was perfect. Yesterday, she tells me they were thinking about leaving around 7am. She then messaged me at 5:30 this morning to let me know they were ready to leave because they needed to get an early start. I had to tell her to leave the keys on the counter and the apartment unlocked.
Anne
Wait and see what the review says. Her note/private feedback could be interpreted as direct and business like when it's not so fresh. Other than the muffin, the comments could help improve your guest experience .
caitlin
Yes, I have written a nice review for 2 guests was horrible only to find they gave me low rating. I am a super host but there ratings effected me in not getting it in July. It didn't effect my booking since I was completely booked. If you don't want to write this on her page at least it the arrow that states you do not recommend her as a guest. Also buy a real bath mat and always make sure your towels are newish. I also provide yogurt and coffee.
caitlin
Yikes I need to wear my glasses when I text- sorry
Shannon 2
Haha. It's ok. I speak typo!
A wide variety of coffee, cappuccino, teas, hot cocoa, apple cider, and bottled water are all available to guests, as well as a breakfast drink. I make sure they know this upfront.Andreina & Rosie
We leave snacks in the room to avoid the "no breakfast part"... We put 2 granolas bars, 2 squares of chocolate, and 2 bottles of 32oz water. A box of 6 Kellogg's granolas, a case of 35 Zephyrhills waters and a pack of Ghirardelli about 24 squares end up costing about $1.25 for the whole set, so it is definitely worth (at least for us) to offer the goodies and to be honest most of the time they end up not taking it all, only a water or a chocolate.
Hope this helps for future reference
Clare
Shannon, I know exactly how you feel. Even the slightest criticism from a guest is a dagger to my heart and it takes me a while to get over it. It's like getting a B- in school where you thought you'd get an A+. I do take these things to heart and have improved in the areas they commented on. As for the rest of this lady's behavior that's just rude!
Shannon
I know! I try not to take it personally, considering she is the only one who has had a complaint, but it's still hard!
helga
I have small carpets in the bathroom, have towel like mats on the shelves and for years, after every Summer, I found the plastic safety mat taken from the bathtub and placed before the tub, which is really strange because the suction cups don't even suck onto the rough tiles. Last Summer I got a heavy, fluffy mat with rubber bottom and that helped, that seems to be clearly a bathmat to everyone.
Elaine's advice to react to the note by mail before she writes a review is very good and if she is only attention seeking or tries to be helpful to excess, it might prevent an annoying review.
I leave always some food in the apartment when I rent the whole apartment, cans and staples for the starving late night arriving guests and some things to snack or crackers - the more different stuff I leave, the more it increases over a season. A taxi phone number in the house manual is useful. If your public transport has an app, you could mention that in the description of the listing, so they can download it.
Sara
Wow I'm off to triple check towels I put down instead of bath mats
My new Italian guest sent me an email at 1pm saying she was coming tomorrow at 12. And that she was at work
As I had taken day off I was annoyed our appointment was 3 today so I left the house actually to buy bath mats miles away
Anyway she phoned me at three saying she was in front of my door denying the email
I told her to go to a coffee shop and trudged back very teeee ed off this woman had not communicated properly from after her IB I met her in coffee shop paid for her coffee and took her home once in the house I showed her the email dated and timed post 1pm today including her photo
"Oh yes I forgot but I sent that yesterday " no apology and she has gone off till tomorrow
It's not about the money she is so scatty I'm concerned I have to baby her but can not take another day off work anyone else think I'm over reacting?
Christine
I only communicate through airbnb messages, I think that helps avoid the time stamp email issue. I would be highly annoyed too but try to treat her as any other guest from this point out. Answer her questions but encourage her self sufficiency for your own sanity!
Clare
Scatty? New word in my vocabulary! Just be firm and tell her you have a life too and that she needs to communicate better. "that was yesterday"? How about today!!
Raymond & Elaine
Its an English word meaning silly and often forgetful. A person who forgets things easily or does not think seriously about things is called a scatterbrain.
Sara
Scatty in UK is short for scatterbrained
The email came today so I believed her
helga
Maybe you can offer her a bracelet with your phone number so police may call you if she is lost somewhere? I'd go to work. You don't become the legal guardian of your guests, it's just a rental agreement;-))
Shannon 2
LOL Helga, a bracelet!!! Only you could think of t hat.
Thilana
Goo
Will
I would absolutely mention the note. Be honest! Airbnb is not a "Cheap Hotel" as I commonly hear people describe it today. Just last night infact. We are sharing our homes so that others can have better comforts and lower prices. That comes with the cost of dealing with things are more like home than a hotel.
This sounds like a terrible and critical guest and I would absolutely want to know about this experience before hosting this guest. If you do not tell the truth, you are simply allowing her to continue to spread her negative attitude to reviews across the world and potentially damaging the reputations of great guests for no reason.
When I have to leave bad reviews, i am brutally honest. At the end, I always mention that my hope is that the review will teach the guest to respect our homes and uphold the airbnb community standard, and that future host should give them a second chance. But at least a host has the choice!
There will be enough guests for all of us! So lets get rid of the bad seeds. And lets help eachother have a great community of safe, and fair guests.
CouchSurfers is fantastic at this. So why not Airbnb?