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Having read the responses below, all very good and varied, I’m going to come from a more strategic viewpoint. I am sorry this has happened to you; a f**kwit of a guest, to parody Helsi. Unfortunately there are a few guests like this we have to endure, and I think it’s about building up your resilience, or to put it another way, developing a rhino hide. It would be hypocritical of me to say that I never worry about bad reviews coming my way but I am learning how to understand why they may happen, and to deal with these in a way that minimises any fall out when people read them. So I think I’d look at this along these lines, bearing in mind that your review of him is for other hosts, not him. I would say something like;-
" I experienced a plumbing emergency in my house, necessitating the water supply being turned off at the mains, including to the guest’s house. This lasted for a few minutes only but the guest seemed unable or unwilling to to accept that emergencies happen. He later showed undue annoyance at parking arrangements, which are clearly explained in my listing. I gave him the benefit of the doubt that this might not be his usual behaviour, as the couple had come with a newborn baby and were probably tired and stressed".
If he then leaves you a negative review, you have already described the circumstances factually. Anyone reading will be able to make a reasoned judgement.
It’s worth holding the thought that we don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. His wife might have looked angry because he was behaving just as badly towards her.
Have they gone yet? There may be other clues after they leave, like an angry mess.
That’s excellent Joan! I may pretty much copy this because it is perfect. I always take on the position of customer is always right, and bend bend bend for them just to please. But I’m not going to when they go (in 6minutes hopefully).
Glad that was helpful. I would say goodbye in the driveway, for appearances sake, plus it will give you a chance to see how they are feeling/behaving today. Then go in…
An hour and 10 minutes later they left. I had to go over a few minutes before 11.00am and ask “Is everything ok”. He just said ‘yup, we’re just getting ready to go’. I mentioned the 10.00am checkout time and he just said “oh, I didn’t know that”. That was that. I could not bring myself to apologize again, or make smalltalk. This is probably my worst experience so far. The apartment was untidy but I do charge a cleaning fee, so can’t complain about that. Still, 95% of people leave the place as they found it.
Had similar experiences ! Guest called me saying the AC’s were dripping …not saying that they left the windows open on a very very humid day. For sure Murphy worked "perfectly, it was Sunday ! In normal countries no one available to repair something . So I asked the to switch the AC’s off . They didn’t ! In the meantime the AC’s became a waterfall , damaging walls, doors (completely deformed because made of real wood in 100years old house), parquet. Result : bad comments in the review !
In the future, when you have a worker (plumber, carpenter, IT person) you might want to request them to let you know if any services will be interrupted, for example, when they walk in, as they start. It is only courtesy to a guest… and being proactive on issues like that will only make you look better to the guest…
That’s an excellent review ! As you say its factual so won’t break any rules and gives other hosts a head’s up without being derogatory.
Of course new parents are exhausted ect but if he’s an adult, although it doesnt sound very likely, he’ll realised how appallingly rude he’s been and apologise. Failing that, don’t worry ,the mind altering trauma that comes with adjusting to parenthood will teach him how little control he has . It’s called karma
What dreadful people. Remember that your cleaning fee is for preparing the place for them to stay, not clearing up after them. They have been totally disrespectful, including not ensuring they know how Airbnb etiquette works.
So you can now add to your review that they were over an hour leaving after your check-out time and left the place untidy. Simple, factual, and sod them!
Please mention this in the review. I host a lot of back to back one night stays and people who check out late, especially if they are extra messy, is a major problem for me. For someone else, it might not be. Things like them being rude or seeming angry is not something I would put in a review. Since they checked out late maybe they now realize they weren’t perfect guests and won’t slam you in a review but I’d assume they weren’t happy and that the review will reflect their unhappiness.
The other day I had a guest who hadn’t checked out yet at 11, my check out time. I messaged them and said “hey check out is 11 but I can’t tell if you’re here or not, I’m getting ready to come in and clean the room but didn’t want to barge in on you.” Shortly thereafter I heard the hot water heater kick on. 10 minutes later she tells me they are packed but “waiting for the Uber.” At 11:40 the Uber arrives. Uh, yeah. If I hadn’t messaged them at 11 who knows when they would have left. It’s really a good idea to message people a reminder about check out and keep messaging them if they don’t acknowledge it so they can’t say “I didn’t know.”
May I ask why you would not mention being rude or unreasonably angry about a minor and unforseen issue? Isn’t mentioning it going to help a future host know what they might have to deal with, in addition to mentioning the very late checkout? I have, admittedly, glossed over for some guests before, which I regret, and when I’ve mentioned it most people have said you should be totally honest for the sake of future hosts.
I do send a reminder about the checkout time to guests but not on the actual morning because if they’re old enough to come stay, they really should be old enough to read and follow my directions, instructions and reminders sent after they book. That’s in addition that they have it from Airbnb’s side.
I’d just skip because “unreasonable” seems subjective to me. If someone is over the top rude then I would mention it. The fact is the water was off and the car was blocked in. Maybe their reaction was unreasonable, maybe it wasn’t. But if they put that these things happened in their review and your review says they were unreasonable about it…I just don’t like the optics. Try to stick to facts and relay them in an impersonal way.
You can’t control what guests do, only your response to it. If I need guests to check out on time, I send a reminder if I don’t think they are out on time.
I feel your pain. Ive had unexpected emergencies occur: a/c died on 95 f day, water flooding laundry & kitchen. These things can and do happen where we live. Guests who get angry over the unexpected have forgotten what unexpected means.
I know you didn’t wake up that morning and think to yourself “how can I mess this man’s day up”. At least Airbnb didn’t have to find him another place to stay.
You’ve apologized and that’s all you can do. I don’t want to run around placating immature and angry guests just to get a good review and they may or may not leave a bad review anyway. You never can tell!
After running an Airbnb for two years now, I’ve realized that I can live my life worrying about bad reviews, especially when I’ve done my best to be welcoming and to offer a nice, clean place. People are people and if they want to be angry about small inconvenience, don’t let them ruin your day.
This is no excuse and hosts really need to take charge. Send a message, via the Airbnb system, on the evening before checkout reminding them of the time and asking them that if there’s anything you can do to help their checkout run smoothly to let you know. (Borrow the vacuum cleaner, supply extra garbage bags etc). Tell them that housekeeping (even if it’s you) will be entering the rental at checkout time+15 minutes. Then do so.
If they are still there apologise, firmly, and say that as it’s after checkout time and you thought they’d left so you’re here to clean for the next guests. They’ll soon leave.
