Bad guest decides not to check in and tels me he will leave a bad review

21

Airbnb was very supportive of me and they cancelled his stay, noted his threatining comment in the air message thread, assured me that guests cannot review a stay that did not happen.

The simple fact was that, no, i never refused to give him my street address, but simply told him where to see it on the confirmation email that he said he was looking at at that moment. He refused to read the house rules apparently, which are quite short but the last line states cleary thatbthe guest must read the house manual before attempting to show up. He was doing the equivalent of showing up at the door To your apartment complex and hitting random doorbells and demanding to be let in… I am not comfortable with people simply showing up without knowing where their room is etc, and additionally deciding that the house rules are simply not to be followed by this guest.

1 Like
22

Ok, now since you gave us more details, it seems like he was a very difficult person to deal with. If he threatened you thats not good at all.
I do not think at all that 68 is old, but… my father is a few years older, and though he still runs his business and very much alert and a very smart man, i can see that now it takes him longer than usual to understand sometimes what people are asking him. He looks for things often.
I thought of it when you said, he was not able to find the adress on his reservation email. May be that was the case? The reaction is slower.
WHat if he was 75, or older would you still make him look for adress or just say to him ?
In my experience not only people dont read descriptions and house rules, they dont even read what they are renting. I had incidents that people thought fro 80$ they rent the whole house not a room.
People like this will never get to the line when it says read the house rules.
I am really surprised that 100% of your guests comply with reading your rules.

2 Likes
23

lol they all tell me that they read the rules, but you always get people who assume they are for ‘others’, not them. Plus, the house manual contains a request to text or email me back a catchphrase so I see they actually got thru the short ‘manual’.

I guess the uncomfortable part of this is telling me he is looking at it, I replying ‘great, when are you arriving’, then no word for 6 hours until ‘checking into a hotel’ and the threat to give me a bad review.

I am 65, so I am not much different in age from this guest, but I know a lot of folks my age and older who are unfortunately crabby and (fellow boomers) feel entitled. Age is never an issue but attitude is.

24

Haha Rolf, I’m in my sixties too. (Early sixties I hasten to add!)

But I do think that questions are a sales opportunity and that any communication is a good chance to engage with your guest. I would have been inclined to answer the request for the address by telling him the exact address and saying something like “there is a cold beer and fresh orange juice waiting for you when you arrive. Have a great journey”.

People are pernicketty. Just my opinion but I think that a host’s job is to sell — and make the guest feel good.

25

I think Yana is right. He didn’t officially cancel. He only paid to stay somewhere else. I think he can still leave a review.

26

I just got my payout from air for this guest. And his review possibility was canceled by Airbnb. I agree in other circumstances I would’ve held held him walked him through the door at Cetera but that’s not how my place is set up, and he was so resistant to any communication on any level Honestly it was a little scary

27

Just a couple of things to say. I think somewhere on your listing you MUST give the street address. So I am not sure how it could be withheld to begin with.

It could be easier in the future to make up a PDF document with all the things they need to know. On mine I have directions, check in time, ideas for things to do if they arrive early, suggestions about stopping for groceries since we are aways out, suggestions for dining and itineraries. Also baked into this are the house rules, served up more as “guidelines” with the explicit house rules repeated from the online house rules. Because they have this, I rarely ever get guest miscommunications!

As mentioned before, many travelers, especially international ones, have no wifi service when they land. So it’s good when most of them print my instructions and bring it with them.

The guest in question does sound like a PITA.

And now a confession, from me the supposed old salt host. Yes, me, the know-it-all who has been a host for 6 years! I booked a Washington DC boutique hotel when I took my son to get settled in his U.S. Senate internship in January. Well, dummy dummy me!!! I had spaced that our flight leaving was an overnighter, so I booked 9 nights starting Monday, when I wasn’t going to arrive until Tuesday. It was a “getaroom” reservation so when I checked into the hotel after almost 20 hours of travel from Hawaii, my reservation had autocanceled as a no-show, per getaroom policy and was gone and had to be rebooked.

At best, I might get a rate that was DOUBLE what I had pre-paid on getaroom. I almost did cry, and so did my son… who, at that moment wanted to disown me. I’ll never forget the look on his face, or his “this is a F-up of epic proportions, Mama.” Yes it was.

But the hotel staff was soooooooo great… they gave me a deluxe double room anyway, offered some wine and told me to get a good night’s rest and it would all be solved in the AM. THAT kindness made what could have been a horrible mistake on my part into a great stay. They fixed the problem that was not their fault, honored the original price of $77 per night… and not only that comped breakfast for two of us for the whole week.

These were perks that yours truly, who had stupidly done this without anyone’s help, surely did not deserve.

I have been a host on Air six years… how on earth could I make a booking error like that???

Yet the kind faces of those people who took pity on my plight will be one of the main things I remember about that wonderful hotel stay. :slight_smile:

4 Likes
28

and probably a sad mummy losing one of her big babies for a while.

1 Like
29

Yes… we ended up having a truly wonderful time and he’s doing to well, so I am HAPPY. We always want the best for our kids, even when opportunity takes them far far away.

30

Agree. My eldest moved 650 km away for uni. I chose a Billy idol CD to listen to on the way home thinking I couldn’t to Billy Idol. Wrong. 200 km later I was still crying. In 2 years my babies, also twins like yours, will be off to uni and there will be no kids left at home. :cry:

1 Like
31

Awe!!! Empty Nest is such a hard thing! I’m still trying to adjust… One day you are going nuts with all the things to do… making sandwiches, driving them to sports and doctors, doing school meetings, and on and on… the next day… you are not really needed! Your house is clean… but you are not really needed day to day … how to adjust after 18-20 years of day to day motherhood!!!

2 Likes
32

Obviously, you are new to hosting. You would just have to learn that guests never, ever read house manuals. There are rare exceptions to this rule. But generally, if you want to host with Air, you have to be prepared to answer any silly question, three times, and never refer anyone to any other information. It is you who is supposed to answer any and all questions.

Come to think of it, I would like to suggest you stop hosting since you obviously are not up to the task.

33

Hi Rolf

I understand it’s frustrating when guests ask for information that you’ve already provided, but really from my point of view it’s just antagonistic to tell them they already have that information and not immediately provide it.

I believe that one of the things many guests like about the Airbnb experience is the personalised touch. I get guests who arrive late, get lost, lose directions etc and I always behave as though it is my absolute pleasure to provide that information for them. It makes them arrive in a good mood and they are pre-disposed to feel good about their choice of staying with me.

I understand that it’s frustrating not having guests read the manual but could you not just go over that on the phone? i.e. Please understand that you cannot park here etc.’ and get them to agree verbally.

Sometimes when we’re shitty with a guest behaviour it’s often about us feeling fed up and jaded and not prepared to extend our usual courtesy to a guest. I have to say, that’s how your situation came across to me.

2 Likes
34

Oh, dear! Rolf, did you send your guest to me? We have a guest arriving in three weeks and they just booked today. In the time it took me to go to the grocery store, they have already called customer support, sent me two emails, and left 2 voicemails on my phone asking for access instructions. (All of the instructions are on the confirmation sheet.)

2 Likes