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I’m a Superhost with a bungalow in a heavily wooded area in the Sierra Nevada foothills of northern California. A recent guest sent me a note after his self-check-in saying, “Place is fantastic,” then the next day he rang my doorbell to introduce himself and enthusiastically discuss how much he liked the bungalow. A day after his departure, he left this 4-star review: “Great place to stay. One issue, noisy raccoons outside, but overall, recommended.” That’s pretty odd, given that (after having wild animal problems and bringing in a trapper last year) I now always ask guests if they heard animals at night, and nobody has heard anything since last April. I’m bringing the trapper back and have sent the guest a note via the Airbnb app for more details to help the trapper, but have received no response. Should I publicly respond to his review?
If so, how about something along these lines: “How unfortunate that you experienced loud raccoons. I’ve retained a humane trapper to explore the issue, and he would very much benefit from your further details if you wish to share them. I used the same trapper in 2017, because there were wild animals on the property then; I’ve more recently asked the 45 guests before you if they heard any animals at night, and thankfully none of them did.”
I personally wouldn’t respond to the review. I think your drafted response hurts if anything, some people will think the guest is a kook, but your response validates the issue as a major concern.
Your typical guest I would imagine would welcome wildlife.
Yea, Going to the wilds and not welcoming wildlife… shameful…I’m in the corner of don’t bite and mention anything in the review…I’m sure there are most guests that would be delighted to have that experience.
Oh yea Debthecat… he’d be running back to the city if he encounter a male koala dragging his sweetheart home!! lol
My guess was that the Raccoons were mating. Raccoons mating sound like pigs squealing. I live 7 miles north of Boston and we get that too. Geez- it’s in the wilderness, what to do people expect?
Yes, damn wildlife, have they no consideration? I should have complained about the trumpeting elephants when I went on my safari trip. Really most disturbing … they were probably mating too … disgusting!
I thought at first your guest might have been joking, but not if he gave you 4 stars!
Possibly as bad as the problem I currently have? That is, neighbours who love each other very much… very, very much. Loudly. Over and over and over and over…
Sorry, Jaquo … I could not resist, but send them the video shown at the very bottom of the page. I am sure you will come up with something smart to say.
I think there are exceptions to that rule (for instance, responding to a complaint about flat pillows by explaining that you’ve just replaced them with fluffy duck down pillows), and I wasn’t sure if this scenario fell under those exceptions. But in any case I won’t be responding.
All guests should respect quiet hours, so also the raccoons who are a guest on your property .
No, do NOT respond to that review ! It’s overall a good review. Raccoons may even be a selling point for some guests. Such a review will quickly be buried down deep. No worries.
Also I wouldn’t draw the conclusion that your 4 stars were because of the raccoons. It is very well possible that the guest just confused AirBnB and hotel star ratings. To prevent this from happening: Try to educate your guests.
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