You are behaving like a responsible business owner. You have not misrepresented your product. You have done all you can to help your client. You are simply honoring the guidelines of the written agreement with both the guests and Airbnb, and you are quite reasonably expecting them to do the same. we cannot be all things to all people.
Also if i am reading correctly, it seems that if we cancel for ANY reason, we are banned from being superhosts for a full year, making us look like bad guys. That doesn’t seem reasonable to me. If that is indeed the case, I would absolutely not cancel the remainder of the booking. The guests are free to leave if they want but it is neither your doing nor your problem.
The only thing that popped up for me reading your description is that memory foam on slats could potentially be hard. I am a side sleeper so my experience tells me my hips and shoulders would be yelling at me after awhile. Have you slept on it? Memory foam on a boxspring could work…
Thanks for the reassurance @pilot I really appreciate everything you all have said to make this experience better. I have indeed slept on the bed I lived in my rental for a full week so I could see what was needed and what guests may potentially need and want when they stayed. The bed is very comfortable, but I guess it may be uncomfortable to someone who isn’t used to it. I had a regular spring mattress in the beginning and bought a memory foam so that it could accommodate all types of sleepers.
Agreeed @Emily I thought I was going to get into hot water about that and rang them up. They told me that if I am fine with the third party booking, then they are fine with it.
I have also turned off instant booking, as I like to screen the guests who come into my house. Apparently I’m not that great at the screening process yet, but these guests have taught me plenty.
Cool – thanks for the update. Sure sounds like your guests were the type who don’t want to be happy. I wouldn’t spend any more brain power on it. (Something I have to tell myself when a guest gets my goat!)
Mine is quite soft. I think it varies.
Are they freaking kidding!!! They cant view the television from the 2nd couch???~What ridiculous, small minded people! Go outside, you animals! You are in New York in Autumn! I want to put forks in their eyes. Good luck to you!
@IcklemissToo I know!
I had to restrain myself when I heard that. Most guests don’t even use the tv.
I usually switch it to one of the Sirius satellite ‘80’s or ‘90’s music stations when I’m cleaning so I know if they use it when I go to clean again. Few people use the tv, and those who did, apparently just sat on the couch where the can see the tv.
They are gone now, and I am going to do a second smudge tomorrow as it’s the full moon. That should even things up in the universe. I wish them well and “comfort” on their journeys.
My guest has written a review. I am contemplating not writing one. Does anyone have any opinions on this?
Write one. We don’t want it happening to other hosts.
You absolutely must write reviews. We don’t have much power as hosts to keep people from using Airbnb who shouldn’t be, but reviews are one of the few things we do have.
I am already crafting one. Thanks
This is my review of the guest
Airbnb Review of Uncomfortable Guest
We welcomed a third party guest for 11 days, the parents of the person who made the booking.
Before check-in, I communicated with The guest about her parent’s visit and shared information about the apartment, the area, and direction to the house.
On check-in, everything seemed to be fine. Although the parents of the guest arrived late, I checked them in, introduced them to the apartment, and asked if they needed anything before going to bed.
The next day I was called by Airbnb, in the next morning, telling me the guests wanted to leave. When I asked why I was told that the guests feel uncomfortable in the space.
I asked Airbnb, and later asked the guests “what could I do to make them feel comfortable?” There was no answer. It also became apparent that the guests did not look at nor read the listing prior to coming.
The response from Airbnb is that they said there was nothing I could do. They wanted to leave.
I told Airbnb that the guests were free to leave and that I will check them out whenever they are ready.
**The guests did not leave on that day, and not for many days after. When they did leave they told me that they were just not a good fit with the apartment. I thanked them for their stay as they left the apartment fairly clean and there was no damage. There was not a lot of communication on the guests’ part. **
I left out all the interaction with Airbnb as I don’t think any guest reading the review needs to know any of this.
I think I may have to respond to their review, but if any of you can please help me make this as good as it can be, thanks.
Remove the name because this is a public forum and it might violate tos. I would make it much briefer. Knuckle down to how the guests were poor communicators and didn’t seem to have read the listing.
I agree with Jess that this needs to be shortened to get your point across. Are you sure you don’t want to mention the request for a refund?
Hello @Joan the request for a refund was part of the air conversation so I don’t want to bring it up in the review. Plus I don’t think it would add any info a host or guest may need. Someone may have a different opinion but that’s what I think if I was reading a review.
Any suggestions? I am trying to be fair and not angry, yet explain that they had no valid reason to not want to stay except my place didn’t fulfil their expectations. Plus I don’t want to mention anything they may not put in their review. I will rebutt any unfairness in their review when I see it.
I would definitely add a line about ‘The newest complaint is that the television is not viewable from the 2nd couch’ … if you manage to fit that in nicely it just shows what bs they came up with to get out of their commitment.
Definitely make it shorter. You are writing this for other hosts. As a host, what’s important to me is:
- It was a third-party booking (so I might welcome the daughter but not her parents).
- They didn’t contact you first to say they wanted to leave, they went right to AirBnB and wanted a refund for unused nights, then continued to call AirBnB and complain when you refused to cancel and refund.
- They were unhappy with fundamental aspects of your space that were revealed on the listing.
“We were happy to accept a third party booking for the booker’s parents. However, the stay did not go well. The guests informed Airbnb that they were uncomfortable and wanted to leave. One of their reported concerns was that the television could be seen from one couch but not from a second couch, and another was that my listing was not as pretty as an Airbnb they stayed at before. They did not respond, however, when I asked them what I could do to help, or when I offered to check them out. They stayed on for several days without further communication with me, other than to say “not a good fit” upon their departure. Do not recommend due to lack of communication. We strive to provide our guests with a pleasant and comfortable stay, and welcome hearing about any reasonable issues so we can quickly resolve them.”