Guests complain because I don't serve breakfast - Not a true Airbnb they say

Great idea.

Addendum: K9 raises a good counter point. Maybe the 1/25 approach is better.

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I think a review appeal system would take a ton of manpower, unmanagebly so. Some people here would want to appeal every review they get, so imagine the burden from the whole air community. The option to delete one periodically would be better. Guests should also be able to do the same. Maybe that would encourage more honest reviews of guests by hosts.

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Have you called Air? I know seems pointless but who knows - something may come of it. They supposedly delete reviews if one party mentions being in the middle of a claim dispute. So apparently it is simple for them to go right in and remove it.

You can also ask the guest to remove that part. As far as I know as long as Air agrees to it, then guest can change it even after 48 hrs. I know Air may just say that you can respond to the review to add clarity. But I don’t think the false statement needs to be in there to begin with. the guest should be called on it. Here is Air’s guidelines on what content can posted in reviews. I believe you could say the first one applies to your guest. That wasn’t his personal experience whether he believes it to be or not.

Genuine reviews are the cornerstone of our community. We prohibit:

Reviews that do not represent users’ personal experience.
Reviews unrelated to the actual reservation (ex: political, religious, or social commentary).
Content that endorses or promotes illegal or harmful activity or violence, or is profane, vulgar, obscene, defamatory, threatening, or discriminatory.
Content that violates another person or entity’s rights, including intellectual property rights and privacy rights (ex: publishing another person’s full name, address or other identifying information without permission).
Content that is proven to be used as extortion.
Content that refers to an Airbnb investigation.

I have had good success asking the guest to tone down the review. In almost al cases, they have replied that they would be happy to and didn’t mean for it to sound so harsh. The last person who left a few nitpicky comments replied she had only done it (mention things disclosed in the listing) to save future guests from having to read my long listing!!! She also said she works as an attorney and therefore was used to telling it like it is. She agreed to revise, even though the nitpicks were at the bottom of her review, they weren’t nearly as bad as her original version, which was, by far, the worst review I ever had! She even apologized, saying she left me 4 stars and really enjoyed her stay here!

Another guest left a laundry list of nits and at the end, buried, was how much he liked me! He also agreed to edit but could not because I had responded!!!

So bottom line, groveling with the guest does work. :smile:

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Okay…so the key is not respond and try to resolve with Air or the guest first? then if no luck…go ahead and respond?

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Stirling idea. Let’s put it to them. And not just the review, but the star rating they gave you too!

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It’s seems like we could be a host-advisory board - a group of hosts who’s boots are truly on the ground…I wonder if we could get air to give us their ear.

I’d like to know where I could feed my suggestion that guests can not block your calendar - IB or other - unless they are 100% qualified to book. This happened to me again today - however, the guest finished up right away so I didn’t have to bite to many fingernails waiting.

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When I had a guest tie up my calendar with a credit card problem, I got an email from them stating that I could either give the guest another 24 hours or tell them to come back when they had their card ready. Decided to let them have another 24 and he fixed it right away. These things happen.

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I agree that reviews should be deleted if it is for falsehoods.

My husband just went to get a business with the county and they told us that if we wanted to serve food (bed and breakfast) we had to be state licensed which meant annual inspections. :open_mouth:

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In my county we would have to have a separate commercial kitchen and be inspected. However, I can warm up things. I’ve done quite well warming up croissants from Costco, frozen dinner rolls, french-toast sticks (again Costco) warming up a pre-cooked sausage, etc. I am not allowed to cut fruit or crack an egg.

This would not be my idea of a home made breakfast, but my guests rave about it. I find it so odd. I just know that someone is going to show up looking for real omelets or from-scratch pancakes and then slam me in my review for not providing a ‘real’ breakfast. But for now, people are happy with what they get.

But I had to ask my county contact the question, they didn’t volunteer it. Once I did they sent me a list of things I can ‘cook’. You may consider digging deeper, if you’re interested in providing some food.

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This is the same in the Uk - you need a licence from your local council to cook hot breakfasts. In one way one it’s good as it projects actual b&bs. I notice some hosts to it regardless tho.

I don’t provide breakfast, I don’t put it in my listing. I don’t even guarantee access to the kitchen since I have to be home for them to have access. That said I really enjoy chatting with my guest in the morning over coffee. I do make the coffee but everything else is “help yourself” to anything in the fridge. I leave cereal and bananas on the counter and give them directions on where to find stuff in the kitchen as I stand there drinking my coffee.

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Even in my insurance one of the questions was do you provide food. I don’t so I’m not insured if I do and it kills someone.

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Wow Carmen! I live in a city that has low food costs, and no sales tax, but these prices would be unheard of here!

@Paul_Janaway @konacoconutz @ This is all news to me and very appreciated. We do provide food but didn’t know it was a no no. @Kirsty_Jane, I think so many hosts just do not know it isn’t allowed. We also invite our guests to dinner all the time and they love it! It is an excellent way to break the ice and get to know people. I am going to have to dig a bit to see how much work is involved because i believe it is something I want to continue but I like to do it legally. Anyone know from personal experience about how bad the process is?

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Hilarious. Love it :wink:

I provide a breakfast. Now most seem to mention it in the reviews so I feel obliged to keep standards up, or get better. I provide a fresh bowl of seasonal fruit, which I do individually for each guest. I offer with that Greek or low fat yogurt. They also have a range of various Irish Breads and local or homemade jams ( I dont make off course, I cannot cook a fried egg lol)! Along with this I offer several different cereals, juice, tea, coffee…oh and also paracetamol for the ones who have drunk to much Guinness lol :wink: Most guests eat and enjoy it at their own leisure, as set out for them. I would never do cooked breakfasts though. I dont have enough time as it is, and obviously wont cook, cant cook :wink: Cost for breakfast per guests isnt that much, maybe 3-4 pounds for x2, depending how much they eat.

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I couldn’t agree more.

While I haven’t ever been in the hotel business, i.e. working at a “real” hotel, I doubt if staff at those places do as much babysitting as Air hosts do. They probably don’t.

I think Airbnb advertisements are to blame. They create the impression that booking an Airbnb home is like booking a “real home”, so guests are led to expect a babysitter waiting at the doorstep the moment they arrive.

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AirBnB understandably will present the best foot forward; but some guests however are a bit of a con artist and make believe they are expecting and entitled to a babysitter, for a place they are paying say $50-$75 dollars a night. It is their responsibility to understand Economics 101, being adults and all.