This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
…because they neither read my listing nor realized what season it was.
I’m a little bummed because of this oblivious couple.
After they stsyed, they gave me some feedback. Their feedback said they felt misled by my ad because of the following:
Bed was not queen size.
That’s right. It’s not. It’s a full size. Which is stated on the ad. At least twice.
Shower controls were wrong.
Guess what? They’re not wrong. At all. This couple was from Britain and so they apparently expected that the shower controls here in America would be the same as in Britain. Which is strange, because they said they’ve started at many AirBnBs.
Said they were misled by how much time it would take to get downtown.
I don’t even think my ad says how long it will take.
The pool information was misleading.
…but I have no idea why. Perhaps because the pictyre was from summer, not fall? Which they should have known, because it’s November, and it’s not an indoor pool.
So exasperated. I can’t decide if I should respond to their feedback, which was private, or not. It wouldn’t change anything…but I’m just really stupefied and fairly, well, indignant.
Never, ever, ever reply publicly to a private feedback.
I am sorry that you have this experience. It happened to me before, and I was very angry. Some kind of “revenge” or confrontation with the guest might help deal with this, but this will either be a loss of time (on your side: if they haven’t read your listing, they won’t deal with any comments you may send them), or affect your business interests. Treat yourself. Vent off with friends (and of course on this forum). Get candies, ice cream and chocolates. Any activity in relation with this reservation is now hot lava: can’t touch this.
Just explain to them that you are very concerned for their personal welfare. I mean…since they can’t read basic things, then what would happen if they didn’t read things that truly did matter?
I wonder if not having a queen bed did you in with all the rest of the nonsense just thrown in because they were pissed.
I plan to use a full size bed when I start hosting, because that’s what I have, and I’ve been advised not to. That they expect a queen size regardless of how many times you say full.
I will probably get similar feedback… Until I upgrade.
I suppose this is one of those days when your nick does not apply.
Seconded, of course. Listen to Pierre. He’s a smart cookie. It is fine, however, to reply privately. You could reply to them via the Airbnb message system. Though these people sound like idiots, so I personally wouldn’t waste my time.
I’m with @smartbnb.io, he said it perfectly. Just. Don’t. Touch. This. Be the sane one (though of course, reading all those complaints will make you feel INSANE!). Don’t even respond privately - if they didn’t read your listing - they aren’t going to read your reply.
Weird complaints if they really are English. We don’t have queen sized beds at all here.
Most beds are full, you will get the odd King. Do the taps have red and blue on them in the shower? If they do again I can’t really understand this feedback.
As an aside they may indeed have used many Airbnb’s but yours might be the first time they’ve been in one in the US.
Did you do a house tour with these guests? Again I find their complaints weird assuming you talked through everything with them.
Actually, I was not planning to reply publicly. Sorry I didn’t fully explain. I was thinking about replying privately, in a very respectful and professional way. “I’ve been thinking about this and that you felt misled. I’d like to clarify a couple things, because my guest feeling misled is something that bothers me a great deal…”
Yes. I always do a house tour. I’ve never used the shower, don’t know about the blue and red, but the controls aren’t backward.
Since their review, when someone books, I have taken to reiterating that it’s a full size bed not a queen, and it’s fall so it’s not sunny and it’s too cold to use the pool, but you can definitely still use the hot tub. Etc.
If that was the private feedback, what did they say publicly? Depending on the circumstances, sometimes it can be strategically wise to issue a very courteous and professional response signaling to other future guests that they should take the negative review with a grain of salt. Beyond that, as others have said let it go. I advise not to interact with these guests. They’re clearly unreasonable people and not worth your time and energy.
If you don’t know about blue and red then it’s probably not obvious what comes out of which tap. You’ve mentioned that you now state certain things in your tour / communication with guests that you didn’t before which is the right approach.
We’ve all been stung by not stating the apparently obvious; it’s best with guests not to take anything for granted.
I had the nutty Gillian leave me a private laundry list of things she found lacking in my place… It was tired filthy disappointing, etc. . It messed with my head a little and I thought about responding, but it’s like engaging a bully. They will only come up with more things they hated.
I kept reminding myself about what a kook she was. There were red flags so I should have seen it coming.
I know she is the only guest in 6.5 years of Abb who truly hated my place. Everyone else has either liked it or loved it. So she can just suck it.
Just let it go. I know, easy to say. Don’t give her the satisfaction of a response.
Guests like this would not even be happy at the Ritz.
In the U.S. typically there are two knobs one of which is labeled with the word hot and one of which is labeled with the word cold. Typically the hot is one the left and the cold is on the right. I believe your’re referring to the lever style where the red mark is toward the left and the blue mark is toward the right. Interestingly, this is how my sink faucet works and people have trouble understanding it. Also, we usually don’t have two taps.
We used to call these “double beds.” Maybe some people think full means bigger than that. Maybe you could quote your description of the bed and explain what that means here. Suggest that for their next stay, they read the description very carefully and ask questions if something isn’t clear.
i am from Britain and can honestly stay I have never stayed anywhere in the world where I have complained that the bed size was wrong or about the shower controls. Doh! We are not all like this!
No. A full size bed and double bed are the same size. Both indicate smaller than a queen. A simple chart would be in order of width size: single, full/double, queen, king.
Ah also being a Brit I can understand the confusion about thinking that a full size bed would be bigger than a double but it would never enter my head to complain.
