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Aaww, no … we LOVE the Dutch and missed them this year because we got booked out by the French couples …
It’s a thing … I’ve never found the bedside lamps still plugged in when guests leave. Maybe they think it wastes electricity …
No, no, you don’t do that … that’s your next week’s meals. I love it when guests buy a dozen eggs when they’re only staying three days - especially as they always get the organic ones laid by happy hens. Omelettes for lunch for the next few days!
Anyway, congrats on the SH and nil illegitimi carborundum!
The only time I’ve ever unplugged a bedside lamp is when there’s not a free A/C outlet by the bed to plug in my phone charger (or laptop charger). I encountered it so much in my travels that I setup my listing so that every nightstand in all 4 bedrooms has 2 USB ports and 2 free A/C outlets on top of it. I see this is getting common in hotel rooms now, too.
In my listing, my guests very frequently plug the floor lamps into different outlets. I have the floor lamps plugged into outlets that are controlled by wall switches. I know what happens: the guests turn them on with the switch on the wall, then turn them off with the switch on the lamp, then wonder why they don’t turn on with the wall switch or vice versa. Of course, I go over that in the house tour… Now it’s just something to check on my final pass through the house after cleaning.
So true! We got a 4 from a twit of a guest and my thought is that now we look like a real house, not a fake listing. (Plus, her review makes her look like a nutter, and my response was angelic) Score 1 for the good guys!
There are quite a few threads on here about the reason why the Dutch and the French often don’t give 5 stars. It’s partly attributable to the education system - nobody gets full marks. Ever. Because there’s always room for improvement. So it’s kind of ingrained. A “cultural thing”, if you will.
I’ve hosted many guests from the Netherlands and France (80+).
I have found it to be true. When I get a 5* from them, I dance with joy.
I spent about twenty minutes putting together on paper my thoughts about the situation detailed in my initial post of this thread. The input from everyone here is appreciated and helped me put together what I wanted to say to Air.
I mentioned that besides people living here, so do bugs. Someone (the bad review guests) coming from somewhere that is 35° further north from the equator is not going to expect bugs and it wasn’t fair to give a low review based on what is a way of life here.
I asked that the review be removed as it was unfair.
When I called, the connection was great which was a relief and the CSR had great language skills. They allowed me to speak my piece and then gave me a boilerplate response. So they are going to review it.
yes, a French family stayed early summer, and I BENT OVER BACKWARDS to help them, I drove around with them looking for parking, we chatted and bonded, we laughed, and I thought we’d really got on well!
4 stars, “we’d love to stay again”. I messaged back, that I’d rather they didn’t stay, if I’m only worth 4 stars.
“Oh, so only people who give you 5 stars can stay?”
Well that precisely sums up the ridiculousness of the airbnb rating system and how it FAILS. You had nice guests, they enjoyed their stay, you liked them… the only issue is that they gave you 4*. In the rest of the universe, 4* is good. So… EVERYONE loses out. You lose a guest. Guest loses the nice place that they;re familiar with and end up booking a hotel. Airbnb loses on commission.
Hope this doesn’t sound xenophobic, but looking through 2 years of reviews, European visitors are the only ones who have given us 4 star reviews, after glowing, complimentary narratives. Just wish Airbnb understood that some folks think 4 stars is good—compared to 5 star hotel. : (
I should have indicated I was joking. I love my Dutch guests.
In my market research background we learned the Dutch tend to be more honest/direct in their feedback. Was there room for improvement? Yes? Well, certainly not a 5 then!
It’s a trait I much appreciate in regular life, and have noticed in some dutch friends. It’s not a good fit with Airbnb’s draconian view of guest satisfaction.
You described every thing I dispose about hosting to most people. They give you a glowing review on a perfect experience then go online and drop some stars just because I never give 5 star reviews. Arrrrrrrrrgghhhhh. The more you do for them they more they take advantage in my experience
