Leaving a Bad Review for a Non-Communicator

21

Good insight on the “irritation factor.”

I send a message with the entry code, instructions on parking, etc. and at the end ask “Please let us know your approximate arrival time so we can make sure everything is ready for you.” I’d say I out of 10 never respond.

On the flip side, I was booking a hotel recently and as part of the reservation process, there was a question “What time will you arrive?” To my surprise it annoyed the heck out of me. It was one more thing to think about in planning the trip. I didn’t know how traffic would be or the other traveler’s plans, so I didn’t know exactly when I would be arriving. I paid for the darn room to be ready at check-in time. What? Are they planning to clean it at the last possible moment?

So I’m rethinking my query to the guest. I really don’t ask it to know their arrival time, of course the place is clean and ready before posted check in time. I realized it is more to get a sense of comfort with the illusion of knowing the guest a bit better. And probably quite useless.

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22

I ask for arrival time as one of those standard pre-book questions on IB. Out of over 1000 stays I can think of one time when I would have helped to know that info.

A guest arrived via uber just after check in time but I didn’t know they had arrived. I popped into the room from my side of the house for one last pre-arrival check and the dude was sitting there on the bed. I was mortified of course and apologized. I still got a 5 star review.

That said, asking is all about me and generally not about improving the guest experience. At least one recent thread had a host sharing that she got a review wherein the guest complained that host contacted her too much.

23

I send a message when I receive a booking, thanking them and letting them know I’ll contact a day or two before their arrival with key code, parking.

Day or two before I ask for approximate arrival time and, I say, more importantly, are you coffee drinkers. If they are I leave freshly ground organic coffee for them. Arrival between 4-6 works for me. For some reason I like to be around in case of entry problem.

I send a message after arrival with more info and then one the night before as a reminder of checkout time.

Seems like a lot of damn messages. The only one I care about a response to is the arrival time and everyone complies.

I recently stayed at an Air, the host never contacted me about confirmation or anything to do with arrival and how I was supposed to get in. I contacted her and she immediately told me how to get in. Just though it odd not to send something to guests.

24

Does she have the automatic check in set up? Maybe most her guests just follow that?

25

@kkc Not sure if she did or not, but first told me to text her when I got close and she would send the code. Fortunately she was very prompt when I texted when I got close.

26

As guess that is working for her. It prevents early check in without getting a smartlock.

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27

Yeah, my very unsmartlock is controlled by me but I do send the code out at least the day before.

Everyone does things differently. But, I wouldn’t want to jump to immediately, the text could be easily missed, then you’d have a guest upset because they couldn’t get in.

28

If communication is essential for you to feel comfortable with your guests, make it essential for the guest as well:
“Please give me an ETA and I will send door code (etc.)”
“When you arrive, message me so I can give you…”
I am always a bit cranky if I’m tired, and have no interest in, or patience for, communication-unless it affects me directly & immediately. If, for example, you wanted to bring me a refreshment I knew you wanted
or had to BRIEFLY show me how to access or work some essential gadget…
Otherwise, don’t call us, we’ll call you! And I operate the same way with my guests, even calling it “benign neglect” in my House Guide😉

29

I believe this is a tell. How important is acknowledging your messages? I may have missed it, do you call them if they don’t answer & there is information you need.

30

As long as I get the communication I need, they are a good communicator.

Many of my guests use email only & don’t use the notifications.

If they don’t respond on a timely basis I call or text them. It’s my responsibility to use the tools available to me get the info I need.

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31

Then I’d say she shouldn’t have booked a home share.

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32

Yes we’ve stopped booking home shares. So much pressure!

We stayed with a very good host on Vancouver Island this summer, and there was nothing I would fault her with, but it was so exhausting.

33

Pressure to do what? Exhausting how?

The whole concept of a home share is that guests would book them because they want to have someone to relate to in a new place. They are looking for that sort of interaction, as opposed to a hotel room.

This idea that people now book a private room home share but dislike having to relate to the host in their own home they are sharing with guests, or consider it some sort of imposition, is just bizarre to me.

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34

“Better suited for a hotel” comes to mind.

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35

Ooooh the ultimate insult.

36

Hahahaha! I had a guest JUST like this staying for a whole week in the summer …she rang for directions on the way and also rang for the key code when she arrived with her parents, in laws and children. This woman ran her own, mostly on-line, company, I remain mystified

37

I’d be afraid to book a home share for more than a night or 2. What if the host and I “don’t mix”?

Shoot, I don’t want to “home share” with my own family (kids included) for more than a couple of days! I like my space :joy:

38

I exchange quite a few messages with guests between the time they book and when they arrive. It’s not that hard to tell if you jive. And so far, I’ve not had any guest who didn’t.

Home shares are not suitable for everyone, but for some travelers, it’s exactly what they want, have lots of experience with that type of accommodation, and are able to easily adapt to all sorts of situations.

I had one guest who had booked 4 different places for a 2 week holiday, figuring if she didn’t like one, she wouldn’t be stuck there long. It was her first trip on her own, as she usually travels with her husband.

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39

Are use Airbnb’s a lot and after the initial message confirming the reservation I don’t want to communicate much with the host.

As a host, I think them for the reservation, ask if they have been vaccinated and give them the code to enter the house. I ask if they have any other questions. A few days before they arrive by send them a message saying we are looking forward to their stay and do they have any idea what time they’ll be arriving. That’s it.

40

Correct. All the properties have Ring cameras. . . So we do, indeed, know that folks have arrived if we choose to pull up the camera, etc. So the piece of mind is there (great!), but the rudeness remains when folks say NOTHING throughout their stay. I just couldn’t imagine doing that as a guest.

So I guess I rephrase/repeat my question: What does “Communication” mean when you’re reviewing guests then? Seeing as we only have 3 sub-categories to review guests. . . That says that “Communication” must be important, right?

And if a guest makes a reservation (instant book) and then NEVER communicates again, even though we give them instructions/salutations/greetings/goodbyes, doesn’t that mean that they have bad communication? What’s worse than no communication? 2-stars in this sub-category is brutal. But isn’t that our job as good hosts to be honest? Maybe 3-stars then when we get the silent treatment?

Just 2-stars in Communication. They followed house rules and the home was left respectfully. I I selected “I would host again.” I in fact said those exact words in my review of the guest in the original topic/question up in Post #1. However, when the full-review is averaged out for the guest, I think it was a 4-star review overall (as we all know, hosts don’t have an “Overall” score like guests do that simply overrides all the sub-categories).

Yep! And our communications are actually quite brief and are ONLY what the guest needs. In the past, we added that “please confirm receipt” thing and some guests hated it. So we nixed it. Maybe they felt we were telling them how to have good manners? And if they wanted to treat us disrespectfully as part of their “vacation” then that is what they wanted to do?

I think that any host deserves to be told “Sounds great!” or “OK!” when a host arranges a greeting, salutation, detailed instructions, the door code, reminders about where to park, etc. to a guest. If we want to build a great community (which I think we are well on our way to doing) then guests need to know that there is a person on the other line and you should simply acknowledge them for 3 seconds during the whole process of being a guest in someone’s property.

Imagine walking into Walmart and the greeter says “Welcome to Walmart” and you completely ignore them. Pretty terrible, right? I’m saying “Welcome to listing XYZ.” They ignore me. It’s not nice. And it means you’re not good at Communication.

Let me be clear: this happens only ~5% of the time! The full silent treatment. So I wanted your recommendations on how hard to handle this in the review them when it does. I think maybe we’ll go with 3-stars on Communication instead of 2-stars? And maybe add the narrative on them ignoring me to the private feedback and not public? I just want to be a good host for future hosts too (as I hope every prior host is for me too).

And we have another 25% of guests that maybe ONCE will say “Thanks!” or OK!" or “We had a great time!” when ignoring all other communications. They are immediately in the 5-star area then. So it doesn’t take much! Just getting ignored the entire stay is tough.