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Okay guys, I’m here asking for help again. I received a review from this guest, and am working on a review for her. Will attach rough draft. I’m aware it has a bit of an angry tone (I am angry), and could use help softening it a bit. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.
Would not rent to this guest again. Shortly after checking in, she emailed me a long list of complaints, asking $75/night compensation.
On her list of complaints:
-Towels were not “laid out.” We have a large stack of towels available for guests to use in the hallway.
-Liner was not in trash bin (full box of liners in the drawer).
-An outlet was out in the master bedroom. There are 4 outlets in the master bedroom; upon her check-out, our maintenance person confirmed they are all in working order.
-A clogged sink they had to “manage and fix,” later downgraded to a “dirty sink they had to clean.” She never would specify which one she was speaking about, nor did she give us a chance to have someone come over and check out this alleged problem.
A couple of her complaints may actually had been valid. It looks like the cleaners missed the roof of the microwave in their cleaning, and the oven was not spotless. However, I would argue with her claim that they were therefore unable to cook.
We have a great, responsive cleaning crew (have only received 5 star cleanliness ratings with this crew until this guest), and we offered repeatedly to have them come and fix any problems. We could have, in fact, had that microwave and oven spotless by the time of her actual check-in, as we had allowed her an early check-in, but she was not responsive to my repeated attempts to have them come over and fix these supposed problems.
To top it all off, the group left the keys to the house in the lockbox–with the lockbox unlocked and hanging wide open–upon their departure, inviting any random person to enter out house. Beware. I will be much more careful about renting to first time Airbnb users in the future.
Hi Leilani, I didn’t respond to this thread before now but see you didn’t get a reply yet. I think the review is too long and too detailed, honestly. The most effective reviews are short, to the point and purely factual. I’m sure someone will come along and give you a great version but here’s mine for now:
“This was a difficult hosting experience and, unfortunately, I cannot recommend XXX. She was given a discount pre-arrival because we were only able to provide a small fridge during their stay. On arrival she sent a number of requests for further discounts, most of which were trivial (eg. the towels were not laid out properly on the beds). I offered several times to investigate and rectify the claims of sub-standard cleanliness in the kitchen but these offers were ignored.
Most importantly, I do not recommend this guest because they seriously compromised the security of my house. On departure, they not only failed to secure the house keys in the lockbox but left it wide open with the keys on display.”
Their complete and utter disrespect for your house security is disgusting - it seems like they did it deliberately. But you can’t actually say that in the review cos you can’t prove it. But I’m pretty sure that nobody in their right mind will rent to these feckers again if you just describe as it is.
I have a theory which is that guests and hosts all have a tipping point. Below this we will let the small stuff ride and still give a 5 star review. A light switch that doesn’t work or a carpet with some dirt on it. Not a problem. We coped fine. The stove didn’t heat up fast enough or the WiFi was bit slow. No worries. Or from the hosts point of view maybe they didn’t put out the rubbish or tell you about a breakage. Hey, don’t sweat the small stuff.
Then the tipping point is reached and after that every little thing is mentioned and complained about in the review. Too far from town. Towels not perfectly clean. That sunset promised in the listing didn’t eventuate. There was a little dirt on the carpet I might have missed when vacuuming. The kitchen was a little pokey. Are those sheets really 1000tc?
I’ve seen it myself a few times. In actual fact worse case scenario is they give you a four star review.
So it can seem as if you go from Hero to Zero real fast and wonder what happened! Up until now they’ve all given you great feedback.
In actual fact these people are a blessing as they pick up on the small stuff you probably need to take care of, which bother all guests a little, but other guests don’t mention and still give you a 5 star review.
After I get over the disappointment I realise that my 5 star review guests tell me what I am doing that is great but my 4 star, or lower (only 2 out of 160), review guests tell me what I can do better. Bless 'em.
@JamJerrupSunset This is very true, but what if they write a glowing review, mention nothing in the private feedback, but then leave only 4 stars. That isn’t constructive at all.
We are currently experiencing this right now. As we had our $9,000 fridge break on us due to a previous guest cranking the temperature way down (we now have a sign in the fridge… a bit ridiculous but it’s come to it). A few guests in a row have been compensated with a large mini fridge, $50 refund per night, and all ice/ cooler reimbursement, while we waited for a new part to arrive in the mail.
Our current guest, however, did not find this acceptable. Finally, I offered to refund them for their last day, IF they wanted to vacate the property. As I’m not going to let them make up more reasons to ask for more money back. I absolutely detest guests that clearly do not want to work with us (I’m sorry if we cannot buy a new $9,000 fridge and deliver same day?) to make an unfortunate situation better for all. Of course, they did not want to vacate the property.
In conclusion: “The situation is unacceptable. We will not work with you to make it work. But it is acceptable enough for us to stay and refuse to leave. Just give us $$$.”
This type of guest sends off HUGE red flags to me. We have protocols in place for a reason and we offered to work with Airbnb directly to find out what a comparable “inconvenience” fee could be. But we will not arbitrarily give into what a guest feels their melodrama was worth. On the first day, they couldn’t even find the front door.
Sub-Zero refrigerators tend to be in the $9,000.00 range. As they don’t work any better than much less expensive refrigerators; I don’t understand why anyone buys them. Also, when I worked in personal finance I had several clients who had Sub-Zero refrigerators that leaked water.
our sub zero turned 30 years old last month.
This past weekend we painted enamel on the shelves to make the insides fresh and new. Some of the metal was getting a little rusty on the shelf brackets.
It would be more than $9000 to replace it…and with the cabinetry, we would have to get the same sized unit or redo cabinets.
@EllenN - In homes that sell in certain price ranges, Sub-Zero refrigerators (or equivalently-expensive brands) are expected, or the next buyer will think you “cheaped-out” and move on to the next house. Crazy, but true.
My builder told me I needed a Wolf built-in microwave in my kitchen ($1500 installed) and I decided he was nuts! I had the cabinet designer build a deeper wall cabinet with the door that slides up and back (like a garage door) for an extra $200, then bought a $125 Panasonic microwave. It’s chugged along for six years now without problem. And when I sell my house, the door gets closed and all you see are pretty cherry cabinets.
Question from Australia - when you sell the house the appliances are part of the sale?
Down here the only kitchen appliance to stay is the the stove and maybe the dishwasher.
In the U.S. the general rule is that furnishings are not included in the sale of the house, but fixtures are. The difference is that it’s a fixture if you need tools (screwdriver, etc.) to remove it; it’s furnishing if you just need to unplug it. Gas ranges, washing machines, ceiling light fixtures stay with the house. Dryers, refrigerators, lamps do not. However, in the higher end homes that @PitonView described the buyer would probably negotiate to keep much of the furnishings.
I’ve found It’s very localized as to what is customary – in Northern Virginia, you are expected to leave all appliances. In Philadelphia, you might take your refrigerator but leave everthing else. Go figure.
I think it varies from place to place. But it’s interesting that washers and ranges must stay but dryers and fridges can go. They are all appliances that plug in.
Probably up to the individual seller and their realtor what appliances can stay?
Trying to remember what came with my house. I have replaced everything since I bought it.
Yes, it’s up to the buyer and seller what stays and what goes, but at least where I live the seller taking furnishings and leaving fixtures is standard. If buyer and/or seller want something different they include their wishes in the contract.
The difference between washers/gas ranges and dryers and refrigerators is that all you need to do to remove a refrigerator or dryer is pull the plug out of the wall. You need tools to remove a washing machine or a gas range.
Oh!!! I see!! In Hawaii we don’t have natural gas! So most people have electric appliances. I applied my situation to the general question, forgetting that in our state, things are different.
I use a line to dry. Mainly because the sun is always available and I feel dryers ruin clothes. I have been line drying my stuff in here in California and everything gets dry in a snap…
My son, who is staying here a while, said, “hey Mama, it hasn’t rained once since I have been here, where is all this water for all these people coming from?”
I told him he needs to watch the movie “Chinatown.”
The summer I started line drying clothes, the gas company refused to believe the drop in my usage and sent someone around to double check my numbers. That really brought home how much natural gas our dryer uses.
On sunny summer days I can get two loads dry in one day on the line. But in the spring and autumn, only one. While I have a friend whose husband insists on line drying even in the dead of winter, cold wet laundry hurts my hands so I sigh and am grateful for modern appliances.
Do you line dry guest sheets? I am torn, because I suspect the dryer kills anything that might be lingering, but sunshine is the best disinfectant. (Or is that only for state secrets? I’m tired. The baby is having a growth spurt)
Sunshine is almost as good as the sanitize heat cycle on a dryer, according to the biologist-mom whose site link (Stop the stomach flu) I provided on some other cleaning thread. And the high efficiency washers that “sense” the load size and adjust water accordingly – she calls them “germ soup” containers.
