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!
I had a young lady book my suite for 2 weeks to attend an English Language immersion program. She was coming from Mexico City and I have friends her age from Mexico City so I asked her if she would like to join us for a dinner. She agreed. (I am located in Boston, MA)
I knew that her English wasn’t great so I took the time to give her very detailed instructions to get to the suite and I also provided my private landline number (to wake me up) if there were any issues.
Instead, she chose to figure out how to get to my home via public transportation and ended up stranded late at night. I happened to look at my cell phone messages at 11 pm and saw what she did so I told her to take a ride share to the suite but instead she decided to walk 2 miles late at night with a suitcase. When she arrived she was distraught so I stayed up with her and talked and gave her info on Boston and how to get to her classes.
I then took her grocery shopping the next day and when she wasn’t putting food in her cart, I found an employee who spoke Spanish and she helped her shop.
Anyway, fast forward to about a week in and I’m confirming the dinner party when she informs me that she is leaving the day before.
Then the review comes - 3 stars because I think she couldn’t find her way because she didn’t read/understand the directions and that this is my fault?
Here’s her 3 star review:
The reception was the framework of my trip in a not so good way, I think we could not fully connect because of being from different countries. Even so I support myself in some other situations and the place was quiet.
Do you think Airbnb would even consider removing it. She gave me 3 stars because I was unresponsive host (My instructions message clearly says I go to be at 9 pm and if there is an issue to call my landline.
I’m really tired of guests blaming hosts for issues that are out of our control.
I doubt Airbnb would remove as it’s a vaguely written guest opinion of their experience (not as if it said, “this was supposed to be an 8 bedroom mansion” or “the property was not lakefront” – i.e…, obviously factually wrong.)
My first instinct would be to ignore and let it get buried. Did it put a huge dent in your rating average?
The only concern that might make me respond is if you get many foreign visitors and they might interpret the review as unwelcoming. I would keep it very brief: “We’re sorry our guest had such a difficult time navigating public transportation. We provide detailed directions, advise when use of a car service is preferable, and are available by mobile to assist.”
Since I’m not a native English speaker, I cannot make out what she was trying to convey with that phrase. Can you or someone explain to me what she means by this?
Since there seems to be some stuff lost in translation I have to say that this is one of the most important reasons for us to get the personal details of our guests as early as possible so we can make sure that the communication online and offline can be handled in the guest’s native language to minimize the risks of misunderstandings.
In one case such misunderstandings even occured with a guest who also spoke my mother language (German) when they couldn’t find the extra pillow and blanket for one of the two beds that we have. The beds are usually separated (for business workers etc.) but couples move them together and despite explaining to the guests at the check-in that there are extra pillows and blankets in the drawers below each bed they were unable to realize that the drawers of one bed were facing the other bed that they pushed it against - so to the guests there were no drawers.
They asked for an additional blanket via chat and I said I’m happy to provide them with a third (!!!) blanket for one person and if they made sure that they checked the drawers and never received a response. They asked us to just put the blanket in the room while they were gone, which we did.
On check-out day I asked them again if they were too cold since they asked for 3 blankets (for one person) and they answered: ‘But there were no second blanket and pillow for one of the beds’. I insisted that they would go back to the studio with me so I can show them and pushed the beds apart to show them the drawers with everything they were looking for…
It was just a bed with drawers. How can this be so difficult???
That’s similar to what happened to you with the directions that you provided but the guest was going rogue and thought they knew better. Nothing we can do about that…
I did all this and went above and beyond. She just didn’t bother to translate the communication or ask questions. She’s basically saying that it’s my fault that she had trouble getting to the suite. With over 1000 guests no one has had trouble with my directions.
But you really have missed the point. It’s her blaming me for her misunderstandings.
No, I did understand correctly. Perhaps my English isn’t reflecting how I perceived it.
Of course you did everything right.
I just wanted to express how hard it can be (even in my case speaking the same language) when some guests are simply immune to directions (that work for everyone else) and decide to do it their way and then getting up in a mess resulting in a (unjustified) blame on you.
But since such ignorance is not violating any terms of Airbnb I don’t see good chances to have that unfortunate review removed.
@Lynick4442 I don’t think you’d have any luck getting the review removed.
It’s one line in one review, I don’t think it will have any impact, although the 3 stars is unfortunate.
You could always leave a brief response, making it clear that the guest was given clear and extensive location and check-in info, as all your guests are, but apparently failed to bother to translate them into her native language if she didn’t understand them.
For my cleaning routine it makes a big difference as it requires less moving the beds around - I’m not a spring chicken anymore.
But do you think it is really that difficult to understand that each bed has its own drawers and it’s too much to expect that the guests would check both sides of the beds as all guests find their beds separated when checking in?
I just had one of those! Guest who gave a bad review because they didn’t like the road they had to drive on to get to the house, or that there were insects outside in summer in the country and the area didn’t have enough things to do?
My negative reviews are always about things beyond our control and have nothing to do with our accommodations or how we treat guests! AirBnB should remove reviews that have nothing to do with the stay itself. I once read a very bad review because their vacation was spoiled by rain. How is that the Hosts fault?
Even better, set up the drawers so that the ones needed for bedding when the beds are pushed together (to make a king-size bed) are not accessible when the beds are apart. This way, when the beds are separated, guests can’t access the king-size bedding drawers, but when the beds are pushed together, those drawers are easy to open. Essentially, both sets of drawers should open to the same side.
No towel service (they stayed for 2 nights and never asked for additional towels - each guest gets 3 towels on check-in day!!!)
No breakfast - which was never advertised or mentioned anywhere (booked by a family member so the actual guests never saw the photos of our place or read the description either).
So there are things so far outside of our control and BDC didn’t see any reason why those reviews should be removed.
I just experienced something very similar regarding your late check-in experience - I have a 9pm check-in limit as well, but ask the guests when they plan to arrive. The night before, this guest tells me midnight. At 2:00 in the morning I get a call that the building entrance PIN isn’t working. So I immediately opened the door remotely. I checked the entry set-up the next morning and it was correctly done, so it might have been an odd glitch, but it would have been the first in the three years we’ve used the system. The guest was very unpleasant on the phone, but was fine during her stay.
I also got a 3-star review, but she claimed that there was cigarette odor in the condo throughout her visit, that the towels smelled like mildew, and that my carpet was nasty - I have never received such complaints in the 7 years I’ve used Airbnb. I also have a clearly-stated non-smoking policy and our building does not allow smoking. There has been no smoking in our unit since I purchased it in 2007. So her review was b.s.-just vindictive anger about the check-in, which, despite her PIN issue (which actually was set up correctly, but I suspect she couldn’t find the text), she entered the building 3 minutes after arriving.
I called Airbnb and told then that the cigarette comment was a real problem for me, as my non-smoking policy is an important part of my listing. They wouldn’t remove it.
The changes I’ve made: I keep sending the guest messages until they confirm that they have received the building entry PIN via text. When I arrive to clean, I test the building entry PIN. I also tell ‘after 9’ guests (they normally ask if late check-ins are okay) that that’s fine, but that I turn off my phone at 9pm. I don’t actually turn it off, as I’m paranoid about guest check-in problems, but it seems like a good idea to encourage them to be prepared.
There are always going to be unimaginable check-in problems. I open the unit door remotely and leave a key on the counter. I tell the guests that in their check-in instructions, but I once had a guest call me from my door, telling me that they did not know how to get in. I told them to turn the doorknob.
Two weeks ago I had a guest complain that the lint filter on my dryer was located inside the dryer rather than outside, and that I didn’t alert my guests to this, which could result in the apartment building burning down. We check the filter after each visit, but I just scratched my head and moved on. We have hosted over 700 visits, but there will be more new and strange things in the future, I’m sure. The great thing is that the rare 3 star review no longer drags our overall rating down.
This actually was your fault because you allowed a third-party booking. When w guest books I asked them certain questions about their full address age and make sure the photo and the profile picture matches along with it. i also require any addition guests to send selfies. I require this within 24 hours so if there are problem the guest can cancel completely penalty free.
This is where you usually find out that it’s a third-party booking and since you get no protection from Airbnb if these guests cause a problem you have no recourse.
I do help the guest create an account and I will approve them even without a review and while it’s a little bit more work for me to go through this process, it gives me great peace of mind, knowing that I have protection and that’s more important than one simple booking.
the few times I’ve made exceptions. they have never gone well so I see no point in doing it anymore and like this case, I see no point in going out of my way to help people outside the country or who need a little extra help I have a very detailed manual.
People can do their own research but I’m happy to help if they ask but no more volunteering.
How can it be my fault for “allowing” a third party booking? Guest are supposed to book for themselves and until the parents of the guest who booked showed up we were under the impression that the person who booked himself would be staying with us. At the time of check-in, we received an elderly couple who came to town for the birth of their grandchild. It didn’t cross my mind to refuse access to them since they didn’t make the reservation themselves.
They seemed to be understanding about not getting breakfast in bed since I explained that we don’t and never did offer that. A father-to-be booked this accommodation while the wife was in labor. I just tried to be friendly. The son later turned sour - for I don’t know what reason and gave us a bad review.
Ideally, I would be handling the bookings like you do (and probably will from now on). I wasn’t sure too which extent I can bug the guests to provide every possible shred of identity verification within 24 hours otherwise they (?) can cancel the reservation.
You wrote:
So what happens if they don’t provide the required information and DON’T cancel within 24 hours?
I would say that roughly 20% of our reservations are done through family members who visit their family when they are with us. With this one exception mentioned above - they all went well. I understand the legal implications of responsibility and I’ve been on the phone with CS regarding such situations to find out where I’m at when sh*t hits the fan - and the CS rep told me that the person who booked will be held responsible if any damage occurs. It never got to the point to make a claim but yeah, I hear where you’re coming from but in a few rare instances a booking like that comes (or tries to come) through.
