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Hi all. I am a superhost in an urban city in California. I’ve been hosting for 3 years and have over 200 positive reviews.
I’ve learned a lot hosting on Airbnb- primarily that most guests are great and most problems can be mitigated with effective communication.
I recently had a couple stay that were throughly displeased with just about everything, including a few things that weren’t really anything to do with my Airbnb. They requested a refund for everything they had to “endure” (lol) and I referred them to the Resolution Center (to my knowledge they have yet to request their refund officially).
I’m a little stumped on how to review them. They left things neat, followed the rules, and responded to my messages. But the issue is that they aren’t well suited for Airbnb. Here are their complaints:
A neighborhood dog was barking. (Not my dog or an adjacent neighbors dog, just a dog. This has not been complained about before or since)
The smell of fireworks set off by someone bothered their environmental allergies. (We did not let off the fireworks, it was less than a week before the 4th of July, there are legal fireworks stands on every corner, the unit has two true HEPA air purifiers)
The mattress was “lumpy” in one specific spot (Mattress is just under 3 years old, purchased new, $1K so not low quality. Inspection of mattress after their check out by me personally did not find any issues with the bed frame supports or mattress)
A neighbors motion sensor garage light went off during the night and they did not find the blinds sufficient to block the light (Never been complained about before or since but I did go ahead and buy black out curtains- been meaning to do so anyway- hubs will install them tomorrow)
On their last day, they saw a dead bug in the bathroom (might be a legit complaint except for the fact that I disclose in my listing that our area has an increasing population of certain insects, articles have been done on it by the local newspaper, we receive monthly commercial level pest control and my listing specifically says guests may see a dead bug or two, that any problem beyond that should be reported to me so pest control can be dispatched)
I want to save future hosts from dealing with these folks unrealistic expectations. But, they were here in town for medical reasons so I don’t want to pile on them unnecessarily. Suggestions?
Maybe something like “XX left the house clean and tidy, followed house rules, and answered messages in a timely manner. They did have a lot of petty complaints about things that had nothing to do with my rental, like some random dog barking in the distance, the smell of fireworks from somewhere (not me or my neighbors), a neighbor’s motion sensor light that went on in the night that woke them up (there are blinds). They asked for a refund for these things, as well as one dead bug they saw in the bathroom their last morning, and a supposed lump in the mattress, which I checked out after they left and couldn’t detect. I felt they weren’t very adaptable to anything that wasn’t like home. To be fair, they weren’t just on vacation, they had personal business to attend to here, but they may have been happier in a hotel.”
A dog barking, the smell of fireworks a week before July 4th, an evanescent mattress lump, a neighbor’s garage light set off by a motion sensor, a dead bug found the last day [has the coroner estimated a time of death?]. My God, these poor guests had a stay in Hell! A total refund is just for starters. Now let’s talk pain and suffering.
My review might be like this: “Cannot recommend this guest. Although they respected the property, followed the rules, communicated well, they complained and requested a refund based on trivial things: a neighborhood dog barking (not the neighbor’s, just a dog they heard), the smell of fireworks the week before July 4th, a neighbor’s garage light going on based on its motion sensor (we now have black-out shades), a dead bug they found on their last day (we have commercial pest control and, yes, this can happen, circle of life).”
By the way – wow, just wow! – 200 reviews in three years! That’s amazing. You must be doing everything right. Thank you, also, for such a well written post, a pleasure to read.
There’s a lot of wisdom here. I’m sure you’ll get smart input. Good luck.
Yes! These are both great responses and definitely the direction I need to go in. I almost feel bad for these people, they were so unhappy. I am actually pretty generous with credits when I feel it’s something that negatively impacted the guests stay and is directly related to my Airbnb, even if it wasn’t preventable or a big deal.
But a neighborhood dog barking? Like, at what point am I not responsible for the world outside the front door y’all?
I just have to remember to not let my brain get tricked that these perspectives are in any way representative of the average guest experience or expectations.
There are people who just love to complain. Those guests probably come up with petty complaints when they go out to eat (“There’s too much ice in my water glass”, “The people at that table are talking too loud”) at stores (“This was marked in aisle at $1.24, why is it ringing in at $1.26?”), probably even at home (“The neighbor boy just ran across our lawn to retrieve his ball, Fred. Can you go tell them to not let him play ball in their front yard?”)
You gotta kind of feel sorry for folks like this, who constantly focus on the negative.
I d wonder – you say they were there for medical reasons – whether you just didn’t catch them at their best, whether whatever is wrong medically has distorted their perceptions. But, as @Muddy has said before, you’re not reviewing them as a person but as a guest.
The good news is that they are almost the model guest, except for the complaining and refund-seeking behavior at the end.
But, as has been asked, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?”
To me the issue isn’t that they complained. It’s that they requested a refund for their “inconveniences”.
I’d make the review short: “Cannot recommend these guests. Although they left my home neat and communicated well, they asked for a refund for issues out of my control”
Medical treatment, lights streaming in at night, and a barking dog does not a happy guest make. Brace yourself for a poor review even if you do give them some money back.
I like your review suggestion much better than mine. I had actually missed the part at first where the OP said they had asked for a refund.
I wouldn’t refund these people a penny- their complaints are absurd.
And medical treatments? I have a friend who went through 2 radical mastectomies, chemo and radiation and I never heard her complain about anything while she was going through all that. She knew that keeping a positive attitude was the best thing for her recovery.
Review:
"[Guests’ names] have mastered the art of complaining with remarkable precision. They possess an extraordinary talent for amplifying even the tiniest inconveniences. From a distant dog’s bark to the faintest whiff of fireworks, they flawlessly detect the most minute disturbances.
Their relentless pursuit of a flawless mattress led them to discover a microscopic imperfection, triggering a cascade of discontent. To shield future guests from the intrusion of a neighbor’s motion sensor light, we’ve taken decisive measures by installing blackout curtains.
Even a solitary bug sighting in the bathroom turned into an epic saga of dissatisfaction. It’s evident that [guests’ names] are experts in their craft, always aiming to secure refunds from their hosts.
Fellow hosts, brace yourselves for an encounter with these seasoned complainers. Their expectations may defy the boundaries of reason. May your patience and resilience endure as you navigate the realm of [guests’ names]!"
You mentioned they were there for medical reasons, so they don’t feel well. When one is not well, everything seems like a nuisance. I would just write “Guests suited best for a hotel stay.” A host reading that might reach out to you for specifics.
Cannot recommend. Guest had numerous complaints about things beyond our listing (fireworks, dogs, security lights etc) and wanted a refund for things we have no control over.
The OP has only been hosting for three years but will soon find out that this type of guest is something that happens every so often.
I agree that some people are just the complaining kind.
Like the guest I had who let me know that the sea wasn’t blue enough, or the couple who deducted a location point because there was construction on the road to the beach.
They tried to get a refund from the host - but haven’t done so from Airbnb so I’d forget about them.
It seems that they were reasonable guests in every other way apart from their complaining so the review should reflect that.
Did any previous reviews mention that they were ‘entitled’?
I imagine the guests will itemize the details of their horrific experience in their review. Then the host will have the opportunity to respond, mentioning how he took one suggestion on board, the blackout curtains, and has zero control over the smell of fireworks on July 4 weekend.
The house and mountain view looks nice but the road to climb the mountain is so scary that Uber drivers complained and it was difficult to get uber to pick me from there. This made it difficult for me to go out even to the store . I almost missed my flight because it took 2 hours before I got one. I got there at night and the next day i had difficulty getting a ride so i called to be moved to another place on the second day but was told to move out and they will get back to me. No one got back to me. I called 4 days later and was told i cannot be refunded so I moved back in and they offered to pay part of my uber bill if i send them the bill. After my experience , i decided not to send the bill. Under the bed and furniture was dirty, dusty with dead insects. Big reptile and crawling insect like cricket and spiders crawling around the house so we were scared to sleep at night. I called the host who promised to spray it after he saw the Chameleon but didn’t until we left
The house and mountain view looks nice but the road to climb the mountain is so scary that Uber drivers complained and it was difficult to get uber to pick me from there. This made it difficult for me to go out even to the store . I almost missed my flight because it took 2 hours before I got one. I got there at night and the next day i had difficulty getting a ride so i called to be moved to another place on the second day but was told to move out and they will get back to me. No one got back to me. I called 4 days later and was told i cannot be refunded so I moved back in and they offered to pay part of my uber bill if i send them the bill. After my experience , i decided not to send the bill. Under the bed and furniture was dirty, dusty with dead insects. Big reptile and crawling insect like cricket and spiders crawling around the house so we were scared to sleep at night. I called the host who promised to spray it after he saw the Chameleon but didn’t until we left 