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I noticed the trend with an increasing number of guests wo are not bothered to reply to my messages. I send all the check in information about a week before they arrive and it’s really frustrating that guests don’t reply. When I greet them I ask them if they received my messages and they all say they received them. Even a simple “10x” would go a long way!
I started thinking about this issue the other day… could it be that guests are now used to apps like Facebook messanger and Whats app? These apps show that a message has been “seen”, seen as in the receiver clicked on the message. Airbnb does not have this feature.
Do you think it would be helpful if Airbnb showed us if a guest received and has clicked on our messages (hopefully to read them)?
Very timely since I just had this exchange over text:
Hi XXX, I got no response to my Airbnb message or my email. I don’t like to communicate via text, but am resorting to that since I haven’t heard from you and I’m assuming you’re still planning on checking in today?
To which the guest responded: I’m so sorry! I thought we did respond a few times. My apologies!
I got all your information and appreciate having it. We are in the area and planning to do some sight seeing and go to dinner. Probably looking to check-in some time between 5 and 7. Would it be ok if I send you a message about a half hour or so before we would like to check-in?
Anyway, yes it would be helpful, but still wouldn’t tell me when they think they’ll be arriving and that is what I mainly want to know.
No I think a read notification would just increase the laziness and lack of communication. I just send another message or text asking if they received the information.
That is odd that your guest said this, as I just had a guest say the same. I asked her for more clarification and never heard a response. Air cancelled her booking saying something was wrong with the account. She rebooked immediately with full information and verifications and all messages have worked since.
I have a possible answer to that statement. It could be that they have it set to alert their regular phone text messaging when they get an Airbnb app message and they are trying to reply in a text message and not seeing the little pop-up that says “please go to the app to respond”. Maybe it doesn’t even say that on their phone, like it does on mine. It does flash by very quickly. With newbie guests, I let them know when I’m first contacting them that I need to know that they’ve seen my messages, because it doesn’t show on the app that we have seen that they’ve read it. A simple “ok” is all I need. Even at that some of them still ignore me. It is very frustrating!
Yay!! Someone who thinks like me, I am so sick of guests not acknowledging they have received my messages. And even worse are the ones that you leave dinner or an evening activity to answer something they could have googled themselves, and then they don’t acknowledge that you have solved their issue!
It makes me mad! I do wonder sometimes whether they think we are machines that send automated responses and not real people.
I think they just have an idea that they deserve to be served because they’re paying to stay in our places. They see themselves as the customer who gets to make demands because they are paying.
Yes so much for the sharing economy, and appreciation we are so much cheaper than hotels. It’s a good job most guests are not like that or I would give up.
I am always amazed when guests ding value, like they have no awareness of the cost of mortgages and bills, facilities or payment for labour. They must think we only do it for their company.
We get 4’s on value sometimes and have had one person complain that the cleaning fee is too high but I try not to too upset about it. They just truly don’t understand the work that goes into maintaining rooms for rent in a home on top of your day job.
Yes, I had someone write the other day they could have cleaned the whole apartment in half an hour, ridiculous! It has a spa, a BBQ, alfresco dining area, a fully equipped kitchen, gym room, lounge room and of course the bedroom and bathroom; not to mention washing and changing the sheets and towels. In half an hour!!
I have been messaging and finally calling a guest since 11am, to get him to move his massive Range Rover out of my car park as in order to fit it in, he has blocked my neighbours access to their rear flat. No response at all. My listing states in about 4 places, NO SUVS, large people carriers vans etc. I finally contacted Air to have them deal with him. FYI, I have removed parking access from both listings now, absolutely fed up to the sun and back with guests not reading, ignoring, taking advantage of etc etc.
I do actually have that in my welcome message, a polite reminder of where the public car parks are if they are bringing a larger vehicle. I have just removed the parking facility for one room as I am getting hammered in my star ratings due to people just taking the mick, so now only one room has parking and they can bring a bloody Sherman tank…
She said I used to clean hotel rooms. Hotel rooms are very different to villas with a spa, kitchen, BBQ and gym!
She wrote it in response to my review about the mess she left the place in, including a large blue stain on the timber floor. Any host reading her reply is going to know that you can’t do a turnover of an entire villa in half an hour!
I also had a similar one a while ago and in her reply she said: I vacuumed the place what more was I to do? Why would you vac a place where you had stayed as a couple for one night?
