I sympathise - I have a moronic handyman. When my hair goes grey, it will be his fault.
Luckily I am somewhat handy so when something goes wrong I can often fix it or have an idea what needs to be done. When my washing machine was hooked up last time it “didn’t work.” The techs forgot to turn the water supply to the washer back on. I can only imagine how many homeowners would be calling for service.
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I don’t think more rules are the solution since guests won’t read them anyways. I learned on this forum not to make reactive rules in response to bad guest behavior. I think having better boundaries will get your further: limiting communication to the app, referring them back to your website, and not replying at night.
I hope you left these guests an honest review and sent the offer for laundry service through the app.
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Just need to add:
For some hosts, 10pm is not late - in fact, some hosts get inquiries or texts any time of the day or night (when people want to know info before they book and are a few time zones away, they might not take into consideration the time difference). Also, I for one would want a guest to text me ANY time if there is a problem or question simply because I really do want to know about a water leak or a strange noise.
I think the key here is to start putting the information most often asked (how do I get to xxx? Where is the yyy? How do you you turn on the zzz?) into a document - I put one on the bed so that they physically have to move it to get into the bed lol - and hope that they can look there first. If not, after the first question you can refer them to it “oh, that’s in the doc, on page 2 I think. Can you look there, and look there if u have any questions in the future?”
Remember, to many people time is relative - for example most of my guests are up at 5 am and leave before 7, they would laugh if i told them that they could talk to me only between x and y, simply because that is not when they most need my interaction.
You might have to bite the bullet and expect the occasional interruption as the cost of doing business. We live in a 24 hour world and more and more people are born into and live that life.
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I meant that text etiquette is the same as phone etiquette!! Good advice on the reactive rules (new term for me); I did the same before and then reversed them. I will write my new “boundaries” below in a second!
the family considered itself “gracious” by not leaving me a review at all. I followed suit.
alas, perhaps I should have let sleeping dogs lie, but I wrote them after waiting out the 14 days just to say, “just thought you would want to know that the tech reversed hot and cold” which was the third failure which still kept them from washing. that loosed the flood gates about how gracious they were and how I should have refunded them. i felt i had to respond with…but it was YOUR choice (given my concierge solution) and btw you bugged the tar out of me (said professionally of course without emotion).
that was my one passive aggressive client interaction. going forward, if no further communication, i will say nothing. just needed to get it out of my system once.
BUT…even in my passive aggressive state, I wasn’t thinking that they may fight for a refund via AirBnB!! EGADS! Hope they do not (and yes other poster, even if I texted or called, I always backed everything up with a message via AirBnB).
My advice to all (do as I say not as i do), just let sleeping dogs lie!
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I was yapping about their non-house related texts! For example, they texted me at 6:30PM on the way back from museums asking me about a recommended restaurant. They texted me at 10PM to get caretaker’s cell to ask whether she wanted the fridge food (who asks that? just leave it!). And restaurant info is already in my info website!
And I was texting with FOUR guests, not just the one who made the reservation.
I am going to add my new “boundaries” in a moment!
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My new communication boundaries (for comment and/or swiping):
Please use the booking platform to message us for all of your needs. Messages are monitored between 9AM and 5PM each day. Please expect up to a 24-hour turnaround, although most feedback will occur sooner, especially on day of check-in.
If your party is lost on day of check-in, please CALL so that I can hear your call. Please read directions below to avoid getting lost, and please provide these directions to all guests in your party.
In the event of a house-related urgency involving danger to yourselves or to the house, please message via the booking platform -and- CALL us (if you need immediate feedback) or TEXT (if feedback can wait a few hours). I can always hear my phone ringer; I cannot always hear my text bell. I also do not monitor my texts routinely unless I have already been engaged (e.g. awaiting a repair person). Please respect our private time between 9PM and 9AM, and evaluate whether a phone call or text message is required.
Please reserve all non-house related questions and conversations to the booking platform messaging system. Most of you questions can be answered right here on this website!
In the event of an emergency involving danger to the house, please call 911 first. Then contact us.
Please limit the number of correspondents to the original booker.
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This is an excellent Idea. Head off the problem before it starts. I would be happy to be contacted a bit later but each to their own.
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A week? Wow. Wedding, extensive travel, whatever…you made a very generous offer, one that would in fact, alleviate their wedding stress—and they refused.
No refund. They’re being unreasonable and based on their high-maintenance and rude past behavior, they are entitled people trying to squeeze you.
Also…ranting on this forum about bad guests is extremely cathartic, isn’t it? haha Keep them coming. You never know who is reading. 
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Very, very true…
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She emailed them a copy of all the house information TWICE. And you should know that not only do guests not read the online rules, they don’t read the written material you leave for them. Hell, half the time they forget my very explicit instructions about only turning on one appliance at a time and the location of the relevant circuit breaker.
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Just because they texted at 10pm doesn’t mean you have to answer at 10.05pm. Just leave it till say 8am the next morning and start with the universal lie to avoid people by text message.: “Sorry but my phone battery was dead overnight and I only just got your message”.
- You advised them of the problem
- You offered a remedy
You owe them nothing.
BUT from a guest perspective, and because it seems to have been a fairly good booking, it would be a nice gesture to offer them something. Ask them what they feel is fair? Then negotiate. What would the cost of the concierge / laundromat have been?
I had a hot water heater break (warranty issue) that I couldn’t get fixed for 3 days … I provided several remedies: A. I advised the guests on Day 1 that they could leave and I’d refund the one night they had stayed and I offered to help them find another place. B. I offered the use of a guest room with en-suite in the main house, or C. just use the guest bathroom in the main house for showers (while staying in the guest house) as the guest room in the main house had its own private entrance. The opted for Remedy C. They were very happy and very much enjoyed their stay. They stayed 5 nights, 3 of which they didn’t have hot water (in the guest house, but showered in the main house). I did refund 1 night stay as a good will gesture (and it’s what I would have refunded had they elected for Remedy A), despite them telling me it was not necessary. That was my choice and I felt right about it.
As someone mentioned, you don’t need to respond until morning. Just respond early morning, and advise that you had already crashed. And then kindly remind them of your website where they can find that information in the future.
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Why necessary to dredge up a thread 8 months later as if poster still had a problem?
Because the discussion is still relevant. I found these later comments to be helpful, but not necessarily worthy of a new topic.
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I disagree about text rules being the same as phone rules. And I am not a millennial.
Same thing happened to me. 50% refund for all their nights stayed because they said their connection was poor, even though they brought it up the last day of their stay and I fixed it right away.
This thread is over a year old and many posters here are no longer active. We are closing old threads as part of a housekeeping effort.
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