I am constantly amazed by the totally unrealistic and almost childish expectations of some guests. Have never had any negatives, but the last few have totally stumped me. I have a selection of 6 different good quality pillows in the bedroom - but still got a guest giving a negative review (and this was despite one previous guest leaving a review saying that the pillows were beautiful). One guest complained because they could not understand how to work my air conditioner (despite my explaining it, and the instructions in a drawer). Another guest said they preferred bedrooms with carpet, not wooden floors (with rugs).
Now I have just had a guest say that my garden path needs pavers!! The path is totally perfectly safe, pavers donât suit the yard or house. When I asked them why, they said âwould be easier to walk onâ.
I have tried to cover as much as possible in my listing (sometimes feel it is getting too long and bogged down) but really - just how far do you have to give details? On the other side of the coin, I do not charge a cleaning fee, I offer free toiletries, free continental breakfast, wifi, and an early and/or late check in/out. My house is spotlessly clean, quality linen, sole use of huge bathroom, and guests are free to use anything in kitchen, including cooking goods. Yet all they seem to do is want to pick any little thing they donât personally like. I too have been a guest and when staying, always put aside personal preferences to review what is actually being offered. I really am getting close to the point of pulling my listing. Just what the hell will be the next complaint?
Yeah it sucks how black and white it can be. I had a couple people give me 3 stars for cleanliness yet say the place is clean. My place is cleaned spotlessly between guests. I have a 150 yr old house and it has an old worn out kitchen and old bathroom and some old carpet in the hallways. But it is clean. Very clean. The place is super tidy too.
I mean what exactly is unclean about it. I have no idea.
You just need to not let the rating/review system get to you. Aslong as youâre getting a steady supply of guests then you are getting money. And isnât that the main reason for hosting?
Donât quit because of how fickle people are.
Up your rateâŚmaybe youâll get a better quality guest.
Your place sounds perfect to me!
I believe the change is due to the increasing popularity of airbnb, and it is attracting people who would have normally rented a hotel. So they come in with different expectations.
It is going to be a bumpy road of education.
Sympathies. This is why hosting is such hard work and why the burnout factor is so high. Iâve said this before, but it bears repeating. In the early days of Air, (I started hosting one year after they opened) things were much more casual. More easygoing. Guests and hosts were much more accepting of each other and expectations were lower. Now that Air is so ubiquitous, It seems more and more the expectations of guests have increased to five star expectations at a two star price.
There is just no pleasing some people.
Itâs disheartening to get so many complaints and you just canât disclose all the possible complaint points in your listing. If you read trip advisor reviews of any hotel, youâll see how guests complain about the least little thing. Notice how the hotels respond, always apologizing, never defending. They donât take it personally. We have to do the same, hard as it is. Itâs just the business weâre in.
Hi Chris Ford,
It truly is demoralizing when guests expect everything in your house to be exactly the same as it is in their house. Fortunately, we have a preponderance of great guests so we donât let the picky ones get to us.
Have you all seen the new Airbnb group reviews? This would be really tough when you get a picky group. I hope that at least it will be indicated that the separate reviews are from the same group.
It might be everywhere but it still has a long way to go in terms of recognition and market share. Half of Americans have never heard of ABB and only 11% have ever used it. So itâs probably going to get worse before it gets better.
My last guests checked out and I got an email from Air asking me to review their âgroup.â Had never heard of this before.
Air guests, even of the newer breed, have NOTHING on HomeAway guests when it comes to expectationsâŚ
Kona,
I think it makes sense for host to review guests as a group. It helps build the profiles of all the guests, not just the one who booked. Also, sometimes one of the guests merits a better review than the other (we only host two at a time).
It doesnât make sense to me for all members of a group of guests to be able to write individual reviews. The guests are individual; the listing is one unit.
Yes! A strategy that works!
What country is your listing in?
Iâve given this some thought and I also believe that fewer and fewer people think of ABB as a more personal alternative to traditional B&B or hotels. They view them as just an other business - not someoneâs home that they are sharing. People are just getting super picky and they view these reviews as yet another social media interaction - which no one really puts any thought into anymore.
There was an old actress who use to say: 'Your opinion of me, is none of my business"; she wonât be able to say that now.
The ability to express any opinion whatsoever, including make personal evaluations of someone, instantly, and in a variety of mediums all at once (Facebook, Twitter, Flip Advisory, etc) . is by itself an absurd, spooky social situation. And those opinions could stay for decades on the internet now.
Perhaps AirBnB should go to a 10-start system, so is less hyper-sensitive, or drop it altogether.
This is kind of why I like hosting ABB first timersâŚthey have no expectations as of yet. They do treat it like itâs a special experience, because for them, it is!
lol weâve gotten so many âthings to improveâ and in the end, this is my home and i will list it TRUTHFULLY and DETAILED and that will be that.
Also keep in mind that airbnb pressures them into saying something negative -they give them a box to write
"what can be improved" so maybe people just fish for anything they can think of, however
ambiguous, just to fill in the box.
Its the new generation over over-reviewing-asking-for-feedback on EVERYTHING that wreaks havoc on peoples daily lives,especially in the United States.
At least the box for items to be improved is private, unlike some sites that force you to publish dislikes to the public!
But donât they also prompt you to say what you âlovedâ about felixcatâs listing in addition to what can be improved?
I agree⌠So over the review mentality. (Having just written an Amazon review of my new aquarium filter. ;))
I have said this before-- my least favorite aspect of Air is the reviews. Air has made it into the big deal that it is. Other sites, even with their flaws, do not make as big a deal over reviews as Air does.