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I’m just about to write a review for couple who didn’t respond to my messages about checking in and then showed up an hour and a half late, which meant I was waiting in for a total of 5.5 hours for them.
My review won’t be that bad, I’m planning on saying it just as I did above, but to save my guilty feelings of leaving something negative, what’s the worst review you’ve ever left for a guest?
(I did do a search and found an almost identically named topic from a while ago, but it branched off into photos of everyone’s dogs. Which is LOVELY but not quite what I was looking for )
Heheh I love the forum for it’s ability to go into a totally random topic.
Ummm I left a scathing review for a guest that let wet washing drip onto my windowsill damaging the paintwork. (And a thumbs down) . She left me 5 stars. I felt guilty for that because I’d been expecting a bad review.
See that’s the thing that really bothers me. I’ll either leave a glowing review and they slam me in return (‘egyptian cotton bedding is a must, your sheets were simply unacceptable’ - yes, still fuming about that one), OR I leave a slightly negative one and they’ve left me a 5 star, leaving me feeling sooo guilty. Even though I know I shouldn’t feel guilty because I’m only being honest
Devil’s advocate here. Is that really so very bad? Guests might always have travel delays - or even decide to have a wonderful lunch somewhere en route. I really think that hosts should be accommodating to guests who arrive a little late. Earlier however, is a real problem!
True! If guests want an early check in and I can accommodate it then I’ll d so, But when you’re back to back, those who want early check in are disappointed. Luckily I can look after their luggage if necessary and suggest great things for them to do locally until check in time.
It’s more the fact that I sent them a message at 10 that morning that was totally ignored. It went through Airbnb and I text them as well. Not to mention I have it in my house rules they they must let me know their arrival time. I’m self employed and so for 5 1/2 hours I had to sit around at home not taking any clients. And then when they did arrive, they told me they had seen my message that morning but didn’t bother to respond - ‘oh we were going to reply then we forgot’.
So rather than someone just arriving late, we now have someone who thinks the rules don’t really apply to them and don’t really care that they’ve made me wait around so long for them. And so deliberately ignored my communication with them.
I truly appreciate your problem. The same thing happens to me often. But I work from home and so am onsite at most times. ‘Forgetting’ to reply is not good at all.
My last guest came back on his last day to pick up something he left and told me he left me the best review…
I had to leave him the only bad review I’ve given so far.
Highlights of the review:
Smoked in the apartment against my rules
Was nosy well into the night
Threw garbage in the driveway and never picked it up despite multiple requests
Left windows open with heat turned way up in winter
Left the place so dirty that my cleaning crew had to call in extra people and still took 5 hours rather than the usual one hour
That’s not even really everything, just the most memorable issues…
You should feel free to mark them down for that. It’s inconsiderate. Passing on clients because guests could not be bothered to alert you of arrival time is money right out of your pocket. Say so in the review.
Sometimes I am delighted when I get that message from the guests. From my perspective, if the room is ready and I can get the checkin “out of the way”, I am free from my obligations and I am not longer “waiting” for them to arrive. During the busy season, this only happens when I have a guest who is checking out before 8AM in the morning, which happens with international visitors on their way back to Europe with some frequency.
I don’t live onsite and I had similar issue yesterday. The guests arranged an arrival time with me but texted me last minute to tell me they couldn’t make it and we arranged another time. They were again late for 20 mins without a message and I had to delay my dinner appointment for that.
I have decided to get a smart lock, and let those guests check themselves in. Just not sure which one works best for me, so need to do some research. Also I’m thinking about listing my place as ‘business travel ready’, and the smart lock can allow guests to self check in when I’m not available. I’m just wondering does ‘business travel ready’ really help to fill the mid week and slow seasons? Can some experienced hosts share their thoughts please? Also I have an entire house rental, 2 bedrooms and a sofa bed, which accommodates 4-6 people and the price is 160-200 AUD per night. In my perception, business travellers usually travel solely. Is my perception right? or there are occasions they travel as group? Thanks in advance for all advise.
I’ve written 2 bad reviews over the time I’ve been doing airbnb, this one is from summer 2015.
" We found Ingrids behaviour rude and not at all in keeping with the ethos of Airbnb. We felt that our home was used in an anonymous and impersonal manner with no regard for our home and family. Ingrid booked for 4 people and didn’t turn up at all ! Her friends ? who we knew absolutely nothing about ,turned up on the second night of their booking at 11 pm, my daughters had stayed up very late waiting for them the first night, and then had showers so managed to exchange 3 sentences. Ingrid didn’t respond to emails and messages I sent her before her stay, she changed her booking date and didn’t make any personal contact despite me asked her to. I had let her know at the very beginning that I would be away and my daughter was the person who would be at home, I was in an area without any phone reception so needed to know arrival days and time ect. Only the day before she was supposed to be arriving did she respond to a text I sent her and told my daughter that she had tried to ring me and sent an email. None of which i managed to find. So sadly I wouldn’t accept a booking from Ingrid again as she didn’t stay and would recommend that she books a hotel in future . “
And the other one was a family with 2 young children, i have 4 of my own grown up children and grandchildren who stay, so we ARE usually family friendly. This booking room it to a whole new level of awfulness!
” We found the experience of hosting Kasia and her family excruciating. They were nice enough but, the first night we were subjected to an unsupervised 4 and 2 year old , running up and down the stairs screaming and slamming the fire doors until very late. The parents rarely seemed to supervise their children during their stay, as they were switched off , concentrating on the computer instead. Despite being told the father was looking after the children while his wife worked, he was doing his project for work on the lap top. So you tube videos did the supervision instead , throughout the day. Anyway it went on. Basically I felt that they were staying with us as the cheapest option and we were just in the way. The place wasn’t left as other guests have left it and we didn’t feel there was any respect , thought or consideration shown to us or our home. I’m sure that having a whole house or apartment to themselves would have suited them better.
September 2014"
Most other guests have been either great or okay thankfully
I’ve rarely had to write a bad review but recently I did. Awful woman and left me my first stinker of a review (which I knew she would ahead of time). I kept it short, essentially saying ‘I recommend only to hosts who are able to offer 5* accommodation at budget prices and have the capacity to attend to her every need 24/7’.
The most important thing is to remain professional and only mention the facts. Don’t talk about your feelings or mention anything personal about the guest.
Plato, I think you definitely need to say more than that. Why mince words when you are already slamming them? Tell us why. Other hosts might still be willing to take a chance with something that vague. JMHO
Maybe you are right, but I couldn’t find any words for that guests.
Once I had guest with bad previous review about cleannest. And I’ve approved. It was low season and I was ready to pay my cleaner.
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