Would you mention no communication for a no-issues guest?

For the first time today, I had a guest who ignored all my emails (check-in / check-out) and never replied any of them BUT left the house 5 star clean and had no issue.

Would you drop 1 Communication star for that or won’t even mention it?

Yes, I’d -1 him on Communication, and mention it in the public part of the review: “Guest left the place in 5 star shape and was otherwise a great guest, but simply did not respond to any of my AirBnb emails about check-in/check-out.”

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It’s not like he had to agree or take action on those email but I never had a guest (especially local) that completely ignore those.

im recently experiening the same issue, i had one message, i have no idea what time there arriving now, im worried there just going to turn up while im cleaning, im going to give them less stars for communcation

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I have a house rule that guests must notify 48 hours prior of their arrival time, so I would ding both communication and house rules!

Maybe re-write your communications so they ask for a response? I have gotten frustrated by this off and on in the past, then realized my communications didn’t really call for a response.

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The thing is that this RARELY happens to me which is why I don’t want to imply additional house rules for such exceptions.

I wasn’t really implying adding a house rule… just updating your on-platform communications (pre-booking, post-booking, pre-check-in, post-check-in, check-out messages) to ask for a response. Example: Instead of just stating your check-in or check-out information, change it to include a sentence at the beginning of the message asking your guest to please confirm that they’ve received the message… make sense?

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Yes, definitely. Wasn’t sure I could do that. Thank you!

I just cancelled a HomeAway person a week before their arrival for not answering any emails, including the reminder to pay the balance. I would have been flexible on the payment of the balance if he had just responded to any emails at all.

Nope. I was not in the mood for any of that nonsense. It’s my home and I did not want this person in it. I have to say it felt reeeeeeaaaaal gooooooood to click that Cancel button.

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Good for you! :wink:

Can’t stand the minimum 20 characters… :frowning:

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When I cancelled I simply said “I am uncomfortable with guests who do not respond to multiple messages.”

And surprise, surprise, he responded to THAT immediately - seriously, less than a minute - but not the multiple emails I sent asking if he wanted me to set up a blow-up bed for his older child, or would he like to use our pack-n-play portable crib for his youngest? And when he responded to complain, guess what? … I did not respond! How’s them apples?

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You can use pre-saved messages within the Airbnb platform… Although, I am
currently using SmartBnB that automatically sends personalized messages on
the schedule I decide… It’s way more than worth the $18/month I pay for
that service. I’m just bummed that I have to manually do this now for my
HomeAway guests!

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Majority of my bookings are months in advance so people just forget. The one thing that’s easy for people to read on the app if they are checking again before they depart is the rules and directions. I also mention it at the top of my directions.

Yup! Love it! If you asked specific questions with no reply your response was a perfect lesson. Sheesh!

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@cindiksherman I agree with you. These days there is so much info thrown at us, that if we require a response it needs to be requested. But if there IS a request for a response it’s SO rude to ignore.

That being said, if @Oded didn’t request a response I wouldn’t mark a 1* for communication.

I don’t think it’s fair to ding them unless you require a response. I interact with most of my guests when they book to make sure I feel comfortable. I suggest I can meet them but that they can get in by themselves with the keycode if it’s not convenient for us to meet. If they don’t respond to my emails I don’t worry about it. I leave my ringer on just in case they need help and go to bed. To me (just my opinion), if I specifically asked them a question and they didn’t respond that might be cause for dinging them. And really I’d probably make sure I tried again. People miss things when they are traveling. Traveling can feel stressful to some people and they might be juggling a lot.

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