Booking for another person and expecting luxury hotel service from regular listing.

[Ivan66]

Hello everyone. I started doing airbnb just month ago and today I got difficult situation.

A week ago I recieved request from Marta for her parents 70 years old. She asked really a lot of questions and annoyed me from the beginning. But being new to the platform and not having too many reservations I still decided to approve reservation. I made everything clear about my apt and neighborhood (which is awesome). 

And that lady drove her parents today (they don't speak English at all). And show started. 

They started showing me that they are not satisfied and they expected everything much better, My entrance and living room and bathroom and kitchen. I felt like a small boy being treated by adults. I couldn't even find words to say. At that moment I thought about cancelling reservation and letting them go to the place they deserved. 

But canceltion polices are pretty strong. And they 'made me a favor' decided to stay. Now I just don#t know what to do. There is just 2 days reservation and after all the emotions I got they can write awefull review and make me feel even more fool. 

What can I do? I didn't find any buttons to click to bring my problem directly to airbnb. 

Thanks in advance

[David126]

Make sure you deal with the issue in your review so others know.

[Sandra126]

Oh @Ivan66, I'm sorry. They will be gone soon enough, you won't do it again, and it will just be a memory. Just be careful with your review response in case they write one (they speak no English...). Should they slam you, don't rise as your response will be more important than their review. I have seen time and again hosts being longwinded, aggressive etc in their response which will sit publicly on their review page for ever. So, IF they write a bad review, you can respond after a day of calming down in a brief way, polite, professional. This shows to future guests thay you are calm in a storm and can handle yourself well.

''I am sorry that you didn't have a good time but perhaps next time, you might find a hotel will better cater for your needs.''

You can do better than that, but you get the general idea. In the review to them, mention the booking for parents, no english, ''better suited to hotel'' etc, but don't be nasty as hosts will get it regardless. Nasty tends to backfire!

All the best.

[Ivan66]

Thank you. You're absolutely right.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

And always trust your gut feeling - if it feels wrong during the initial conversation with your guests then decline. It really isn't worth the stress and hassle

[Elaine-and-Duane0]

Sounds like Marta reserved for her parents but was not a guest. If so, that was a 3rd party booking which is against Airbnb policy.  Water under the proverbial dam. Sorry that was a rough visit for you. 

[C-C0]

I would toss them. Call Airbnb, though. Never, ever, ever cancel someone yourself. And, yes, it's a 3rd party booking. Don't do those.

[Wendell2]

I deal with alot of property management/sales.

People from other cultures i.e. another language obviously they are not from here, sometimes have an inherent negotiation built into their social system. And a certain loudness and unfiltered communication system. This may sound unfriendly or harsh to someone who hasn't heard it before but I get it all the time in my industry. Some people just want to haggle everything. Your experience sounds to me like a haggle attempt. The guests are trying to get a reduction or refund to be satisfied. If you get alot of this at your location raise your cleaning fee or rent a certain amount and figure in some refunds for "guest satisfaction".... It's a win/win situation... They feel like they got what they were looking for and you can count your original expected earnings and be happy also..... 

I would say it like " I am sorry the stay wasn't what you expected, I have decided to give you a refund ($10??)  for your trouble and I will make corrections to my description so new guests will be more informed.

We are in the hospitality industry in the end... Wouldn't that response from the host make you feel all happy and satisfied...

And I don't consider a daughter helping her parents book and presenting them (with identification) some sort of 3rd party booking unless they arent on the reservation or identified throughout the communications.