Write a bad review after 2 weeks...

[Stuart30]

I was traveling for 5 weeks and just arrived at my vacation house.  A guest and family stayed there while I was taveling.  They let me know their 2 year old broke a $275 Tiffany Lamp.  I got that $ for the damage.  Now that I came into the house after my 5 weeks of travel, I see they left it a mess. were so disrespectful of my home.  I am finding other broken items and stains on my leather ottoman that are not coming out.  I want to alert other hosts that this family is a menace and will care less about treating your home with respect and very high maintenance.  They had one okay review I recall so I accepted them. I may not even use airbnb anymore after this experience.  No more young children allowed in home now and I raised my price on high side of market so I attract the more responsible people perhaps.  I want to write them a negative review now that I have inspected my home, but it has been 5 weeks. Thoughts?

[Sandra126]

you won't be able to. I suggest in the possible future that someone comes to check after guests leave, as windows might be left open, doors unlocked etc. And I would never have a toddler in my place! A toddler is like having a very short drunk adult in your house all day long, all uncoordination and zero care and appreciation. Cheers.

[Helen3]

Hello 

If you are travelling and won't be available within the 48 hour window that BNB allows hosts to report damages - then it's important to arrange for your cleaner (manager or friend ) to check your property after a guest has left to protect you in these sort of situations. This would have enabled you to raise a claim with the guest and if they didn't agree through BNB's resolution centre.

Just having an 'ok' review would have left a red flag for me about a guest.

If you have valuable and fragile  items in your home I agree it's probably best not to let it out to families with children.

Please don't let it put you off BNB. Just put some systems in place to protect yourself more. 

[Stuart30]

Thanks.  I am sure it was a good review on them that I read...not okay.  A mistype on my part.  I check for red flags and they passed them.  I did not listen to my gut though and I always do...it's my line of work to do so.  Love the comment that 2 year olds are little drunk people.  I blame the parents...where were they???  I was emphatic about my concern of the small child and they made me feel very comfortable in correspondence that they would take great care of home...so I said yes given their responses to my concerns.  I usually stay in a separate private quarters with my dog when guests are here, but was in France during this stay.  I tried and learned my lesson.  Thanks Hosts!  Stu

[Annette33 · Accepted solution]

So sorry this has happened to you, you have a great get away place!

As it is, review time is over, time to move on.

But if I may, a few suggestions, hopefully helpful:

1.) I see your new house rules about no kids. No problem, but I would take out the part that someone else broke stuff, etc.. Don't punish new guests for the sins of the previous ones, just drop it, that will sound a whole lot better.

2.) If I were to consider renting your place I would want to see more pictures of the place, not so much of the lake, skiing, etc. I would want to see the other bedroom (s), the kitchen, the bathrooms, etc. and more of a description of the place itself.

As you now won't accept children any longer (we don't either, I relate), I would take out the picture of the princess room (lock it up when guests come) and the playground. Perhaps limit the number of guests to max 4-6?? ( 2 in the queen bedroom, max 4 in the double bed/bunkbed room, none in the common area , that just invites camp out wild behavior. The more people you have, the more trouble that brings....

3.) Give yourself a break and be more specific with check in and check out times, narrow them down,  prevents trouble down the road. Nobody offers or expects a place to be ready  at 10 am for that day's rental, as you have it right now. 

4.) about reviewing guests:  we hosts want to rely on what other hosts have said about someone, right? But we hardly can, as quite often, even if hosts have gripes, they leave stellar reviews on those guests. I see that your guest Bill was the one complaining about the heat. Is that the one with the lamp and the mess? You answered him on your site , also saying that you were unhappy about his smoking, yet in your review on his profile you praise him and highly recommend him... just an example how we as hosts need to stick together and let honesty prevail.

And now, good luck for the future, and happy hosting!

[Isabella85]

Annette hello

about your point number 4. about how hosts stick together. I didnt write a review until the last day about this couple.

i thought about it and i was upset. i found stains on my towel that dont come out, on the sofa and bed sheet. In the bathroom she also left one or two waxing strips stuck to the surface of the shelf which is painted wood that i had to clean off with oil. I have a rubber laudry tub and a bin in there but she chose to throw away the strips and face cleaning stuff in the laundry tub. i dont know why. I have in the bathroom three mats and a mop and  explained how to manage the shower water. She wrote to me and said that she slipped twice bcs there are no mats., and if she had broken a bone who would be liable. Finally she left behinf her ob's. So anyway. come to the review. what should i say to all this. quite frankly i left what i think a polite hint if not a compliment and low stars. ''Thank you for treating my house with respect as if it were your own''. in other words the respect she had for me is the same she had for herself. Between women there is no need to leave personal hygene signature marks. do you think i was too mild? i wanted to write differently but i found it beneath me to react directly as i took it that it was done on purpose.