Feedback on Writing Negative Guest Review

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I had a problem guest check out this week. She booked my house for 4 nights, for 3 guests.

The problems started before check-in, when she repeatedly emailed asking to check in 5 hours early. I told her no, because I had guests checking out and my cleaners needed to get it ready.

She continued to pester me asking if the cleaners were done and could they come. I held firm, and politely told her I would let her know if they house was ready earlier than my 4pm check in time. She was very pushy about it.

Next, she emailed at 10:30pm asking for help parking her car. I didn’t see her email because I was asleep by then. (Parking is not part of my listing, as we live in the city. I have very detailed suggestions for where and how to park in my listing description, which she apparently did not read. )

Another night she again emailed at 10:30pm asking why the WIFI wouldn’t work, and demanding I come fix it. When I called to help her sort it out, she had already realized that she had mistyped the passcode, but was fairly rude about it.

When she finally checked out, she left the house a filthy mess. Since I didn’t go over to the house while she was there, I can’t say for sure how many guests stayed, but her reservation was only for 3 people.
The mess she left was indicative of a much larger group. All 4 beds used, 22 towels dirty, and sticky drinks spilled all over the wood floors.

I really hate writing bad reviews, but I need to be clear about this guest. Here is what I’m planning to say. Short and sweet, and I’m not going to mention her rudeness, which is subjective. Just sticking to the messy house bit. What do you think?

"XX’s reservation was for 3 guests. She was overall an OK guest- no major issues. However, the house was unusually messy when she left, with sticky drinks spilled on the hardwood floors, 22 towels used (they were only at my house for 4 nights), and all 4 beds dirty, despite only 3 guests staying. Since I was not at the house, I do not know for sure how many guests stayed, but I believe the mess was highly unusual for only 3 guests.

Overall, some issues with this guest and I don’t think she was a good fit for my listing."

Does this get the point across without being rude?

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I would probably mention that she was fairly demanding as well, and something about the fact that she really didn’t read the information you gave her. One of the other wordsmiths here can probably word it better than I could!

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I think this review is very good, i wish i had so much calm when i was writing a review on my recent messy guest.
If i were to read a review like that i would never let this guest into my house. Well done, you got the message to other hosts.May be put instead “some issues” " other issues like waking me up after 10;30 asking questions about WIFI because guest failed to put correct password in, lol, but that would be me.

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Nikki,

I wonder if you and Natalie had this same group of three book your places. Read her thread if you haven’t already.

When you say 22 towels used…do you mean full size bath towels? Did they come out clean? How many males were in the group?

Also, it wouldn’t be unusual for a group of 3 to use all 4 beds. Some people just like to be Goldilocks and try out every bed. Or were there other signs in the bedrooms that just really seemed like there were so many guests there?

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Hey Cabinhost! Thanks for your message. This was supposedly a group of three women. But again, I didn’t meet them, so I don’t actually know.

There were 11 large bath towels, and 11 small hand towels used. They used every towel we had!

I had the cleaners wash them in bleach- they came out fine.

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If it was three young females then I can see them getting fresh towels every single day, and maybe even a fresh one just to tie up their wet hair. And if each slept separately then I can see one using a 4th bed. Any idea about what amount of trash they left behind? That should let you know if they were just slobs or had a party.

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Sounds like a good job. Remember, at least from a host point of view, the idea is to warn other hosts of problem guests. And it certainly isn’t necessary to be nasty to get the point across. Mission accomplished!

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I think you worded it well. Your sentence that it was an unusual mess for 3 people is perfect…let’s other hosts know that they either had more people there, or are extremely messy people!
I have found it very rare to have guests that are less than neat. There have only been a few times and that’s when I was renting the house out as a whole house and I was staying elsewhere. So my point is that these messy guests really are not the norm, so it deserves commenting,

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I would be more dispassionate and not mention anything you do not know. I also have a tendency to write less when I want to make a strong point. This is my style of writing and may not fit you. Editing your example here is what I would post.

++++
XX’s reservation was for three guests. Overall an OK guest. Two late night interactions explained in the House Description. The house was unusually messy at checkout compared to prior guests. Three guests used four beds and twenty plus towels in four nights. One important concern was sticky drinks spilled on the hardwood floors and left for clean up crew.

Overall, enough issues with this rental that I consider this guest not a good fit for my listing in the future.
++++

Telling people she was Okay without equivocation makes people read the whole review. I think late night interactions as you described in your write-up should be mentioned. The mess is important and the over use of the place and I think the “Three guests used…” should be a clear sentence by itself. I would not say 22 towels, twenty plus is good enough without being too detailed. The Sticky drinks on the floor shows a guest who is not concerned with your property. Ending with you refusal, in a nice way, of her business in the future gets the point across. After all a four night stay is not something to sneeze at normally.

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Hi @chrlsrchrdsn

If I read this in a review, I would not know what it meant.

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You know Nikki–

I really think you would not be out of line to write the review exactly as you told it to us hosts. (The first part of your post.)

After all, that is who is reading them. Other hosts. You gave a good, clear explanation of exactly what went on.

Regarding the assumption about the larger group than booked, I’d be careful. An attorney I once worked for often said, “Don’t assume facts that are not in evidence.”

The only way you would know for sure is if you had a security camera… an exterior one is really not a bad idea since you are an absentee host.

I would not worry about being “rude.” She obviously didn’t care if SHE was rude?!
She deserves the smack. Let her have it!

And, once again, do wait for the last minute… midnight in the guest time zone!

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Nikki,

If you haven’t submitted your review, I am thinking along the lines of Kona about not suggesting possibly more people stayed. I know some owners stopped leaving all their towels out because no matter how many they left, guests used them all. If you left out 15 bath towels, they probably would have managed to use all 15. It’s like people who go to hotels and call down to have fresh towels delivered to their room after every shower…even though they would never do this at home.

The sticky wood floors left with spills is definitely something to note. Again…clueless young girls who probably have no idea it can ruin wood floors. And if they paid a cleaning fee they just assumed housekeeping comes in and mops so why bother to clean it up. People new to rentals are so confused as to what a cleaning fee is for and some think it’s okay to leave all their dirty dishes too. I really wish the sites would call it a “preparation” fee to eliminate this confusion.

But it sounds like there were other signs that you thought so many more people stayed? - because you said they left the house a filthy mess. So if there are others signs (outside of bed and towel usage) - such as way more garbage than 3 people could possibly produce, then I say go for it and mention that you believe more people stayed.

I had a family with kids leave my floors really sticky one time. I couldn’t believe it. Then I realized some people truly think that is what the cleaning fee is for. I updated my house notes that I send after booking and I tell them if they have young children then they are to be properly supervised. And I mention examples of what is unacceptable - such as leaving food and spills to dry on floors and not wiping them up, all board games are to be cared for and pieces put back, croquet balls and horseshoes are to be accounted for and put back where they belong, Directv manuals are not to be used as coloring books, drink coasters are not to be used as frisbees. I don’t care if I offend a couple of parents. I’m sure most read it and realize I had to note these things due to experience.

But your guest does sound like a PITA. I would mention in your review something like “Guest seemed a bit frustrated and I would suggest she completely reads the listing description before she books her next property. My listing clearly states I do not provide parking, and I provide very detailed suggestions of where guests can park. She emailed late at night because she didn’t know where to park. My listing also clearly states check in time. After booking she wanted to check in 5 hours early. I told her that was not possible as I had guests checking out the same day. She continued to ask and I said I would let her know if the cleaners were finished early. She then kept messaging me to see if they were finished. Guest also contacted me to come over because she had trouble connecting to WIFI. I called to help her and by that time she realized she made a typo when entering the password, yet she seemed to be upset at me for this. The wood floors were covered in sticky substances that were left to dry on, and my cleaners said they were surprised the home in general was left in such a state of disarray, considering the reservation was only for three guests. Guest didn’t damage anything.”

I know my stab at the review is a bit wordy but you get the drift.

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Hey Cabinhost!

Thanks for taking the time to write so thoughtfully! I really appreciate your suggestions. I don’t think they are wordy at all. Sounds good!

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Hi @konacoconutz, thanks for your suggestions. I will be careful not to assume that it was a larger group in the review. I decided to keep it to “the mess was larger than expected for only 3 people”, which I think gets the point across simply and clearly.

I mentioned the 20+ towels, sticky floors, and the fact that they used all the beds.

I decided not to mention her inconsiderately late messaging nor the pestering about early check-in, because the messiness should be reason enough for someone to decline her reservation request.

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Agree that your review is very well written. It is very clear that these were problematic and disrespectful guests without making you sound petty or hypersensitive. Like Yana I would assume from this that you are a highly credible hosts and that these guests should never hope to book with me. (P.S. I hope you clicked on the “thumbs down” for 'would you recommend this guest).

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Consider joining our private thread where we share our bad guests. You should add these “winners” to our list. I can add you to the group if you want.

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Hi @konacoconutz! Thanks for the invite! I would love to join that private group.

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I didn’t meet them, so I don’t actually know.

If you didn’t meet them, and didn’t make anyone else meet them, I do think you were pretty careless. I would never, ever do this with any guest I have. They usually stay in my own flat, with me, and if I am not around, I always make sure a friend personally welcomes them.

May I ask why you didn’t think this was necessary?

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Just a heads up, this thread showed up in my FB news feed this morning! Please use caution with your statements and don’t post too much about yourself and your listing on this page! Because there is a FB page that posts direct links to threads from this forum!
This weekend, I am going to take the time to go back through all my posts here and delete anything with too much identifying information.

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… I don’t think you need to go to that extreme but it’s probably best not to have such a clear profile picture on here! @brook2adks

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