As a host, you’ve come across some Airbnb guest complaints over years. However, people who are new to the industry can be ignorant of and perplexed by several regular Airbnb concerns.
The first thing you need to remember is that instead of thinking about the complaints, concentrate on solutions. Airbnb complaints might easily result in unfavorable ratings and negatively influence your company. So, be careful to handle them before they become a larger issue.
However, you are unlikely to impress each visitor, and Airbnb complaints will come occasionally. Though, by following these guidelines, you will be able to keep them to a minimum.
Most Common Airbnb Complaints and How to Prevent Them
1. Complaints concerning the rental cleanliness
Guests expect your property to be beautifully clean. This is why you must maintain a high degree of cleanliness to guarantee you fulfill the Airbnb quality criteria. In addition, an expanded cleaning schedule assures a healthy atmosphere for your visitors.
How to prevent visitor complaints about cleanliness?
Hiring a professional cleaning service will guarantee that your house is properly clean for each new visitor. If you want to conduct the cleaning by yourself, you must put in additional effort to create an absolutely clean and disinfected place.
Cleaning your rental doesn’t merely mean putting out the garbage and vacuuming. You need to clean any hard-to-reach locations as well as pay attention to regions that are commonly disregarded. For example, dusting the kitchen cupboards may appear inconsequential to you, but it can significantly influence your guests’ entire experience.
Guests will remark on items that you didn’t think were important in their Airbnb reviews. You know how unfavorable reviews may harm your company.
Moreover, ensure sure there are no unpleasant aromas in the rental. Guests generally identify unpleasant odors as a big concern in evaluations. Some may even exaggerate and characterize their stay as miserable owing to the foul scent. To prevent such remarks, equip your property with fragrant candles and air fresheners.
Whether you select a professional cleaning firm or intend to do the cleaning yourself, it is helpful to have a cleaning checklist at hand. It will help you guarantee that you haven’t neglected anything when preparing your property for visitors.
What to do if concerns regarding cleanliness are severe?
You should go to the property quickly or send someone there to solve the matter. If you don’t resolve the matter swiftly, you may have to provide the visitor with a full refund. This refers to a circumstance in which visitors contacted Airbnb within 24 hours after check-in. To prevent obtaining a scathing review, provide a partial refund to the visitor.
2. Complaints regarding the absence of guest-host communication
Although Airbnb hosts are eager to go the additional mile to give a warm welcome, many visitors want them to function as unofficial tour guides as well. To prevent bored visitors from complaining about the lack of attention and communication on your end, provide them with a plethora of entertainment choices. In addition, anticipate common inquiries, highlight your home’s uniqueness, and include a list of activities to do in your neighborhood in your welcome book.
How to avoid Airbnb complaints regarding communication?
Provide your visitors with thorough details to ensure they have a pleasant Airbnb experience. In your welcome book, you may leave tourist guides and indicate your favorite local meals, cafés, bars, etc. You may also give details on how to travel to each destination from your house.
Keep your visitors interested by presenting food suggestions and entertainment choices in your neighborhood. This way you will welcome them to your city and guarantee they have a nice time getting to know its hidden beauties.
Show them you are a kind host that goes above and beyond to create an amazing guest experience.
As your visitors arrive and get comfortable, make sure that you are prompt in responding to any queries. Leave your visitors many choices for reaching you such as FaceTime, WhatsApp, Viber, Skype, etc. Such a considerate approach will get you one step closer to achieving a Superhost title! Also, it will enable you to boost your occupancy rate and earnings.
To manage all visitor contact efficiently, you may depend on iGMS. With IGMS vacation rental software, you can automate your vacation rental administration with an innovative smart messaging function and assure seamless communication. In addition, you’ll be able to simplify other corporate activities. These include:
- Managing Airbnb and Vrbo/HomeAway accounts from a single dashboard;
- Organizing your messages inside the Unified Inbox;
- Automating the process of posting guest reviews;
- Cleaning and team management;
- Smart reporting.
3. Complaints about experiencing troubles with the Wi-Fi network
Some visitors could have problems utilizing devices in your house. Be sure to offer thorough instructions for them on how to use the devices and connect to your Wi-Fi network.
How to avoid visitor complaints about Wi-Fi connectivity problems?
A fairly typical issue that visitors could have after checking in is not being able to connect to your Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi is as crucial as heating and light today. Your visitors could feel particularly unhappy if they fail to connect to your Wi-Fi network. Therefore, provide advice regarding what to do in case the Wi-Fi doesn’t operate, i.e., an explanation on how to reset the Internet modem/router.
Share your Wi-Fi credentials before your guests’ check-in and emphasize them in your welcome book. To prevent any Internet-related Airbnb complaints, make careful to reply swiftly if your visitors have any troubles. Try to explain the answer through a call or lead them to where they may obtain thorough instructions.
4. Complaints regarding the facilities supplied
When visitors rent your home, they expect to see the same facilities that are described in your property description. If you want to minimize complaints about facilities, you shouldn’t promise to provide amenities that you don’t truly have.
How to avoid Airbnb complaints about your rental amenities?
Specifying facilities in your property description is one of the finest strategies to entice more customers to book with you. Honesty is the greatest policy and that’s why you should always list just those things that you can give. Be careful to verify whether all facilities are useable and in a functioning shape.
The chances are that there will always be that one visitor who checks. Some may wish to test out an amenity you marketed simply because they find it fascinating or want to understand how it works. If customers fail to discover it or if it doesn’t operate correctly, you might wind up earning a terrible review.
Also, if you decide to downsize, and remove any of the facilities from your house, be sure to update your description along with images and eliminate the amenity from the list.
5. Complaints regarding managing and resolving emergencies
If a dishwasher stops running or a thermostat/AC doesn’t function correctly, your visitors will expect you to repair them immediately away. Otherwise, you may assume that there will be complaints about it.
How to avoid visitor complaints about your problem-solving approach?
If you aren’t able to handle the problem yourself, ensure that your visitors know that someone is on the way to repair any damaged equipment. It is advisable to have a list of maintenance suppliers that you may call out to in such scenarios.
Time is the key if you want to prevent Airbnb complaints. Trusted maintenance personnel that are accessible at all times might help you prevent complaints regarding your promptness in resolving crises. Moreover, constantly inspect the equipment in your rental before new guests check in to maintain track of their condition.
Moreover, various digital technologies may let you be in full charge of your rental from a distance. A smart thermostat, for instance, may enable you remotely manage the temperature inside your property. If a visitor has difficulty with turning on/off the heating, you can address this using an app.
6. Complaints concerning misleading rental representation via photographs
This is one of the major Airbnb complaints that visitors could have. And, like many other ones, this problem is also simple to avoid.
How to avoid Airbnb complaints regarding images vs the actual state of your property?
Such Airbnb complaints frequently emerge because hosts don’t share enough images that represent the genuine state of their home. Therefore, always shoot photographs from different perspectives, not just the one that makes things appear ideal. This way you will provide your visitors with an honest portrayal of your property.
If you are intending to engage a professional photographer, convey to him/her your expectations. If you opt to take the images yourself, you may learn certain methods for shooting property photography that will help you obtain amazing views.
A few close-ups of well-chosen decorative objects can also assist to attract more visitors and do wonders for your rental marketing! Anyway, it’s crucial to keep honest and create suitable expectations via your home photographs.
Conclusion
Now that you know what the most typical Airbnb complaints from guests are and how to deal with them, you can utilize this information to your advantage. Keep in mind always to be realistic about what you give and the things and appliances that are at your guests’ disposal.
Honesty might allow you to preserve your reputation as a reputable host. Don’t make false promises of a pleasant stay if you can’t achieve the high expectations you’ve set.
