Upset by a negative Airbnb review. Should I do anything?

[Daddyjammy]

AIBU to be upset by the bad review we've just been given as guests? Worried it will impact on being able to rent other places.

Our family's always had great reviews from our hosts in the past and we try to be as considerate as possible, so this has quite upset me.

We had a lovely stay (won't mention where but in the UK) and left a glowing review of the place, which, to be fair was pretty immaculate when we arrived.

Checkout was supposed to be 10.00 which is at least an hour earlier than we've ever had before and we did try to get up and out in time but with two teenage kids we had managed to get all of our stuff out of the house and by the car by 10.40 and I was just doing final checks, cleaning kitchen and hoovering when the cleaner arrived. She was very curt with me as I was still on the drive but she was able to park on the road just 5 yards away then virtually threw me out of the house before i could even grab the (tied up) rubbish bags to put in the bin and recycling. We had hoovered the night before, cleared away all of our breakfast and generally tidied but apparently didn't put everything back in its right place, "moved artwork" (absolutely no idea what this could be) and left so much dog hair on the sofa it took an extra hour to clean (the dog, which we had checked was ok in advance, was banned from the sofa when we were there but may have got up there when we were out but we certainly didn't notice much hair).

Turns out the cleaner was the owner's mum so I'm guessing I caused offence by mentioning that she was "brusque" with us and maybe they're upset that we broke a dessert bowl, although I left a tenner to cover for this and offered more if I hadn't left enough, or that we accidentally used their Netflix account rather than our own (is that really bad form?).

Genuinely not sure if we sound like really bad guests and need to up our game or if we've come across a particularly picky host who expects too much from guests paying over £1,000 for a week with one bedroom and a sofa bed in a (quite nice) little house.

Personally I think the only thing I would have an issue with would be late check out. They might have paid a company to come and pay and they would have a cleaning schedule. To find people still there would be an absolute pain. If you want to clean then you need to get up earlier or do that you need to do the evening before.

The other things I would anticipate in pet friendly accommodation. The art work comment is weird.

Broken dish is something you would expect from time to time - we were away recently and two glasses were broken - they came out of the dishwasher smashed due to the heat. We didn’t leave money to replace them, so I think you’ve been generous doing that.

[quote sassbott]@takehomepay a hotel would charge you for this late a check out.

Secondly the rules of Airbnb’s can vary and there is a clear list of what is required. In the recent Airbnb I stayed in we needed to strip beds / towels and place them in bin bags. Bins emptied. Dishwasher loaded and running. All surfaces wiped clean and floors clean.

The place I stayed in before that was identical (and actually stipulated a charge of £100 if the place was not left to those standards).

There’s no ‘favours’ involved here. A lot of places expect their property to be left in a state where all that is needed is a light clean and beds dressing.[/quote]
Personally I would never ever book somewhere that required me to do this.

We always leave accommodation pretty clean but not clean enough that it wouldn’t require to be cleaned. We are on holiday and are out and about with no time to clean like that.

What a load of crap! What time did you get up? I can pack, get a teenager and a toddler sorted and clean top to bottom by 10am on a rental.

You were late and obviously didn’t clean very well if there was dog hair.

So many people think it's fine to let the dog on the sofa?

I've stayed in lots of self-catering cottages, not Airbnb admittedly, and none of them has allowed the dog to be left alone, or to go on the furniture or into the bedrooms.

And being there 40 minutes after departure time is not acceptable, whether hoovering or not.

I am a bit of a loss that having teenagers is a reason to be late for checkout. The netflix thing was annoying for them. Dog was not allowed on sofa but could access sofa when you were out? Did the owner know the dog would be left on their own in house. Commenting on the cleaner was rude given you overstayed your time.

Just how much cleaning did you do on the last day, that it made you late? That's what the cleaner is for. If you hoovered the night before why did you need to do it again in the morning?

And 10 is pretty standard for checkout. When did you get up that you couldn't get out by then? 9.30?

@QueenHofScotland well I do book, repeatedly year after year. Why? Because the properties are stunning and in a great location. They know that and funnily enough have no problems renting them out as they are full (already for next summer).

They do give the option (as I said) for £100 extra to not have to do any of it and let the cleaners do it. Which I’m sure plenty of people pay. Personally it takes two mins to strip a bed and put towels in a pile. I’m also very neat so surfaces/ kitchen/ bins get done during the holiday.

Thems the breaks with self catering. If you want luxury, book a hotel. I personally can’t stand hotels for longer breaks with kids.

My sister runs a couple of gites - she really has a lot to do to clean the place and make it ready for the next guests and you just never know what things you will find when guest leave - she's had broken shower head, broken washing machine door, mattress stinking of urine and/or vomit - all sorts - things you can not fix at the drop of a hat. I couldn't do what my sister does - some people turn up and think they can live pigs because they are paying guests. If it says get out by 10am I'd say get out early to stand a chance of a better review - you have no idea what it's like running these places.

@Hijistmeagain

With being 40 mins late YABU. I clean holiday lets and on check out/check in days we have several properties to do in a short time. So being 40 minutes late leaving will throw the timetable for the day.. Everything else is pretty standard I'd say, always get a broken bowl etc and a few dog hairs.

But the cleaner arrived at 10.40, how is her timetable thrown outby guess being in properties that she hasn't arrived at?

I get that she wasn't able to start the minute she got there but pretending she was held up by 40 mins is disingenuous

Perhaps that particular day she didn’t have a tight schedule? It really doesn’t matter - the OP had no way of knowing if the cleaner needed to be in at 10 because she had a packed day ahead of her - and it’s a good job she didn’t because the OP would have been there faffing about.

Many hotels and B&Bs are having a fallow time before cleaners enter rooms to clean them.

It's not fair to say the reason you were late is because you were trying to leave the place as clean as possible.

The reason you were late is because you were too late getting out in the first place, and then still needed to clean!

At £1,000 a week let them suck it up. Miserable people.

Don't give it another thought.

This is in the Daily Mirror

@Firstinlastout

This is in the Daily Mirror

Bloody hell that was quick.

Isn't there enough actual news happening in the world right now

The cottage we had this summer,the owner specified not to worry about cleaning, just please to fill the dishwasher completely, ie all the cutlery from the trays because everything had to be washed by them between tenancies
We take a crate for our little non moulting dog and throws for the sofa.

@Luckingfovely

Frankly you are ill-mannered, entitled, and rude, and deserved much worse than you got. You were way out of order on multiple accounts and won't take responsibility for any of it. Grim.

I really really hope this does stop you from getting into any other AirBNBs in future, for the sake of the landlords.

For leaving 40 mins late??

Some parts yabu the leaving late and moaning abut the cleaner

but if they dont want dog hair they shouldnt allow dogs whasoever and why havent they logged out of their own netflix before they rent it out

@caughtinanet maybe the cleaner didn’t arrive till 10:40 because her previous cleaning job had guests who were late leaving...?

[quote OnceUponAMidnightBeery]@caughtinanet maybe the cleaner didn’t arrive till 10:40 because her previous cleaning job had guests who were late leaving...?[/quote]
Or to give time for dust to settle. Literally.

I don't use Air B&B for this reason - inexperienced people providing an expensive service and without real experience in hospitality, their views of guests are very subjective. People who work in hospitality really know what a bad guest is, they wouldn't complain if you left dogs hair when they allowed dog into the property or used pay channels/streaming when they left themselves logged in. The hotel would accept responsibility for their own mistakes and not blame you, see it as a learning opportunity and change their rules so it doesn't happen again. There have been loads of posts on here about Air B&B with hosts who have crazy expectations about what a guest should be doing, so it's not unusual.

This is the issue with people who buy up properties to make money from them, but don't actually want to do the work to be a host. Hospitality is hard work and occasionally people might leave a mess or break something. It's par for the course. I say this as someone who is always out on time and cleans up after myself, so I'm not a bad guest myself.

They sound like an inexperienced host. Most would not leave a bad review for fear of repercussions as it would be bad for their business. However if you do feel they have been unfair and think others might get the same treatment I would also leave a bad review.

[quote OnceUponAMidnightBeery]@caughtinanet maybe the cleaner didn’t arrive till 10:40 because her previous cleaning job had guests who were late leaving...?[/quote]
Maybe but why would that be relevant? The OP still didn't hold her up for those 40 minutes.

My guess is the cleaner was sat in her car somewhere waiting for the OP to leave and finally found somewhere to park!

It sounds like the hosts only saw the negative in your review and not the positive, and decided to retaliate with a bad review themselves, which is a bit immature. As I said previously they sound inexperienced and not cut out for hospitality if they aren't able to accept a bit of negative feedback.

I stayed in a non-Air B&B place recently that just started out and they welcomed lots of feedback and knew they had room to improve as it was their first try at offering a holiday service. They certainly didn't take everything personally.

Yep, YABU and bad guests. There’s no excuse for leaving late and you were very rude using their Netflix, breaking their things, allowing your mutt on their furniture etc.

I wouldn’t accept you 🤷‍♀️