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.

Reverse!

@Muchasgracias

The cleaner turned up 40 minutes after you were meant to be gone and you were still hoovering etc...and you described her as 'brusque' in your review?? You left yourself wide open there to a bad guest review and the fact that you can't see this for yourself speaks volumes.

Sounds like OP would have left on time if she wasn't so careful about leaving everything tidy. I have never hoovered on holiday.

Sorry, but I have to echo what others have said. Leaving late (you knew the checkout time beforehand), breaking things (did you consider that it may be a matching set that is no longer available?), making a mess, blocking the driveway, calling the owner’s mother brusque, etc… yeah, I’d leave a bad review too. I’m sorry if that’s upsetting to hear. And using someone else’s Netflix? I don’t get that. I won’t even log on my own husband’s Netflix profile on our shared account because I don’t want to mess up his history of things watched. That’s really rude, and I don’t understand how that could be an accident. Obviously you didn’t see your profile name to select???

If they are bothered about 'artwork' and minor breakage they shouldn't let the place to families and pets. If dogs are allowed they should have removable covers for the sofas. Even if the dog stays off the furniture hair transfers from people's clothes. Your delayed departure was really bad though and inexcusable (would you have missed a flight? Are you late for work?) and probably got their back up so badly they threw the kitchen sink at it in the review.

@Darbysmama

Sorry, but I have to echo what others have said. Leaving late (you knew the checkout time beforehand), breaking things (did you consider that it may be a matching set that is no longer available?), making a mess, blocking the driveway, calling the owner’s mother brusque, etc… yeah, I’d leave a bad review too. I’m sorry if that’s upsetting to hear. And using someone else’s Netflix? I don’t get that. I won’t even log on my own husband’s Netflix profile on our shared account because I don’t want to mess up his history of things watched. That’s really rude, and I don’t understand how that could be an accident. Obviously you didn’t see your profile name to select???

Accidents happen. And OP told them she is happy to pay for the bowl if £10 doesn't cover it.

You were late, left the place scruffy and were rude to the cleaner.

Not sure why you would expect a good review?

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

You were late, left the place scruffy and were rude to the cleaner.

Not sure why you would expect a good review?

How was she rude to the cleaner?

10am is very standard to be out of a self catering rental by. I would be miffed as house cleans are very demanding now and take up quite a bit of time. You should not have complained about cleaner as she could have been there at 10am and you were not ready to leave. Very unfair when the time is the time.

Urgh YANBU can’t bear neurotic clean freak types - shot themselves in the foot threre as if I saw a review like that I would not stay there and risk being slagged off for heinous crimes such as watching Netflix or bringing a dog to a dog friendly property 🙄. Sounds like the owner is a right Basil Fawlty and in the wrong job.

YABU for not leaving on time.
Teenagers are a poor excuse.
Your comments about the cleaner were unfair.
She is probably on a strict time schedule and you messed that up.

I have mixed feelings.

YABU
Leaving 40 minutes late is pretty bad. No idea why you think two teenage kids is an excuse Checkout in many places at the mo is 9 am, so 10 is quite relaxed IMO.

Is it not common sense to take your dog with you or shut it out of rooms with sofas if you must leave it in the house? Many rentals say that they're dog-friendly but the dog must not be left alone in the house. This would have sorted the hair issue.

OTOH YANBU

The cleaner was able to park 5 yards away, so no excuse for the brusqueness IMO.

I'm going to take you at your word on the 'artwork' and assume this is the owner being weird.

Why not contact them privately to discuss? Ask what the 'artwork' is,
apologise for the dog hair and reiterate that you left money to cover for the breakage and offered more and would like that changed/acknowledged. Explain that the Netflix thing was an accident and apologised (yes, I'd say it's bad form if done deliberately, but just needs an apology in your case).

‘breaking things (did you consider that it may be a matching set that is no longer available?),‘

Oh come on, breakages happen! If you’re so perfect you can guarantee you wouldn’t break something in a holiday rental I envy you.

Sounds like OP would have left on time if she wasn't so careful about leaving everything tidy. I have never hoovered on holiday.

No, OP would have left on time if she'd got up earlier!

In my opinion the only thing wrong was not leaving on time. They charge big cleaning fees so I don’t think you should worry about leaving it immaculate.

This happened to us, although wasn't Air B & B.

We had dogs, 3 kids, and 3 adults staying in a cottage in Cornwall.

When we arrived, it was clean, but not spotless, as we found dirty dishes in some of the rooms, one of the bathrooms hadn't had the rubbish taken out from previous guest, and there were dishes left in the dishwasher.. Not a problem, and we didn't think much of it as we aren't the types to complain.

Several hours before we left, DH and MIL took the kids and the dogs, and I cleaned the place from top to bottom including thorough hoovering, the oven/grill, windows. It was in a much better state than when we arrived.

After cleaning for 2 hours, I left and saw the cleaner arrive. As it was clean, she left after 15 minutes - probably just made the beds and left. Was not spying on her, but we were on a bench eating pasties before driving back.

We then got a nasty email from the holiday letting agency saying that due to the amount of cleaning, we were not getting our cleaning deposit back. .

Even worse, they said that we left the cottage in such a mess, they needed to pay for 2 cleaners for 2 hours. .

So now I take photos.

@Glssr195726113493

Ha! You left nearly an hour late, the cleaner couldn’t park nearby and had to lug stuff, you broke something, you used their Netflix, you left dog hair all over the sofa… 😂 oh OP.

oh have a heart! op is a human being. offered to pay for breakage (my dc broke 3 glasses in one fell swoop in our last place, shit happens) and did you notice op said the the dog was banned from the sofa?? the only reason why op was late leaving was because they were kindly doing so much cleaning! the hosts sound awful! they should have logged out of the Netflix if they didn't want guests staying. some people are not cut out for the service industry imo.

We have a timeshare which we have to leave by 10am. We've managed that every year, even when we had to get our disabled daughter up and out and she couldn't be left unattended. You do the bulk of it the night before and leave the last minute stuff till morning.

To be honest, if you think lazy teenagers are an excuse then I'd be wary of letting to you.

I also don't know a single dog friendly let which allows you to leave a dog unattended.

I think they were overly harsh. The Netflix thing shouldn’t be a problem at all, I assume they must have left it signed in. If they allow dogs they can’t really complain about dog hairs.

What do you mean that you mentioned the cleaner was brusque though? Did you put that in your review of them? That would explain their bad review if you did.

they seem pretty miserable but Ywbu to leave 40 minutes late.
10 am is standard and we've generally managed with younger kids

Sounds like OP would have left on time if she wasn't so careful about leaving everything tidy. I have never hoovered on holiday

Then she should've got up earlier

Oh god, threads like this make me hate either MN or myself!

We have also struggled in the past to get out by 10, including getting car packed, kids ready, and house all cleaned/tidied. Even though we do some stuff the night before! We always make sure we leave it clean-ish, all washing up done, bins emptied, furniture moved back etc. Though we certainly don't manage to clean to spotless standard by 10am (also seems pointless if cleaner then does it!).

You don't sound like difficult guests to me, but based on the other responses, maybe you and I are both BU!

Personally, I wouldn't overly worry about it. I would maybe leave a short, polite, mildly-apologetic response to their comment, if poss!

We had an experience like that with a house swap. Lots of amazing glowing reviews then a mental one who got worked up because we had carpets - they don’t have carpets in southern Italy it’s all tiles and our carpets gave her a fit of the vapours. It’s really upsetting and makes you doubt yourself. We are really suspicious now and take photos. Some people are just weird.

I think the only real thing you did wrong was leave late (and actually that is a much bigger problem that the rest).

It was dog friendly so hair is to be expected, I would assume if it’s the owners Netflix they’ve left it logged into to use as a guest, and accidents happen. But you should have been out before 10 and off the drive - I think the other bits have become additional niggles.

I don't understand, ten is fine if you're organised. Surely you pack everything except clothes for travelling, toiletries, pyjamas and any other essentials the night before and sling it in the car and leave out some food for breakfast. Tidy round and run and unload dishwasher.

Get up in morning about 8, cook nice bacon sandwiches and have leisurely breakfast, chuck night clothes etc. in a carrier bag, get each person to check their rooms for left things, hand wash breakfast stuff and leave to drain, wipe surfaces, do one last check for stuff while everyone else gets in the car and then go. And anyone who's not up in time for breakfast can have a cereal bar and a bottle of squash in the car if you're feeling generous.

Teens can sleep in the car if they must.

Sorry..........YABU!!!

There was no excuse for leaving late, especially with teenagers, they are so much easier than babies and toddlers!!!

We have stayed in a few places this year and have coped with 9 am and 9:30 am checkouts. Pre covid most places were 10 am. I have two teenagers, one of whom has ASD and severe learning difficulties, you need to be more organised!

Dog hair on the sofa is unacceptable.