Attending to Upset Guests

From the moment they step through the door your bookings become guests, and their experiences determine whether they ever come back.
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charles cawley
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Attending to Upset Guests

Post by charles cawley »

This is a minefield.

Things are not made any easier but the fact that the more you care, the more upsetting it is when faced with a complaint or something, simply, going wrong.

Although, as agents we do not meet guests in person, we sometimes deal with the aftermath of upset. In most cases, the key is to listen to owners and to find a way of absorbing upset from both sides to bring things down to earth. In virtually every case there's an understandable reason why things happened.

In this article, there is a reference to a recent event: http://www.holidayletsforsale.com/upset-guests

It reminded me, in no uncertain way, of the demands on owners to keep cool and utterly reasonable when things don't go as planned. Sitting in my office, away from the immediacy of it all, is easy enough and this event was a useful reminder.

You have to like people to be happy in this business.
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greenbarn
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Post by greenbarn »

Hands up anyone not nodding along when reading that article......!

Thanks for posting.
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French Cricket
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Post by French Cricket »

A really good article, Charles. Should be required reading for everyone contemplating going into holiday letting (not to mention those already doing it!). I hope it gets the reading on here that it deserves.

The two things that you've highlighted here are really the crux of the thing:
Every upset and concern is of immense importance. [..]. No one gets into a lather or upset for the fun of it. In many cases, there’s an absolute and fair reason to complain, other cases are 6 of 1 and half a dozen of another and, in a surprisingly small number of cases, complaints have no substance.
and
Handling these problems in the right style marks out professionals from the amateurs.
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PW in Polemi
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Post by PW in Polemi »

One thing that struck me, on reading Charles' excellent (as usual) article, is that very often when a problem occurs with one set of guests, more than one problem subsequently rears its ugly head, thus compounding the guests' feeling of things not being as perfect for their holiday as they had anticipated. The wasps were obviously the last straw! :lol:

And of course, don't forget the holiday accommodation owners' saying:
If it can go wrong, it will.
:lol:
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Post by annedab »

I liked the bit about the wasps :D One of the families who arrived on Saturday have 3 small girls.....all three erupt into shrieks and screams at the mere sight of a wasp. Didn't help that one of the girls had tipped a fizzy drink over herself in the car - I suggested a cool dip and a change of clothes!
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pambon
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Post by pambon »

Thanks Charles for an excellent article. Congratulations to the super-professional home owner. Don't think many of us would find an accommodating plumber on a Sunday morning! (Although I did find my electrician very accommodating one Saturday evening at 7pm just after Easter!)

And with temps in the high thirties and hitting forty I'm not so
sure I would have been able to keep my cool over the wasps!!!!
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Post by Hells Bells »

I have upset guests this morning. Turns out what I thought were a couple and young daughter are a couple and grandaughter, and daughter arrive this evening ( no they had'nt told me and asked M for a set of linen) They pulled out the sofa bed this morning and it fell apart. It is apparently too heavy and they are old, so why didn't they wait for their hopefully fit and strong daughter to arrive !! M is going up at 5pm which was the earliest she could get someone to come and repair it. Now on tenterhooks.
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Post by pepsipuss »

Thanks for posting, Charles. Excellent advice as is the one about dealing with damage.

I will re-read regularly when under pressure - we are enduring our first year ever of truly difficult guests and I am having a hard time keeping my cool.
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Mouse
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Post by Mouse »

Useful Charles. Not all owners will have a background in Customer Service or dealing with fraught people face to face.

Dealing with customer complaints (to me) is all about managing expectations in as professional way as possible. Though as someone said, approaches are different depending on the customer.
My golden rules are;
Listen patiently (once they have all the rant out of them they are much more receptive to you), ask pertinent questions (if you can get them focused on facts it helps to calm them down), repeat (to show you've understood and can check you have left nothing out)......and then outline what you can do about the issue including timeframes.
If you can...try and sit down somewhere. Standing can enhance anger!! Plus it gives you a breathing space.
Always be honest.

My biggest tip is that if someone is so unhappy that nothing seems to satisfy then ask them what else they want you to do. That means they have to think things through themselves and IF they come up with a different approach (it hasn't happened yet) then great. What usually happens is they can only suggest what you have already said you would do/are doing.

Issues like wasps are easy...it's when things build up or it's a major inconvenience.

I've got guests in a villa I manage at the moment (long story) but it's high end and 24hrs after check in I was there dealing with 4 major complaints, and another 2 occurred whilst I was there! They are now on their 8th and there's another 4 days to go.
We are best mates now though! And I joke that I'm their PA (what do you want me to deal with next?). But they need some serious compensation from the owner.

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T.S.
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Post by T.S. »

Can anyone explain to me what is meant by "doing the dying fly"? I've never heard that phrase before. TIA
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Post by B&B netherlands »

PW: my experience as well. once a guest is upset, whether or not your fault - it does get worse and worse.

you usually recognise the body language when you approach.

'no, i did NOT sleep well.'

okay, bad sleepers do exist.

'there are numerous insects in the room, we find it dirty and the linen is full of spots and the toilet has to be cleaned with a brush, moreover, the bath sheets were not white but discoloured and the wash basin had been used by other guests and was not as claimed in the ad, 'brand new'.

put it in past tense - as the guest did not complaint during stay, she was just looking for a way to vent her feelings about a weekend that did not go as she hoped, so a very negative review was my share of her disappointment.

one pair of guests before, found a freshly baked bun 'with mould in it!' oh dear... 'we had to leave hungry because of that.' they did leave half of the presented bread, no complaints in my face - so easy to burn someone down through the internet.

but i cherish the guests who are wonderful.
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charles cawley
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Post by charles cawley »

T.S.

The Dying Fly was a short lived dance (if you could call it that) craze. It appeared originally on Tiswas which was a children's show on UK TV, I think, about 35 years ago.

It was a bit after my time but had an 'in your face' style that would be, most likely, forbidden on modern TV.
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gardenboy
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Post by gardenboy »

I find pensioners the worst - most time to plan their complaints in advance. Working parents are usually so tired from work that any peace & quiet of a holiday they are happy.

My worst complaints, well I have only had 1 I think - they were totally unrealistic price v expectation. One pensioner shouted & swore at me, I just walked away & ignored any further communication.

Funny thing is the latter said they had just retired from holiday letting....maybe someone off here.
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Normandie
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Post by Normandie »

I don't know if age has much to do with it. There are some pretty appalling people of all ages and as night follows day they will become pretty appalling pensioners. If you do consistently find 'pensioners are the worst', it may be that your property is simply less suitable for them compared to family groups.

I think perhaps we expect more from older people, maybe based on a notion of respect for one's elders... but it ain't necessarily so.
T.S.
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Post by T.S. »

Thank you, Charles, for helping me to understand that sentence. I enjoyed reading your article.
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