It is not uncommon to occasionally get a complaint from guests staying at your holiday home. Having said that, getting a complaint about the property can be the worst thing to happen for a holiday home owner and can have far-reaching ramifications. For the owner it is understandable that living in another city away from the property it is difficult to supervise the maintenance after every changeover.
However with a little caution the likelihood of complaints from guests can be minimized or resolved. Here are some tips:
1. Communicate: Once the booking is done, communicate with your guests. Tell them again what to expect in your property. Make them feel comfortable talking to you and ask them to report to you if they find anything undesirable about the property. Make them feel that you are there to help them with a comfortable stay.
2. Changeover: If you have a care-taker in place, ask him to do a thorough check of the holiday home after a set of guests leave and before a new set of guests are about to arrive. If there is any wear and tear, get it replaced immediately. Ask the care-taker to be stationed in the property when they arrive. On their arrival, ask the care-taker to take the guests on a round of the property. Call your guests and ask them if they had taken a look of the property and whether they liked it or not. Doing so will help you to resolve any complaints from the guest at the beginning of the stay itself.
3. Rules of the property: Make sure you have conveyed the rules/ restrictions or procedures of the property. It is indeed a great hassle for a guest to discover that there is no parking space available at your property and that you had not mentioned the same in the booking contract. Similarly, if the guests arrive with their pet and you have restrictions on pet entry; the guests might complain that you had not informed that earlier. So be upfront in mentioning all rules and booking procedures in your booking contract.
4. Up-to-date advertisement: Always keep your advertisement accurate and up-to-date. Holiday home rental websites give you the liberty to change your images and description from time to time. If there is something that does not work or is broken, remove it from your advertisement until you get it fixed. If there is anything that is being worked upon, let the guests know beforehand. Moreover if you commit to fix something make sure that you stick to your commitment.
5. Always listen: If a guest has a complaint, listen to her/ him. Don’t argue. Acknowledge the problem and try to resolve it. Sometimes the issue might seem trivial to you, but never overlook. Always remember that once the guest leaves your holiday home, he would be your brand ambassador. So try to resolve the issue as soon as you possibly can. Even if resolving the issue takes time, keep your guests informed. Let them know that you are at the job to resolve the issue.
6. Follow-up: Without doubt every guest is an experience to be remembered. Sometimes there will be over-demanding guests, sometimes very friendly and accommodating. But for a holiday home owner it’s all about what they learn from them. Always ask yourself: ‘Have the issues past guests had made been resolved?’ If you are get many complaints about the same issue, accept that there is something really wrong and address this area without any further delay. Once all the issues have been resolved, follow-up with your past guests and thank them for pointing out these issues to you. Let them know that the issues have been taken care of and that you are eager to play hosts to them again.
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