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Karen
I've only been hosting with booking.com since Sept 2017 so I've still got lots to learn but I'm really enjoying it. We've met all sorts of people from so many countries.
As I said, I came here for feedback, but not from you pibomarco. A bit of support would have been nice too, to converse with people who understand what we do and the challenges we face. I I find my job can be very isolating and I suffer with anxiety. While I love what I do, sometimes remaining positive, cheerful and full of energy when dealing with guests requires huge amounts of effort. Clearly I'm in the wrong place for support or a listening ear, but it's fine as I've learnt my lesson. It must be lovely for you to have it all together and have all the answers but you should walk in another person's shoes before you judge. I won't be back to read your response so save your breath.
You're right Miranda, and lots of people do see it as an inconvenience. It doesn't help that in today's world we're expected to review EVERYTHING! I can't even get a coffee or buy some socks without someone asking about 'how was your experience today?'.
Thanks pibomarco but I do understand the system. My guest gave me all :D which would have give me a 10/10 with the old system. They used the slider to give me an overall of 8/10. And I've just seen that the 9.4 that I've maintained for almost two years has dropped to a 9.3.
I'm really just here to express my disappointment, and hopefully get some feedback from booking.com, but once again that seems unlikely to happen. For an easy going person you seem very argumentative and unable to listen. I don't usually contribute to these forums for fear of being trampled, and I think this is going to be my last one.
Lovely sentiment, and I guess we'll all be in the same position. Doesn't ease my frustration though, because this system doesn't give me any useful information about why the guest scored me 10 for all categories and then a 9 overall. I'm only guessing as to the reason. Having read other conversations here about the same theme there are lots of theories, but sadly we'll never know.
I see what you mean Miranda. The start position of the slider makes guests overthink it, especially when it starts at 0. This really was a half-arsed attempt at listening to us on booking.com's part :(
I've just found myself in exactly the position Miranda mentioned and I'd love to hear what Sergei thinks.
I received my first review with the new system. The guest scored 10 for each category and gave wonderful comments. They said our location is perfect, we're lovely hosts, the room was clean, the bed comfortable, the towels soft and the bathroom nightlight a great idea. The only negative was that they'd like a larger shower cubicle. Then they used the new sliding scale to give me an overall score of 8. With the old system it would automatically have been calculated as a 10/10 but now the guest is challenged to think about whether this is the right score to give. I assume that my guests believe they're scoring fairly, and are probably comparing us to other places they've stayed in. They told me that they travel a lot so have been to expensive hotels and on lots of cruises. However, we're a small B&B, one of the lowest priced in town. It feels like a clear case of not comparing apples with apples, and I'm so disappointed. Our current review score is 9.4 and I work hard to maintain it but feel like I now don't stand a chance. When their only negative was about something that's not an easy fix (and something that's only been mentioned once before in 233 reviews) I just can't see this as an opportunity to improve.
Please, please tell me how this is better because I just can't see it.
Thanks so much for the feedback to my earlier comment. It's actually good to hear that other people have the same issues. Frustrating for us all but at least I know I'm not doing something very wrong or missing an obvious solution - because there doesn't seem to be one! I'd like more information about how my property functions in the information at the time of booking. I wouldn't even call it 'house rules' because a lot of this isn't about rules or policing guests. Personally, I'm going to keep feeding back to booking.com.We can't expect change if the decision makers don't know that we need it.
House rules. I can see some people don't agree with them, but sometimes you have to have some. Mine include locking the front door, a simple matter of security (you only have to press a button so it's not hard) and parking on our side of the driveway (I like happy neighbours) and leaving the shared bathroom as you find it (I like happy guests too)
I've got a couple of approaches to try and give guests the information they need. Firstly, I give guests a small sheet of paper when they arrive with the stuff I think is vital - room keys and locking the front door, where to park and what time breakfast is served. Secondly, in the rooms there's an information folder that talks about use of the laundry, our keeness for recycling, use of pool/beach towels and other facilities. Lastly, there's a sign in the shared bathroom that covers basic bathroom etiquette. I feel that rarely does a guest seem read this stuff and it's really frustrating. I've even put the WiFi password in the middle of the folder so people might read other info while looking for it, but it doesn't help. The bathroom floor still swims in water, the front door is still left unlocked, my lovely white towels go off to the beach, the bins fill up with recyclable materials.
Maybe I shouldn't mind so much but this little business is also my home. And I'm really at a loss!
As I said, I came here for feedback, but not from you pibomarco. A bit of support would have been nice too, to converse with people who understand what we do and the challenges we face. I I find my job can be very isolating and I suffer with anxiety. While I love what I do, sometimes remaining positive, cheerful and full of energy when dealing with guests requires huge amounts of effort. Clearly I'm in the wrong place for support or a listening ear, but it's fine as I've learnt my lesson. It must be lovely for you to have it all together and have all the answers but you should walk in another person's shoes before you judge. I won't be back to read your response so save your breath.
You're right Miranda, and lots of people do see it as an inconvenience. It doesn't help that in today's world we're expected to review EVERYTHING! I can't even get a coffee or buy some socks without someone asking about 'how was your experience today?'.
Thanks pibomarco but I do understand the system. My guest gave me all :D which would have give me a 10/10 with the old system. They used the slider to give me an overall of 8/10. And I've just seen that the 9.4 that I've maintained for almost two years has dropped to a 9.3.
I'm really just here to express my disappointment, and hopefully get some feedback from booking.com, but once again that seems unlikely to happen. For an easy going person you seem very argumentative and unable to listen. I don't usually contribute to these forums for fear of being trampled, and I think this is going to be my last one.
Lovely sentiment, and I guess we'll all be in the same position. Doesn't ease my frustration though, because this system doesn't give me any useful information about why the guest scored me 10 for all categories and then a 9 overall. I'm only guessing as to the reason. Having read other conversations here about the same theme there are lots of theories, but sadly we'll never know.
I see what you mean Miranda. The start position of the slider makes guests overthink it, especially when it starts at 0. This really was a half-arsed attempt at listening to us on booking.com's part :(
I've just found myself in exactly the position Miranda mentioned and I'd love to hear what Sergei thinks.
I received my first review with the new system. The guest scored 10 for each category and gave wonderful comments. They said our location is perfect, we're lovely hosts, the room was clean, the bed comfortable, the towels soft and the bathroom nightlight a great idea. The only negative was that they'd like a larger shower cubicle. Then they used the new sliding scale to give me an overall score of 8. With the old system it would automatically have been calculated as a 10/10 but now the guest is challenged to think about whether this is the right score to give. I assume that my guests believe they're scoring fairly, and are probably comparing us to other places they've stayed in. They told me that they travel a lot so have been to expensive hotels and on lots of cruises. However, we're a small B&B, one of the lowest priced in town. It feels like a clear case of not comparing apples with apples, and I'm so disappointed. Our current review score is 9.4 and I work hard to maintain it but feel like I now don't stand a chance. When their only negative was about something that's not an easy fix (and something that's only been mentioned once before in 233 reviews) I just can't see this as an opportunity to improve.
Please, please tell me how this is better because I just can't see it.
Thanks so much for the feedback to my earlier comment. It's actually good to hear that other people have the same issues. Frustrating for us all but at least I know I'm not doing something very wrong or missing an obvious solution - because there doesn't seem to be one! I'd like more information about how my property functions in the information at the time of booking. I wouldn't even call it 'house rules' because a lot of this isn't about rules or policing guests. Personally, I'm going to keep feeding back to booking.com.We can't expect change if the decision makers don't know that we need it.
Thanks again everyone :)
Hi
House rules. I can see some people don't agree with them, but sometimes you have to have some. Mine include locking the front door, a simple matter of security (you only have to press a button so it's not hard) and parking on our side of the driveway (I like happy neighbours) and leaving the shared bathroom as you find it (I like happy guests too)
I've got a couple of approaches to try and give guests the information they need. Firstly, I give guests a small sheet of paper when they arrive with the stuff I think is vital - room keys and locking the front door, where to park and what time breakfast is served. Secondly, in the rooms there's an information folder that talks about use of the laundry, our keeness for recycling, use of pool/beach towels and other facilities. Lastly, there's a sign in the shared bathroom that covers basic bathroom etiquette. I feel that rarely does a guest seem read this stuff and it's really frustrating. I've even put the WiFi password in the middle of the folder so people might read other info while looking for it, but it doesn't help. The bathroom floor still swims in water, the front door is still left unlocked, my lovely white towels go off to the beach, the bins fill up with recyclable materials.
Maybe I shouldn't mind so much but this little business is also my home. And I'm really at a loss!