As an Evolve Partner, your role when a guest informs you of any issue is essential. The guest will generally consider your behavior an extension of the owner’s policies, which means you have an immense opportunity to help your owners anytime an issue arises.
The best imaginable service you can do your owners is to resolve any issues as quickly and promptly as possible. The majority of guests simply want their problem acknowledged and fixed. If you can solve the immediate problem and provide a helpful and compassionate response to the guest’s issue, you will make it much easier for the guest and owner to come to a resolution.
If you have a more severe issue, such as a double booking or an unforeseeable disaster, please see the Help Center article "What do I do if there’s a problem that forces a cancellation?"
Do not make promises on the owner’s behalf that you do not have the power to fulfill. You cannot guarantee that an owner will agree to refund a cleaning fee or a night’s stay without their express consent. If the owner wishes to give you the power to offer such restitution, you must obtain their consent in writing before doing so.
There’s still plenty you can do to help, though! Here are our recommended best practices for partners when a conflict arises.
Conflict Resolution Best Practices
Check-In Problems
If a guest contacts you and says they can’t access the property, these are your best steps moving forward.
- Make contact and apologize. Whether or not you were personally at fault for the check-in issues, your best first step is a sincere apology. The guest wants to feel that they’ve been heard and acknowledged. A sincere “I’m so sorry this happened,” will go a long way toward helping the owner come to a resolution.
- Take immediate steps to resolve the problem. If you are the person responsible for key hand-off or lockbox codes, fix the immediate problem as soon as you can. Be clear with the guest on when you will be arriving and ask them if it will work for them. If not, make arrangements that suit the guest and notify the owner as soon as possible. If you are not responsible for check-in procedure, please contact the appropriate partner right away.
- Inform the owner. Let the guest know that you will be informing the owner about their issue, and do so as soon as possible. If the guest asks about a refund, let them know that only the owner has the power to offer one, but that you will be sure to explain to them exactly what happened. Then do just what you promised to do: tell the owner about the issue and give them as many details as possible about the issue so they can decide on a fair restitution.
- Follow up. Contact the guest the next day (preferably by phone) to check in and be sure their issue was resolved. This step will let the guest know that you genuinely care about the quality of their stay rather than simply solving the problem in front of you. A quick note to say “I hope all’s well! I just wanted to check and make sure you haven’t had any more problems with the key code” will go a long way.
- Bring in the experts. If the guest is belligerent, hostile, or continues to complain when you’re certain they’ve had no further issues with entry, please get in touch with both the owner and our Customer Experience team at 877.818.1013 so that we can take over the communication. Thanks for your hard work!
Cleanliness Problems
There are two types of cleanliness issues: either the property simply hasn’t been cleaned at all, or it hasn’t been cleaned to the guest’s standards. If you receive a complaint about the latter and you know the property has been cleaned to the owner’s standards, please contact Customer Experience directly at 877.818.1013 so we can address the issue.
For all other cleanliness problems, these are your best practices for resolution.
- Make contact and apologize. Whether or not you were personally at fault for the cleaning, your best first step is a sincere apology. The guest wants to feel that they’ve been heard and acknowledged. A sincere “I’m so sorry this happened,” will go a long way toward helping the owner come to a resolution.
- Take immediate steps to resolve the problem. If you are property’s cleaning service, please arrive to clean the property as soon as you possibly can. Be clear with the guest on when you will be arriving and ask them if it will work for them. If not, make arrangements that suit the guest and notify the owner as soon as possible. If you are not the cleaning service, please contact the appropriate partner right away.
- Inform the owner. Let the guest know that you will be informing the owner about their issue, and do so as soon as possible. If the guest asks about a refund, let them know that only the owner has the power to offer one, but that you will be sure to explain to them exactly what happened. Then do just what you promised to do: tell the owner about the issue and give them as many details as possible about why the cleaning issue occurred and how severe the problem was so the owner can decide on fair restitution.
- Follow up. Contact the guest the next day (preferably by phone) to check in and be sure their issue was resolved. This step will let the guest know that you genuinely care about the quality of their stay rather than simply solving the problem in front of you. A quick note will go a long way. We recommend something like: “I just wanted to apologize again for the cleaning issues, and I hope you’ve had no further problems.”
- Bring in the experts. If the guest is belligerent, hostile, or continues to complain about issues you’re quite certain have been resolved, please get in touch with both the owner and our Customer Experience team at 877.818.1013 so that we can take over the communication. Thanks for your hard work!
Maintenance Problems
The most common maintenance problems have to do with broken appliances, which you can usually avoid by checking your appliances regularly to ensure they’re working properly and no parts are wearing out. That said, sometimes appliances are ornery and pick the worst possible time to break down, and guests are often quite understanding as long as the issue is resolved promptly. Here are your best practices for resolution:
- Make contact and apologize. Whether or not you were personally responsible for maintenance, your best first step is a sincere apology. The guest wants to feel that they’ve been heard and acknowledged. A sincere “I’m so sorry this happened,” will go a long way toward helping the owner come to a resolution.
- Take immediate steps to resolve the problem. If you are the maintenance person, please arrive at the property to fix the issue immediately. Be clear with the guest on when you will be arriving and ask them if it will work for them. If not, make arrangements that suit the guest and notify the owner as soon as possible. If you are not the maintenance person, please contact the appropriate partner right away.
- Inform the owner. Let the guest know that you will be informing the owner about their issue, and do so as soon as possible. If the guest asks about a refund, let them know that only the owner has the power to offer one, but that you will be sure to explain to them exactly what happened. Then do just what you promised to do: tell the owner about the issue and give them as many details as possible about the issue so they can decide on a fair restitution.
- Follow up. Contact the guest the next day (preferably by phone) to check in and be sure their issue was resolved. This step will let the guest know that you genuinely care about the quality of their stay rather than simply solving the problem in front of you. A quick note to say “I just wanted to check and make sure you haven’t had any more problems with that air conditioner” will go a long way.
- Bring in the experts. If the guest is belligerent, hostile, or continues to complain about issues you’re quite certain have been resolved, please get in touch with both the owner and our Customer Experience team at 877.818.1013 so that we can take over the communication. Thanks for your hard work!