Catherine’s Host Update: reviews, party ban policy, and more

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi everyone,

I’m happy to be sharing a new Host update with you, which has important news about a topic I know is top of mind for many of you—reviews—along with news from our Host Advisory Board, about sustainability and introducing a new board member. (Welcome to the board, Pam!)

We’ve been listening closely to your feedback on our review system—specifically to how they relate to our party ban policy. For reviews written from today on, reviews from guests who violate our party ban will be eligible for removal. You shouldn’t have to trade off between reporting a party and getting dinged with a negative review. We want to close that gap. 

This is just the first step. We’ll continue to listen to you and work to shape our policies to better support you and our whole community. 

I’ll be in touch again soon with more updates. In the meantime, stay well, and happy hosting!

All my best,

Catherine

[Jeanette37]

Sounds great and I hope it works.

[Goran26]

Airbnb review system is badly broken as hosts have a lot more to lose for reviewing a bad guest. This in turn enables bad guests to continue using the platform and screwing over more hosts. Every time I had a problem guest and left a negative review they retaliated with a completely made up negative review of their own. That affects my rankings so why would I sacrifice my rankings to warn others? Because airbnb lets guests get away with bad behavior I removed a number of my listings permanently and stopped recommending it to other hosts some time ago. I'm glad I'm getting more bookings from platforms that allow more control over OUR deposit which alleviates the pain. In its current shape I cannot recommend airbnb to hosts.

[Sarah977]

@Goran26  The host not leaving a review to warn other hosts does not prevent a guest from leaving a bad review.

The guest can not see the review you left until they leave one themselves and both are published. Or if you don't write one, the guest's review will be published anyway after 14 days.

So if you decline to leave a warning review, that doesn't benefit you in any way, and is a disservice to other hosts.

Bad guests leave bad reviews as revenge because the host wouldn't put up with their bad behavior, it has nothing to do with whether you review or not.

[Hugh0]

It prompts bad guests to leave a negative review.

As soon as they receive the message that the host has left a review they know what is coming

[Sarah977]

@Hugh0  Yes, I get that. In that situation, many hosts use the tactic of waiting until the 11th hour, like 30 minutes or even less before the review window closes, to submit a review, in the hopes that the guest won't realize you've left one until it's too late for them to write and submit one.

[Goran26]

Not in my experience. A review by one party will often trigger review by the other. When you have a problem guest and you try to resolve unsuccessfully, don't you think he knows what sort of review you just left even before seeing it? 

[Sarah977]

@Goran26  You don't seem to understand what I wrote. 

Yes, if a guest knows they have behaved badly, they anticipate a bad review and will therefore leave a bad review themselves. 

But if you don't get a notice saying that guest has already left a review, then if you wait until just before the end of the 14 day review period to submit a review, the guest might not notice the alert that says the host has left a review, so even if they are then triggered to leave a bad review, they may miss the deadline, so they can't leave a review at all.

Let's pretend I'm your bad guest. I haven't bothered to leave a review. 10 minutes before the 14 day review period ends, a notice is sent that Goran has left a review. But I'm busy outside or at work and I don't have my phone near me or my computer, so I don't see that notice until an hour later. Now it's too late for me to leave a review.

Or I do get the message right away, and think, "Uh oh, I know he's left a bad review, I better submit a bad one, too".  But I can't manage to sign in and write and submit a review in the 10 remaining minutes of the review window. (The guest review form is much longer than the host review form)

[Goran26]

Sure, you can play those games if you have the time. I don't.

[Sarah977]

@Goran26  I don't play those games, either, in fact, I've been lucky never to have had a bad guest that I would have to worry about them leaving a revenge review. And even if I did, I'm not very invested in the whole review thing- IMO it is given far too much importance.

I was just explaining what some hosts do to try a workaround to avoid the revenge reviews.

[Helen744]

Most people cannot think to be that manipulative after they have behaved badly in someones home. If they do not leave a review immediately then they probably wont bother. Its getting the people who you know loved the place but are not used to leaving reviews which is my problem. Most people will tell you any issues privately.

[Dale711]

Hi @Goran26 

You were absolutely right !

        ‘A review by one party will often trigger review by the other’

Thank you for your helpful advice ✌️

Salute from Paris,

[Jennifer1673]

My listing says clearly "No parties, loud gatherings or noise, etc" because I live in a very quiet area. I wasn't able to collect damages except for what I could provide a receipt for. I hope this makes it a little easier to collect damages. They shouldn't be refunded their remaining nights either. 

[Helen744]

I always put " I live in a community ,so please respect my neighbours" as one of my rules.

[Don-and-Sandy0]

Instead of specifying that the guest has broken the no party policy, which may be too vague, it would simplify things if guest reviews could be cancelled if they had more guests than were approved. Just a few more adults can increase pool noise, the condition they leave the house in, etc., and can clog a septic. I speak from experience, sadly. If a host has attempted to address issues with them during their stay, they may retaliate with a negative review. So now  I note in my house rules that no additional guests can be there without my approval and I list possible penalties and before I book, I ask them to verify that they have read the house rules and that they approve of them. I have had several potential guests decline booking after doing so, and I believe parties may have been averted. We only use Airbnb and are enjoying the learning process and hosting with them!

[Jytte0]

I think this is a very good step in the right direction. Hosting is fluid, and we all live, learn and evolve.... Thank you Airbnb for listening to the hosts party concerns and guests reviews.