Reviews should have a minimum number of characters required

[Rossana121]

Hello everyone, I am rather new in hosting (since end of last year) and I have to say I have been rather lucky with guests. All of them (except the first, sic) nice and respectful.

And all of them very happy, or so they said, with the accommodation and the level of attention to details I provide.

Time of checkout comes. Apparently leaving a review seems like such a burden for them. I usually either explain in person at check-in or send out a message after check out to let them know how rating and feedbacks are important for a guest.

Still some just don't care and move on without bothering.

The worst though, was my last. I get the message that says he left a review, and to write mine in order to be able to see his.

After I'm done writing, the surprise: his review was "." 

I felt cheated. I'm not even sure he left a rating, because of course such a review will not show.

Would it be too hard for Airbnb to set a minimum number of characters required in a review?

How can one made of a comma, or a space or whatever punctuation pass on as legit?

Please, take another class on algorithms, because this sucks!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rossana121 I can't see a '.' review so perhaps its been taken down. I do however see that your response to one review has highlighted something not said in the review. Its usually best not to do this.

[Rossana121]

I did mention that the review cannot be seen, not because it's been taken down, but because it's empty.

Would you elaborate on my response? I don't think I understand

[Alexandra316]

@Rossana121  Your guest's review was nice: something like Nice and tranquil say. 

Your response was: 

"I am very sorry to see a 4 star rating (which means poor/insufficient) for communication. I love to offer (and receive) respect for one's private space and time, and it's sad to have it misunderstood for bad communication."

That guest can't change their review, nor will they ever see your response, in all likelihood. Responses to reviews are for the benefit of future guests. Future guests can't see what star rating the guest gave you: only that they seemed to have a great stay with you. Your response just draws attention to the 4-star review and makes you seem a bit petulant. If you want to educate the guests on star ratings, I would send them a private message. 

[Emilia42]

This has happened to me. I don't think the guest actually wrote a "." They left the field blank and the system puts "." as a place holder. This guest wanted to give you a star rating and that was it. Be grateful because I have seen reviews that said "No, thanks" or "No comment" or "N/A" because the guest literally didn't want to answer the question "Tell others about the place." I think this sounds a little more negative and you can only assume that the guest experience wasn't that great. 

[Alexandra316]

@Emilia42 I had that happen last year: a guest just put N/A in the public review, but gave me a good rating and said nice things in the private comments. Really odd. I copied their private comments (which didn't contain anything private) into my response and said something like "Thanks for your kind words! Come back anytime!"

[Emilia42]

@Alexandra316 That's a good idea. I always wonder what the guest is thinking when I see reviews like that since we can't see the individual star ratings. But displaying reach guest's star ratings would be another anxiety headache! 

[Alexandra316]

@Emilia42 In the case of my guest, I think they were just really not good with technology. In the leadup to their booking, they called numerous times to ask questions, didn't understand the booking process, etc. I think they would have been better suited to booking with a traditional bed and breakfast or hotel, not because they were bad guests, but because Airbnb just seemed to flummox them. I'm guessing a grandchild told them it would be an awesome idea then left them to it. 

[Rossana121]

In my case it wasn't about not being familiar with technology, it was just laziness and unwillingness to spend 30 seconds to write something.

I believe once a guest starts the review process, that field should be made mandatory with a minimum number characters required.

It makes no sense that a review that does not appear online would be notified to the host, cause it actually kinda doesn't exist.

Also, it's not fair that rating does not show if the review field is blank.

I would like Airbnb to make modifications to this!

[Scott1719]

I found this because a guest on an experience left me 4 stars with no feedback at all. It really irks me she brought down my average and doesn’t even give any indication why or what I could have done better. It’s just unfair. 

And FYI, she held up the entire experience for five other people because she was 15 minutes late. Without getting into details she was generally disruptive to the group and tested my patience. I really wish I had left without her but no good deed goes unpunished.