Guest gives low stars but insists there was no problem

[Claire1328]

Guest stayed with me for a few nights.

There were a few issues I overlooked and did not mention in my review of him - eg he brought weed into the hosue which stank. I personally dont care. But other guest was complaining and surely it is rude to bring it into a shared home when he could have left it in his car. He left it in his room even after I mentioned the smell to him. Healso brought a tonne of frozen food, which he expected to cook (when it is stated in house rules that no cooking for short stays) I allowed it as he has dietary issues.

He was right up my behind during his stay and I thought no issues. He seemed like a decent nice guy. I overlooked the small issues and gave him a great review as I know he would have difficulty booking anywhere if I mentioned the weed (I did give him private feedbacl about not bringing it into shared homes as many people wont like it)

I get his review - he says "No problems. Served its purpose" but then slates me in star ratings - giving only three stars for most things and three over all (even though I had sent message explaining the star system and that anything below a 4.8 starts to be penalised as a failing listing with issues.

I contacted him (politely) to ask for feed back as to what went wrong and why I was given such low scores- he says nothing it was fine. I explained the star system again. He basically says thats unfortunate but this is his opinion . So he's basically said no issues and nothing wrong but then scored me as if there were some fairly serious issues.

There is nothing in his review I can come back with as he slated me int he stars, not the verbal review. 

1) Do you think I could get this taken down on basis of lack of information? Is ""No problems. Served its purpose"  is not giving guests enoug information to make a booking decision and does not match the stars he gave

2) The review was left a while ago and so I am running out of time to reply. If I cant get his review taken down is is best not not reply and take the hit with the stars?

I do wish to warn other hosts about this guy and his low stars that dont match his verbal review though  (as even the air review app would not have picked this guy up to warn other hosts as nothing in his verbal review to sound a warning)

"I am glad you found it served your purpose and had no problems. It is a shame therefore and I am a little confused as to why you you scored my listing so low in star ratings (three), even though I explained to you that anything less than 4.8 is  interpreted by airbnb as a failing listing. It is also a shame you brought your stash of weed into my house which smelt so strongly that the other guest who was staying complained which I did not mention in my review as I addressed this with you privately"

Probably, best not leave a response? It is making it worse? Is there anything I can do without making it worse? 

[Huma0]

@Kristina556 

I'm afraid I agree with @Gwen386 . There might often be good reasons why someone needs to make a last minute booking, but it might also be because the guest is extremely disorganised, got kicked out of somewhere else, or makes problems and leaves all of a sudden on her own volition, like this one did with you. I've read too many horror stories here on the CC about them.

Also, it gives you no opportunity to vet your guests and make sure they have understood exactly what they are booking, and this is crucial. There is much more likelihood that they have booked without reading much. Also, don't just check the reviews they have received (as you said, some hosts are way too generous in their reviews), but also the reviews they have left for their hosts. 

This guest sounds quite unhinged and, in a way, you are lucky she left as quickly as she did as it could have gotten a lot worse!

@Gwen386 's suggestion is good, but I would be a bit harsher. I would at least add "would not recommend".

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 @Claire1328 Oh yes, definitely, “would not recommend.”  However, I prefer not to put that in the review; but answer it at the end. Once review is submitted, a question pops up, “would you recommend this guest?”

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

Yes, I understand that and I know also that a lot of hosts are not comfortable leaving very negative reviews, myself included. I think the question has now changed from 'would you recommend this guest?" to "would you host this guest again?". The problem is that future hosts do not see what answer you give for that, although of course they can see if you leave low star ratings, so in a way, I think the latter are more helpful. The question at the end only stops that guest from booking with you again.

I used to think that when I selected the 'recommended by hosts' filter for IB that it meant that any guest who had received this 'thumbs down' at the end of a review would not be able to IB with me. However, another host, I think it was @Emilia42 , said that was not the case and that in fact, it was only the star ratings that determined that. And who knows what Airbnb considers to be a high enough star rating for a guest to be considered 'recommended'?

I really don't know the truth of it as Airbnb seem to be deliberately vague on this point...

[Emilia42]

@Huma0 I don't really know anymore. I have clicked 'would not host again' and that guest was restricted from instant booking (came through as a request to book so I was able to decline the stay.) And I have had guests will multiple good reviews and one iffy review not be able to instant book. I assumed it was because one host had clicked 'would not host again.' But I don't think the star ratings have much to do with any restriction other than blatantly showing hosts that the guest is poorly reviewed.

[Huma0]

@Emilia42 

It seems no one really knows. If we click would not host again, does that mean the just can't IB with us, or does it mean they can't IB with any host who has selected the 'recommended by other hosts' filter? Are the star ratings factored into this, e.g. can they also not IB if they have low ones and how low does it have to go to be a factor?

I wish that Airbnb would simply state what it means. Why so cloak and dagger about it? The only reason I can think of why they don't specify this is because perhaps hosts do not have as much control as they like us to think we do... e.g. what if any guest with 3* or above and even with a 'would not host again' review could still get through that IB filter? The filter would be pretty meaningless to me in that case.

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 Excellent point. I thought it made a difference because when I first started hosting, I got a pop-up alert from airbnb notifying me that a prospective guest who was either making or requesting a reservation—I’m paraphrasing here because I don’t recall exact wording—had a “not recommended” in their profile and it was up to me whether I wanted to pre-approve or decline the request. Boy was I glad of this notification, because I did not pre-approve the guest. So was this like a one off or outlier. 

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

I am not sure. I don't ever remember seeing a pop-up alert like that. How long ago was this?

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 It was either late March early April. I had just started hosting. 

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

Ah, okay. Maybe it is a more recent thing then. I would certainly welcome this if it is a new change.

Did the notification indicate whether your acceptance rate would go down if you declined?

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 I don’t recall; but my acceptance rate has not been affected. 

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

Thanks for the info.

Would be interesting to hear from other hosts if they have also seen a pop up message along those lines. I for one would find it useful to know if another guest had hit the 'would not host again' button before I accepted that guest!

[Kristina556]

I agree it was good that she left sooner rather than later. My other guest was shocked by her behavior as well. My parking routine is straight forward. Everyone checks in at the main door and one parks in parking lot and the other in the maine drive way. It can accommodate 3 cars. This guest was not pinned in. She perceived it looking out the side door seeing one car fir a quick check

in and another dropping off another guest… maybe 30 seconds.  Her perception was affected by whatever else was going on with her. I ended up giving a fair but accurate review. She withdrew her request for refund after I rejected it and I explained why in detail. I also sent photo and have primed support with anticipation of a negative review. I have maintained a five star standing up until this guest. So we will see.