Guests with no reviews

[Laura2592]

I know this has come up in other threads but wondering how you feel about this as a host.

We have taken a fair number of these guests and are considering changing our acceptance strategy. Either they seem not to understand what Airbnb is (in the case of some of our older guests who are booking for the first time ever) or they leave the place as you would a hotel (wet towels on the floor and mess). In either case they don't read the listing or instructions in the check-in email or house guide. Sometimes they are the partner or friend of a seasoned guest who has a poor rating and is also coming to stay. 

Ratings are all over the map too. These are our guests who most often seem to think that all fives is a perfect score and the stay wasn't "perfect" so they need to find something to mark us down in. 

We have had great experiences with guests who are first timers but increasingly there are issues. How do you handle these guests? 

[Michelle1851]

@Laura2592  Most of my guests have either been somewhat new or no reviews lately.  The no reviews seem to be an older crowd.  They have all messaged prior with specifics about their trip and family details.  They have been good guests, my only disappointment is that they are not leaving reviews, they will however write in the guest book.

[Laura2592]

@Michelle1851 this is a big contingent of our recent guests-- new users to ABB who may have heard about it during lockdown and are trying it for the first time. They tend to be older adults who, now vaccinated, are venturing out again. Its really all over the place with communication. Some have shared very intimate details we don't need to know as hosts (health history, marital and family problems etc) and others have been very nervous and over communicative that they won't understand how to get in or have basic amenities. Some have been fabulous. Prior to 2020, we didn't even realize when guests were first timers. Since late 2020, there has been a noticeable shift in how they interact. 

[Emilia42]

I have never experienced this trend of Guests with No Reviews = Not So Great Guests. Everyone has to start somewhere so those guests (whether great or not) once had no reviews. And as demonstrated on this forum every day, we can not rely on other hosts to leave honest reviews so a few reviews might not count for anything. 

[Laura2592]

@Emilia42 I didn't use to notice any difference either. But now I do. Maybe its just a post-pandemic guest shift. Things are still strange 🙂

[Emilia42]

@Laura2592 I think this has to do more with your weird guest demographic. 🙂

[Debra300]

@Laura2592,

I've had good and bad experience with new users or guests with very few/no reviews.  I still have IB turned on, but now require guests without reviews to submit booking requests, and changed the booking lead time to 2 days to allow time to have some communication with guests who do have reviews.

[Laura2592]

@Debra300 that is exactly what we have set up as well. 

[Carlos4015]

Hi Debra,

Do you ask any specific questions to those without reviews.

Total new rookie here!!

Thanks for your help as I just entered the game this week.

[Kelly149]

I think you have to lay it all out completely regardless. Some of my worst guests have had lots of great past reviews... really are any of us the people/travelers we were 13+ months ago??

I wrote my veeeery long listing to be clear what the space is and what kind of traveler I want. I have long listing, long rental contract, long welcome book/user manual and I still got a 50YO adult last week asking me how to operate the TV remote and how to find CBS. (3 messages this took!!!)

So, actually the real answer is, write it all out and say all the things, but charge enough that any user, no matter how much of a PITA will still seem like they were worth the effort. My rates are roughly triple what they were when I started, you probably have room to raise your prices!

[Pete69]

My worst guests had reviews. For me, the better determining factor as to whether they will be more likely to ignore my rules (ex - no smoking), is that they will book less than a day or two before check-in. People who are responsible tend to book well in advance.

[Lisa723]

Our worst guest in the past year had many previous excellent reviews. We've booked several with no previous reviews and they've all been fine. So I don't hesitate to book people without reviews. I ask them to verify their ID (for whatever that's worth) and make sure to communicate completely and clearly.

[Elaine701]

While no doubt it's not everyone's experience, I can say with absolute confidence, that every "bad" guest we've ever had, did not have any history with Airbnb. Most were members since a year or more, but had no reviews. 

That's not to say that ALL guests with no reviews are bad guests. Not at all. But the only "bad" ones we've ever had were without any history at all. And I don't believe we've ever had any problems with any guest that had a history of good reviews. 

[Fred13]

Is a risk/reward thing; if you want the money and feeling more risque,  one goes for non-review guests. If a host doesn't mind having the place empty at times and puts more emphasis on the quality of their guests, then they will be more selective. Like others, I have not found much difference between those with reviews, or none at all. 

Of course, with so many built-in controls with our place, I never have worried about reviews or no reviews, especially considering we are a 'lead' item, especially when we started.

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592  On the occasions when I've had a not-so-great guest, I've looked back to the original message thread to see if there were any clues that I missed. Most of them had good reviews, not all of them were bad communicators, but I found that their original requests raised some questions that I wished I'd asked before accepting. Almost invariably, I'd notice a certain aloofness that wasn't befitting to the intimacy of sharing a home, but I figured it's no big deal to put up with that for a few days.

Eventually, I started feeling burned out from the stress of sharing my home with people who weren't a good fit, so I started asking a lot more questions and really pressing to make sure people had fully read and understood the listing. The average quality of guests skyrocketed - in 2019 I would say that all the people who came were ones I would gladly welcome back - but my acceptance rate went down to about 68%. Of all my years of hosting, this was the one I enjoyed most; I've never regretted a decline.

I've never found most reviews to be very helpful as a predictor of the experience - especially now that more and more listings are managed by hosts who never have contact with the guests. The most effective thing I've ever done to get better results was to change the communication and ask more questions.