How to respond to a scathing review by host

[Linda3525]

I wish I would just write a response to the bad review I received and move on but it is just too upsetting and full of lies and all my previous reviews are excellent.  I had a very good experience in a Hawaii condo and wrote a very positive review for the host.  There were several issues/problems but I related them to the host privately since I did think they warranted giving her a bad review.  After seeing her review for me, I contacted the host trying to explain that I was not complaining and trying to give helpful feedback and asked her to remove the review but she just told me to not ever contact her again.  I also tried to get Airbnb to remove the review and gave them copies of all texts between the host and myself which were proof that I was not complaining and most importantly, that I did not send her messages everyday about things I did not like.  But Airbnb states there is nothing they can do.  Below is what I have written as a response to her review.  Any feedback would be appreciated.  My neighbor who has been an Airbnb host for many years said her review is the worst he has ever seen. 

Unfortunately, this is also the 1st negative response I have received and I am a little stunned and disappointed.  I only texted Elisabeth “3” times during my 2 week stay and would have used the Airbnb platform instead if I had known that was preferred.  Two of the texts that are not mentioned in her review are the important issues.  Within in minutes of entering the condo we turned on the light/fan in the kitchen & the paddles were hitting one of the light globes & it broke the globe and shattered glass throughout the kitchen.  She responded that she knew of this problem & was going to have it fixed soon.  I also alerted her to the fact that the clothes dryer was overheating & taking hours to dry probably due to a clogged exhaust vent.  I thought this was would be important to her due to the extreme electricity cost in Hawaii & the fire hazard & she thanked me.  The text regarding the tennis/snorkel gear was just a courtesy text since what was there did not correlate with her listing/emails & thought she may want to know.  Definitely not a complaint as I told her we brought all our own gear.  The parking hang tag was broken upon our arrival & was just a courtesy text to replace for next guest (included this in my 1st text).  I thought (maybe incorrectly) that I was being helpful as I would appreciate this info as an absentee host.  Finally, I tried to access the check-in information 2 days before arrival & had no complaints – info was very detailed & accurate.  Her reservation page stated they are available 3 days before check-in.

Obviously, I was happy in the condo since I wrote a positive review & may have booked in the future but I guess that is not an option.

Here is the host review of me:

Unfortunately, this is the first negative review I am writing about a guest. I cannot recommend this guest. Despite the fact that I am a super host and my reviews are excellent, and despite the fact that I gave this guest a discount, she managed to write me messages nearly every day about things she didn't like, such as not being able to access the check-in information sooner than is allowed by Airbnb, or that the car hang-tag had a tear in it, and several other issues. Unfortunately, she doesn't communicate via the Airbnb platform, but via regular text message. Even though I wrote her she should bring her own tennis equipment and I don´t provide snorkel gear, this guest complained about my tennis rackets and snorkel that some guests left in the condo. And several other issues, there was hardly a day, where she didn't text me about something. This guest is high-maintenance and needs a lot of attention, if you want peace of mind as a host, I cannot recommend her.

I can't believe this is the 1st time that I went above and beyond as a guest.  I always leave the rental in good shape but this time I even washed sheets and towels and made beds since I had the time.

Thanks in advance for any ideas.

[Sarah977]

@Linda3525  Don't let it get to you. If it was your first and only review, sure, it would be a bad way to start out. But you have other good reviews, so it's not such a big deal. A guest's factual, non-defensive, non-aggressive response to what they feel is an unfair review will be seriously taken into account by future hosts. Hosts know some other hosts are strange, overly fussy, perhaps rude, and sometimes quite unprofessional. It's not a matter of just blindly believing whatever a previous host had to say. 

Your response is a bit too long and detailed- try to pare it down. Something like,

"It was quite shocking to me to receive this review. I contacted the host a total of 3 times during a 2 week stay. Those contacts were to alert her to something that we found to be not fuctioning properly, but they weren't complaints, they were things I assumed she would want to know about (as she is an absentee host), and in fact, she thanked me for letting her know and indicated in one instance that it was a problem she was aware of and hadn't gotten around to fixing. One of the issues, an overheating dryer, was a potential fire hazard.

I told her about missing snorkeling gear so she would know that what she advertised may have been taken by previous guests. We brought our own snorkel gear, so it wasn't an issue for us.

We had no problem with check-in, so I am confused as to her comment about that.

Please refer to my other reviews as well as the good review I left for this host to get an accurate picture of the kind of guest I am."

You didn't do anything wrong- I should think most remote hosts would appreciate having the things you alerted her to brought to their attention, as they would prefer to know their property manager wasn't doing proper maintainence or making sure all that was advertised  was there.

Also, by mentioning malfunctioning things during your stay, it protects you from being blamed for causing the damage or for instance, making off with the host's snorkel gear. 

What most likely happened here, because reviews are blind, is that the host assumed you were going to leave a bad complaining review because of all the things you told her about, so she tried to counter with a critical review. Not at all professional behavior. 

But it's an easy thing for a host to assume if a guest contacts them during a stay about issues, so in the future, if you do this, try to make it clear to the host that you aren't complaining, just wanting to let them know,  and it's not something you are going to mention in the review. Many hosts are just terrified of getting a bad review.

You should, however, keep all communication on the Airbnb messaging system, especially notifying hosts of issues, even if it isn't a complaint. It's good to have documentation of exchanges in case of a dispute. Texts and phone calls are in order for emergency situations, or for simple things like letting a host know you are stuck in traffic and will be checking in later than previously arranged.

[Gillian166]

 ^this is good advice, agree with paring it back a little, most ppl seem to have v short attention spans and won't read anything too long. Even if someone thinks you are a bit needy, I don't think that's as bad as guests who break things and leave the place a mess, those are the red flags for me. Perhaps she was expecting you to leave her a bad review so she did the same. That's a shame. 

I read the reviews the host leaves, she generally is positive. Clearly gets annoyed at people who didn't read the listing properly, we can all understand that. 

[Inna22]

@Gillian166 I would also add something like. Interestingly, I left this host a positive review but according to her I am the complaining one. I am puzzled by the check in comment. The host can send it whenever they please. Regardless, I have not had any issues at check in. I hope any future hosts will till a look at all of my reviews and well as what I leave for hosts to get a full picture.

Guest reviews matter but not as much. I know my Uber profile is not stellar. I have no idea what I did wrong. You can not control what others do.

I have to tell you though, when a guest messages me about a problem during the stay, unless it needs to be fixed or they want it fixed, it makes me very uncomfortable. I do not know if they are criticizing or being helpful. Best time for comments i feel is in the private note portion of the review. I think this host assumed you would be leaving a bad review and preempted it by a bad one for you.

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  I agree that comments and suggestions are best left for private feedback. But the 4 things this guest says she told the host about seem to me like things it was a good idea for her to communicate during the stay. 

First, when they arrived and turned on the fan it seems a blade was bent or something and shattered one of the glass globes, resulting in broken glass all over. That the host's response was that she was aware of the problem but hadn't gotten around to having it fixed seems really lax on the host's part and broken glass raining down is a safety issue. 

The overheating dryer was also a fire hazard and safety issue. If I were the host, I would have tried to arrange to have that looked at immediately.

And the missing sporting equipment and the damaged parking pass are things the guest could have been blamed for taking and damaging.

If it's a guest suggesting that the host get blackout curtains to prevent guests from being woken early by the sun streaming in, or that it would have been nice to have a desk and a chair, or that there wasn't enough toilet paper provided for the number of guests, for sure those are things to give private feedback on.

But guests are always being told here by hosts that they should report issues to the host during the stay, and it seems to me that's exactly what this guest did. The fan and dryer issue are things I definitely would have messaged the host about.

That the host didn't even mention that the guest left the place tidy and clean, or anything positive at all, and wrote a bad review simply because she anticipated one, seems really unprofessional to me. 

I also wouldn't characterize a guest reporting broken, missing, or malfunctioning things as "high maintenance". A high maintenance guest, to me,  means someone who doesn't bother to read instructions or the house manual and continually asks how to work things that are clearly explained, seems incapable of figuring anything out for themselves, has a bunch of requests for things or calls at midnight to say they can't find the hairdryer or a garlic press. 

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 I totally agree with you that this guest”s reports were  legitimate. I’m just saying how I feel sometimes. For example, I guess tells me: a blade broke the glass. My reaction:: do you want me to clean it up? guest: no I took care of it. OK, now I’m worried the guest is just not happy. Guest: the dryer is overheating. Me: would you like me to send a technician ASAP? Guest:: no, it’s OK I’m just letting you know. So my point is, unless you want the host to clean it up in the moment or to fix it in the moment, that should be left for  the end. My house is old so little things break all the time. Sometimes I get guests who give me constantly running report every day and I am waiting on the edge of my seat what the review would look like and some say in the very end here’s a list: we had an absolutely amazing stay but just so you know. Or put it in the note box.  I guess it is almost impossible for a good guest to know intricacies of how hosts should feel and there’s no manual on how to be perfect guest. Furthermore, this is how I prefer things and maybe somebody else prefers a differently. I also understand that the guest is not supposed to keep a running list to report to the host at the end, they think of some thing and they mention it. This guest did nothing wrong. I guess I’m just trying to explain how this host must’ve felt, which doesn’t make it right. 

[Linda3525]

@Sarah977@Inna22 @Gillian166 Thank all of you for your helpful replies. I knew I needed to pare my response down but was having a hard time as I'm too busy taking it so personally & angry about the lying. You have provided good help with this. I'm impressed with the time spent on not just your replies but also taking the time to review the host on Airbnb.
Should add that my texts to the host were to help her out but also to protect myself. Her "14" page house manual and rules stated that all damage was to be reported to her immediately and that missing or broken items would be charged to the guest. There were typed up instructions/rules taped up everywhere in the condo (probably in 50+different places). So, with all of this in mind maybe nothing this host does should surprise me & not exactly sure how I will handle host communications in the future assuming anyone will rent to me. Actually, I don't recall ever feeling the need to alert a host of a problem/issue in the past.

[Gillian166]

As much as I want to put up little instructions everywhere, i just hate it when owners do that, it ruins the whole vibe of being in a house, which is the marvellous thing about airbnb. Also, there are viral tiktoks about hosts who do this, and I'd hate to end up as the butt of a joke. 50+ signs!!! omg, that's crazzeeeee. lol, i would have probably make a tiktok about that! 

[Colleen253]

@Linda3525 “Her "14" page house manual and rules stated that all damage was to be reported to her immediately and that missing or broken items would be charged to the guest.”

Given this, I would simply respond to the review by indicating that the ‘14 page house manual’ directed guests to report issues to the host immediately, so you were simply following her instructions. You had thought you were being an attentive, helpful guest, and are regretful and a bit confused as to how your messages could then be interpreted as complaining. Future hosts will see all your stellar reviews, the nice review you left the host, and be able to put it all together. 

I tend to agree with Inna, that she was likely anticipating a bad review from you and retaliated. Sounds like a very uptight host.

[Sarah977]

@Linda3525  When I checked out the reviews this host has left for other guests, she  hasn't written any other bad ones, but what I saw was that while the first few reviews she left she  spent a little time on, now she just writes "Good guests. Can recommend." 

As a host, reviews like that give me zero valuable information. It appears that she doesn't want to be bothered to leave informative reviews, and I guess she considers a guest notifying her of legitimate issues to be a "bother"" as well, even though her manual says the opposite.  

Don't worry about that review keeping you from being accepted by other hosts. You have 13 other reviews that speak highly of you. Her review is an outlier. Hosts also get outlier reviews they wring their hands over. But a user, either host or guest who can't see that it's an outlier and takes it seriously is probably not someone you want to deal with anyway.

If you were looking at a host's reviews and they had a dozen or more that said the place was immaculate, the decor was beautiful, the host was great and attended to an issue right away, would you really believe the one review that was a litany of complaints, claiming the place was filthy and run-down, and the host unresponsive? (Just as this host assumed you would leave a bad review, in the case of bad guests, they usually leave bad reviews if they get called out during a stay for rule-breaking, or know they damaged things or left the place a disaster. They assume they are getting a bad review, so make up a bunch of complaints)

Leave your response and forget about it. It's not worth being emotional about. 

And all those notes all over the house?  A few nicely framed reminders or instructions in appropriate spots can be useful to guests, but tacking up admonishments and instructions everywhere is pretty tacky and controlling. 

[Amanda660]

A few years ago we rented a villa in Florida for a week after a cruise.  

The villa was ok, not amazing but ok but what really threw me was the 25 plus laminated instructions and warning sheets plastered all  over the house about absolutely everything including  not sitting on the sofas in wet swimwear.  It really put me off,  so much so that I thought about leaving. 

She hounded me for  ages about leaving a  review but I didn’t - in hindsight it would have been better if I’d told her the notices were offensive to respectful, careful guests.

I read her responses to some of her reviews.  Oh dear....in Scotland we’d call her a ‘Nippy Sweetie’.

I own a laminator but never felt the urge 😆

[Anonymous]

@Linda3525  The host comes off as a bit of a douchebag in her review, and one immediately notices that she's speaking from only a few months of hosting experience. None of her complaints strike me as issues that would lead most hosts to decline a booking - it sounds more like she had some kind of personal animosity and lacked the professionalism to detach from it. Her responses to other reviews spoke volumes about what kind of person she is.

Also, anyone who uses the expression "I am a Superhost" unironically should not be taken seriously.

[Linda3525]

@Sarah977 @Colleen253 OK I have pared down my response (almost verbatim from Sarah & Colleen) with all your help & just running by you once again before posting.  Hopefully not still too wordy or negative??  I promise not to attach again and ask for more feedback.

"It was quite shocking to me to receive this review. I contacted the host a total of 3 times during a 2 week stay. Those contacts were to alert her to things that we found to be broken/not functioning properly, but they weren't complaints, they were things I assumed she would want to know about (as she is an absentee host), and in fact, she thanked me for letting her know that the fan paddle that was hitting a light globe had broken the globe & shattered and indicated that it was a problem she was aware of and hadn't gotten around to fixing. One of the issues, an overheating dryer, was a potential fire hazard.

I told her about missing tennis/snorkeling gear so she would know that what she advertised may have been taken by previous guests. We told her we brought our own gear, so it wasn't an issue for us.

We had no problem with check-in, so I am confused as to her comment about that.

The host’s 14-page house manual requires guests to report damage immediately & missing/broken items are to be charged to guests so I was simply following her instructions.

Please refer to my other reviews as well as the good review I left for this host to get an accurate picture of the kind of guest I am."

Thanks again for all the comments.

[Sarah977]

@Linda3525  Sounds good. Post it, pour yourself a glass of wine, and don't let this host take up any more space in your head. 🙂 And if you ever want to take a solo holiday (as I just host for 1 guest in my private guest room), you are most welcome to book here.

I had a seasoned Airbnb guest, with pages of good reviews, call me up to her room about 5 minutes after she checked in to point out a shelf in the closet that was loose. She wasn't complaining, she just didn't want to be blamed for damaging it. I got the impression she checks out the spaces she stays when she first arrives, to make sure she isn't held responsible for things that were already like that, which I thought was smart.

In fact I had noticed that loose shelf when cleaning and just forgotten to go back and tighten up the support screws, and would never charge a guest for something like that anyway, or mention it in a review, but I certainly didn't mind her pointing it out. 

[Linda3525]

Thanks Sarah.  Saw your place and it looks really lovely but I'm afraid I would miss my husband!!

After spending some time researching on this forum I see that you have contributed lots of helpful reviews.  You remind me of one of the most frequent contributors on the only other forum I have ever participated in (forum for Havanese dog owners) and she is considerate and a wealth of helpful info like yourself.