Passive aggressive negative review

[Donald225]

Our first five bookings gave us overwhelmingly good reviews with 5 stars across the board.  A friend of my wife who is also a host smiled and told her "Just wait". It wasn't long.  

Late on day 11 of their 13-day stay guest texts to tell me she found "another" bug.  I was horrified and offered to have a pest service over the next day.  Said no, she didn't want to make a big deal of it, just letting me know for future guests.  I apologized profusely and said I wished she had let me know sooner.  

She leaves a two-word review: "nice place" and gives us 3 or 4 stars in every category, destroying our 5.0 rating.

Value: 3 stars - This is high season, but we felt bad for her predicament and gave her a discount.  She shows up in a Porsche. 

Location: 3 stars - The property is in an affluent, quiet residential area on a very nice, tree lined street.  There are million-dollar properties up and down the street. She lives in the area and knows the location.

Accuracy: 4 stars - Our listing is 100% accurate. No professionally staged photos or anything like that.

Communications: 4 stars - I had sent her two "is everything to your satisfaction" texts over the course of their stay.  Positive response each time. Responded to her queries within minutes. 

Cleanliness: 4 stars - AFTER telling me about the bugs, she said "it's a great clean house"

I am furious that she destroyed our 5.0 rating.

They showed up with a dog that wasn't on the booking.  There are two cups and spoons missing.  I gave her a positive review, don't want to sweat the small stuff.

I know nothing can be done about it but I'm torn whether I should reply to the review or not.   

[Gillian166]

I have to say that as a guest I had no clue what the ratings meant, until i stayed at a property where the owner was very thorough in explaining how it all worked, and why i should only give her 5* ha! cheeky but effective. 

I'll have to go back to find how she worded it, and add a paragraph to my guest manual (and say something about how a broken mug is nothing to be concerned about.)

[Sarah977]

@Gillian166  Yes, hosts have to be really careful if they choose to try to educate guests about Airbnb star ratings. If you come across as shilling for a 5* review, it could totally backfire. There's a difference between cluing a guest in to how Airbnb ratings work and making them feel as if you are telling them to give you a 5* review.

[Marg11]

There is nothing wrong with a subtle survey of guests about their opinion of the review system with a brief addition of the facts.

We let a cheap flat which needs a paint job and a new bedroom carpet with no stove or washing machine but is booked with 96.8 % occupancy.

Our photos are accurate and house rules detailed. 

However, there are some guests who can't or don't read and as we use auto booking I email, to thank them for their booking, ask for extra details and tell them to read the house rules to ensure a great stay. As well as keys and 2 A4 pages of notes with the WIFI code at the bottom, they get a conducted tour on arrival while we tell them what we think they need to know.

Once guests are staying we are happy to 'help' them understand local city recycling expectations, locking doors for security, food hygiene to avoid ant invasion or anything else they don't seem too clued upon.

[Magali352]

I believe that you will not be perfect for everyone.
Some people may even lower their grade because they had a bad holiday or a breakdown in a relationship, for example.

[Max144]

I recently had guests who i was showing through when the husband spotted a bug which he then grabbed and disposed of before wife and i could see, but they were great guests and left all 5 stars, they could see place was clean and i leave lots of extras and treats and strongly believe the more you get right the less likely they will complain.