Private Feedback

[Jan10873]

Are there any policies against publicly sharing a host's message via private feedback?

[Anonymous]

@Jan10873 Yes, that would be a really crappy and unethical thing to do, and it would reflect far more poorly on you as a guest than the review itself. 

[Jan10873]

Even if the feedback was sarcastic in tone and hurtful to the guest? Objective is to prevent future potential guests to the listing to be treated unfairly and disrespected.

[Sarah977]

@Jan10873  Where were you thinking of posting it? Here on the forum?

First of all, private messages are exactly that, private. Hosts get all sorts of nasty private messages from guests- they don't share them publicly, they put on their big boy and girl pants, realize there are some nasty people in the world and move on.

And posting something here to warn other guests about a listing is pointless- this is an international forum with thousands of users all over the world- the chances of anyone who might book that listing seeing what you post here is about zilch.

The place to warn other guests about a listing is in a review. Whatever private message you get after check out is not relevant to anyone else. Perhaps the host was being sarcastic because he found something you did or said to be objectionable. There's no reason to assume he sends messages like that to all his guests.

And trying to destroy someone's business simply because they said something to you that you found hurtful is really nasty in itself.

And I see you already left an insanely long negative review and similar reponse to the review, neither of which future guests are likely to plow through (your response appears on your review page, not the host's). I get it that the eelevator issue and the behavior of the co-host were legitimate issues, but all that could have been condensed to a few brief sentences. 

I suggest you put this behind you and move on.

[Jan10873]

No one said anything about destroying anyone’s business, but I hope any guests out there (not specific to the listing we stayed at) do not get treated with disrespect from their hosts. Just a general inquiry on how to approach an issue that has never crossed my path before. Maybe y’all have had your share of unpleasant guests and can’t understand the perspective of one who has never had to deal with a difficult host, especially when family safety is involved. Was just trying to seek some advice, so noted that not everyone’s experience is the same. Sorry, couldn’t condense the experience as mentioned. Moving on I guess! Any other guests that use Airbnb few and far between their travels out there, be careful - again, just my experience. 😬

[Sarah977]

@Jan10873  Believe me, hosts are well aware that there are bad hosts out there, just as there are bad guests. Bad hosts give Airbnb a bad name, which affects us all and I can assure you, we would like nothing more than to have bad hosts removed from the platform. But one guest's bad experience does not necessarily mean it's a bad host- it could be, or sometimes things just start off on the wrong foot, as it did for you with having to lug all your stuff and 2 little kids up 10 flights of stairs, and it all goes downhill from there.

The reason to condense a review is that A. almost no one will bother to read through something so long, which defeats the purpose of leaving a review, and B. future guests are not interested in reading about whatever drama played out during a stay in all its gory details. (Same goes for reviews hosts leave for guests- no one cares about the details)

I think your review could have been condensed to something like, "The elevator was not working, which no one bothered to inform us about before we arrived, requiring us lugging all our luggage, 2 children, strollers, etc. up 10 flights of stairs. The elevator took 2 days to be repaired and the host's rep who communicated with us about this was intrusive and impatient. We had no complaints about the apartment itself, which was clean and comfortable, but would not book here again due to the management." Something along those lines. 

It summarizes your experience briefly, so it is condusive to reading, and warns future guests. 

Tip- try to stay away from these property-managed listings, which are often problematic. Hands-on hosts who live nearby and manage their one or few listings themselves tend to be much more caring and helpful to guests.

[Jan10873]

Thank you for the follow-up @Sarah977 !! Yeah, such a shame that this happened, because other than the negative experience with the host (or property manager in this case) the place was great and we just focused on having a nice, relaxing vacation - it just irked me the way she handled the situation. Just want to put it out there in case other guests are seeking more help on these types of issues. Ah, and yes...after the fact, I do agree with your condensed version of the review - duly noted for next time, but praying there won't be issues with a disrespectful host next time.

Appreciate all your help!