Private Host to Host comments about guests.

[Juan63]

I have to assume that most hosts have dealt with guests that have broken a rule, damaged property or were simply not great guests. But the concerns were not grave enough, or because of fear of retaliation, or we gave them pass, that we didn't end up commenting about their behavior on the public review. I think it would be useful for hosts to be able to leave private comments that are available to future hosts in regards to specific guest.

Thoughts?

[Maia29]

I finally had to leave a really honest review last week. I don’t want any host to go through what i did.

Another host in the same city gave my guest a five star review. 

The only reason why she gave them a five star review is because she doesn’t actually live in her Airbnb, so i strongly believe she has no clue what really went on in her unit. 

[Erin443]

THANK YOU. The same thing happened to me.

[Elaine613]

Recent lurker, first-time poster. I’m appreciating this discussion.

In my property, I live in one bedroom and rent out the second bedroom. I’m dealing with a similarly problematic guest right now—not party-down kind of problematic, but doing things like keeping in his room open containers of cooking spices and a trash bag with empty cans of food he has eaten. (I have a policy of no eating food in the bedrooms, because I don’t want to risk attracting insects.) He seems to be using some kind of menthol decongestant that I can smell in the hallway occasionally and that he may be running with some kind of inefficient humidifier (my utility bill last month was unusually high for this time of year and for my being gone half the month).

He’s also socially awkward: all communications via email vs. face to face; doesn’t bother saying Hi or Good morning as he’s entering or leaving the apartment; never leaves his room when we’re both home except to use the bathroom. I don’t expect to become besties with my guests, but basic interpersonal interaction and good manners is expected.

This is a long-term rental (those are the only kind of rentals I do) so I am pondering my options as to how to deal with this situation. This is the weirdest guest I’ve ever had.

[Sarah977]

@Elaine613  If you feel really uncomfortable with him in your home and can't imagine living with him long term, you'll just have to suggest he look for another place as it's not a good "fit".

Otherwise I would message him, reminding him of the no eating in bedroom rule, and the need to empty the trash regularly and dispose of food containers in the kitchen garbage. You'll also need to ask what he has plugged in that is consuming all that electric and explain that the price you charged doesn't cover extreme use of utilities, and if he wants to use whatever he's using, that would incur extra cost to cover the added utilities. Send him copies of the electric bills that show a large increase since he moved in so it's quite clear the bill he is running up. I'd also be somewhat concerned as to whether whatever it is presents a fire hazard. If he won't comply with simple rules like no food in his room, that would be a good basis to ask him to leave.

There isn't much you can do about his social ineptness- he may be on the autism spectrum, or simply be extremely shy. It's hard to understand why someone who is like this would book a private room home-share, aside from the price, and it's unfortunate that people who aren't suited for this type of set-up book them anyway.

[Elaine613]

@Sarah977Thanks for the recommended language! I just sent him a message.

He definitely booked with me because of price. My place is in a high-priced rental market, and I usually rent to people in town for internships, fellowships, or relocating from somewhere else. He's a recent grad and very well may be socially inept for one of the reasons you mentioned, and/or may grow out of it as he's out and about in the post-college world.

[Sarah977]

@Elaine613  You may already know this, but if he is on the autism spectrum, those people actually need and usually appreciate others being very clear with them about what is expected because they aren't good at reading facial expressions or body language and may not know what is acceptable and what is not, or how their behavior affects others. I remember a post from a guest who was autistic where she explained that she was never taught how to clean up after herself, got a bad review for cleanliness, and would have appreciated the host explaining in detail what and how she should clean and that she would have been open to complying- she just didn't know.

[John1574]

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@Juan63 @Erin443 

Reviews!  One of the biggest bug-a-boos in the AirBnB biz. (Say that twice, fast.)

I have a technique for handling this that helps me exert some control over reviews to some extent.

I send out a Review Primer when a guest leaves detailing my Reviews Have Consequences Policy, how the review process works and how consequential it is for both guests and hosts.

The upshot of this policy is that I let guests know that at the end of every review I write . . . are these words:

"I respond to every review I receive, so see my listing page for more information." 

The name of the policy, and the sentence, serve as warnings to those few guests who wish to ambush you with a nit-picky, resentful review because they are miserable people. 

Once I see the review they have written I have a chance to respond on my listing page.

It works well but not 100%. I recently had a crazy guy who works for the Post Office - that should have been warning itself -  who, it seems, set me up by announcing he would be bringing two ten week old kittens.a few days after booking. I discouraged him from that and he did not bring them.

But he tried to wait till the 11th hour to leave a devastating 1 Star overall review, saying I did not honor my "Pet Friendly" policy and made up several thing about a filthy bathroom and a key problem, both non-existent,  I caught it right away and left an appropriate response that begins: REVENGE REVIEW.

It is such an outlier of a review that people who do put stock in reviews will see it as such.

I find that telling guests that you respond in writing to every review, and that it appears right under their review, can be an effective restraint, but it was not on this crazy.

My fault. I should have cancelled the reservation. I see, now, by his review, he is a disturbed individual. I sensed it, and I left a coded message, for other hosts, in my review of Phil, that said, "Not the usual type of guest we get, but . . . "  I even let him stay an extra day at no cost because we had no guest coming in behind him. No sign of any problem during his stay and no review til the 14th day. My average went from 4.97 to 4.92..

We have to be creative in addressing the problematic review process. My technique works for me (most of the time) and anyone is welcome to try it or a variation of it.  I will continue to use it, and I'm  only posting here to help others with this problem, not to start an argument or a discussion. Take it in the spirit offered, and if you don't like it, move on, nothing to see here.

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[Dawn81]

@John1574  Very clever idea, wish I'd thought of it. 

[Dawn81]

@Juan63  After 3 years of hosting and  a majority of fine guests but also a small handful of not-great to blatantly terrible guest I gave my first 2 star total to a guest and explained why. Wow has she blown up! She sent me a threatening message very sarcastic and retaliatory threatening to report me to airbnb, and shared other unpleasant thoughts. I'm not terribly concerned with airbnb  as the review was authentic and within guidelines. Of course after her message, I've blocked her. But I did get a call from my HOA manager and she'd reported  to my homeowner's management in an attempt to shut me down. She stayed for 3 days.  For what it's worth,  the written review will be out there for all potential hosts to read. I'd also found out that she has a scant amount of reviews for the amount of times she's used Airbnb. That tells me other hosts haven't left reviews, a sure sign they were less than impressed. I also saw she doesn't leave reviews for hosts.
My primary objection was her lack of communication, extending to being rude.  Also not locking the door to the home and bringing in and leaving fresh perishable food in her room, (I designate eating areas and to throw away food in kitchen trash with tight fitting lid. I ask guests to abide by the no eating in room rule.  I also commented about her leaving the bathroom yucky with wads of hair in the tub. The leftover food and gross bathroom were part of my discovery after she'd checked out. I was super uncomfortable with her. Luckily I got to the cleaning and disposal before ants found the food! Her social interaction style was arrogant and she behaved like I was invisible when she'd pass by me. The rental is a private bath and bedroom. I expect guests to practice a minimum level of manners and greet or acknowledge me if they are walking right past me! I know picky aren't I? So now I'm not sure if my 3 years of Airbnb and being a super-host will culminate in having to quit Airbnb if I'm told I can't do it anymore.  I'm very meticulous so avoid any problems with noise or rowdy guests. I participate in Airbnb because I don't wish to have a permanent roommate and formerly successfully hosted international students for several years.  She'd inquired about if she could bike ride to the location she had a project going on with and was here for and of course didn't respond or thank me for my checking the distance to her intended project place. I"m not concerned about a guest's coming and goings except where they intersect with their stay. If they're going to be away for a day or two I like to be informed. I had one guest who stayed gone for days leaving his toilet filled up and clogged. So disgusting and rude. When he came back he shrugged it off and said he planned to deal with it when he got back! He acted so strange and erratic he'd lied to me about his reason for staying. He was scary and I backed off didn't review him and have seen he's had a series of bad reviews since his stay with me.  I just thought I'd finally leave a real review for a guest that made me uncomfortable instead of leaving no review and now this former guest is trying to shut down my home. I think it's only fair to share with other hosts to know and so it seems that the system can work against the host who tries to be real and transparent.  This is how bad guests fall through the cracks no matter has much screening Airbnb or we do. There just isn't 100% transparency in reviews. 

[Juan63]

I totally agree with your stand, others on this thread pretend to be tough and you should "have the balls" to post an honest statement. Sometimes, like in your case, you may feel real concern for your safety. The fact is they know where you live and people have been hurt for less reasons. The lack of an honest review isn't always because of fear of retaliation, sometimes we try to give guests the benefit of the doubt or we come to an understand of their rule breaking. With some we don't want them to completely lose their ability to use Airbnb as a platform. By the way, I lived in Escondido most of my life..lol 

[Dwayne-And-Marianne0]

My question/thoughts on reviews. If I were to give a review, but my guests did not provide a review, would my review of the guests even show up.

My thinking is if I did not want to recommend someone, but the chose to not to a review, it would not show up on there profile anyway.

[John1574]

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@Dwayne-And-Marianne0 

Your review would show up after 14 days.

[Dawn81]

Just a thought ... perhaps on the screening questions sent to a guest they could be asked if they've used Airbnb before and if so was it multiple times or just a few. If they mention they've been with Airbnb for multiple stays but you only see a few reviews that's a sure sign that hosts have been reluctant to review them and they been less than ideal guests.  There are reasons that hosts are reluctant  to leave negative reviews for a guest. Much of it has to do with fear of retaliation or other unintended consequences. I plan to use something to that effect on all my future screening questions. Does that make sense to anyone else?

[Sarah977]

@Dawn81  Nothing wrong with asking guests if they've used Airbnb before, and if they haven't, making sure they understand that it's not just a cheaper alternative to a hotel, that they've entered the correct number of guests, that they agree to the house rules, etc.

And it may be true in general that if they say they've used Airbnb a lot, but only have a few reviews, that hosts may have declined to review them because they weren't good guests, but that hasn't been my experience. I've accepted several guests who had been Airbnb users for years and had few reviews- what I do is ask them about that, in an "So, I'm just curious..." way. Some said they had had a few stays but the hosts hadn't left a review, some said they joined but never had a chance to travel, some said they had stayed at many Airbnbs, but with their partner and it was booked under the partner's account.

All of these people turned out to be quite lovely guests. Although i do read the reviews, I go primarily by how a guest communicates with me when they request to book. I've read so many posts about guests who had 5* reviews and turned out to be awful, that reviews can be misleading. The ones I believe are those that sound quite personal- you can tell th host did have interaction with the guest- It doesn't just say "Nice guests" or something that sounds like a cut and paste.