Should I respond to this review about location details?

[Kristina542]

Hi,
Only been hosting a couple of months and got a review that was decent overall saying it was a great place to stay, but then said it was hassle getting their boat in and out from the dock since the water was so shallow and there was no swimming. My listing clearly says the water is very shallow (2-3' deep), which I reiterated to them when they messaged me about bringing their boat. In fact I specifically told them that while they were allowed to keep their boat at our dock, I wouldn't recommend it due to the shallow depth. My real issue is that while the review comments aren't too bad and they gave us a 5 for cleanliness, communication and check in, they gave us a 4 for accuracy, 3 for location and 3 overall. Should I just let it go and hope other guests see they complained about something clearly in the listing or should I respond publicly? I'm also disappointed because they sent me a message when they checked out saying they had an amazing time and loved the house. 

Thanks

[Fred13]

People read the actual reviews, I doubt they pay much attention to what 4.76 vs. 4.85 stands for.  Anyone that understands boating should know what 2-3ft of water depth means, only certain types of boats could go that shallow, these were rookies. 

[Huma0]

@Kristina542 

Well that's super annoying.

I think that @Fred13 is right that guests don't pay too much attention to the rating unless it's very low. I think most guests view any rating 4.5* and above as really good as that's how it is in most review sites. Judging by your other reviews, this one will soon be buried under other glowing ones and your rating will go back up, although the latter may take more time.

However, if the 3* really bothers you (and it would bother me) or you are aiming for Superhost status, then you could consider asking the guest to remove the review. ONLY do this if you feel like the guest is a super nice and reasonable person. Probably, they didn't understand that 3* is very low and is going to hurt a host because that's not how Airbnb puts it to them. Airbnb tells them that 3* = good.

I did this once when a guest who seemed very happy with her stay left me 3*. I had an inkling why this was (she had asked for an extra discount before booking and I had said no). So, I messaged her asking her what she was unhappy with during her stay and if she could give me some feedback. She was surprised as she didn't realise 3* was low and would cost me my Superhost status so she agreed to have the review removed.

Note, I did not initially ask her to do this, I only asked for feedback. When she said she would change the rating, I explained that wasn't possible, but she could have it removed, and she agreed.

So, although your guest mentioned the shallow dock, you could still ask for feedback, and word it something like:

"Hello X, thank you so much for your review. I was a bit surprised though that you left 3* overall when you said you had an amazing stay. That's a very low rating on Airbnb (a listing can get suspended or delisted for those kinds of scores) and all my other guests have left 5*. So, it would be really great if you could please provide me with some feedback if you were unhappy about anything. I trust it was not the dock, as that was something already mentioned on the listing? Please let me know if there was anything we could have done better. Many thanks, Kristina."

Or, you could just let it go. Sometimes guests respond well to this and sometimes they don't... You need to make a judgement call based on your experience with the guest.

[John5097]

@Kristina542  You may want to contact customer service to attempt to have the review removed. Read over the review policy details carefully to familiarize yourself before trying. One requirement is that it needs to be relevant and helpful to other guest. Your listing clearly states it’s 3 feet around dock and on the cove, and you state it’s adiquite for paddle craft, and suggest the marina if they need deeper water access. I think you could make the case that you don’t want other guest to think it’s suitable for such a large craft. If that doesn’t work reply so that future guest to please read the listing, that it’s in a cove and you provide paddle boards. That you try to make the listing as accurate as possible so that guest can find the right place. 

@Huma0 has good advice as well. I haven’t ever asked guest to consider having their revue removed, but might be worth a try as the listing clearly states it’s for paddle craft. 

BTW the depth of the lake is also out of host control. You don’t own the lake and clearly state the depth. 

I also haven’t requested to have a review removed but think it would be with a shot as someone with huge boat shouldn’t be marking you down, as property with deep water access is generally much more expensive. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

It's really frustrating when guests complain or mark down for something that was not only mentioned on the listing but discussed with them beforehand. 

This has happened to me too and I contacted CS to ask them to remove the review but they wouldn't, even though the guest wrote in her review that she hadn't been told about something when that thing was mentioned twice on the listing (which she was asked three times to confirm she had read). This guest said she would change her review, thereby admitting that she had made a mistake, but when I told her that wasn't possible and could she ask for it to be removed, she became hostile and told me to stop bothering her on her holiday (which is why I advised @Kristina542 to be sure that the guest will respond kindly before messaging them). 

CS refused to remove the review, regardless of what was on my listing or the communication with the guest about it, which was all on the Airbnb message thread. They just said it didn't violate the review/content policy and that it was "the guest's experience". So frustrating.

Anyway, @Kristina542 I'm not saying @John5097 is wrong and it's not worth a try. There is no harm asking for the review to be removed as it does sometimes work. Just make sure that they remove the ratings with it. Some reps will say they can't do that, but it's not true as both the review and the ratings were removed with the guest I mentioned in my earlier post.

[Kristina542]

Thanks @Huma0 and @John5097 for the suggestions. I'm not bothered by the comments since you can clearly see in the listing that the water is too shallow and it confirms that information to other guests, just that her overall rating was so low over it when I clearly recommended against bringing her boat. I've lost reservations because when I get an inquiry with questions about boating I tell them not to bring their boat. I have nothing to gain by making it seem like it's deep water and then having them get there to see the water is shallow.

I ended up messaging her because I think she'll take it fairly well and truly believe she doesn't understand that 3 stars is bad to Airbnb, like most people. I get that they want honest reviews, but they should make guests aware that they don't actually consider 3 stars as a good review and will suspend a listing for it. 

In my message I basically said what you suggested... thank you but I'm surprised by the review since they said they had an amazing time and it was a wonderful place to stay, explaining airbnb's policy on low reviews. And I asked for feedback on how I could earn a higher rating. That I try to be as honest as possible with people about the shallow depth of the water and the ability to bring a large boat to dock, in my listing and when people ask like she did, but that it would be very helpful if she had a suggestion on how to word things better in the listing to be more accurate with guest expectations.  If she doesn't respond or remove the review, I'll contact customer service. It's worth a shot, but from what I've heard they don't do it very often. I once accidentally gave a guests a lower rating than what I meant to by pressing the wrong button on my phone and called them literally right after to see if I could change it and they said no. 

[John5097]

@Huma0 yes I was clear that this would be worth a shot. I even stated that part of the review policy is that it should be relevant, and most importantly helpful to other guest. So its very subjective. 

I have to clarify I did actually call up and request to have one review removed. Sorry it was right when I started. The first time a guest marked me down in location and gave me a 4. She stated that it took 17 minutes to get to downtown which is twice as long. I also provided a map and less than 10 minutes. It didn't seem helpful as all the other listing in my area claim it takes 5 minutes and no one marked them down on location, but as this was one of my first reviews I did have a 4.9 in location for a few weeks because of it. I suspect that their Uber driver took them on a longer way to get there, and I provided a news article that the downtown area had flooded during their stay, something out of my control. But didn't work and the review remained. 

I think this may be different though, which is why I mentioned it. Furture guest may read that another guest brought a huge boat, and that would not be helpful, as it clearly states the water depth and that they provide paddle boards. 

Although I clearly stated @Kristina542 shouldn't expect that to be their decision and even included ovther suggestions if CS declined to remove the river, even tagging you and that you also had good advice. 

I personally don't think this review would be helpful to other guest. Its a great opportunity for guest who want to noodle around on some paddle boards and paddle out to some deeper water. This is kind of like a guest claiming a beach house wan't on the front beach, when the listing was very clear that it was a few streets back, but easy walking distance and that when they were there it too shallow to launch their boat.  

[Huma0]

@John5097 

I didn't say you were wrong. I said that I was not saying you were wrong! For sure, it's worth a try. I had success once getting a review removed but that was a long time ago. Now it seems really hard.

I am tired of guests who mark down on things clearly communicated to them. I am tired of CS reps not giving a flying bleep about it. So, I lost my Superhost status due to two guests who confirmed in writing that they were okay with certain things mentioned on the listing and then marked me down for them anyway.

But, I just couldn't be bothered to call CS about it because I was not hopeful they would help. I have thought about it, but then decided to let it go. The subsequent reviews have been wonderful with 5* for everything and I am confident that my rating will go back up and I'll get Superhost back. It doesn't seem to make a difference to bookings anyway, especially since the Summer Release. My listings still have high ratings, and I think that's what guests notice more than anything else.

However, if I was a new host like @Kristina542 , then I would definitely do what I can to get this rating removed, whether that's asking the guest to do it or CS or both. It takes ages to recover from a 3* unless you have a very high turnover...

[John5097]

@Huma0 Thats exactly what I said. No one had mentioned contacting customer service yet in this topic so that's why I included it, and also added that that they may not remove it and if they don't that you also gave very good advice, and also suggested a constructive way to respond to the review for future guest. The part of the review content guidelines I cited was that it may be considered not helpful for future guest. By stating they managed to dock a 23 foot boat could be very misleading and different than the listing that was very clear that only paddle craft would be reccomened. That's the part that customer service may consider not helpful as it may encourage guest to bring, say a 17 foot boat, that also may not be deep enough. 

That's why I suggested reading over the review content policy carefully. Just because host don't like the stars or think its unfair isn't reason to have it removed. Its only if its useful to future guest to make an informed decision. This is subjective but in my experience, if one guest claimed they managed to dock a 23 foot boat, the next might think its ok for theirs and that not be the case. 

[Huma0]

@John5097 

I've never tried to get a review removed on the 'relevancy' point, so I don't know how receptive CS are in general in those cases. Maybe I should have. The policy clearly states that they do not mediate in terms of 'accuracy' or 'truth' when it comes to reviews. That is the point I made to them, i.e. that the guest said they had not been informed of something that they very clearly had. Maybe I should have spoken to the relevancy of it instead, i.e. how helpful is it to future guests if a review says something that was mentioned was not? I don't know if it would have worked... Maybe I will try that in future.

It's all just so tiring though. Like we haven't got enough to do as hosts...

[John5097]

@Huma0  I also didn’t have any luck with accuracy. I’ve also had a guest give me 4 star in accuracy and claim in the reason that the listed clearly said it had an oven. When I have 4 places in the listing that all state no oven. I didn’t even bother messaging or contacting CS.

Your advice here may already be more useful as @Kristina542 @seeded to also have great communication skills as you. 

But I would phrase message to CS “A recent review stated they somehow managed to navigate a very large 24 foot boat to the bank on my property. I clearly state in my other things to note that it’s only 3 feet deep at the bank. This kind of boat happens to have very shallow draft and I think other guest would assume they could also drive a boat there, as a ski boat for example that can be rented nearby is only 15 feet long but needs deeper water. I cleaky state in my listing that we provide paddle boards and recommended these guest not attempting to drive this boat to our property, and afraid it may encourage future guest to bring large motor boats, for a listing that clearly states it’s suitable for paddle boards. I also don’t own the lake. But a boat that size generally requires a dock at a marina.” 

mayde edit that smdiwn a bit. But would try that first. As mentioned you also gave great suggestion. I was just trying to be helpful. That’s like complaining a tour bus wouldn’t fit in the drive when listing says it’s for cars. 🙂

[John5097]

PS.. I would explain to customer support that you recommended  this guest not to bring such a large boat and make it clear in the listing that you orovide paddle boards, and you don’t want to encourage future guest to think it’s suitable for such a large boat, which you make very clear in the other things to note.  Make it very concise. Good luck! 

[Kristina542]

Update: The guests never responded and so I contacted Airbnb Support and they removed the review! I used a lot of what you said @John5097 and added a few things. This was my message to them...

The guest's review stated they somehow managed to navigate a very large 24 foot boat to the bank on my property. I clearly state in my other things to note that it’s only 2-3 feet deep at the bank (depending on the water level by the energy company that owns the lake and controls the water level). I have no control over the water level at my dock and clearly state the water is shallow in the listing. The kind of boat they brought happens to have very shallow draft and they still had a hassle bringing it in, which is why I clearly state in my listing that I provide paddle boards. I also directly recommended these guests not to attempt to drive this boat to our property. I'm afraid the review will encourage future guests to bring large motor boats for a listing that clearly states it’s suitable for paddle boards. The type of boat they brought is not as deep (has a shallow draft) and if someone reads this review, they could assume they can bring a large boat as well. A boat that sits any deeper than theirs in the water will get stuck and possibly ruined. A boat that size generally requires a dock at a marina and I don't want future guests to think they can bring a large boat based on this review. This review would not help future guests make an informed decision about my property, but would misinform and mislead guests about the ability to bring a boat to my dock.

Thank you @John5097 and @Huma0  for your replies and advice!

[Huma0]

@Kristina542 

Amazing! That's great news. Do you know if they have removed the ratings as well?

[Kristina542]

They removed the whole thing… ratings as well