Unofficial reviews?

[Erica1278]

I’ve had three guests cancel reservations in the past week. I’m a super host and only have positive reviews on the AirBnB platform. Are there unofficial pages/forums where people can leave negative reviews that would impact potential guests’ perception of my listing?

[Emiel1]

@Erica1278 

Ofcourse people can write anything on facebook, twitter etc.. about Airbnb, listings, hosts etc..

But it is not likely guests cancelled because they all(!) have read something terrible about you elsewhere on the Internet ;>)

Maybe it is just bad luck or a coincidence. Did none of these guest communicated to you why they cancelled ?

[Erica1278]

Thank you for your reassuring words. They didn’t give me a reason.  

[Lawrene0]

I doubt that's what's happening. @Erica1278 . It's unlikely there is some page somewhere -- the dark web? -- that pops up for people already booked into an airbnb, a page that guests with nothing in common know to look for but that hosts who talk to each other (in official forums) know nothing about.

It's sure to be far more benign. I've had a lot of cancellations, too. Loads of reasons. Travel is opening up, so people who were set to do a staycation can now leave the country, for instance. Work schedules are wonky, people are still getting covid, etc.

Also, you and I have the sort of unique listings that appeal to wannabe adventurers who get cold feet when it comes time to pack.

"No wifi?! We might not survive!" 😉

[Erica1278]

😂😂😂

[Sarah977]

@Erica1278  Have you had a bunch of disgruntled guests who didn't leave an Airbnb review? Because I see only good reviews on your profile, so I kinda doubt that you've had bumned out guests who wrote bad things about your listing on social media.

What cancellation policy do you use? If it's flexible, guests will just cancel because they changed their mind, for whatever personal reasons, as they will easily get refunded.

[Erica1278]

No disgruntled guests. They can cancel up to 24 hrs before their reservation. Most of the cancelations are for future reservations in the next two months.  I guess I’m just paranoid because I had a reservation for last Friday and Saturday, and the guest showed up at 1 in the morning the night before, tried to get into the unit (thankfully it was locked) and then texted me at 2 am asking me to come unlock it. And because I didn’t respond (it was 2 am!) he decided to sleep in his car outside the unit! What if there had been a guest in there? Totally inappropriate. I called AirBnB and was able to cancel it in the morning, because I didn’t feel comfortable having him stay in my rental. They agreed that it was super creepy! But I’ve had 4 cancellations since then, so I’m just paranoid.