Writing a negative review for a guest being rude online

[Louise1120]

Hi everyone 

I'm seeking advice on how to write a review on a guest I had a bad experience with. First, we're quite new on airbnb - we've had three guests. This is regarding our last guest. He was supposed to stay in our apartment for 5 days but canceled his stay 7 hours after he arrived. We were on holiday at this point and were of course concerned as to why he was so uncomfortable in our home - what had happened? At first he politely complained that there was no air conditioning (not listed in our airbnb and not common in DK), no window screens (not listed), and mosquitoes and wanted a full refund. Since we didn’t think that these complaints could account for a full refund, the tone of his messages suddenly shifted to be very abrasive, condescending and offensive, describing our home with disgust and lecturing us about how he'd travelled the world and how we should do this and that. Our home smelled "musty" and “offensive to the senses”, we had “way too many plants” to water in the heatwave, the bedding was not “crisp” enough he'd "seen better in college" and asked if we "even cleaned them" (of course they are clean) and much more. We were actually quite shocked and sad and we could not recognise the way he described our home. We stayed calm and polite during the conversation and we are of course open to critique, however, is seemed like he is critizing things that were a bit unreasonable? Our other two guests have been very happy with their stay and left us good reviews (5 stars). To us, it seemed like he wasn't quite aware that he booked a private home - not a hotel where everything is perfect. What you see in our pictures and description is very much what you get.

So, what do I do? I feel bad writing a negative review but he wrote one on us and I'm quite sure it's not good at all. He didn't break anything - but he was very demanding writing a lot of texts and being extremely rude. Any suggestions?

Thanks a lot!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Louise1120 just keep it short and honest - XXX was extremely rude to us when we wouldn't allow him to cancel his reservation due to lack of Airconditioning and window screens neither of which are mentioned in our listing. We do not recommend this guest to other hosts.

[Mark116]

@Louise1120   You can get your point across without being unkind/very negative.  XX was [I always try to say something nice, responsive, or something], but was not a good match for our space.  Based on our experience with XX, he may be a better fit for a hotel or other more full service type of property and not a self catering home share.

Something like that.

[Louise1120]

Hi @Mark116  and @Mike-And-Jane0 ! 

Thank you so much for your help! I decided to go with a combination of both of your recommendations - direct and a bit polite at the same time!  As expected the guest wrote a quite rude review calling us greedy etc. 😕

Thanks again!!!

Louise

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Louise1120 you now need to consider your response to the poor review you have received. This is critical to how your prospective guests view your listing. Any response should not be directed at the guest but rather at future guests. Perhaps something like

XXX sadly expected air-conditioning and window screens and left this review when we refused him a full refund. Please be aware we do not have air-conditioning or screens as there are very few times in the year when they are needed.

Others may have better ideas!

[Sandra856]

Hi @Louise1120 🙂

You can write a reply to the review if you wish. The guest won’t get a notification that you wrote the reply (just so you are aware) - it will only be future guests that will read it. I just read your review of the guest and I think that it would be perfect to use that as a reply as well. It is a perfect review you wrote IMO 🙂. You do not sound like an angry, aggressive host but are calm, factual and non-emotional. 

[Gwen386]

@Louise1120 I agree with others about not writing a negative review.

I also want to add that even though AC is not listed, it might be a good idea to add a notation that there is no AC. I am from the U.S. so was unaware that most homes in DK don’t have AC. However, since there is no AC, I would want to be able to open windows for fresh air circulation and not worry about flying insects. Just some food for thought. 

[Sandra856]

@Gwen386 In Denmark we don’t have any problems with bugs/flying bugs in general - you can open the windows as much as you like with no problems and get fresh air. We don’t need AC in the Nordic countries in Europe - I have had approximately 400 bookings and I live maybe 4 KM from OP. I have never had any guests asking about AC as it isn’t needed. There is absolutely no reason for OP to mention that they don’t offer it. If OP offered AC it would be possible to see it on the listing under what facilities is offered - like any other facility. This is an angry guest who just had to find something to complain about. He complains about the lack of AC in Copenhagen which makes no sense 😅. 

[Gwen386]

@Sandra856 Thanks for letting me know because I didn't know 😁

[Huma0]

@Gwen386 

Denmark is literally the coldest place I've been in my life and I'm from the UK, so it's not like I'm used to hot weather! AC and window screens are extremely rare in the UK. I would certainly never expect them in Denmark, which is colder. If there was no heating in the winter, the guest would have a reason to complain, but it sounds like he was just looking for a way to get a full refund.

[Gwen386]

@Huma0 Thanks. I love this platform because there’s always something new and interesting to learn.