Retaliatory reviews are allowed. Interesting.

[Jennie131]

Why are guests allowed to write a review when the host asks them to pay for damages they have caused? Of course they are going to write a retaliatory review! When they do, Customer Service will not remove the review. Is this policy meant to discourage hosts from using the resolution center for collecting money from guests for damages caused by the guest? Not only did the guest refuse to pay the entire amount, only choosing to pay a portion, but then left an inaccurate review. Seems like guests are allowed to do whatever they want, and hosts are punished. Why doesn't Airbnb stand up for their hosts?

[Anthony223]

@Jennie131    You have my full sympathy, Jeannie.  I have had more than my fair share of revenge reviews, including one from a guest who never even stayed here. Generally the guests get upset when I refuse to do cash deals for extra unbooked guests on arrival, or when the guests requests to stay more days.  I insist on the change being done on the AirBNB website.

[John5097]

@Anthony223 I've also had several guest try and contact me directly and include their persoanl contact info in their first comment. One guest with zero reveiws and new was "Prettyone4u" as an email and got a warning message from ABB, that I had to click on and had to either report or say it was ok, then ABB wouldn't allow a cancelation without penalty. Another just included phone number and insisted on mine for emergency contact info then reduced stars on subcatagories, for value, check in, which was a first, and told me they loved it and would be back in person and in his note to me. Clearly they are using the rating system to negotiate direct booking to avoid the service fee. I think ABB should allow host to cancel without penalty any guest that includes personal contact info in their first message. Getting a 2 star overall review after a damages claim is a kick in the teeth for host, and I agree 100% with Jennie. 

[Anonymous]

@John5097  Sorry, I'm really confused by this post. If a guest includes contact info in an inquiry, you can simply say "no thanks" and report it. You don't even have to decline. And if you get an inappropriate Booking Request, you can always decline it. But if you're talking about a confirmed reservation, of course the personal contact details are going to be transmitted - that would be a really bizarre reason to cancel a booking.

And I don't see what any of this has to do with the rating system. That's just an altogether separate issue.

[John5097]

@Anonymous This was first message after instant book. The only two times guest have included and requested personal contact info in the text of their first message they wanted a direct booking. The warning message I got from ABB was "If this guest is trying to contact you directly or trying to pay outside ABB please let us know to help protect other host." I don't think ABB should allow email names like "prettyone4u" and also include their body dementions. Allowing host to cancel, which would imply a reservation, would help both ABB and host avoid this first attempt for gust to communicate outside ABB messaging system. My other options would be to only allow guest with positive reviews and confirming ID to instant book, or just turn off instant book. 

I think this forum is for all host to include their own experiences and ideas. Just because the topic has been posted before doesn't mean someone can't create another post. I don't agree with your personal assessment of the rating system. The entire platform and world as we know it is based on accurate reviews, although do agree with you that if there is a claim that stars wouldn't be allowed. 

The forum isn't working properly so my first attempt to post got deleted, and don't have as much free time on my hands as some host, so don't usually read long post. 

[Anonymous]

@John5097  If a booking is confirmed but not fully paid - even if the guest hasn't attempted an off-platform transaction - I totally agree that hosts should be able to cancel it without waiting for it to expire due to non-payment. I'm not a fan of bookings going through without being paid upfront in general.

But exchanging phone numbers with a confirmed guest is in and of itself a totally normal thing. Usually it happens automatically, if both parties have entered their phone numbers into their account settings.

[John5097]

@Anonymous I've only been at it a year, and thankfully these were just two instances, however I have had close to 190 confirmed bookings, over half canceled, and so far the only two who have provided contact in the first message wanted to communicate or book outside the platform. There is no reason to include phone number in the message as you said its already provided and no one else has used it. Understandably, that may not seem like hard proof to everyone especially in this forum environment where each have their own agenda or approach, but its enough for me to make suggestions and adjustments. The point is too that I don't want repeat guest who try to game the system. Providing contact info in the wrong place should be enough to cancel or block guest from booking, but that's only my opinion. An option would be to not use instant book but that's also a lot of extra work when the vast majority of guest don't attempt sneaky.    

[Anonymous]

@John5097  Not using Instant Book has always been my personal preference, but for different reasons, e.g. establishing a good rapport is more important for homestay hosts.

I've never had the experience of people attempting dodgy business after booking, but that might be because I shut down at the onset of the pandemic. Airbnb allowing guests to book without paying upfront is a relatively new thing, and it seems to have opened the door for incidents like what you described. Before that was possible, the people attempting off-platform arrangements were just using fake Inquiries, which were annoying but easy to fend off.

[John5097]

@Anonymous thanks yes my apologies for not putting things into context. These were both last minute reservations, new guest after last minute cancellations. The stress level is a lot higher and have also considered blocking off nights like I did back in March or even going up in price to avoid last minute bookings. I've noticed a trend that guest are budget shopping waiting for last day to find discounted room rates. Instant booking defiantly has some disadvantages. It does give some guest more wiggle room to try and take control or the listing, knowing they can book again without any consequences. I think if guest fail to leave a reason for making down stars on the sub categories that shouldn't be included for ratings of sub categories. So far have thankfully only had one crazy karen, the only person to give less than five stars for cleaning who was drunk and smoked. Luckly she admitted to smoking because I told her not to come back. I was posting here to vent and thankfully just ignored these guest as there isn't enough evidence and comes with the instant booking feature. Not sure what I'll do when I get a real nightmare guest, but trying to get as many good reviews to balance potential nightmare guest where police have to be called or something. 

[Anonymous]

@John5097  Luckily, most of these crazy types lack the verbal dexterity to mask their real intentions. You have a solid base of great reviews on your side, so a prospective guest will quickly see that a revenge review was an outlier and not representative, even if you don't find that it merits a public response.

But it's true, a lot of people find that the last-minute bookings are the most problematic. Sometimes there is a legitimate reason that people suddenly need accommodation tomorrow, but the last-minute bargain hunters are not the ones who are looking carefully at the options and paying attention to your listing and rules. And they're more willing to book a place that's unsuitable for their group size and demands, since the more appropriate options are sold out. Besides, you might never know that the real reason they're looking for a place is that they just got kicked out of another one for breaking the rules.

What you could do is change the Advance Notice setting to automatically require 1, 2, 3, or 7 days notice by default. If there's a specific date that you'd like to be an exception to the rule, you can manually unblock it - but for a higher price, not a discount. If you're already meeting your occupancy goals, you can consider last-minute bookings to be an extra premium service rather than cut the price down to fill the gap.

[John5097]

Thanks @Anonymous I didn't consider increasing the advance notice to more than a day. I did change it from allowing same day bookings. So far in the past year if there is an opening guest will wait until the day of or night before to book. So other host dropping prices and smart pricing must be cultivating the trend. As tempting as it is to offer a discount for upcoming unhooking nights so many other host with more experience claim those are the most problematic. 

[Anthony223]

@John5097    Hi John.  We get cash offers in different ways, like booking one night on the site and then on arrival trying to do a cash deal.  Or sometimes a direct request to pay cash.  Here is an actual recent case ...

Alexandra12:27 PM

Hello Anthony, how are you? I’d like to book your room from Wednesday until Sunday but I don’t have a credit card like required from airbnb to book. Would you be ok with a cash payment at arrival? Please let me know. Looking forward to my stay ! Greetings, Alexandra.

Such guests can turn really mean when we refuse to break the rules.

[John5097]

@Anthony223 I would want to block someone like that. If you just cancel they can find another way to book and as you said leave vendictive review. I try to explain it in a way, such as, "I'm sorry but its against ABB policy and I would have my account deactivated if I agreed to a direct booking." Although you probably do phrase something like that? Luckely I'm usually booked months in advance so no one has requested to extend their reservation or just show up because the apartment would already be rented. Thanks for sharing.  

[Liv]

Hi @Jennie131,

I'm sorry to hear about this. I have inquired the CS team about your case and will get back to you as soon as I hear back from them! Hopefully they'll be able to look further into the issue.

[Liv]

Hey @Jennie131,

The CS team has updated your case and an agent should be getting in touch with you shortly.

I hope this helps and the issue is solved soon, but please let me know if you have any other concerns.

Have a lovely weekend

Liv

[Jennie131]

Thank you, but telling hosts things like that and not following through is really not helpful. No one has gotten in touch with me, and no one will. My star rating is still 4.8. The retaliatory review is still there. This is just another nail in the coffin for me. That's ok, because there are tons of hosts out there to take my place. I get it, we are expendable and disposable.