How to handle those difficult reviews!

[Robin4]

I have posted this comment on another thread but have felt that, due to problems experienced by new hosts when it comes to how they should handle the review of difficult guests I would open a new thread.

This is a long post but a lot of time and thought has gone into it....We all learn every day, and as you continue to host you will become very proficient at sorting out 'the wheat from the chaff' but if you take note of these points I am sure this post will stand you in good stead!

Reviews cannot be taken frivilously because they are the centrepiece of the ABB platform. But on the other hand we are reminded at every opportunity that anything less than that 5 stars is not good enough...and for that reason we 'pussyfoot' around issues for fear what we say may come back to bite us in the bum!

And if we start rating our guests as per our experience.......ABB will find a way to remove it!

From seeing thousands of these posts I think I have come up with a protocol for reviewing.

There will be some hosts and guests that will fall outside of the common boundaries of accepted behaviour! There are times when police will need to be involved and even more times when help from Airbnb is required and these incidents will require immediate action, but this will only ever be the case for a handfull of bookings over your hosting experience, particularly as you become more experienced in spotting problem guests before accepting! So what I am saying will not be relevant to those situations. What I am talking about are those hostings where rules were broken, personality clashes existed, and there may have been a different perspective between host and guest. If you are concerned about what to write, try the following! And if the reviews do differ wildly keep these points in mind for your review response:

1/. Never write a review until you have had two nights sleep after the departure of the guest! There are many little things that will annoy you enough to make a comment when they are a fresh experience, but which, with time, will mellow and can be appraised in a more objective way.

2/. Always write a review as though you have been asked to do it for someone else. 'YOU' will see things as being 'bleedin obvious' because it's your 'turf'! Another set of eyes will see a legitimate reason why the guest did (or felt) what they did!

3/. As I have said before, make yourself a nice drink, leave your emotion out in the garage, or out in the barn before you sit down at that keyboard. What you write at this point will stay with you long after you have forgotten about that belligerent 'turkey'! It will stay with you as long as you host and....it cannot be removed! We have all said things we wish we could take back! When it's in a review it is 'set in stone'....there is no going back!

4/. Tell the community what you feel about this guest, but don't give the guest a reason to resent you. As I said in a comment in another thread, you can make them feel guilty by carefully selecting your words but still finish by wishing them well in future. This way the balance of nature is restored....you made your point, but you have also said 'no hard feelings'!

And if their review is a stinker:

5/. Never get into a 'he said/she said' slogging match with a guest. You will always loose, and you will make yourself look petty and a difficult person, in yourself, to deal with. Remain aloof and always assure the guest you value their contribution because after all, the only way you can become a better host is to take notice of what others say. Don't apologise, but tell the guest some things are beyond your control.....like, how much cloud cover may have been present on the day! But tell them that their comments will be taken on board and acted on.

Many guests will form an opinion of you by how you carry yourself in the review process....you can be seen as a diplomatic person with great hosting skills........or you can be seen as a 'tough nut to crack' !

Sorry this is so drawn out but, it is a major issue on the forum ....I am not saying I am the review sage but I have had a lifetime dealing with people....I took a mechanical services company from 3 employees to 27 in 6 years......and I don't think my people skills are all that bad!

Cheers.....Rob

[Gary-And-Rose0]

I write honest reviews so everyone will know if guests go out of thier way to take care of your place. 

If thwy dont care and treat your place like party palace I want you to know. 

Its about informed decisions and what makes Airbnb work so people will have confidence letting strangers into thier home. 

[Robin4]

@Gary-And-Rose0 No not neccesarily guys. You always point out that there was a problem with the hosting...as is your duty to other hosts but, there are diplomatic ways of doing it and as I have said....(oh can't remember where, may have been earlier this thread, maybe another) in many instances you can shame the guest rather than bat away at them...."It was a pity that the guest had an unfortunate accident which resulted in a bit of extra work for us. It would have been nice if we had known but, we have managed to sort it out in the end" and then you go on to wish them well. 

The first thing another host will think when reading that is 'Oh dear, that's got the radar into gear, might check a few more reviews'!!

I agree totally with you that there is no point in reviews if we are not going to tell it as it is.

The other thing is the whole idea of this thread was how to handle the situation where you were in a quandry about what to say.

This has nothing to do with the guest who had a party.....broke every rule in the book...created thousands in damage. Those you have to scream from the roof tops and do it accurately. The whole idea of this thread is to be diplomatic and help in maintaining, or improving those star ratings.

Cheers.....Rob

[Kari8]

Hi Robin and others

Great points, I also think we need to use our EQ, as hosts, it's more than just the room, cleanliness and accuracy, it's also the little things we do to make people feel relaxed and confortable in our homes and lives.

Most people staying with me are on holiday and want to be happy, for me it's about figuring out which direction to steer them.

Whether I help them get am impossible booking at the latest happening restuarant, a cool gallery opening,or VIP guest list to a cool event, if you have contacts in your city use them. Could also be the coolest rock to picnic on at sunset.....

After my one bad experience( guest didn't read my listing) I'm going to more careful.

I'd like to know more about the thumbs up thumbs down thing.

Who sees it? What does it do? Could that be away to rate guests.

I gave the guests in question a thumbs down, while they might have learn from the experience, but I'd never want them back, I do think they would be better off in a hotel.

xx

Kari

[Robbe0]

Robin,

Thank you, your post has taught me a lot, thank you 

[Robin4]

@Robbe0 I don't know that there would be anything I could say that would help you Robbe, you seem to be doing a bloody good job without anyone else's help!

From your reviews you take your hosting super seriously, your guests love you. The only suggestion I would make is to leave a review response. It's a nice touch, it gives a form of closure to every guest experience, and prospective guests who read your reviews will immediate think...'hey, that's how I would like to be treated'!

Mt Barker is not a tourist destination...it's just a town in the hills but I had 10 hostings in January, which is a bit busier than I want to be, and appears to be about double the average for the area. I already have 7 for February and will no doubt top the 10 mark before the month is out

But the common thread amongst those that book Robbe is the reviews. They all make mention of the reviews and review responses.

Almost everyone wants to feel they were that 'special' guest and a nice closing sentence will be their lasting memory of you.

Keep up the good work mate....you are doing just great!

Cheers.....Rob

[Dave83]

I host and have some small cheap budget rooms at our Guesthouse we offer to Backpackers passing through Pattaya Thailand, most of these people are young inexperienced travelers on a budget and poor comunicators as many are non English speakers and I try to help as much as possible by giving maps advice etc and tell them they can call me anytime for info or problems.

I find so so many seem all good, some stay an extra night or two, most want everything for their money as expected but want to pay as little as possible but so many expect the earth and then leave poor reviews when they seem very happy when they leave, why are they so two faced, I am not taking any more booking from young female backpackers as they are the worse, by biggest frustration is I give them a good review as they seem happy then they give our place a bad review so I will now stop reviewing period, also I find it impossible to contact Airbnb to sort this out>>????

[Jack70]

Dave, I kind of feel the same as you, I get all the compliments of how great their stay was, then they turn around and give me 4 stars.

[Troy6]

I just got a review- 

Great Host, great location and Galway is the best!

---

Private Feedback:
Troy is an excellent host and I am happy to recommend this AirB&B

Cleanliness feedback:
Your guest suggested that your space could be cleaner in the following areas: bathroom, towels and linens, floors and carpet, shower.

January 2017

My house is extremely spotless! There is no DNA from the last guests even!! I take pride with how clean I keep my place and I am very proud of that! This really pisses me off!! I want to leave a smart ass public response. At least I did not review them, besides it was their son and his girlfriend that stayed not the person who made the reservation, and they both gave me a hug. 

[Deborah82]

@ Troy

I feel your pain. That's complete (insert suitable expletive here ap- I.s.e.h.). For a start, it's a break of House Rules.

Only those that book can accommodate an AirBnB.

A person that doesn't stay in the accommodation cannot review said accommodation.
You can't review someone that doesn't stay in your accommodation.

Moving past my rant, and onto practical advice: As soon as I discover that the person making the booking is NOT the person/s staying with me, I do one of two things. Either...

1. Cancel the booking, stating broken House Rules.
2. Request a booking change reflecting the correct guests.

Apart from the fact that you are opening yourself up to a whole can of worms if something goes wrong, eg: guests staying trip over something on your property, crack their head open, end up in hospital and sue you - at which point AirBnB will drop you like a hotcake (which is their prerogative as the people in your accommodation aren't REGISTERED GUESTS) and you could lose more than just your accommodation booking fee... See where I'm going with this? And this is just one example.

Sorry, but allowing people to stay that haven't booked is just not done. By anyone. Ever. And if you're allowing this to happen in your accommodation the. I strongly recommend that you stop the practice immediately. I cannot state that strongly enough.

[Robin4]

@Deborah82

Hi Deborah....I certainly hope you would not consider the use of your first option!..."1. Cancel the booking, stating broken House Rules." That option would land you in a lot of trouble as far as Airbnb are concerned. 

There are always means of having a guest reservation altered or cancelled without the host hitting that cancel tab!

Here are the penalties that apply to hosts who cancel guest reservations.....

Deborah, I have made a point of bringing this up because every day new hosts come to the forum and seeing something like that from someone with a bit of hosting experience can give them the impression that it is ok for hosts to cancel guest reservations......it seriously is not!!!

None of us are right all the time, in fact many regulars will say I am wrong more often than right, but when a piece of advice like that comes along it really needs to be countered!

Cheers.....Rob

[Deborah82]

@Yen-and-Robin0

Hi Robin,

Thank you kindly for pointing out the cancellation policy...yes, you are correct in the policies representation.

May I ask why it is legally acceptable that a person makes a booking, but two other people, and not the person that actually made the booking, are guests?

Not only is this not legal, it's a misrepresentation, which is why I stated that it was breaking the rules. Where is it written that this is an acceptable policy? For if it is thus, I'm pulling my accommodation immediately.

I believed, and I know you will correct me if I'm wrong, that AirBnB not only cover guests, but their hosts too? In this situation (@Troy), no-one would be covered, there for Troy (or any host) would be well within their rights to request or make a cancellation.

If a guest is not, in fact, a guest, then there is no legal/insurance cover, either for the 'guest', or the host.

[Robin4]

@Deborah82 You are half right Deborah, you can request that ABB makes a cancellation, and that may work! But do not under any circumstance suggest that the host makes a cancellation!! It has got nothing to do with the legality of whether A makes a booking and B and C turns up!!!

The issue here is if you cancel a guest booking you will be penalised far more than the value of that booking....and please don't try and justify any other scenario...there isn't any!

As far as the who will be covered bit....it would be folly in the extreme to depend on the host protection scheme, which I assume you are refering too. A years worth of post will bare testament to the fact that the host protection scheme is a marketing tool and little more. I can't begin to tell you the number of posts from hosts who have thought they had some sort of coverage through the host protection scheme and have found out to their disapointment that they in actual fact are on their own.

Deborah, we need to be practical, you can shout theoretical statements from the roof top, the cold hard facts of the matter are, if you cancel a guest confirmed booking you will be penalised....no if's no buts! And that is not a good thing to advise hosts to do!!!

If you can't do someone a good turn, for goodness sake don't do them a bad one!!

Cheers....Rob

[Dunny0]

Rob, you're a good guy. Thanks for putting advice out for all to see.

[Deborah82]

Hi @Robin4, 
It’s no long theoretical. 

I can now confirm that if you, as a host you can cancel a guest because they have broken the house rules and you will NOT BE PENALISED.
I had guests book and they rocked up at my place (quite surprised to be welcomed by me) with two little children in tow. Initially I thought that the lady with the children was visiting. But no, the lady with the children was staying with the guest. I pointed out that my listing is not suitable for children owing to things like stairs (no child gates), chemicals for cleaning in the laundry within reach, a winter creek right beside the cottage (not fenced off), the river at the foot of our property (also not fenced off). Don’t start me on the well on the grounds either (that is fenced, but still).
The lady tried to tell me how lovely and well behaved her children were.
I explained to her that no matter how well behaved they were, there was no coming back from drowning or a terrible fall down the stairs. This was my property, and I only have one child myself. I know how precious they are. If something happened to a child on my property, I would never forgive myself. 
Not only that, but I clearly stated both in my House Rules, and in every message that was sent to them, at the footer it states quite clearly, ‘no children under 12p’.
They left (I gave them several other places to stay at in the area), and I hoped onto the AirBnB app, and CANCELLED their booking. I then contacted AirBnB because I was certain the people were rorting the system and would quite possibly try and do it again.
Not only did I receive all the money that was due for the nights stay, but I also received an apology from AirBnB - because in the first instance, I was notified that I would not receive any payment (it was a technical issue).
AirBnB couldn’t have been more helpful, nor more polite.

[Robin4]

@Deborah82...Yes Deborah you are quite right! there are circumstances where as a host you can cancel a guests reservation without penalty. There is an 'Extenuating circumstances' clause which will allow you to be released from penalty if you cancel a guest booking.

You can also cancel an IB booking if you feel uncomfortable with the guest, or you forgot to block your calendar.....or the sun didn't shine on the day, but unfortunately the world does not operate on the same set of Airbnb rules.

For us here in Australia, and much of the rest of the world here is the IB cancellation 2022 rules....

But..................here are the rules if you are in America.....spot the difference!

It makes it extremely hard to give advice to users when we all seem to march to the beat of a different drum. Both of those statements relate to Article 2022 of Airbnb's rules, but if you view it in Australia you will get one version, if you view it in America you will get a different version!

Deborah I am sure you may have been released from penalty for cancelling a guest reservation.....I would not want to put it to the test though!!!

Cheers.....Rob