Torn about writing a bad review

[Tina26]

I was excited and nervous about my first guest, as I am new to renting.  

I arrived at the house 30 minutes after check out time and they were still there, almost done but still bringing things out. They had contacted me to see if they could check out late but I had someone else coming in that day so I had to decline the request.  I thought it no big deal I can still clean and turn it around for the next guest.  All the laundry had been placed in the laundry room per check out request but as I am pulling out the sheets from the hamper I find vomit, lots of it all in the sheets, along with the mattress protector also (thank goodness for the mattress protector). I cannot understand why someone would leave them in the laundry basket like that, at least rinse them out or put them in the washing machine?  

As we moved on to clean the bathrooms, we found vomit behind the toilets in two of the bathrooms.  I had to bleach and disenfect all the floors in the bathrooms, it was disgusting. There were lots of leftover food in the fridge, food all over the floor, the oven looked like something has exploded, a broken glass, smoking on the back when its is strictly no smoking.

Now in the big picture nothing big was runied, everything cleaned up and all is as good as new so part of me wants to just let it go, remind myself that not everyone has the same standards but I also wonder of I should put it out there so the next person knows.

Thoughts please .........

[Matthew852]

Never stay with these people my friend/ family came 18 hours to visit and are still waiting to get a place that is clean the first one they were lied to then the 2nd has bedbugs 

[Matthew852]

This is the worst you drive 18 hours and get lied to they fix it by putting you in another home with bed bugs 

[Marlene78]

There is no excuse for disrespecting someone's home lIke this. If a guest gets sick it is customary to clean it up, rinse out sheets and advise the host. Please give them a review that prevents this from happening to future hosts. In the 5 seasons and over 200 guests I have never had to clean up vomit. 

As a side note make sure your rules are the same as your values.

I have a no excessive alcohol rule, along with no smoking. ...

I hope your next guests were better.

[Andrea_Paul0]

I do wish I had read some of your great tips before - thank you

We have been lucky and had 200 great guests followed by 2 very badly behaved ones - who caused damage - we made a request for payment and got a revenge review.

Might have been better to so the review later and ask for damages later

You live and learn!

[Sean433]

Whenever I experience difficult guests, I never write a review because I know they will write a negative one back. However when they write me a review, I respond and let other hosts know why this guest was difficult.

Often times, its for the littlest of things that the guest is a little ignorant about. For example, guests come from other countries and expect that wherever they travel, that the home they book should be exactly how it is in their native country. How often do I hear, "that's not the way we do it in the U.K" (Often times, I find guests from the U.K and U.S to be the rudest. I don't live in the U.K, I live in Canada and if you choose to come to another country, be a little open minded and not expect the entire world to be exactly the same. As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans.

In cases where there is a legitimate complaint, I will not leave a bad review back but I can say 90% of the time, complaints are driven by closed minded guests who arrive to our homes after a long journey in a bad mood and take it out on us for the little things. Meanwhile, if you go to any 5 star hotel, I am sure you can easily spot little deficiencies such as minor scuffs on the ceiling or walls.

[Sandra856]

@Sean433 Why don't you leave a review if the guest was bad? It is when it is most important in order to warn future hosts. The guest cannot read your review until after they have left one themselves - so they cannot leave a "revenge review". I always leave a review if I feel the need to warn future host. I would be embaraced if I didn't and I really wish every host would do the same. 

[Sean433]

@Sandra856 

For a few good reasons:

1. I host a few properties and I simply cannot nor have any interest in more drama in my life. I left a bad review 1 week ago. After I did so, the guest complained to airbnb raising false issues of my home. What happened after that resulted in me having to take several pictures of the home and submit a long explanation to a case manager of my side of the story. Not only was this stressful but you should also know that if you receive a certain amount of complaints even if they are invalid (I do not know exactly how many), you will eventually have issues with airbnb as you will be considered a problem host. 

2. Revenge reviews are a little more complicated then that. Literally speaking, reviews are blind but practically speaking they often are not.  If a guest has a bad experience or gives you as a host a bad experience, they can usually figure out that if you as a host left them a review that it was not a positive one. Their assumption will often lead them to write a bad review back and often times their review will contain false information just to be spiteful. There plenty of stories hear from other hosts as well who have been victim to this.

[Sandra856]

@Sean433 It is all about tactics. I always wait til the very last minute to leave a review in case I have to leave a bad one. So far it has worked out perfectly. I really do believe I need to warn my colleagues - also if it turns out to hurt me. 

[Sean433]

@Sandra856 

 I have tried the last minute review once and it did not work. I got a retaliatory review.

My understanding is that you have 14 days after the first email you get to rate your guest. So say the email came today at 3pm. This means you have until October 1 at 2:59pm to leave the review correct?

Also, I was thinking something else perhaps this is not the case or perhaps airbnb provides the guest an allowance of a few more minutes. Let me know what you think?

At 2:59pm, I have the review page open, write my review. Leave the page open for a few hours and then click submit. Not sure if this would work though.

[Sandra856]

@Sean433 It is now possible to see exactly how much time you got left. So luckily there is no longer any need to guess - which is really nice 🙂 

When the little message "write a review" on the message board appears and you press it it will show you how many days is left to review. When there is less than a day it will show hours instead.

I have been very lucky and at the same time tried to be as tactic as possible so I haven't received any revenge reviews. But should I get one then that must just be it. I try to do my best as a host. I can't really do more than that. 

[Natalia84]

You cannot get a negative review unless you had claimed damage before they reviewed you. It happened to me once, I claimed the damage, it went to the guest (as Airbnb first asks to deal with the guest directly) and she wrote a revenge review. If you don't claim and don't have an argument with the guests before departure, the guests won't know your opinion of them before they submit their own review or before 14 days expire, then they can read yours but won't be able to write. So I always write if the guests did not behaved well, other hosts must know what they are going into accepting these guests.  

[Martin274]

I provide my guests with a policy&procedure list with the rental agreement at check-in. That documentation is also on my Airbnb page where guests see this information beforehand.

I also post the check-in / check-out procedures on the kitchen wall where it clearly explain what to do at check-in and most important what to do at check-out and how my villa should be returned.

I find that the more precise details given to guests along with an increased safety/security deposit $500-$750, the less chance you have to get your home treated disrespectfully.

If your rules are strict, guests will generally act in a diligent manner knowing that their safety/deposit is at stake !

I used this strategy for 4 years and only got 1 minor incident.

[Clare241]

I want to write a bad review of a guest but need to word it carefully any ideas please?

Guest joined ABnB in Oct 2017 but has no reviews.

She messaged to book for her son’s graduation, 4 guests, 2 nights.  I met her on arrival, she was lovely, but arrived alone. I explained that she would have to adhere to 11:00am check out time as we had more graduation guests arriving.  I left without fears.

We arrived to clean and turn property around and they had checked out on time but what a mess.  Bowls of curry discarded, with the smell permeating the cottage, all the beds moved, the singles pushed together and furniture moved along with some of the bedding downstairs on the sofa and chairs.  There was vomit in the shower, and a urine soaked chair cushion, which didn’t wash out and had to be replaced.

The house rules state 4 guests, and I can guess what happened but can’t prove it.

My guess is the booker stayed one night and then left the son and his mates to it.  My place was obviously used as a post graduation ball crash pad, with more than 4 staying.

Fortunately the next guests were late arriving so we had extra time to turn the place around and received 5* on their review for cleanliness but I want to warn other hosts to check the purpose of the visit should she book anywhere again.

What happens if I tick the I do not recommend button?  She hasn’t left a review yet.

Hosting a year now and this is the first bad one!

Thanks

[Alexandra316 · Accepted solution]

@Clare241 Nothing happens if you tick do not recommend, except if they try and book with a host who has a recommendation set up as a requirement for instant book, they will need to send a request. Also remember that other hosts who don't use instant book can't see star ratings, so please do include details of what happened in your written review.

For the review,  I would say something like:

"X booked my cottage for her son's graduation, and she seemed pleasant on arrival. However, the cottage required a significant amount of extra cleaning after checkout, and our space was not treated with respect. I would not host this guest again, and I can't recommend her or her son to other hosts."

Make sure you don't mention any bodily fluids or any suspicions you may have about extra guests: I'm sure you're right, but this type of thing will get a review pulled.

[Sandra856]

@Alexandra316 I think that is a perfect review!