4's on an amazing apartment. WHY? Guests are such jerks.

Šara0
Level 2
New York, United States

4's on an amazing apartment. WHY? Guests are such jerks.

HI there. 

I"ve hosted on airbnb about 6 or 7 times, and only three guests have given reviews, and i know the ones who didn't had a great experience because i talked to them in person. I"m so stunned by that. Anyway, with only 3 reviews, each review makes a difference. All verbal notes for the reviews were great, but i just saw that two of them gave 4s on a few things. One young French guy, who comes from a city with larger places, gave me a 4 for location, cleaniness, and value, when the place was professionally cleaned, spotless, and he had a serious discount that i posted right before he booked. The location is amazing but maybe he wanted to be in a trendier place or something. Anyway, by all standards, we did everything perfectly. What do you guys do about this?  Do you ask them to change their reviews??? Plus another guy, the third reviewer, gave a 4 on accuracy, saying that he didn't see photos of the kitchen or bathroom and they were clearly there! He was old and didn't see it and had trouble with the technology of the app. Airbnb can't take that star rating down because they say he is entitled to it, even though i did have perfect photos of those spaces. That is so unfair!!!!  How does anyone even get 5 when there are such jerks in this world. I even went out of my way to add other things like tooth brushes, let them use our coffee and food, and other extras. SO insane. 

6 Replies 6
Kaylee18
Level 10
Hamilton, Canada

@Šara0  Welcome to hosting 🙂 Some guests will just surprise you when it comes to what they write in a review. Unfortunately once they write it and the 14 days is up, they do not have an option to edit the review. 

 

I had guests book my basement apartment for 3 days, and we ran into them outside and chatted for an hour, they said how much they loved it, etc and then left a 4 star review. 

 

Unfortunately it happens. You could always just message them and say as a host you want to offer the best accommodation and inquire what they think you can improve on. Then you will know why they reviewed you that way if it is bothering you that much 🙂  

Šara0
Level 2
New York, United States

tha mnks @Kaylee18 ! It still is within 14 days for one of them. (Im new and out of 7, only three people gave reviews (ugh!!) so a couple unfair 4s on a category makes a huge difference.  I messaged the recent guest politely about how i DID have photos if he would care to edit his lower stars for accuracy— he must not have seen them and i know he had trouble with the app as someone in his late 70s— but he didnt reply within the app. In fact he rarely replied within the app, frustratingly. He was better with direct texting (i had given him my number for emergencies.)  Do you think there is any harm in also trying to text him direct? 

@Šara0  I personally wouldn't directly text him. 

 

In the beginning I also had a lot of my guests not leave reviews (so that part is normal). When people check out you can always message them saying "Thank you again for booking with me. I really hope you enjoyed your stay. If you could kindly review your experience that would be greatly appreciated." (Something along those lines). 

Šara0
Level 2
New York, United States

@Kaylee18 yeah i did that. ugh I dont know what else i could have done. I went so over the top, too. Thanks though

Elaine429
Level 1
Monroe, NY

Yeah I’m new at this and I’m praying for good reviews maybe we also should educate them that 5 reviews is the best ever! 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Šara0 @Elaine429  What you have to be aware of is that on the guest review form, Airbnb tells  guests that 4*s is a "Good" rating. So the guest is honestly not trying to tank your ratings or indicate that they were dissatisfied simply because they marked 4*s. They think they are leaving a good review. If they were trying to tank you or be vindictive, they would give you 1*or 2* ratings.

So the problem is not with the the guests, the problem is Airbnb leading guests to thinking they are giving a good review, and then turning around and threatening hosts for less than 5* ratings. 

There have been endless threads on this in the forums here, it's a huge source of anger and frustration for hosts, and Airbnb obviously is unwilling to listen.

Some hosts feel totally uncomfortable about saying anything to guests about the review process, the star ratings, etc, and that's their choice. Others of us have ways we use to educate guests about how star ratings affect hosts without actually asking or begging or cajoling them into leaving us a 5* review, which does seem a bit crass.

There are many threads here on the various approaches that hosts use. Do a search and hopefully you can find some ideas.