A bad review which is damaging me

[Sandro7]

Hi Could you please help? I have had a terrible review (the first of 65) and this is already affecting my bookings. I have been very upset by this and reported this guest 2 weeks ago, she has included personal things about me which are untrue and the whole thing is making me ill. I need it removed. Please help

[Dora31]

contact airbnb and explain the situation if inappropriate then it will get removed. the feedback should not be personal 

[Farah1]

@Sandro7 you can always try to reach out to ABB and see if her review violates the term and can be removed or not. For the future, it is usually best to keep the review response shorter than what you have and also not personal. Saying something like "mentally challenged" is definitely not a good idea. I know it is very hard because the guest does "attack" host personally with the review, but the most important goal is to clarify and also to show future guests about what kind of hosts we are.

[Sandro7]

ok

[Sandro7]

If people like this cannot be monitored by air bnb and their malicious content removed then Air bnb itself should be looked at very carefully and perhaps a change is overdue....

[Momi0]

@Sandro7  HI.  just wanted to let you know that your most recent guest (WOMAN)  does not see your PUBLIC response on the review she wrote you.  If you do want her to see it, you can always copy and paste it into her ABB inbox from your account to her messaging thread.  I do this for every guest.  I want them to know how I responsed to their reviews. 

FYI - Are you aware that potential guests cannot see your PUBLIC response to this guests if they are using the mobile app?  ABB has not updated the app to include the PUBLIC responses from host yet, therefore, in order for anyone to see it, they have to be using a computer or lap top.  

I agree, that its quite disappointing to see what she has written, but I want to caution you on writing things like saying you "hosted a mentally challenged guests" because this will reflect badly on you as the host.  I also noticed in your PUBLIC reply that you didn't addressed the fact that she understood you were picking her up from the train station.  That's very important to do as a host when writing a PUBLIC reply to address the very concerns she wrote about with an explanation.  Perhaps you forgot you had agreed to do so, or perhaps she hadn't given you the pick up time.  But next time, always address the specific concern the guests wrote about so other guests can have a better understanding as to why it happened.  

Getting a negative review is hard, but keep in mind that you have a substantial amount of good reviews and most people will read hers, then move on to the next good review and the next good review and decide for theselves that you are indeed a great host based on the many good reviews. 

Based on what she wrote in her review, I wanted to offer some good advice after reviewing your listing.  I couldn't find anywhere in either of your 2 listings to the stipulation you host other guests at the same time which is something other guest potentially booking will need to know.  This is a common mistake that many hosts make, but if I am booking a Private Room with a host, I would like to know that there will be other "strangers" sharing the same home space.   Make sense?  I only mention this because she wrote about in her negative review as something that really bothered her.  Trying to help you avoid another guests writing the same thing.

Hope I helped. 

EDITED:  to fix typo 

[Momi0]

@Sandro7  Oh and one more thing.....instead of writing her a 2 word review  "a nightmare" that you did, a better approach as the host would have been to write this:

Unfortunately this guests came with too many unrealistic expectations, was quite needy during my work hours, and came unprepared to do the simple things like how to contact her family overseas.  While I am happy to help my guests with sightseeing tips, its important that my guests understand I also need privacy to get things done since my listing is quite clear I work from home.  She is not someone I would want to host again.  She is better suited for an Airbnb listing that gives her an entire place. 

[Sandro7]

Thanks- youre right. I was so upset and so relieved when she left I wasnt thinking straight!

[Sandro7]

Hi Momi

Thanks for your advice- I was under a lot of pressure while she was here including family health problems... I told her in advance I have 2 rooms on air bnb and I also said I would collect her from the station if I was able to. Unfortunately my car was at the garage at that time and I explained that. She is the only guest out of nearly 70 I have hosted who did not contact me on her arrival so I was at home waiting to help out. Originally she asked me to collect her from the airport!! Heathrow is 30 miles from me- this shows exactly how ill-prepared she was. On the subject of another guest, she latched onto the other guest and pestered her for company to the point of the other guest having to slip away out of the door to get out....I didnt even touch on the fact that Linda (our subject) was in the bathroom for nearly 2 hours every day while other people were waiting and hung around the house expecting attention 24/7. When she didnt get the reaction she wanted she went into deep moods, sulked and ignored me. Broken crockery was swept up by me on my hands and knees while she looked down on me, hands on hips, not even apologising. She filled the fridge with her own food and left me no space. The food was there for 3 weeks untouched and on her departure she threw every last bit of food, sauces and cans of food away. To this day I don't know where she threw it as I didnt see anything in the trash.

Mine and my friends and daughter who met her have all agreed there is a terrible problem here- also I should never host a first-time bnb guest with no reviews (my fault).

Thanks

Sandro

[Cormac0]

@Sandro

Thank you, Sandro for pointing out this guest was a "fruit cake" this takes courage and sometimes a spade must be called a spade, may be its my age but all the politically correct nonsense must stop.

Based on what you've said she obviously had mental health issues.

We as host are not trained to deal with people with issues of this nature, and I would like to mention it's not the first post I've read of Hosts having to deal guest with phycological problems.

So, Sando I feel based of the mountain of good reviews you've had, Guest will realise that she was a fly in the ointment.

Regards

Cormac

The Explorer's Club Krakow III 

[Sandro7]

Thanks for your comments theyve made me feel better about myself!

Much appreciated

Sandro

[Momi0]

@Sandro7   You are most welcome.  I am glad you posted your concern so I could try and offer up some friendly host advice.  Remember, try to let the angry frustrating feelings calm down for a day or two, before you ever post a PUBLIC reply again to a guest that was not a good experience.  Believe you me, we have all been there.  Especially me, after hosting 2 years in my home.   Thank god I am currently hosting another fabulous couple from Canada....they even brought us a bottle of delicious Maple Syrup as a thoughtful gift and our family loves that!!!! Can't get that here in Hawai'i.  😉