A guest is threatening me with a bad review

[Luksa0]

Hi all,

I had my first negative experience with a guest yesterday and would like to hear from you how to deal with it.

I list 2 apartments which are in the same flat and next to each other. I have free parking on premises ticked on both listings but I actually have only 1 private parking place. However there is free public parking available everywhere around the flat and is being used only by us - people who live there. As most of us rent through Airbnb we have an agreement to book public parking places in advance and make them private as long as we need them. It has worked perfectly for us all so far.

Yesterday a guest arrived with a car without mentioning previously that he will do so. I specifically ask all of my guests to mention if they will be coming in with a car and if they need parking place. When my guest arrived he was very nervous and aggressive towards me. When we shook hands he applied way too much grip and was unpleasant during our conversation. He immediately started to complain about parking not even wanting to hear my explanation about how technically a public parking place becomes a private parking place when booked in advance. 

The moment he said it's not about money BUT - I knew it was about money. In my opinion this guest has experience in complaining and getting his way with hosts. He is very well educated on all of Airbnb terms and conditions and I have a feeling that he was just looking for a cause to complain. If it wasn't the parking place he would have found something else to complain - I'm sure of that. I've checked his reviews and those are mostly bad. I believe this guest is a type of person I call "professional discount hunter". 

I immediately wrote an email to Airbnb explaining the situation and requesting help but so far I haven't received a response. I sent a screenshot of my guest directions to the guest where it's visible that I require guests to book the private parking place otherwise it will work on first come - first serve basis and the guest who comes in second will use the public parking space. 

During our conversation through Whatsapp my guest mentioned that he will be leaving a negative review based on the parking situation. Even though he never specifically mentioned that he expects me to refund him some of the money he was trying to lead me on to do so. When he realized that I will not be offering a refund our conversation moved to Whatsapp (he knows Airbnb doesn't accept Whatsapp as an evidence) and he mentioned that he will be leaving me a bad review. He is probably expecting me to go out of my way now and do everything I can to satisfy and persuade him into leaving a good review. In any other case I would do so but because this guest was very aggressive, nervous and irritared by basically everything I will not do so. I will accept his bad review with a smile.

My question is - what should I do in this case and what to do in general when a guest is threatening me with a bad review?

Thank you!

[Helen3]

Why did you accept a guest with so many negative reviews?

Why did you communicate with your guest via what's app rather than keeping to Airbnb messaging? - you just reply  to any messages outside Airbnb and say that in line with Airbnb rules, you need to keep all commuication on Airbnb and then reply to him on Airbnb summarising his conversation with you.

Message him on Airbnb now and say that you are sorry that he misunderstood parking at your apartment, but you clearly state on your house rules (if that is what you do) that private parking is only available if your guest notifies in you in advance they are bringing a car. I presume he can still use the public parking if so confirm this in the message.

If he does leave you a negative review then you have a right to respond and you can confirm that the parking wasn't available because the guest didn't let you know he was bringing a car. And that had he done so as requested in your house rules it would have been available.

I am not sure how you emailed Airbnb as they don't have an email. Best to contact them via Twitter or call them.

[Kim-and-Jen0]

Hi @Luksa0

As host, you have to prepare for bad review, you can always write the public response after. You can also press the thumb down and write the honest review about him, what you have experienced. Other than that maybe you can flag his profile, report him to Airbnb about his behaviour and threatening you with bad review. Send the screen shot ( although Airbnb did not want to take wattsap as evidence). You still can write to Airbnb that they are giving the guest number for a reason so if the guest is contacting via whatsapp it is still a platform to communicate. Tweet the screenshot to Airbnb, send the guest email on airbnb message, attached the snapshot to the guest email as well so its recorded on Airbnb message system if you need too (just said that based on our conversation on whatsaap which I attached the screenshot below, you are threatening me with bad review)

If I were you, I will give the honest review what i have experienced and write back the public response if they write me a negative one, and did what I mentioned above. Although negative review will be very harsh affecting the rating system, we just need to try our best and sometimes there are some arse out there too that we cant avoid. Good luck and happy hosting. 

[Luksa0]

Thank you for your input @Kim-and-Jen0!

I have no problems dealing with bad reviews. Sometimes things just don't go according to plan and there isn't much we can do about it. However I have a problem with a guest who is basically blackmailing me. He knows all too well how Airbnb works and how reviews work. The Airbnb profile used to book isn't actually his but rather his girlfriend's who is currently staying with him at my apartment.

I don't know how stuff legally works about that. All the communication I had with her was done prior to arrival. Now even if I sent a message to her she probably wouldn't answer because it's not in her interest to do so.

It's unbelievable that I have to accept a malicious review because I won't succumb to blackmail.

[Kim-and-Jen0]

@Luksa0

About the blackmailing, I think its worth a try to tweet/contact Airbnb, although many people said the customer service is bad, but believe me, i called them many times (incl my first bad negative review) and they are always there to try to help fixing the problem.

But what I have learned about the review things is just to let go, because it sometimes its not worth all the hassle and also you probably will not see them anymore. Just dont forget to put thumbs down and give them honest review and write the public response to their review.

[Luksa0]

@Kim-and-Jen0

I've already contacted Airbnb through Help Center and raised an issue. In my original post I wrote that I sent Airbnb an email which is a poor choice of words.

I'll try contacting Airbnb through Twitter as well in hope to get this concluded as soon as possible.

Thank you for all your help, it really made me feel better about the whole situation!

[Monika64]

@Luksa0 Your place looks very neat and may I just say I think you are awsome for rather be taking on a bad reveiw that being pushed around! 🙂 I hope it'll all work out and he doesn't leave a review at all! Posting his blackmail to Airbnb (even cutting it into the chat) is a great idea, I wish I would have think about it when I had to deal with a guest like him 😞

[Luksa0]

Hi @Monika64,

Thank you for the support, it is very appreciated! 🙂

Unfortunately my guest has specifically mentioned that he will be leaving a review, he was very upfront about it. Our conversation was in person and through Whatsapp later on. Airbnb doesn't accept Whatsapp chats as evidence. I've read though many forum pages where hosts wrote about trying to use Whatsapp screenshots as evidence and how Airbnb refused to accept it as valid.

I've already come to terms with receiving a bad review from the guest in question. The only thing I would like from Airbnb is to provide faster and better support to me and all the hosts who have to deal with a similar situation. Having to sign up for Twitter to get in touch with Airbnb customer service is not the most convenient thing.

[Andy30]

You dont have to accept it. As a third party booking Air BnB can remove the review as it was not made by the person who stayed

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Luksa0

Review him...

Just say something brief and professional: x left the appartment as found, however I would be unwilling to host again.

Then, depending on his review, you can also respond briefly to that along the lines of: X had information on parking in my area, but did not like the arrangement. He used this as a threat to leave a bad review. Hence my previous comment regarding not being willing to host him again.

[Luksa0]

Hi @Gerry-And-Rashid0,

That's something I will most definitely do but I feel it's kinda inadequate. My guest knows that a review from me will not affect him much. In addition to that - it's not his profile that was used to book but his girlfriend's.

I would like to be able to do something more than just write a review and reply to my guest's review. It's a bit frustrating that Airbnb doesn't have a proper solution for this kind of situation.

[Andy30]

If I get a negative review or comment. In the public resonse I always say first it was great to have your booking. I then thank them for the positive verbal feedback on departure which always occurs anyway. I then comment that I am curious that the issue/s raised int he review where not drawn to my attention during the stay. I am sad not to have been given the oppertunity to asist in resolving a problem. I thank them for thier review however harsh and wish them safe travels. This tends to turn a negative into a positive and lessens the impact of thier review on prospective clients. 

[Noreen12]

well said andy

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

If I were you, I'd copy (screenshot) everything he said to you on Whatsapp onto the Airbnb message, and be clear that he was the one that did not follow rules and he can threaten you with a bad review all he wants but you won't refund him. Do not respond to his Whatsapp messages if possible. Send "I will only talk to you thru Airbnb." and just block(delete) him. He came with an agenda to rip you off and take advantage of you. "Professional discount hunter" is way too nice. 

I really hate Airbnb's approach of scaring and threatening hosts to bend over backwards in terms of rates (recommended rates are totally insulting) or reviews & stars (only 5-stars is considered "acceptable") or host cancellations leading to threat of suspension etc. 

[Noreen12]

hi luksa.   I am new to airbnb and I also did not get t the best eeview.  I believe we need to be honest with our reply to the review from the client.  we will not please everyone all the time.    move on from it and use it as a learning experience for future clients....that's what I will do.

regards.

  noreen