Does our travel rating affect our SuperHost status?

[EcoVida0]

We have been travelling and using Airbnb for all our destinations, but there has been one host that was misleading, a poor communicator and acting on behalf of someone else - which we're pretty sure is a breach of terms at Airbnb. Our dilemma is that we are pretty certain this person knows that if we do put in a review, it will be a bad one, but clearly many hosts will not risk entering a review if they believe they will get a negative review. (He has already changed the listing to take out the things that he lied about.) We'd like to communicate the issues we had and will look to Airbnb directly if we can find a way to do this, but frankly we don't want to enter a negative review knowing that we will get one back simply because we pointed out the things that misled us about what he said and the listing itself. The main reason is the fact that we have no idea how a negative review will affect our hosting rating? We are new to Airbnb as both travellers and hosts, but it would seem unfortunate if we were to receive retribution for a negative review that would affect our SuperHost status or anything else for that matter. 

Can anyone lend some advice?

[Hilary-And-Ed0]

@EcoVida0,

You can't receive a retaliatory review.  The other party can't see your review until they have posted theirs.  They only become public once both parties have posted, or when the two week window closes, and the other person has lost their chance.

Leaving a negative review (and getting one as a traveller) won't affect your superhost status, however.  I would suggest leaving the review - other travellers need to know!

[EcoVida0]

Thanks for your response. By retaliatory review, it is understood that they cannot review you in response to your review – although they still can comment with whatever they like on your review of them. What they can also do though is anticipate a negative review and therefore refrain from entering a review because they think they may force the guest into speaking their mind. If they have a guest where they anticipate a negative review enters a review, then this is where they have a chance to retaliate – not specifically to anything said, but people can be cunning and negative thinking that they must be getting a bad review themselves….

That said, if there is no effect on our SuperHost status, we will take your advice and enter the review. Thanks!

[Robin4]

@EcoVida0

Hi Dave and Shannon, Your hosting reviews are entirely seperate from your guest reviews and your reviews as a guest will have no baring on your reviews as a host or the potential to acheive Superhost...the review criteria are entirely different. 

I would not worry about a bad review from another host, just concentrate on being as good a hosts as you can be.

Just a couple of observations if I may!

You cancelled a confirmed reservation earlier this year so I am afraid that will rule out any chance of Superhost status in the near future. When you cancel a confirmed reservation you will not be elligble for Superhost status for a period of 12 months from the date of the cancellation!

Secondly, you give a very lengthy and slightly argumentative response to Phillipe's review. Try not to do that Shannon, it does not show you in a good light if you take aim at guests! And what is worse, when others see a long response like that, it's like a magnet, it attracts them to it to read it. We all want less than stellar reviews to slip off the radar as quickly and un-noticed as possible, not draw attention to them.

If you have a disagreement with a guest over something or other, just say, 'certain things in life are beyond your control but you value guests feedback and will take on board what the guest has said!' Leave it at that and most people won't even notice it, and those that do will think what a diplomatic host you are!

I hope this helps you.

Cheers.....Rob

[EcoVida0]

Thanks for your response and your comments are appreciated. Unfortunately, the property was in breach of agreement and we had to cancel on a guest who would not accept any changes, even being offered far superior accommodation for the same price or a free stay in one of our cabinas. As we're really new to Airbnb, we did our best not to cancel, but when you have your own properties and a company that manages others, we're a bit at a disadvantage when someone breaks our agreement and that causes downstream issues to guests. That pretty much started our Airbnb experience, so we've been working hard to only list properties that we have direct control over, or now a huge penalty for rentals managed by our company if the owner is in breach of agreement. It's a tough balance. As for not leaving a lengthy response to someone, we'll agree to disagree ;-). It may do everything you describe, but it also illustrates that we will not be the type to just accept inaccurate info. We're always going to point out inaccuracies and the guest did teach us something - 1 night rentals do not work -- so all was good. After 10 years and 200+ 5 star TripAdvisor reviews, we have always taken the approach to be very descriptive and truthful on a negative review -- which are a handful over the years. We understand some may not rent from us if they see we stand up to a guest with a poor (or lesser than perfect) review, but our philosophy has worked quite well in weeding out those not-so-good guests by simply reading our responses to those that would threaten poor reviews to get something for themselves... discounts, etc. It's a pretty nuanced situation, but clearly see your perspective. Cheers. 

[Robin4]

@EcoVida0

Hi again, I understand what you are saying re the reviews and I respect where you are coming from. I also have over 110+ hostings, more than 70 on Airbnb and I do have Superhost status and I also understand the way this platform works. It differs from Trip Advisor in that with Airbnb 5 stars is the default star rating, anything less means there is something to be improved and if the review ratings fall below a certain level Airbnb will penalise that listing in search rankings. You will find you do need to be much more conciliatory on Airbnb than Trip Advisor.....and I can talk from experience, I have hosted on both!

As far as the penalties for host cancellation, this is something you needs to be aware of. If a hosting cannot take place you must work with Airbnb to either have the guest relocated or refunded without accepting responsibility. It can be done, and is on a daily basis. The system does not take into account circumstances when you cancel, it just recognises that you cancelled and awards the subsequent penalties to you. Here are the regulations around Host cancellation.....

So Shannon, file this away in case this scenario crops up again, and also I will include this link which you may find useful. Although it refers to the Host protection Scheme, just type any question into the search bar and alternative answers in an official sense will be displayed.

Cheers.....Rob

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/topic/358/host-guarantee---host-protection-insurance