Guest seemed happy but didn’t leave a review

[Pamela553]

We had guests last weekend, they seemed happy, said they loved our place, but, a week later, haven’t posted a review. I did write to them saying that I would love to have their review.

[Paul1255]

Hi @Pamela553  I hope you are well!

Not all guests will bother to review- even if they have a great time, that's how it is sometimes.

If you have already asked or reminded then there isn't anything else you can do- they will be getting email reminders from Airbnb too.

You have 5 wonderful reviews already on your listing, and you'll continue to build, even if a few guest don't review.

I see you've reviewed all your guests that have stayed, this is always good to do as soon as they have checked-out and you're happy with the state your listing has been returned to you- as Airbnb send a email to the guest saying you've reviewd them, and to leave their review to be able to see what you've written- lots of guests want to know!

Best wishes

Paul 🙂

[Pamela553]

Thanks Paul.  We were a little thrown as she told us that she worked for Airbnb. We thought that she would appreciate,  more than most, how important reviews are. She was encouraging us to become Superhosts.  Maybe she was a ‘mystery shopper’

[Helen3]

@Pamela553 If she does work for Airbnb ( what does her profile say?) it seems unfair for her not to review you when she knows how important they are to new hosts .

[Sabrina549]

Hi Pamela,

I totally understand your felling. I just sarted hosting, and May places has been almost full for a moth. I have a 5* hotel background, so going above and beyond is in my blood. I have to Admit that all 4 guest (families/couples/friends) that stay in our place they all comment how wonderfull the service was, and sent great text messages to me. They all promise leaving great reaviews, as the knew that I am a new host. But suprisingly the last two guests never did. I am a little bit disappointed, as I made sure to reflect my appreciation for taking such great care of my guest house. 

[Cathie19]

Hi @Pamela553 , & @Sabrina549.

@Paul1255 is accurate about  the reviews. Sadly this frustrating .... but is the current reality of hosting.....

This lack of writing reviews has been raised in the forum a number of times. As part of the current and bulky review system, there have been a few specific requests coming through from hosts.

1.

Remove outlier or retaliatory reviews (when a guest is peeved, as things haven’t gone all their way... probably been asked to follow house rules)

2.

Guests who habitually don’t review: this information becomes visible to hosts: due to guest not participating in, or meeting community expectations.

3.

Guests who constantly write negative or retaliatory reviews are penalised or restricted in using the rental platform, and this information is tagged on their profile to hosts.

🙌🏼 BY WEEDING OUT poor guests and hosts, this will clean up the rental platform for the community based and commercial users. 🌻

[Pamela553]

Thanks for your responses.

The three guests who didn't leave reviews, I wrote to them saying I hoped that they got home safely & that we would be delighted to have their review in our listing (assuming that they were happy with everything).  In each case they left the review within 48-72 hours, two sent messages apologising for the delay.

We now have fourteen 5* reviews, but have to wait until 1 July before we can get Superhost status , having missed the 1 April deadline by just a few days. We also have probably another 15 bookings between now and then.