Host reviews

[Kristen266]

How do I review a guest that just recently stayed at my place over the past weekend? He was completely NON COMMUNICATIVE after several messages. My guests are asked to let me know when they check-in and check-out , I NEVER heard anything from him. I don't want to leave him a bad review as I am worried he will bash me out of spite?? SO what does someone do in this type of situation?

[Lawrene0]

First of all, @Kristen266 , no worries: He cannot see your review until he writes his own, or until 14 days go by, at which time he will see your review, but he will no longer be able to review you. So there is no possibility of being bashed out of spite. 

There should only be honest reviews, not good or bad. If he was clean, you could say something like: "XX was a quiet and clean guest. He did not communicate his check-in and -out times as per our house rules and my repeated requests, but we can otherwise recommend him."

Was he from a different country than you, though? Is it possible he didn't have cell service or data? I know I get very little communication from my US guests (I am in Canada) because many of them do not have a plan that works in Canada.  I have come to expect that, and would never mention non-communication in a review when that is a possibility. 

[Jim-and-Marcia0]

I always give guests the benefit of a doubt. Occasionally you will have a guest who has difficulty accessing the Airbnb website or app while traveling, or even using their mobile phone if from a different country.  Sometimes guests have their mind on other things while travelling and don't get online even if they can.

Look at the overall stay.  Other than their lack of communication, were they generally good guests?  Are they first time users of Airbnb and maybe not savvy on appropriate communication with the host? Also, how clear are your expectations on your listing?

Did the guest communicate with you appropriately when they made their booking?  Did you reach out to them by phone, text, or email when they weren't responding in the Airbnb thread?  Are they first time users of Airbnb and maybe not savvy on the difference between home stays and hotel stays?

You will want to be honest and polite in your review. Here's an example from our experience:

We sent this message to a guest on the Airbnb platform and by text message.

"Hello Susan,
Sorry we didn't get a chance to meet!
We hope you had a good stay.
Seems you aren't seeing our messages here on the Airbnb platform.
We received your text message on Jim's phone when you checked out yesterday. Thanks.
We noticed one of our white coffee cups is missing. If you know where it is, please let us know. 🙂
Thank you for choosing to stay at Sara's Guest House!
Marcia and Jim"

(No response from guest. Later we found the cup near the bicycles in the garage.)

Here was our public review:

"It was a pleasure to host Susan and her park ranger son, also her sister and sister's granddaughter! Good guests, clean and tidy! Communication was fine during the booking process and prior to arrival, but dropped off after their arrival since they didn't communicate via the Airbnb platform from that point on. Welcome again anytime!"

5 star cleanliness, 4 star communication, 5 star observance of house rules

Our private message to her mentioned the importance of keeping in touch with the host during and after the stay via the Airbnb message system.. We also wished her well and invited her to come again.

Don't worry about a retaliation review. The guest won't see your review until both have posted. or time has run out.

Hope this helps!

Marcia

[Emilia42]

@Kristen266 

Whenever I have a guest like this, (and I have had a few), I write a review along the lines of "I did not hear from XX after the initial booking message, so I will assume everything went well."

Then I give them a super low star rating on communication. I am not as put off by a lack of communication as some hosts. At least this way other hosts will get the point that this person did not communicate without a negative and personal review.

[Sarah977]

@Emilia42  To me, that wording wouldn't tell me anything as far as a guest not answering your messages. It just tells me that they had no questions, complaints or demands and therefore didn't need to communicate during the stay. I can't see the individual ratings you gave a guest, only the average. So how would I know that he got a super low rating from you on communication? How would I know that you sent him messages he didn't bother to answer?

[Yadira22]

Hello @Sarah977 I was able to see the score per section in the full website but not on the app! If this has changed since then I would have to see. Just an FYI 🙂

[Lawrene0]

I see the scores per section, too, @Yadira22 . Maybe only some of us in some places can? 

[Emilia42]

@Sarah977, You don't know if I tried to communicate with the guest or not, but I don't think that is important. I suppose a host could add: "despite many messages." All you know it that I received absolutely NO message exchange from the guest ..... no "we made it," no "thank you," no "good-bye." No nothing after the first booking message.