Letting people stay free to do a review

Letting people stay free to do a review

Just wondering if I can offer people a free stay to do some reviews and if it is allowed - how do you do it?

10 Replies 10
Andrea9
Level 10
Amsterdam, Netherlands

@Ryn0

The booking system doesn't allow for free stays, but the minimum for a whole stay is 10,- euros in EU or probably 10-15 $, so you could always offer to refund the total booking amount to friends for staying and reviewing you.

Thanks for the information!

 
We recently removed one or more reviews from your account that we suspect to be in violation of our Review Policy. We removed reviews for the reservations listed below as they are associated with reservation signals indicating that the reviews may not be entirely unbiased, including signals that the reservations were significantly discounted and received a five-star rating. We’d like to remind you that Airbnb only allows authentic unbiased reviewThis is what happened to us . 
We charged our friends the $10 just so they could leave us an honest review. Now we are being penalized by Airbnb that they are dishonest reviews. I would like to know how we can let friends stay in our properties and not be discriminated against giving us reviews? Any ideas , suggestions would be much welcomed .

This happened to me as a guest. Very frustrating because my review was honest and completely in line with what I have left for a strangers.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Ryn0

You can do that as Andrea told you but why? You already have first reviews for every of your listings and the rest will follow as soon as season starts.

We opened last Jun and had first reviews in no time. 

My advice would be to lower a price for a little just to be competitive with the other listings in your area. 5€ up or down makes a huge difference in bookings.

Thanks, appreciate the information!

You should only let people stay free who are personal friends of yours who will honestly critique your listing immediately after you open to provide you with constructive feedback of your home. But here is caution: when we opened our first Airbnb we had a friend stay overnight who was "too honest." We got our first 4 star review!

 

People whom you do not know should value your property for what it offers. Giving free stays only costs you money, devalues your property and, since they have no ties to you, may even give you bad reviews.

 

I had a guest that booked our two bedroom home for a group of 8 instead of our 3 bedroom home. When he arrived at midnight I questioned him about it (he had not responsed to my email querries). He had indeed accidentally booked the wrong house. I immediately took the group to our 3 bedroom and let him stay a week at the 2 bedroom price, a savings of $20 per night. He gave me 4 stars on value! He left for a week, then returned to stay one more week (at full price this time) and I braced myself for another 4 star. He actually gave me 5 stars for value the second stay!

 

Anyway, guests can be weird, but if a guest gets the feeling that you don't value your own property then they will not either.

Ryan1916
Level 1
West Des Moines, IA

We love to give honest, yet positive reviews for any hosts who ask us to stay for free. What we do is publicly review the stay with the positive reviews and give constructive feedback to the owners on the back end. It has provided an overall boost in bookings, especially for hosts that have caught a fair share of unfair reviews. Reach out to us if you’re looking for consultation.

Lol! You've got spin, @Ryan1916, I'll give you that. 

 

As per Airbnb's T&Cs, your proposed arrangement would be classed as incentivisation and conflict of interest, and would leave your hosts vulnerable to delisting,. The practice of soliciting/offering free stays in exchange for positive reviews is also more than a little unethical, with a distinct whiff of scammy off it. But all too common, sadly, further eroding - if that were even possible - the integrity, credibility and trustworthiness of Airbnb's review and rating system

 

The policy prohibits:

 

Hosts requiring a guest to leave a positive review or rating, or to revise a review in exchange for a partial or full refund, or a reciprocal review.

 

Hosts also cannot offer a free or discounted stay in exchange for a guest revising an existing review.

 

We will remove reviews where there are signals that the reservation was made for the sole purpose of inflating a person’s overall rating, or where we suspect that the stay never occurred.

 

Accepting fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, using a second account to review yourself or your own listing, or providing something of value in exchange for positive reviews, are not allowed. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of your Airbnb account.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Ryan1916  Gee, you're bragging about this scam behavior in public? Reach out to you for consultation? Go peddle your business somewhere there aren't responsible, honest hosts. If a host can't manage to get good reviews from legitimate guests, they're doing something wrong.