Need advice on guests' review and star raiting

[Мария15]

I had my second guests lately and I'm confused about how to evaluate them. I've been reading the Community advice pretty much and noticed that hosts often mention that they try to avoid giving negative reviews.

The guests, a young couple in their 20s, asked prior to making a reservation if they could smoke hookah ibn the apartment. My answer was that any smikong is not allowed. I mention it several times in House rules and in the description as well. They agreed to House rules and booked. They were polite, good communicators, informed me on the travel itinerary, kept apartment clean, washed dishes, took garbage away. They even cleaned the apartment, vacuum cleaned and washed the floors and washed the bed linens.

Of course, not without reason were they so good. They did smoke shisha and I suppose that all their thorough cleaning was an attempt to hide the fact. I am a non-smoker and very sensitive to smells. I feel someone smoking in the other car with windows closed in both cars. So I definitely can smell shisha in my apartment.

It was the guests' first time experience with Airbnb. I realise that my bad review may have a negative effect on their future bookings. On the other hand I would like to warn other hosts.

My star raiting for them is 5 for cleanliness, 5 for communication, 2 for complying House rules. I am going do describe everything in the review... Or should I not? Should I be more vague?

I have no idea what to answer to the last question, would I recommend them or not? 😕

Any advice is highly appreciated:)

[Alon1]

@Мария15 

Though some hosts don't like leaving negative reviews, many also prefer to leave honest reviews for the purpose of warning future hosts.

The issue you relate is important, because Guests acted against your Rules and more so after engaging you with the initial question. 

Lastly, whether to recommend or not?

Last year I had a not dissimilar case, I wrote a long and frank account which ended with this sentence:

   ' I can best hope Dan learns the lesson, but since I will not be able to vouch for it, I can not recommend Dan to prospective hosts.'

[Мария15]

@Alon1Thank you for your advice. I agree with you that it is important for future hosts to know whom they are going to welcome in their house.

I wrote several drafts of review already as well as personal notes to the guest. I think I should wait another couple of days before posting the review, I am still very angry on them.

[Alon1]

@Мария15 

Yes, it's good to have a cooling off period prior to finalising your review & private feedback.

But even if your anger dissipates, the essential fact will remain re Guests unacceptable behaviour.

  And if you don't flag it, they will certainly believe their attempted cover up was successful; and if they did it once they can do it again.

[Мария15]

@Alon1I am fully agree with you. I will definitely flag them to warn future hosts.

At the moment Airbnb hugely advertises discount coupons. I know that that particular guests have used it. As they were among first three guests they receuved a 20% discoubt from myself as well (as was recommended by Airbnb). That means their cost per person per night was equal to the price of the cup of coffee. People don't value what was cheap for them. I have some other guest coming soon and it is the same situation with them as well. I have already raised the price several times but I am almost fully booked till October so makes not much difference.

[Alon1]

@Мария15 

Yes, Airbnb encourage this discount for first few guests to kick start a listing.

It's also a common theme on this forum that low prices attract low quality customers.

However, it doesn't necessarily mean this will be the case. Indeed, your first customer seems to have been very nice judging by his Review & your Response and Review of him.

So you could consider that you were just unlucky with the second guests.

It's a numbers game. We all get problematic guests somewhere along the line.

Lastly, you may also find these second guests leave you a good review, because as far as they know so far they got away with this situation by leaving you a clean place. If that's the case it will be a shock to them to read your honest review. Most they will be able to do is write a Response to your Review on their own profile.

[Мария15]

@Alon1 

They knew that they did wrong thing. We parted on a very friendly note, they praised me for the apartment, I invited them to visit again. We spoke in the anteroom when they checked out but when after their departure I toured the flat I realised that there is a smell left.

They definitely knew about their wrongdoing. They left me souvenir candy bottle that says "Let's put up", "Forgive and let's forget all the insults and we will live together as before: laugh and be sad together; be on the same wavelength; go to the movies together and eat popcorn; exchange sms and like each other; linger until dark, talk about everything in the world; listen to the same music; call each other just like that; dream and plan everything together; share something ... thoughts ... or candy. I am very ashamed 😞 Let's be friends!"

They tried their best to behave properly, maybe they are just very young. I also did wrong things when I was their age. Maybe I am too forgiving but it's really difficult for me to write an honest review on them. I think this is their way to say they were sorry.

On the other hand I was cleaning like mad for last two days, I feel absolutely ruined physically today. 

They haven't leave a review so far. I am not sure they will until I write smth and they would like to read it.

[Romana19]

Nedoporučila bych je ostatním,věděli dopředu jaké jsou podmínky a přesto je zcela vědomě porušily,je třeba varovat ostatní!

[Мария15]

@Romana19  Thank you for your advice. I will definitely do this.

[Rowena29]

Hi @Мария15 

I don't have a lot to add except this...

If you make the review TOO negative, give them a thumbs down, not recommend them, then it's quite possible the guests will just close down that account, create a new one and start again ( called ghosting), especially if they are fairly new - they have no good reviews to lose - they may as well start again.

NOT trying to discourage you from speaking the truth. Perhaps you could write at length about everything they did well, and then finish off with a final sentence about how disappointed you were that despite house rules and several conversations, guests ignored your rules and smoked in the house?

Just a thought. REcommend/ not recommend is up to you. I suppose I'd be a LITTLE cautious as, even though you are quite sure of yourself, you don't have any physical proof. I mean if your nose is so sensitive, is it possible for instance they went outside to smoke, and it clung to their clothes and then to your house? I think it's definitely worth a comment, personally I'd be reluctant to not recommend for the reasons I"ve already mentioned. and they could have quite easily smoked and not bothered to do ANY cleaning - so all up they sound pretty good overall?   I think raisint your price is an excellent idea. Do you have a security deposit? That tends to make guests think twice about doing the wrong thing.

Good luck with your hosting  - it does get a bit easier.

Cheers

[Мария15]

Hi @Rowena29 

Thank you for your opinion but they couldn't go out to smoke because they smoked a shisha (hookah, narghile). And the smell is not of tobacco but smth mixed with an apple. I can even say a precise place where they smoked because it's an untreated wooden table there and it absorbs the smell pretty well, as well as a curtain nearby and a decorative cardboard box. 

I don't have any physical proof for a smell. I think it could only be some forensic laboratory test that may prove it. Of course I will not go in such a trouble as to make it.

I completely agree on all your other points regarding the review. 

[Kira32]

Hi @Мария15 

Write your honest opinion about your guest. I have instant booking but when I could see a bad review from another host, at least I know what to expect from this guest 

We host need to help each other!

At least we will have backup support when we have bad guests because we can point out their previous issues with other hosts when we need to involve airbnb. 

Kira♡

[Мария15]

Hi @Kira32 

I am confused about instant booking, I constantly changing my settings, turning it on and off because I am not completely happy with any given option.

Airbnb says that with instant booking I'll receive booking from guests with positive reviews. But in reality it is just the guests with reviews, just ANY reviews.

[Rowena29]

Hi again @Мария15 

If you select Instant Book, you can, to a certain extent, place limitations on WHO can instant book. Under booking settings there is a section called guest requirements. You can select 

Must have.....

1 Airbnb standard requirements

2 Government Id

3 Profile Photo

4 Recommendations from other hosts

I personally have IB and I have all of these selected, except for Recommendations from other hosts - as I get a lot of new guests.   

There are a lot of very different opinions about the virtues or otherwise of IB.

Theoretically, if a guest IBs and you feel  uncomfortable, you can ring Customer Support and they will initiate the cancellation without penalty to you.  Of course if has to be a reasonably valid reason, and not discriminatory.

I have had a positive experience with this. (A guest IB'd, 2 months in advance, didn't read the messages I sent her, didn't read the listing description properly and 2 days before check in, started complaining about the way things were set up and asking me to rearrange my furniture to suit her and her family. I rang CS, who were wonderful and it was then who  actually suggested cancelling the booking)   

Also in the guest requirements in the "your welcome message" section  I have a  list of questions that the guest will see prior to booking. One of the questions is "have you really read my house rules? What is the hidden code word?"  This helps me ensure I get guests who HAVE read all the house rules and it also prompts them to communicate a bit. They find the question funny - at least those who go on to book do  - and they are the sort of guest I want!

Since I have started doing this, I have found I have had guests who are really communicative and who I feel comfortable with. It's not foolproof of course, but it really helps.

IF you have IB and  a guest wants to book your place who doesn't meet all the criteria you have selected,  then they will be prompted to send a request to book.  The only problem with this is that you don't always know WHY they haven't been able to instant book ( what criteria they haven't met. Sometimes it can also be because they are requesting to book outside your booking window limitations for example), so it can be a bit confusing, especially as the guest is not told why they can't IB either.

Hope that's of some help - just based on my experience, but I'm fairly new to this myself.

Cheers

[Мария15]

Hi @Rowena29 Thank you so much for such detailed explanation. I have all criteria ticked but still feel uncomfortable with IB. Probably it's just me 🙂