Need to leave negative review for group of lawyers

John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

Need to leave negative review for group of lawyers

I posted this on another thread a few days ago, but thought I might get more traction if I created my own thread here, not that the guests have checked out. @Sarah0 in Mexico was great in giving me advice - unable to tag her here.

 

I had a group of five laywers instant book for a few nights.  I received no communication from them other than the very brief booking message telling me they were "A few lawyers coming for a girls weekend"

 

I saw on the security camera that they ended up having 6 adults and one infant show up and stay the first night. I opted not to say anything because I didn't want to risk a retaliatory review and it would have only been $20 more for that first night.

 

I want to write their review about the extra guests and therefore lack of adherence to rules, the fact that they left some stains on the downstairs linens (but the place was otherwise decently clean) and the fact that they did not communicate with me at all.

 

However, considering they are lawyers (at least the one who booked is for sure), I'm a bit concerned she might try some legal action. I want to leave an honest review for other hosts, but also if she happens to leave me something negative, I have my record of her stay.  

 

Thoughts and advice? 

11 Replies 11
John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

I might add that the individual who made the booking had been part of another group that had one review, but she had no actual reviews on her profile!

@John1080 I wouldn't overthink it, taking legal action over an Airbnb review sounds pretty extreme. Just stick to the facts, as always.

@Lisa723, you're probably right. I agree that legal action is probably pretty rare, but my thinking here is that a group of lawyers could come up with some reason to sue if they were pissed and wanted to. 

Probably, but their time is worth a lot. I've never known any lawyer that goes around tossing lawsuits around just because they're pissed off. And I'm not a lawyer but I think they'd have to have some grounds to claim actual damage and/or falsehood-- and they can get in trouble for frivolous lawsuits.

@John1080 When I have a crummy guest, I let the stars do the work for me (bc guests don’t see those)

thumbs down

communication 1*?

house Rules 1*!

cleanliness 1*?

 

then for text, either:

6 adults, 1 infant , 2 night IB

OR

not a group we’d have back

 

both of those are a strong warning to future hosts but don’t say anything you can be sued for

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@John1080

She won't know If you choose not to recommend her. If you keep the review factual it comes off as move neutral instead of negative/positive.

“XXX stayed for X amount of nights. More guests arrived then originally booked. A little extra cleaning was required”

John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

@Emilia42 and @Lisa723, thank you both! 

@John1080

Technically, guests can know if they were recommended or not because after each stay depending on whether the no. of host recommendations on their profile has changed, a guest will be able to determine whether or not they recieved a recommendation from their most recent host.

 

Agree with @Emilia42 about keeping the review short and factual.

@Jessica-and-Henry0

I didn't know about that. Where is this on the profile?

 

I cannot even see if a confirmed or pre-approved guest has been recommended by hosts anymore. I used to be able to but a couple of months ago this feature went away. And I have always used Instant Book.

@Emilia42

Actually...... I think with the recent change in the profile layout (which I think is for the worse!!!!)  it no longer shows the "GUEST was recommended by X hosts" message.

Forgot about the change 😞 sorry for any confusion.

John1080
Level 10
Westcliffe, CO

Thank you everyone for the input. Normally, I would have no qualms about leaving a negative review, but I have been a bit spooked considering they are lawyers. I went ahead and left the short, factual review in the format as recommended by @Emilia42.  

 

On a similar note, my theory that lack of communication almost always correlates to poor behavior by guests has held up once again in this case.