***REVIEW BOMBER***

[Anne1055]

Hi Hosts,
I have a new idea to share -- but first,

Well believe it or not, AIR developers have added all reviews to show on BOTH  PROFILES!!
Yay!!
This means that all those mean Guests that thought they could get away with review bombing a place will now be revealed.
Well, sort of...

The STAR  RATINGS have not been shared on both profiles, and that's really more what us as HOSTS need to see when considering if someone is a review bomber.

But what is a review bomber?

It's someone who does not say ONE WORD about their disappointment with something, but then leaves lowered star ratings so that we SUPERHOSTS can get knocked down and down, then they are a Review Bomber!

I am hereby asking that ALL HOSTS begin to reply to the review from these types of guests with 
***REVIEW BOMBER*** in the reply, followed by an optional summary to what the situation was about.

That way, we hosts can better decide if we want to host these people or not, and we will not feel so sideswiped by these types.

Again, education is needed. Most Guests still think that Airbnb is just a cheap hotel, and will leave a review like they are deciding if a place is 5-star or 3 star based on finishes. We as hosts owe it to ourselves to make sure Guests know that the star rating is based on value for the dollar spent and not whether the location is ideal or the shower stall has glass doors and tile!

In the meantime, let's all keep asking the Airbnb developers to add our REPLIES to the Guest profile, 
AND
ask them to include the STAR RATINGS on BOTH PROFILES too!

Only when everything is TRANSPARENT can we expect the Guest to be civilized and more truthful about reviews, and stop bombing us out of nowhere!!

Only when our reply to their bad review is seen by other Hosts, will be know if the person really was a good Guest, or whether they were a piece of work just waiting to blow up in our face!

Please remember Hosts, if a Guest doesn't bring up an issue, but then review bombs you, put this at the top of your reply to their review along with star rating details for what they gave you.

*** REVIEW  BOMBER ***

Happy Hosting!

[Anne1055]

It is a diagnosis in French, even if it is used in other ways. Kind of like saying someone is "schizo" when they just have paranoid tendancies. It's enough to make people run away from a person or situation, so yes it is defamatory imho.

https://www.psychologies.com/Dico-Psycho/Psychorigidite

[Anne1055]

And my apologies to anyone with schizophrenia. Not trying to stereotype or label, the world already does enough of that.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Anne1055 

thanks for sharing this new feature. It seems it is not available everywhere, my profile doesn't show a star rating next to the reviews I got.

I can see the star rating next to each of your reviews but it seems it's not the star rating this particular guest left you. In one of your replies you say the guest rated you 4* but above his review and all the other reviews are 5*.

I also can't see the star rating you and other hosts gave to your guests so I don't see how this new feature could be helpful.

I am not sure if I want to see every rating my guest has left me. I almost never go to the page where I can see how they rated me. I don't need that stress, I have enough stress without it 🙂

I rarely reply to my guest's reviews and if I do, I try to keep it very short, professional and unemotional. It is not easy when we are irritated by the guest's behavior and his review, it is even harder if you have to write it in a foreign language but I do my best because leaving long and emotional replies or reviews would certainly hurt our business.

[Anne1055]

The star ratings are in the progress section now and were moved away from the comments. 

Anything below overall 4.8 stars you’ll lose superhost status. I need superhost to advertise to workers travelling otherwise I can’t keep prices low. 

[Ann489]

@Anne1055     while I understand your frustration, I don't think that labeling guests with an insulting moniker publicly is a good way to go.    I think almost every host had his/her share of guests who have behaved the way you described.  Sometimes, the four stars or less that are given by a guest are the result of not fully understanding how the Airbnb review system works--which is quite different from your conventional review system for hotels, as I'm sure, you are aware.   The burden of educating our guests how Airbnb's review system works, unfortunately, falls on the shoulders of us hosts.

Then again, I guess it is human nature to avoid confrontation/conflict, especially, when staying at someone else's property.  We see something that is not to our liking/not as described and we make a mental note to bring it up in the review when we are back home, instead of bringing it to the hosts attention right away.

To be truthful, we, as hosts, often do the same with our guests.  We remain silent when a guest bends our house rules., etc, so as not to jeopardize that five-star review, but we ding the guest in our review.

To sum it up, yes, the review system is flawed, and yes, guests will sometimes give us less than perfect reviews.  Let's not stress over it.  Let's  just move on.  Life is too short to obsess over Airbnb's sucky review system.  😉

[Anne1055]

I agree with what you say for the most part, but ironically the rating system explanation is what this guy is mad about and gave a lowered score over. So just how do we educate people who are not willing to read anything?

If Air won't change the rating system, who will?

Perhaps if everyone starts outing review bombers, then Air would finally step up to the plate.
I'm tired of reading entry after entry of hosts who've been review bombed. It needs to be addressed.

Now maybe some people don't care about their star rating, but my whole pricing depends on getting the work crowd that is travelling. If I lose star rating, I can't advertise to them, so my price can't stay so low.

Maintaining that rating is not about my ego because I don't give a darn about that. What I do care about is offering a good place with low price. Most people understand that, but this guy decided he didn't want to read about it. He was warned in the documentation. He decided to bomb me. He got what he already knew he'd get. Oh well...

And so far as any other guest reading the review and deciding not to stay, if they don't understand that then I don't need them coming and bombing me too.

[Ann489]

@Anne1055   I don't know what the solution to your problem is--I wish I had an answer, but your continued use of the word "bomb" comes across as angry and aggressive.    Whatever it is you are angry about...labeling guests in a public review in this fashion is not acceptable.  😕

[Emilia42]

The real question for me is why do these "review bomers" only "attack" some hosts/listings. Many hosts live quite peacefully with hundreds and hundreds of glowing reviews and wonderful guests while other hosts get "bombed." I suppose we will never really know why.

[Anne1055]

I think it might have something to do with proximity. I notice guests that don't get greeted when they arrive and realize the host does not live next door decide they can be more messy and from reading the differences between in hosting and out hosting, there is a wide gap.

What I mean, is that people coming to a person's home does not need to worry about things like clean floors or walls, clean frig or stove, clean dishes instead of putting them back wet. The owner is right there to gently remind them, and the owner has to do those chores anyway if they already live there.

People coming to a separate unit like mine are, with me being a 10 minute drive away, means they don't care what they do. I also then need to not only do my complete housework in my home, but I need to go do their housework, which I do, and charge for. But when I arrive to a big mess I need to clean, or dirty dishes put in the cupboards, then of course I need them to know this is not acceptable. So I put it in the house book -- but people don't want to read it, so they give bad reviews for having a house book.

And so they leave knowing they made a mess, and they think they'll get a bad review for it, so they leave one. Usually I don't give a bad review though, I suck it up and give them the benefit of the doubt. That is why these issues need to be addressed by Airbnb and NOT hosts. People think Air units are just a cheap hotel, because that's what their friends told them, and they walk away without batting an eye.

Their profile reviews look great, because I don't find out they bombed me until AFTER their review arrives. That's the other big flaw in the system that Air leaves for us hosts to solve.

And BTW, the word "bomb" is an appropriate one. What's NOT appropriate is to leave messes or damages and deny it happened, and then leave a lowered score, just out of expecting to get one too. And nothing else describes it more accurately that I know of.

I'm not alone. Take a look on these forums. It's happening to hundreds of hosts everywhere.

[Gordon0]

>>And BTW, the word "bomb" is an appropriate one<<

For the record, I think it's wholly inappropriate. The language you've chosen is aggressive and unhelpful, but if you think it weeds out ne'er-do-well types, good luck.

[Sarah977]

@Anne1055  I've been hosting for close to 3 years, a private room in my home. I've never had to gently remind any guest to clean up after themselves-they've all done it on their own, except for one young gal who left her room a mess, but she always cleaned up after herself in the kitchen.

I have a budget-priced listing for my area, so it doesn't hold true for me that lower prices bring problematic guests. I don't use IB and communicate with all my guests before approving a booking. I've never had to decline or cancel any booking. So you might look at ways that you could better screen your guests so you get a better quality of clientele.

[Anne1055]

Plus, I've had really young people comment that they know exactly what a review bomber is. Not like it's news to them. And the term doesn't bother people that are not review bombers themselves. They understand right away and tell me they easily read between the lines.

I am not the least bit worried about anyone reading that I will flag review bombers because if they are worried they will go elsewhere, for obvious reasons.

[Ann489]

@Anne1055     Seems like you have your mind made up then.  Let's  hope that all of your future guests are those "really young people" who know what the term "review bomber" means.  Best of luck to you!

[Anne1055]

Thanks, and to you too!

[Lan1]

I just had my one star review removed after several attempts. I learned from my experience that gathering/providing documentation is crucial. Pictures, conversation threads etc. Airbnb CS won’t looking those evidences for you, and they just follow the book. 

@Anne1055 If the guest had offensive language in his review, it should be removed. It is on Airbnb review guideline...