Reviews

[James704]

I'm in a quandary. I recently had a one-month booking made on the account of an 84-year old lady, but which was carried out by her son, with whom she came to stay. Her son, a man in his 50s, was the most abominable guest, who assumed that their one-room (with private bathroom) booking entitled him/them to use my entire home as their own domain, as though we were housemates. I'll spare you the details, but his behaviour included threatening me with "causing problems" for me with my local authorities (my use of Airbnb is borderline legal in my area), with the tax authorities, and by badmouthing me online wherever possible, if I insisted on criticising his behaviour or limiting his use of my home. He had begun his stay by boasting how he was blacklisted by three car rental firms on the island.

He left me with no option but to terminate their stay after three days and I gave him 48 hours, via Airbnb, to find alternative accommodastion. I let his mother stay an extra three days solo gratis, if she liked, which she did. She was no trouble at all and was a pleasant guest.

I feel I should write a review, to spare any other host from having this awful man in their home. However, the account used is in her name and my review will be read by her son, who operates the account. I believe he must have some mental health issues and fear retribution, either online or in person, or both, if I leave an honest review. Equally, I don't believe he should be entitled to leave me a damaging review, given his outrageous behaviour. I assume I will still have the right to rebutt, even if I don't write a review for them, but poor reviews/ratings can affect my listing.

Any advice on what to do? I have only a day or so before my review-writing window closes.

[Linda108 · Accepted solution]

Is this the first time you had a month long booking @James704?  I think guests are more than likely to use the whole space when they stay that long, but it seems that his "threatening behavior" was more the issue for you, right?  Anyway, since he is using his mother's profile, I think you can have a thumbs down review for the mom since she is likely to be accompanies by her son.  Your review can call that out in your review with, "while Mrs. X is a lovely person, her son who accompanies her, behaved in a threatening way requiring me to request the guests to be relocated."

Since you had the guest relocated you can assume the review will be negative since the son is the one to write the review.  If the review violates the Air BNB Content Policy and threatening would do so, it can be removed if you bring it to the attention of Air BNB.  If it stands, your short, professional response should clarify that the guest behavior neccessitated the intervention of Air BNB to relocate.  Given all your other very positive reviews, I doubt there will be a negative impact for potential guests.  As for in-person retribution, that is a matter outside Air BNB and you would have to involve local authorities.  Good luck!

[James704]

Thanks for the considered response, Linda. Yes, this was my first one-month booking and so I did expect them to use the space, like many of my guests do, mostly very considerately. However, erecting a permanent tower PC on my desk in the living room I hadn't agreed to, nor that this man could expect to spend his evenings in the living room with me after Mother had gone to bed at 7pm. There were a number of behaviours such as sleeping on the living room sofa (intentional, with blanket) in the middle of the afternoon, moving furniture around, giving my mailing address to his bank, rearranging pictures on a shelf in the kitchen and just general rudeness. He threatened me with the above at least 5/6 times, while on one occasion having the cheek to ask me for a lift into town. BTW, the use of my living room and other spaces is not offered in my listing, so why he thought it was all there for him to assume I don't know.

[George79]

I can relate to the inconsiderate and imposing guest.   Perhaps something in the listing that says its the room only and no use of other areas is available.   Later you determine when the guest is in the house if you want to invite them to use an area and for what purpose.   Also I'm even just trying to find out on here how to read Reviews written on a guest so I won't run into a similar distasteful situation.

[Kim418]

I'm so sorry you experienced this. 

It gives you a hilarious (sorry) dinner party story though. 

I don't take bookings longer than a week, and offer no discounts because I just don't want to risk people taking 'ownership'.

I think you have been extremely patient and generous throughout.

[Christine6]

I think we as SuperHosts should be able to ask Airbnb to remove at least 1 bad review per quarter, if we get one.  We take a chance with 1st timers and then when they are clearly not suited as a Airbnb gueat say whatever they want to on our reviews which has recently happemed to me.

[Christine6]

What are the different levels I see next under our names? Thanks

[Sandra856]

Hi @Christine6  🙂

The different levels just means have active you have been in this community. How many posts you have made, how many likes people have given you for your comments. 

It has nothing to do with being a host.

Best, Sandra

[Peta7]

Were the 80 odd year old mother actually sleeping with her 50 year old son? We recently had a mother accompanied by her bearded son sharring a bed and are still frowning upon this practice:-)

We would not worry too much about the mother's reputation as at her age will most probably not be doing much more travelling anyway. Reviews should always be a true reflection of a shared experience and we hold no more punches as per the new norm with guests. 

[Shelly4]

I have had a request from a guest to stay in my home for a month.  There is no picture and I understand that no picture is now shown until the host accepts the guest.  This particular guest joined Airbnb a year ago but I cannot tell if he has ever used the service.  I am not getting a straight answer and no reviews are available for me to see.

I understand the photo criteria but are reviews available to be reviewed by the host before accepting the reservation?

@Shelly4

[Sarah977]

@Shelly4  Yes, you can read reviews before deciding whether to accept a guest. Just click on the circle with their initial in it to the left of your message stream with them, and their profile page should come up. there you can see if they have any reviews, if they have written anything about themselves, and whether they have verified ID.

I'm not sure what you mean that you aren't getting a straight answer- if you feel a guest is being dodgy with you, don't accept their booking. Always follow your gut reaction- it usually proves to be correct. 

And I would be very leery of accepting a month-long booking from a guest who has no reviews at all.