Reviews

[Maree29]

I was under the assumption that Reviews by either guest or host would not be visible unless both had submitted a review?  

The reason I am asking is that I had a very difficult guest that I had to manage very carefully for 6 days and at the end of her stay I realised that she had expected to have stayed in the CBD, at a hotel with a conscierge, a driver, a chef and even a handy bank with Credit cards and a mobile phone!!  Not to mention food that she didn't have to purchase herself a tour guide and laundry maid.

So instead of writing a review that would reflect all of this I chose not to and made allowances for the fact that our culture is different, she had travelled alone for the first time and came completely unprepared for staying in a christian country over Easter when most business owners take a break and go on holiday if they can.

So to my surprise after 14 days, a review popped up from this guest and although had a few nice things to say, clouded those by her bad decision making.  Is this normal procedure, I am confused.

Thanks in advance 🙂

[Helen427]

@Maree29 

Do you have your Notifications which comes up under Settings on Dashboard page set so you recieve email alerts?

If so you would have recieved an  email to advise that the Guest had written a Review.

You may like to see if you have ticked that notification box.

You may like to reply to the said Guests review in public to balance things out - take your time and remember that it may be read by potential future Guests and impact on how others perceive your listing

All the best

[Rohatai0]

Thank goodness I found a page on AIRBNB that gives me some sense of peace! I had a great review but she gave me one star for overall experience. She told me in a private message "Thanks a lot ,exactly what we wanted. ps. I never give anybody 5 stars on principal after being in the system" I was gobsmacked to say the least. Our house is brand new,  as is the lounge suite. I did get pulled up on some daddy long legs that were making a home up on the high beams of our ceiling, but I really thought I had nailed it for comfort and cleanliness! This had affected my rating which is high, but could be like my other two, which is really high. I pride myself on giving people what they want, and paid for. This is my bread and butter!

so thanks for this information, I really don't want to reply to their message, I want her one star to be removed! Her comment was irrelevant to my efforts to provide an excellent place to lay her head, because I felt like I got kicked in the guts!

And I understand that feeling when someone gives you a negative review, it's really hard to take when they say it was a principle of theirs! Can't fix that one!

[Geri26]

Hi Maree.  If both guest and host write a review at any time in the 14 days, they both appear when second one is written whether its day 1 or day 14.  If only a guest or a host write review ie:  one-sided review is written, the review will become visible at the end of the 14 days regardless at which time the non-reviewing person can no longer submit a review but they can respond to the review they have received on their own page.

[Kenneth12]

What @Geri26 said.  If you fail to leave a review,  the guest's review will display after 14 days and you lose the ability to review.  In a situation like this,  I sometimes compose my review in gDocs and post at 13 days 20 hours.

@Maree29 ,  I encourage you to carefully consider how to reply to the review,  writing to future guests who will read it,  maintaining professionality,  and not writing to reply to the guest personally.

Best & best of luck in your hosting,   Ken

[Graham-And-Michelle0 · Accepted solution]

Your listing clearly states that the bathroom is shared and you have reinforced this by not including any photos. So top points there.  Your listing looks fabulous and very reasonably priced and you have some excellent reviews.

The slightly negative review may be best ignored and let folk make their own judgement .

All best

Michelle

[Maree29]

Thank you for your encouragement Michelle.   This one caught me by surprise and ruffled my feathers!

I am sure that many people do not fully read the listings and are more interested in pictures and price.  This guest in particular was completely unprepared to be travelling anywhere especially internationally.  Who travels without a credit card or a working mobile phone?  Then to book somewhere without actually googling about the place and its proximity to where you are wishing to visit and how you plan to do that, astounding really when you are reliant on public transport.  My partner and I were driving her places, loaned her cash when she failed to have the correct fares and ignored the fact that she helped herself to the pantry and requested clean towels everyday (2 no less)  Her private message to me was the kicker....suggested that the bathroom be cleaned at least every 3rd day!  It is cleaned every single day unfortunately when you have 4 guests all showering etc at various times of day and night you are invariably going to notice water on the shower screen at some point.  Oh and I forgot to mention that she failed to respect the check out time of 11am and expected that she could stay until her flight at midnight, without paying anything extra.  Naturally I allowed her to leave her things at home until she needed to go to the airport but she used the excuse that she was on her own and where would she go for the day so she hung around for the whole day until 9.30pm, meanwhile I was trying to manage 2 other couples checking in during the day.   

I will continue to ignore this review and hopefully people will only read the first visible bits that are positive.   

I do appreciate your support and apologise for ranting.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Maree29 

after reading your post I immediately knew what country she is coming from. I checked and I was right 🙂 She is obviously from the upper class and used to have maids to fulfill her every need and this is normal for her.

She was lucky to book with you as you are obviously an excellent host. If she booked with me she would get a reality check before she would even arrive 😄 😄

I guess she will be very surprised at her next trip on Airbnb, hosts like you are rare .

I am not sure if you can reply to her comment if you didn't leave her a review first. But try.

Her review is not bad, she just pointed out some facts you already disclosed in your listing ( location, shared bath)

[Anita503]

I am new to hosting and my last guest was sketchy at best. I am afraid to leave a review that reflects this as the person lives in a neighboring town.  He has already shown up on my doorstep unannounced and I don’t want him back. Is there a penalty for not leaving a review?

[Sarah977]

@Maree29  There is no penalty for a host not leaving a review. Of course, other hosts like to be warned about a bad guest. But if you feel your safety is in jeopardy if you write a negative review, of course that's top priority. And in the future, try to avoid hosting locals. Reports are that they are usually problematic-either they ar homeless, have been evicted, are looking for a place to party, deal drugs, or prostitution. Why else would a local need to book an Airbnb?

Well, there may be perfectly legitimate reasons for locals to book, i.e. their house is undergoing renos that make it impossible to live there during the construction, or they have friends and family coming and live in a really small place, so book a bigger place where they can all hang out together. But you should hopefully be able to ascertain something like this through messaging with a guest.

[Mike1034]

@Anita503There is no penalty of not leaving a review.

But if he had come to your doorstep without telling you, you may take caution. If anything bad happen, you may need to call police as soon as possible. Airbnb can do nothing to help you in this situation.

[Anita503]

Thanks for answering the question. I do feel that AirBnB is more interested in the safety of the Guest vs the Host that lives in the home. I did call CS and they escalated my questions to have a supervisor call me back but no one did.  I think the community forum is much more useful. Thanks again!

[Cathie19]

Hi @Anita503 . So sorry this has happened to you. Most of us never ever encounter this type of boundless guest. 

If this guest has checked out, and is still turning up at your front door, I would be considering reporting him. He is breaching protocols and thinks himself a friend, a future friend, or just knows no boundaries. Maybe your price is too low?

Do WRITE a review. Answer all review questions honestly. If a good guest, say so. If there was an issue, use the star system to emphasis it.

That is, the correct number of star for cleanliness, how he followed house rules and also his level of communication. If you do instant book, if you give three stars, he can’t book with you, and that will stop him being able to 8nstant book others.

So if sketchy, that shows up in your star rating of him. Are we talking his communication?

When asked if you would recommend, you can give the thumbs down “NO”. That way he cannot rebook.

I’d be letting Airbnb  know he has turned up outside his accommodation booking, and if he turns up again, I would consider letting Airbnb know you feel frightened by his lack of boundaries. If you use keys, I’d change my lock.

[Anita503]

I just don’t want to give him a reason to show back up on my doorstep again because of a bad review.  I was pretty scared so I bought a Nest lock immediately even though I was waiting to “earn” the money for it.  Lesson learned.  I wanted to cancel the booking but I’m trying very hard to get a superhost status so was willing to be fearful a couple of days vs fighting with customer service to cancel the booking without penalty. 

[Cathie19]

@Anita503 . Always go with your gut instinct, because it usually talks to you without interference of other opinions.