Scared to write a bad review

[Judy525]

Hi! I am a co-host. We just had guests (4 guys) that were terrible! Without citing specifics, they were slobs, rude (in the way they treated the house & the condition they left it in), gross and did not abide by the house rules. The host doesn't want to write an honest review because of fear of retaliation. I feel that it's a great disservice to the Airbnb community to not let them know about these guests, but I also understand where the host is coming from with his thinking. Oh, forgot to mention, we were their first Airbnb rental. Is there a way to 'secretly' warn hosts where the guests won't see it?

[Alice595]

@Judy525 On Facebook, there is a black list for those guests who break rules. You may add these guys to that list.

You search this forum and you will find that Facebook link.

When you write the review, give them a thumb down and low star ratings. Guests are not able to see their star ratings.

[Judy525]

Thank you so much for that information. That's perfect!

[Anonymous]

@Judy525  What kind of "retaliation" does the primary host fear? The review will not be visible to the guest or to the public until either a) they've submitted their own review, or b) the review period has expired.  Bear in mind, if you receive any negative comments from the guest, a cross-reference to the review you left will be your best defense.

Some hosts who are squeamish about writing negative comments will choose a loaded "neutral" or mixed review. For example:

"Archie Bunker stayed here for 5 days. Based on our experience, a hotel would suit him best for future bookings."

"Al Bundy arrived and checked out on time, but we were disappointed by the way our home and hospitality were treated in between."

[Judy525]

Thank you Andrew for that information. I love the character references in your 2 examples!

[Sarah977]

@Judy525  If the host is going to persist in the attitude of not leaving a bad review for bad guests, then he is doing other hosts a huge disservice. If you weren't the co-host, with a responsible attitude about this, I'd wish that he gets all the bad guests that no one else warned him about 🙂

[Judy525]

It's really not like that Sarah. He's really a good guy and tends to always see the best in people. He just started hosting a few months ago and up until now he's had wonderful guests. But since I won't put up with guests behaving badly, as well as not wanting other hosts to have to deal with them, I decided to take the reins on this one. But it still is his house and I don't want to bring trouble to him so that's why I'm reaching out to all of you. Otherwise I would have let it rip in the review on these guys!!

[Sarah977]

@Judy525  that's good to hear that he's a good guy and sees the best in people and there have been good guests up til now. I hope you can help him understand that it's really important for undesirable guest to be made known to other hosts. Reviews aren't some popularity contest.

I know there's a blacklist on Facebook, but I don't use Facebook and I don't feel I should have to join it to see if an Airbnb guest is recommended by other hosts or not. That's what the Airbnb review system is for.