The only unfair review!

Answered!
Hayfa0
Level 4
Tunis, Tunisia

The only unfair review!

Hi Guys!
So i am new in Airbnb, i started end of December 2018! i'm doing my best and i am improving and learning with every new visitor and new hosting experience. I dont regret all the efforts i made to start this Airbnb Journey because it's such a true pleasure to satisfy a guest!
Until now, i had hosted 13 stays and i have 11 reviews. 10 of them are 5/5 evaluations. I had only one bad encounter and the guest decided to give me 2/5 which is very bad and frustrating. The comment contains false informations and it is clear that it is intentionnally harmful... i couldnt get over it and the Airbnb Support team didn't do anything about it! i don't care that much about Money, i only wanted to succeed on this new experience and to be a superhost on this next evaluation but now... it wont be possible. What can i do guys 😞 i am very disappointed

Top Answer
Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Hayfa0 

 

I am sorry you had this experience, I had a similar experience, with a horrible guest who lied and gave me 1 star across the board, for my brand new beautiful apartment. I was so devastated like you.

 

Yet in the first quarter I still obtained superhost status, and have had it ever since. You have such lovely reviews, that this bad one is already lost amongst your other glowing reviews.

 

I think sometimes when we start hosting, we haven't learnt to vet our guests properly and sometimes price too low. This leads us to having guests who are not a good fit for our place.

 

Can I make a few suggestions. Your English is fantastic, so I would write the descriptions about your place and location in English as well as in French (as not every guest realises they can use the translate button).

 

I would also add information and photos about local attractions in your area. And add in photos about your local area so people know whether there are cafes and restaurants locally and what else they can do in your area. Also if there are buses or other public transport they can use. If there are chickens/cockrels that like to be awake early near you, then mention this too.

 

Can I also mention that although you are doing this for the experience please don't end up losing money on this venture. Look at what others are charging locally. It is not normal to stock a self catering place with food, just with a few basics like coffee, tea and milk so think about the cost of providing lots of food. You might also want to leave some local cakes or biscuits, but don't go over the top as you are not charging a lot at al.

 

Best of luck with your hosting. I bet you will get superhost status soon.

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8 Replies 8
Helen3
Top Contributor
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hello @Hayfa0 

 

I am sorry you had this experience, I had a similar experience, with a horrible guest who lied and gave me 1 star across the board, for my brand new beautiful apartment. I was so devastated like you.

 

Yet in the first quarter I still obtained superhost status, and have had it ever since. You have such lovely reviews, that this bad one is already lost amongst your other glowing reviews.

 

I think sometimes when we start hosting, we haven't learnt to vet our guests properly and sometimes price too low. This leads us to having guests who are not a good fit for our place.

 

Can I make a few suggestions. Your English is fantastic, so I would write the descriptions about your place and location in English as well as in French (as not every guest realises they can use the translate button).

 

I would also add information and photos about local attractions in your area. And add in photos about your local area so people know whether there are cafes and restaurants locally and what else they can do in your area. Also if there are buses or other public transport they can use. If there are chickens/cockrels that like to be awake early near you, then mention this too.

 

Can I also mention that although you are doing this for the experience please don't end up losing money on this venture. Look at what others are charging locally. It is not normal to stock a self catering place with food, just with a few basics like coffee, tea and milk so think about the cost of providing lots of food. You might also want to leave some local cakes or biscuits, but don't go over the top as you are not charging a lot at al.

 

Best of luck with your hosting. I bet you will get superhost status soon.

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Helen3 

 

I do agree with you that it is not necessary to provide lots of food if you are not charging a price that covers it. The problem is that some of @Hayfa0 's recent guests have mentioned it in their reviews, so now new guests booking will expect this and potentially be disappointed to find it's not there, even if it wasn't mentioned in the listing itself.

 

The only way I can think of to get around this is to gradually reduce the amount of food over a few stays so that the reviews stop focusing on it. Robin, who I can't seem to tag here, often mentions that he cooks for some of his guests but doesn't want guests to come expecting this, so he asks them not to mention it in their reviews. It might be worth telling the guests that the food is a special treat for them, so it would be great if they don't mention it in the review.

Hi @Huma0 , thank you also for the reply. The breakfast is actually included. Our typical tunisian breakfast is rich and diversified. Besides that, i usually add a basket of fruits, some local snacks and a welcoming plate of homemade cookies. so i don't feel that i'am spending that much extra money to furnish food. and it makes me happy that guests enjoy that.
I also don't auotmatically ask for the reviews, and i don't think that i should tell the guests what to say and what not. but i will work on this gradually like you said
oh and your house is amazing and i have to take notes and learn from you! thanks again and best wishes 😘

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Hayfa0 

 

Thank you for your lovely words.

 

If you think that what you are providing food wise is right and you are not losing money on it (i.e. your price factors in that you are providing breakfast as not all hosts do), then continue to do what you do. It sounds delicious and your guests clearly love it! It's just that they made it sound like you were providing all the food for their entire stay.

 

I don't tell guests what to write in their reviews either and I am happy for them to mention anything that they enjoyed here.

 

I gave the example of Robin because he likes to cook and is happy to share meals with his guests if he is cooking anyway, but he doesn't want guests to come expecting this like they were entitled to it as it's not part of his listing and they are not paying for it. Therefore, he asks guests to kindly not mention it in the review and they seem to be okay with that I think.

Thank you @Helen3 for the reply and the suggestions, i will take them into consideration. Best wishes dear 😘

Alice595
Level 10
Concord, CA

I am sorry to know that you had a very bad experience with one of the guests. I encountered the same situation recently. The guest wanted to deal with me for a long-term of lease without AirBnb. I refused. Then he started to pick on me and sent me threatening message with personal insulting and attacking words such as "mental problem ...". etc. He left me a one star review with similar word "head spins out of control easily". AirBnb disabled his account due to his series of troubles. But when I contacted AirBnb support about this one star review left by him, AirBnb insisted on keeping the review. It has hurted me a lot. Not only I felt personally hurted, but also my listing has dropped from first page on the search to third page or even further back.

 

When I looked at your profile, it seems that the bad review is not there. I saw that you have 10 reviews. Is the bad review removed by AirBnb? 

Jenny-Qiuying0
Level 2
Harrogate, United Kingdom

I have over 500 reviews over the 3 years, 90% are 5 stars and the rest are 4?stars, a few 3 stars. However, I received a 2 stars review this week and the review doesn’t reflect the truth. I contacted airbnb and they always send us a standard reply. I am very disappointed and frustrated. Please help! 

Alberto804
Level 2
Riomaggiore, Italy

It s happened the same to me a review with 1 star I think Airbnb should read the review instead to send a standard answer and see how is our rate and understand when There are fake and false informations 

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