Unwritten rules? 14 days to review but no information about exact time deadline?

[Katka6]

I received an email saying "Apr 21 is the last day you can review your stay at xxx’s place. "

On a day Apr 21 - I want to finish my review but I cannot. The system won’t allow me to. I am asking airbnb why. They say „since the check out time was April 7th at 9:00AM reviews could only be written until April 21st at 9:00AM.“ (btw no mention about the time zone which was different)

I am asking HOW should I have known this since there is no mention of the time deadline in the email nor in your rules??

You tell me that on a specific day I can write a review but then I can’t do what you said. Your information was then completely misleading and thanks to that wrong information, a host cannot recieve their review? Is this how airbnb works? Do you think this is correct? I am really shocked..

The whole thing is making your site completely untrustworthy since you cannot specify even such a basic simple rule!

[Ana1136]

@Katka6 the rules are very clear and visibly written. Both hosts and guests get several reminders before the deadline expires. Write your reviews in any of the 14 days leading up to the deadline in order not not to miss any other. 

[Gordon0]

Of course, @Katka6, you could have done it without waiting until the eleventh hour. And if this sort of thing 'really' shocks you, well...

[Katka6]

Please show me where it is clearly written and what the exact time-deadline is? 

I know, Gordon, but sometimes you don't have time to get back to computer sooner and just trust to what they say in those emails.. well who wouldn't.. when they clearly say you can write your review on that "day". It still was "that day" and I couldn't...

[Ana1136]

@Katka6 they say you can write your review up to 14 days from the check out time, you should calculate what that is for you, because it is different for every reservation. 

[Katka6]

Where please? Thank you.

there was not such an information in those emails, and when they clearly say "Apr 21 is the last day", why would anyone doubt that.

Even the airbnb representative told me the time is not specified anywhere. He refered me to a website where they talk only about 14 days (after departure). 

[Ana1136]

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/995/how-long-do-i-have-to-write-a-review-after-a-trip-has-ended  @Katka6 here is the specific information well written on the official Airbnb page, just one google search away. They can not write a specific time because it is different for every reservation but it is your job to calculate e if you insist to wait up until the last second. 

[Katka6]

Thank you for the link. There is no mention about hours or a specific time deadline though. It doesn't say clearly anything.

(It says "You have only 14 days to leave a review after the end of your stay." in my language.)

Since the specific time exists, it is not a problem for the system to gerenate/calculate it in the emails/website for a particular stay, and not a problem to specify the way how it is calculated generally (which that link doesn't mention).

If I ignore all the other things - how should I calculate it when it doesn't say about how it is exactly calculated?

[Emilia42]

@Katka6, there is no exact time and it varies for everyone. I did a test once and found that the review period ended exactly 14 days from the time I got the initial email asking to review. However, I am not sure if this is still the case as it seems to vary in my experience. It is all system generated but there is not one definite time for all. 

[Alon1]

@Emilia42 

I concur with your 'test'. 

I don't believe there is any difference.

I believe the confusion and uncertainty is purely related to time zones.

But it shouldn't matter, because it's the time the email prompt for Review is sent,

with deadline precisely 14 calendar days or 336 hours later.

I have flexible check in & out time and receive email for review between 3 - 4pm.

I think the time is related to 'local check in time (or 3.00 pm if not specified)'

So my only uncertainty is when others with fixed check in & out times receive their prompt for review.

.

.

[Alon1]

@Emilia42 @Ana1136 

Emilia,

Today's 'test' result.

Guest departed on 12th April and did not reciprocate my review which went active an hour ago, as expected, just after 4.pm local time, precisely 14 days & 336 hours after notice to Review.

This is the simplest application of the 'test', unfortunately repeated each time Guest fails to reciprocate.

The other two possibilities similarly never failed to materalize in my experience:

1) I mostly review within a couple of days of Guest departure.

  Occasionally I decide not to load Review till 'the last minute' as the saying goes, notably if  I feel the Guest's review is not one I'm looking forward to, In such cases  the Guest may or may not have loaded their review. -- In any case, I calculate 'last minute'  14 days following request to review, and .based on precise time I received the automated email from Airbnb.

  I've never missed a deadline.

2) Less frequent still, a Guest occasionally promises to review, and I remind of the deadline.

    In a few cases they will do in the last 24 hours.

    Alternatively, Guest fails to Review and sends apologetic message along the lines 'I tried but couldn't, sorry....'

It's a simple test really, and I expect anyone who has tested with the understanding that it's exactly 14 days after the automated request to review (irrespective of time zones) gets exactly the same result.

[Emilia42]

@Alon1, thanks for confirming the test. I thought this was still the case. Sometimes I wait and leave a review within a few days of the expiration, mainly if I am unsure of the guest’s experience. Only once did I leave it to the last hour for one of my worst guests. 

[Alon1]

@Emilia42 

Thanks for response.

Yes, the late review is inevitably tactical, due to uncertainty as you say 'unsure' or certain to be 'worst'. 

It also creates the opportunaity for other postive reviews within the 2 week window-frame to override the negative one coming. To some extent it is aided by Airbnb's jumbling reviews under listings that tends to bury the bad one(s). 

It seems all experienced Hosts have figured it out.

[Ute42]

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@Katka6 

Did it happen to You before in life that You waited to finish something at the very last minute and You could not finish it as You didn't ask up front what the very last minute was?

Yes, there are unwritten rules. Airbnb has some policies in place that they don't publish, to avoid hosts and guests to write last minute reviews. One ot them is, that they don't say when exactely the clock for the 14 days timewindow to leave a review starts ticking. Anotherone is, that there is no countdown clock for the end of the reviewwindow and there are more. And I think it's good the way it is.

By the way, was it a positive or a negative review You wanted to leave?

[Katka6]

No it has never happened to me before because when anybody said "this is the last day you can do sth", it really meant that was the last day (last 24h). If not, it was mentioned exactly including the time zone.

No I wasn't waiting till anything. And I would have made it in time if I hadn't received misleading information from airbnb. 

Btw, it was a very positive review.