Guests who do not bother to submit a review. The system needs to be changed in favor of the host!

[Gillian15]

Guests who do not bother to review should have their review by their host cancelled on `cutt-off` day 14. It is unfair that hard working hosts are deprived of reviews and a guest who has been too lazy to submit their review should end up with a nice `inbox` full of reviews. PLEASE Aibnb change this!  I have noticed that contact phone numbers of guests are now immediately removed upon check-out so it is impossible to send a guest a reminder about sumbitting their review when day 14 looms!  

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Response from Airbnb

Reviews are central to Airbnb. We definitely agree that more reviews are better. Last year we explored the potential of incentivizing guests to respond to reviews. In this test we provided travel coupons as the reward. We found, surprisingly, that this did not increase the review rate. The biggest impact we have found so far on increasing guest review rate is to shorten the review process and notify or remind guests to leave reviews through additional channels.  For example, we found that hosts receive more reviews if they send their guest a message requesting one. We do not have plans to make major adjustments to the review process at the moment.

[Andrea9]

@Josipa0I don't know where did you get that information from? Airbnb publishes reviews either as soon as both guest and host reviews are submitted or whichever review was written after 14 days if the second party didn't bother submitting one. Even if you write a review and your guest didn't, then your review goes up after 14 days. And if guest writes a review and you didn't, then their review goes up on your profile after 14 days.

[Marwan0]

It's NOT fare at all to the host, as reviews keep everybody in business.

[James1]

I agree with @Andrea9 and @Gillian15, this is a bad idea. Chronic bad guests will know all they have to do to avoid a bad review is to not leave one. 

[Donna15]

Just this morning I received an email (via AirBnB) from a guest who had arrived back home (the US) yesterday evening from a 2-week cruise. She apologised for not having been able to leave a review (the 14 days expired yesterday), and explained that the ship - which she had boarded within hours of leaving my place - did not have wi-fi, and so she didn't get the AirBnB review prompts (or my own gentle reminder) on her cell phone. 

She did tell me though how much she and her husband had enjoyed their stay at my place. 

I know her comment doesn't have the same practical value as a 'real' review, but at least what I can do now is use it in a quote and add it to the caption for one of the photos on my listing, or even put in a visible place in my text description.

Perhaps AirBnB could add a section to listings, where hosts could include quotes from written messages of appreciation from guests who had forgotten or neglected or were unable to leave a formal review.

[Wyatt]

The status of this Idea has been changed to Under Consideration. The Ideas in Host Voice with the most Thumbs Up are reviewed closely by the Airbnb product team. The status of this Idea will be updated according to this discussion. We appreciate your patience as we try to thoughtfully listen and respond to this Idea.

[Marie-Claire3]

I don't know if I'm right, but this request sounds a bit needy--we're not moms who slave over our guests and require appreciation, or are we?  I've hosted 100s of guests, 99% of which were wonderful.  I always write them a review and star-rank them, but I don't expect them to leave me one every time.  I only remind guests who said they were going to leave me a good review because I think they really meant to do it, and it can easily be done by going to your inbox and shoot them a message.  The others I don't bother with, they came, they paid, they enjoyed my place, I gave them good service, I don't "need" another review!  Now if ABB starts punishing us hosts if we're not left enough reviews, then I'd get mad at them, not my hosts--it would be just another example of how biaised against hosts ABB really is, like their ridiculous super host policies.

[Sandra126]

@Marie-Claire3. I agree with you. Needy indeedy! This suggestion has gained a lot of popularity to be in the top ten so I guess we are in the minority but I can still say that I think it is a bad idea. The only obligations a guest have is to book, stay, behave within the rules. Demanding a review is offputting.

[Donna15]

@Marie-Claire3 and @Sandra126, I respect your point of view. My own perspective, however, is that since AirBnB is a business, as we're constantly reminded, it seems fair and logical that we would rely to a great extent on word-of-mouth advertising in the form of reviews.

(I've been told by at least three guests that they had booked my place mainly because of the reviews.)

By the same token, we review guests in order to ensure they will be welcomed by other hosts (or to warn hosts in the event of a guest's bad behaviour). It's a give-and-take situation.

Hotels and other accommodation venues advertise, and also pride themselves on the number of guests who've written words of appreciation regarding their visit. We as hosts - in general - put a great deal of effort, even love, into preparing a safe and comfortable haven for people who are passing through. Being grateful for an acknowledgment of the care we take certainly doesn't make hosts 'needy'. That seems to be an unkind and unwarranted judgement.

[Donna15]

Further to the above, the issue is not about "demanding a review". That would indeed be offputting. It's about encouraging guests to leave a review - and to have extended time to do so - in the knowledge that their comments not only might attract more bookings for the accommodation that they enjoyed themselves, but are highly appreciated by hosts simply on a human level. Everyone loves a "thank you". 🙂

[Sharon67]

Martin, I agree with you.  I would not want my review of a guest erased if that person did not review me.  I often remind guests when they are reaching the 14 day window (if they have not yet posted a review) why reviews are important to me and to the Airbnb community and I encourage them to take a few minutes to post a review.