FIRST BAD REVIEW AND IT'S A LIE

[Bruce99]

After 127 five star reviews and being a SuperHost for over a year, I had my first bad review that I call a revenge review.  I had a nice young couple that stayed 2 nights and swam all day and night in my pool.  I have a nice casita attached to my home that has the entrance next to my front door.  I rent this very well appointed casita that has a bedroom, walk-in closet, 3/4 bath and a small area to use microwave and coffee.  The price for a 4 star type room is only $49 to $59 in the summer.

After the guests checked out I noticed a large black stain on the bedspread that was like a hardened rubberized paint, a wash cloth smeared with the same stuff and on the bathroom wall a smear of the same stuff.   I called the guest right after they checked out and asked them what it was so I would know for possibly getting the stuff out of the bedspread.  Her reply was, you are worried about  a wash cloth and your bedding that you probably haven't washed in months.  I was so taken back and stated I wash everything and the black on the bathroom wall wasn't there when you checked in.  She said she doesn't know a thing about it.   I'm not dumb, but she thinks I must be, but i told her she was lying to me.  I also told her I wasn't planning to charge her, but she could at least be honest with me.

In retaliation for contacting her this is what she wrote as a review:

"Based on pictures and info I thought it was going to be a full house a big house a back house but it’s literally just a room and a half restroom I thought it was going to be the back house but it’s in the front we didn’t really have full access of the pool we had to go through his house to get to the pool which was uncomfortable. I wish he would’ve been more specific on this stuff. Plus the pool water was dirty and he has 3 dogs so the pool area smelled really bad like dog pee. Other than that the place was nice".

Who rents a whole house for $59!  The front entry was stated in my ad along with only a photo of the front of the house, the room in the casita and bathroom, as well as the pool area.   I state I have 3 minature schnauzers and they have total access to the pool from 9 am to 9 pm.

I contacted airbnb stating that her review mentions inaccuracies and that she wrote this to be nasty and hurt my business.   Airbnb doesn't care if the reviews are lies, or the person stating they were renting a hole home for $59 that is crazy.   If a pool smelled like dog pee, I wouldn't swim in it for 2 days and night.  As a matter of fact, if I thought the listing lied and was so inaccurate, I would have immediatly called airbnb and asked for my money back.

Oh well, I'll chalk this one up!   But I've decided I'm changing my pricing to $109 a night so I don't get low end people that think they are getting taken.

[Fred13]

One line in this whole thread (by @Robin4) made me laugh: "This was something that the guest spilt on the bed doing something they should have been doing on a bench."

  In my unusually-private listing that statement can be taken more than one way, considering people can (and do) whatever strikes their fancy anytime and anywhere; as verified by the tales that boat captains tell me when they passed 'too close' by Bird Island. 😄

[Ruth406]

I am new to Airbnb and rent out a room in my home for $30.00,  I called out a guest for having a visitor over without informing me.  My husband and I stepped out for a bit and came home to her friend in our home.  I was very nice in explaining to her ‘guest’ meant her in the house not her having a guest over.  I mentioned that in her review and was very nice about it.  She turned around and left a review stating my house and room were clean but that I had bed bugs in the bed.  Said she had bites all over her legs, arms, eye, cheek.  Said the bed sheets had not been washed from previous guest.  When she left she did not say a word, we did not even know she left.  Interesting because it was obvious she had not slept in the bed just on top of the bedspread.  I am almost certain she slept in her clothes, she had no luggage and did not bath.   She was a young gal and I feel she left that review because of calling her out on her visitor.  What better way to keep people from reserving a room than to say there are bed bugs?  I did respond by calling her a coward for not telling  me personally about the alleged bites, also that she was an imature young lady.  I probably went overboard but she knew full well this would hurt my new listing,  Thankfully, although few,  I have had excellent reviews other than her lie. 

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Bruce99 - some unsolicited advice about the guests you approve... noted that this guest was a brand new user, likely signed up moments before booking your space, had no reviews which means likely this is her first Airbnb experience, did not have an appropriate profile picture of herself where you could tell who she was from anyone else, and was not verified. All of these items would be big red flags for me and might keep me from allowing a guest to book.  You can set parameters for guest books that will increase the quality of your bookers.  Lots of articles her in the CC that discuss this.  

And there are LOADS of all-house listings for $60/night so it wouldn't be too far a stretch to get that confused by folks - especially inexperienced ones.  I co-hosted one this summer that started at $45/night for 2 bedrooms/2 baths.  The worst part of this was - all the newbies who had NO IDEA what they were getting into.  So many lowered location scores because, part of the cheap cost was because it wasn't downtown, but 5 miles outside, but somehow people still think it's going to be next to a Starbucks.  Also, the lower "value" scores.... 6 people stayed for $12.50/night each.  $12.50!  And yet, that warrented a 4* for value.  These are clueless individuals who really have no idea what happens in the real world. The hosts have asked me to do it again next summer, but I won't unless we ask for over $80/night and do the things necessary to only get quality guests. Another summer of **bleep**heads with only a few bucks in their pockets and the inability to read the listing.... no thank you. 

[Christine615]

Higher rates will equal much better customers. And here's how I got my damages paid (actually the guest paid them). I immediately inboxed them with photos of the damage. That allowed Airbnb to see them too. I kept my request for reimbursement reasonable and the guest compensated me.

Too many hosts think this is the cost of doing business and let it go. It's not.

And I shudder to think what that black substance really was (did you ever find out?)

[Karen1229]

I am a new host and unfortunately my third booking was a problem.  They chose to leave a very bad review without discussing any supposed problems.  They stayed for three weeks and then snuck out.  They contacted Airbnb saying they felt unsafe and didn’t like that there was a man in the house (my adult son) and another man on the property.  This is a country property with animals that need care so yes men help me.  I state in my profile that there are dogs also.  I didn’t think it was necessary to say dogs barked - they are chihuahuas and they bark and scream. (No they don’t bark non stop)  I told the guest that if their noise bothered them to let me know and I would move them to another area.  The dogs are away from that side of the house from 7 pm to 7 am.  It seems the guest thought my son was yelling at me, he was not.  Previously I had two high reviews now I have a 3.7 review.  What a shame that people don’t communicate.  I am thinking of dropping out of Airbnb.

[Victoria567]

Hi @ Karen

 you have a right to reply.......DO use it.

Hi xyz

Thanks for reaching out, particularly after you snuck out of my home, without giving me the opportunity to promptly address your concerns during your stay.

I appreciate feed back whether it is positive or negative.

I particularly like feed back from guests like yourself so others can see the entitled behaviour I sometimes have to put with.

There is a large element of trust involved in being an air bnb host, but this trust has been eroded by guests with entitled behaviour.

I appreciate it when someone chooses to spend money in my family home until they act like this.

[Faith53]

At Christmas time a family booked for 4 people.When I contacted them they said that there would be 5 and a few visitors. When they arrived there were 17 people and 5 large  dogs (three of whom were Alsation crosses) who crept into the house and tried to behave as if there were less than 10 people and 2 dogs the maximum I allow in my house. I objected and airbnb put pressure on me to accept 13 people which was more than the number of beds. They left and left an incorrect and mean review, which now tops all my reviews and brings down my rating considerably. My initial contact with airbnb said that it is their policy to notify potential guests of bad reviews and I should correct the faults that they reported. How do I correct the fact that I have a beautiful garden when they said I had no garden at all? They complained about my dogs barking - of course they would bark when five large dogs are in my house and garden and an excesive no of people, etc etc.  What would other hosts do and say to airbnb in this situation? I have been renting for 5 years with variouds sites and  have been awarded a certificate of excellenseby Booking .com as an exceptional host. All my other reviews are very good. They accuse me of saying they stole things, (they did a cushion that is one of a set of 6-which i have not claimed for and I find that a shuutter is damaged 59 euros to repair, biut i cannot prove it was them as i didn't discover it until my second set of guests departed. The second lot of guests had 3 babies under a year, so I had a vast amount of cleaning to do as there were 5 dogs in the house. I am 78 and did not find it easy to stand up to 14 young adults and their mother.

[Paul154]

@Bruce99

Sorry you got such a spiteful guest. They are just awful.

I hope you can look at this as a learning experience. Never go off the Airbnb site.

Keep everything on the app.

Bad things happen when you call people. Because there is no written record of their bad behaviour,  people can lie, people can attack you, people can shock you and put you off your guard.  I know in those situations, I react poorly.

In this case, you worsened a bad situation. You elevated a limited financial loss into a personal problem.

While true, no good will come from calling a person a liar.  it takes away from the matter at hand - getting payment for a financial loss. 

Only the most experienced diplomats could have called these guests and maintain any good result. I know I couldn't. 

Keep all communication of the Airbnb site.

[Christi32]

We had a similar situation for the 2nd time and I tried to address it privately and assure the guests that I enjoyed their visit, but that their dogs barked.  I am now working on figuring out how to address guests behavior without it hurting us.  I believe I will try to let them review first and then 24 hours after they have submitted their review to write my review.  It might need to be 48 hours.  Any thoughts

[Ange2]

@Christi32    I usually write reviews when I get a message the guest has written one even if that means almost at the 14 day limit, if guests were terrible and future hosts need to be warned I always write a review regardless.  If you are annoyed at the guest I would wait until you calm down and then let it sit for a day or more,  respond to them in a short, factual way that rights any errors and sells your proactivity and expertise rather than addressing their rant ( future guests will judge you on your response so short, calm and proactive is best).  There are posts on this forum about how to go about this.  You can even put your draft review on here to get feedback on how best to word them, do it under host circle https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/bd-p/host-circle  that is a locked forum that is not viewable by the public.

p.s. I would also start a new post,  this question is buried in someone else's question so may not get enough responses to be helpful to you.

[Christi32]

This is very helpful.  The reviews I got were not actually very negative, it's just clear that my honesty gave me negative kickback and that I did not get the high review I deserved.   I think what I have learned is that even polite honesty should be shared after the review!   And when I think about it, if someone gave me the honest critique that my dogs were noisy it would affect my overall feeling/review about my stay as well.  

[Bruce99]

After 3 years I have found if a red flag goes up with you in the begining, the guest ends up being a problem.  It makes no difference what you do, they will end up being critical.  They don't see yours and you can't see there's until both are submitted.

Be prepared for every 50 guests you will have 1 bad one.

I don't allow dogs and last night guests checked in and said I hope you don't mind.  I allowed the dog, but told them I don't allow dogs but I will make this exception.  This morning the requested fresh towels for the bathroom and the pool (they used the pool the night before and there is a place to hang towels outside as well as in the casita.   I said nothing and withing 18 hours they wanted fresh towels!!  

Tonight they went out to the pool, took the dog out without asking if it could be by the pool area.  The first thing the dog did was a big poop on the carpet in the outside dining area.   I politely gave them a few plastic bags and  paper towels to pick up any poop.

I am waiting for them to check out tomorrow (a two night rental) and see if the dogs pissed in the room.  The red flag went up and I should have told them I would have to cancel there reservation! I don't take dogs!    

You can look at my listing and I'm sure they will give a bad review because I didn't pick up there dogs poop and gave them a bag to do it.

[Yilmaz2]

Hello Bruce.What is the result for that staying ?? I m really wondering if they leave dirty your house.