Guest harassed 2-3 blocks from our property. Need advice.

[Cara-Danica0]

Hello everyone.

So my guest booked 2 nights but during the second day as they went out of our listing to go to the city, they were harassed by a man on the road (only 2-3 blocks away from our listing). The guest told me that a man asked them to give money to buy drinks and that he peed on the sideroad in front of them and showed them his groin area while catcalling them. Of course my guest was very afraid (2 girls) at what happened and immediately checked-out early.

Our listing is in a remote part of a neighborhood and we've never encountered a safety issue like this before. My concern is, while the guest was very kind and didn't get mad at us for what happened, I'm worried that they'll leave me a bad review even if it happened outside our listing and even if we tried to help them afterwards (our caretakers immediately went to escort them and reported the issue at the cityhall).

What do I do if they leave a bad review?

[Helen427]

@Cara-Danica0 

Welcome to CC

As a responsible Host send the Guests a message, if you haven't already, and let them know how concerned you are that such an incident has happened & advise them that this is not a normal thing to happen, if that is the case, in your neighbourhood.

Ask them if they have found somewhere where they are safe & reassure them you will still be available to talk if they want, maybe invite them to your home duting the day, or to meet up somewhere safe to discuss the situation & what they would like to see happen.

I'm sure they will understand as the anti social behavior is not your fault.

Whilst it's an unfortunate incident, focus on what happens inside your home they should prioritise first & foremost. 

All the Best

[Cara-Danica0]

@Helen427 Hello and thanks for the welcome!

Thanks for the advice and rest assured I kept in touch with them throughout the incident and afterwards. They were very kind during the process as well and I'm grateful nothing else happened. It also made me rethink the safety of guests outside the Airbnb property, and I'm now making steps to ensure that this kind of incident doesn't happen again (or at least avoided).

[Cian7]

If it were me I would raise the issue with them directly in a short message prior to them leave a Review. Time is a great healer in these cases, the likes of that incident quickly becomes just part of the story of their holiday. Try get to them before they leave a review and explain you are sorry the incident happened and that you would sincerely appreciate a positive review of our listing.

[David6]

Although it is awful to receive a negative review. It is going to happen to all hosts at some point. Hopefully the guests  will offer a balanced review, but if this incident occurred it could occur again. I think it’s totally wrong to pretend it hasn’t happened.  (Not, that you are).

Everyone knows that their are risks when visiting new places  . Any traveller knows ‘bad’ things can happen. 

In my opinion it’s the way you respond to a negative review that counts. I don’t feel these guests should be pressured in any way to influence their review. Just approach this with their care & safety at forefront & don’t worry about the review at this stage. 

If they do mention the incident in the review then you can address.

[Anonymous]

@Cara-Danica0  Any guest can leave a bad review at any time, even if they didn't inform you that anything was wrong. There's no point in worrying about it until it happens.

Based on your previous reviews, it seems that guests love your beautiful resort and its amenities, and hopefully the harassed guests will reflect on the positives in their review. The likeliest place for your ratings to take a hit is on "Location," since their early checkout indicates that they felt unsafe in the area. 

I agree with @Cian7  that a bit of aftercare is helpful - not just for your reviews but also to help balance the guests' negative experience with the feeling that someone cares.  As a guest, I once had a very nice Airbnb stay interrupted by an extremely brutal and shocking terrorist attack in the neighborhood - a harrowing experience for everyone out that evening, but we were luckily unharmed. The host took care to contact us to check we were ok, and even offered us the chance to extend our booking until everyone felt safe to travel again. My 5* review  made brief mention of the events but only in the context of expressing gratitude for the host's kindness and grace in what was probably a very painful moment for her as a resident of the neighborhood that was attacked.