Honest reviews of a bad guest

[Wendy-And-Lisa0]

We have been hosting for four years and are booked almost every night of the year. I BEG hosts to leave honest reviews.

We've all left less than honest reviews for a sub-par guest out of fear of some form of retaliation. If hosts continue to do this, the sub-par guest will continue their sub-par behavior and YOU might be their next unsuspecting host.

We encourage good guest behavior from the start - ie. have a COMPLETED profile with a HEAD SHOT withought glasses or hat, tell us about yourself and anyone joining you, number of cars, check in time etc. We meet our guests at check-in (which for the most part they seem to greatly appreciate)and go through FOUR pages of items / rules/ quirks of the property, so we can be certain they know what is and is not okay.

We check in with them periodically to make sure all is well. At check out we ask the guest to text us to let us know they are leaving and "to let us know all the house rules were followed". Communication is VERY VERY VERY important. Personally I wish that when reading the reviews hosts have left about a guest there would also be a link "reviews I have left" so a host can see the type of reviews the guest has left past hosts.

Hosts.....we need to pinky swear that we'll be totally honest in our reveiws of a guest we wouldn't welcome back so we can protect one another. Even saying that simple sentance is enough, without going into detail. "I would not host ______again"

[Huma0]

@Clara116thanks for taking the time to have a look at the reviews.

Yes, there was an incident involving a nail on the first night of the stay, which I wrote about in another thread because the whole thing was rather dramatic!

However S's review is inaccurate in a number of ways.

Firstly, my photos are taken by Airbnb photographers and verified. Secondly, she says the house is in the middle of being renovated and mentions building materials lying around. This is not true. Wouldn't other guests have mentioned it if that were the case?

The house was actually renovated when I bought it in 2009. More recently I had two storage rooms converted into new bathrooms, but these were fully complete and functional before S&B arrived.

I am still rehoming some of the stuff that was in there  (wallpapers, chalk paints etc. which I guess is what she is refering to by 'building materials').

These are neatly arranged in boxes on a bench on one side of a very large entrance hall, not around the house in general. Actually the wallpapers, which are very pretty, are in nice wicker baskets.They are not in anyone's path at all and there's easily a couple of metres clearance between the bench and the furniture on the other side of the room (that's more than the width of most London hallways). Plus, she was told about this in advance and even said when she arrived that it didn't look bad at all and was much better than expected.

RE the incident with the nail. It shouldn't have happened and I am sorry for it, but the account given is grossly exaggerated.

On the first night around midnight, I was awakened by loud hammering. Then the husband telephoned me and asked me to come downstairs. He had scraped his foot on a nail that had unfortunately worked its way slightly shy of the floorboard (I have original Victorian floors) but to say it was sticking out an inch is ludicrous. That's not even technically possible with those nails. He had gone through my tools and found a hammer.

He showed me the cut which, by his own admission, was not deep but more of a small scrape. I gave him some antiseptic and plasters. It was too small to require a bandage and the guests had no intention of seeking any medical help. If he had needed it, I would have taken him to the emergency room straight away. In fact, it was me who tried to persuade them to go to the local pharmacy the next day because the lady wasn't impresssed with the six different types of plasters I offered him. Even though he was willing to try them, she refused. She said he needed a 'corn plaster'.

I have no idea about a second nail because it was never mentioned to me, but on the third night, he was hammering again in the middle of the night. I had explained the first incident to my other guests, but they could not understand why, when this couple always came back around 7pm, he waited until everyone was asleep before hammering the floors. It was like he was making a statement. He also kept the hammer in their bedroom, which we all found a bit disturbing. No one was willing to confront him because his behaviour was SCARY. I promised my other guests that if it happened a third time, I would call Airbnb and insist these guests leave the premises.

They were out all day every day sightseeing and never sought any medical help for the foot. I never saw him limping, but I did see him sprinting up and down the stairs with no difficulty so I just don't buy these claims that he had problems walking.

Yes, I guess you could say that my house is 'dangerous' because of this, but it was a one-off unfortunate incident. It has never happened before and I've hosted around 250 stays in my house. However, this lady thought that a cafetiere/French press was 'dangerous' and was furious that I didn't have a stove top espresso maker instead like she has at home. And I literally mean FURIOUS. She was ranting and raving about it to another guest.

There were so many ways that these guests were rude, demanding, constantly breaking my house rules and just genearlly awful, but I won't go into that now as this post is already long enough!

[Tatyana5]

Reading this honestly makes me feel so much better about my nasty and entitled New Years guests (as well as last year's). :']

[Clara116]

@Huma0 wow that does sound like a nightmare - so glad that was a one time experience for you. So odd how people and their flters effect all they do and say. 

I get what you are saying - it was certainly all dramatic in presentation from the guest and OVER done - way over done. 

oh my - watch out - that Dangerous French Press - I had a laugh on that one. People can be so entitled, selfish and wild in their lifestyle, expectations and worlds. 

It reinforces my thoughts that every person has a story - AND usually we NEVER Really/truly know who they are. And that can be after years of "knowing" someone - imagine with our brief superficial exchanges how the world can be so very colorful.

Hoping for easy, kind guests for us all. Honest guests also. happy hosting Huma!

[Maureen336]

I am never allowing kitchen access again since a recent guest wakes me up at 3 and 4 AM roasting veg in the oven during a heat wave.

[Mary587]

I suggest posting hours for the kitchen

[Marlene78]

Absolutely give her a bad review. If the cleanliness of her room was any indication,  there isn't a host out there who wants her. I have had guests lie to me about meeting requirements of my house rules.  This woman brought her child who was not 12 years old. The room was left in poor condition, a China cup was "taken" from my house until I asked about it and it was in her car. I have people walk through my quarters and start laundry...when none is available, or expect me to make bus bookings or send information (one guest sent 24 emails) prior to arrival. Red flags. She was also a problem guest...smoked weed in the guest room. What a stink! One guy expected me to accommodate him and  allow him to return to the house at 4 am for the duration of the stay. I had other guests and said no. He had not read the rules.  Then he wanted security for his room. I told him I would not be guarding his room, that he should consider a hotel. My guest last night tried to pay for one more night with a $20 bill. I said no, that he needed to extend his stay by changing his booking. He already had a discounted rate.   He proceeded to talk very loudly into his phone during quiet hours...after 11 pm and up to 1 am.. I asked him twice to be quiet. Finally I told him I either hang up the phone or he would have to leave the house. Then it started again at 7.45 am. On the phone.  He woke me up. I believe it was intentional.  He is supposed to check out this morning. I also have lost trust in this individual and do not feel safe with him in the house. I live alone. I think I will put a photo of a police officer in my front foyer so that guests think twice about a woman being alone in the house. Maybe a photo of me in combat clothing....lol 

All in all most guests are ok. It is the 2% who feel entitled, privileged or have zero respect for anyone. These are the ones we do not want in our house.

[Sataporn0]

what should I do on writing a bad review as it is too much too many. Please see photos. Need help on writing

[Sataporn0]

I think I will write a bad review for my guest based on the honest experience. Smelly used diapers can’t get it out of my head. I want  hosts to be aware of this kind of guest.   Hope I am doing a right thing. 

[Sarah977]

@Sataporn0  It doesn't really look like a huge mess to me, although I can understand the turn-off of smelly diapers and the writing on the bedsheets is inexcusable. (I don't get it- I raised 3 kids and they never drew or wrote on anything but paper). They certainly could have been a lot more respectful, but I've also seen way worse.

Don't think of it as a bad review- think of it as an honest review, which all reviews should be. If they were good about communication, or anything else, mention that, a review can speak to the good as well as the bad.

And thank you for being a host who cares about warning other hosts. Definitely appreciated. 

[Patrick568]

Great points everyone! Thanks!

[Stephanie1630]

I am fairly new to hosting (but not new to travelling) so I admit that I have been nervous about reviewing guests poorly at all!

Since I am new, I am worried that the guest will retaliate with made-up negative reviews.

Two quick examples - 

1. our suites are located upstairs in a commercial building that we own. One of the staff forgot to lock a basement door and the guest and his friends decided to wander around the basement of building to snoop around and set off the security alarm (which there are signs up). Police and my husband showed up moments later and they hid in the suite and never addressed it or apologized for the 4:30am chaos. I left him a personal message after he left letting him know that their behaviour was unacceptable. He didn't read it, I guess, because he had the nerve to request to book for the following week again. I did indicate in my review (privately) that I would not book him again. The "Mom" in me wanted to teach him how to behave in the future instead of penalizing him. Was that OK?

2 - A guest is now staying with us who keeps treating us like a hotel. 10-15 messages the day he was booking, another slew of messages about us arranging to accept Amazon packages for him (we denied that politely) and then messages at 2:30am last night that he couldn't find the parking lot that I sent him the map for. 

Should I do the same thing and just message him privately afterwards? He has been a guest only 3 times before this and those other reviews were short but mainly positive. 

I do agree, though, that if I saw a more critical review here and there, I would be screening my guests better.

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie1630  You need to understand how reviews work. A guest can't write a retaliation review because of the review you have written. Reviews are blind- the guest can't see your review of them nor can you see a guest's review of you until both reviews are submitted and published, and if only one party submits a review, that review will be published 14 days after check-out. So you can't ward off a bad review by not writing one yourself.

You do have the option of leaving a response to a guest review, but keep in mind that it is what future guests will read, so only use a response to clarify a situation or correct guest statements which aren't true, rather than using it to address the guest who wrote the review. For instance, if Guest #2 should say that the parking lot was hard to find, you could respond "We provide a clear map to the parking lot and none of our other guests has had an issue with locating it."

Also, I always say that hosts should not think in terms of a "bad" or "good" review. What you want to leave is an honest review. There is usually something positive you can find to say about any guest, whether it was that they communicated well, left the place clean, were quiet and respectful etc. (There are occasionally some truly awful guests with no redeeming qualities, though- no need to make some up :-))  So mention the positives, if there are any, as well as the negatives- that comes across to future guests as you being fair-minded. Try to keep in mind that you aren't reviewing them as people, but as to their suitability as guests. 

Guest #1 : Yes, with some guests, if they just did one thing that was out-of-line, but were otherwise good guests, especially if it's a matter of them being young and you thinking they might be open to learning that what they did was not appropriate behavior, I don't see anything amiss with trying to educate them in a private message rather than call them out publicly. I've done it once or twice myself. 

Guest#2  This sounds like a guest who didn't bother to read any of the information he was provided, has an entitled and disrespectful attitude (2:30 AM calls are not acceptable except in an emergency situation- the plumbing burst or the house is on fire- no one should have to be told not to disturb the host in the middle of the night) . You say his other reviews were "mainly positive", which I assume means they weren't entirely positive, and you also said they were brief. That could indicate a host that was shying away from writing a bad review of a guest who deserved it. 

This isn't private message territory, to me. His disrespect, his failure to pay attention to info you provided, etc, needs to be made known to other hosts. So please write an honest review- no need to go into detail, but "Guest failed to read or understand information provided, sent 15 messages prior to arrival asking things that were already explained, and for special privileges, and a 2:30 AM text message upon arrrival. Better suited to a hotel". Something like that.

Be aware that hosts who don't use instant book (and there are many of us) are not privy to guests' star ratings. So leaving poor star ratings but a non-informative written review is useless to us. Please warn other hosts about objectionable guest behavior, as you would like to be warned.

Hope Mr. I Need Hand-Holding Guest doesn't prove to be a serious further PITA.

[Merrily2]

two past guests have NOT left a review

I noticed also that Airbnb did not REMIND me to leave a review

So maybe the guest also was not reminded and perhaps they are new

Is there any way to gently remind the guest??

[Sonya81]

I am having trouble leaving my last a guest review. She was nice enough... But they cooked something in the microwave with, I guess, Curry in it. And it went into EVERYTHING that was porous, and not covered. In fact, they had wrapped a wolf statue I had with paper towel. I guess they must have known.

They only stayed ONE (1) night. I cleaned and stressed for 3 nights/4 days, and still smell the ODOR, and worry about my next guest. I am afraid, especially in these times, that writing a review about this kind of ODOR in my space could sound discriminatory.

If nothing else, I have learned some new ways (in other threads that have have "Curry" in the titles!) to deal with things like bad odors, but it was painful lesson, nonetheless. In this case any way I go I would get into trouble.

[Sarah977]

@Sonya81  No, you definitely shouldn't mention it in the review. Unless you have a house rule against cooking with curry, they did nothing wrong. I happen to love the smell of curry. What smells good to one person smells bad to another.

But I do understand that no one wants their Airbnb to smell strongly of anything in particular.