Host's angry public responses to guest reviews

[Dave446]

First off, I'm not the host or the guest in question. I'm just concerned about the host based on how he publicly responded to some seemingly innocuous guest reviews. Should I report this? If so, how?

These are reposted verbatim, edited only to omit identifications of host/guests.

Example 1

Guest review: "[host name] is a great guy. As he continues to work on his home, it is, as many of know all to well, a work in progress.

Host response: "I hope [guest name] finds sobriety as quickly as he found Jesus. My house stank like a night club during his stay. AA is there for you my friend."

Example 2

Guest review: "The room was clean and there were nice, warm flannel sheets on the comfortable bed. The kitchen was undergoing renovation and there is hurricane damage in the bedroom ceiling (very small) and shared bathroom ceiling (over shower/bath). The roommates and dogs are friendly."

Host response: "The irony of folks complaining of Neighborhood Nazi's complaining about the pace of their hurricane cleanup themselves being NAZIs about the pace of my clean up. 2 Older dogs in and out kept me up half the night. Grateful they cut their stay short. Really should be more considerate of hosts when descending with so much baggage, aging dogs, aging husband - really? Carting all that into someone else's home? Trump voters, figures."

Example 3

Guest review: "* Was instructed to use side door. Porch door was broken and missing pieces. A piece of the metal cut into my arm (photo taken). * No mention of dogs in listing. There were three non-hypoallergenic breeds. * Kitchen was dirty, saw bugs, and there were no clean dishes. * Bedroom was dirty. There was hair on the pillow/linens (photo taken) and several flies/bugs. At one point a cockroach flew into my hair. At this point I packed up and left to find a hotel. (Video taken during departure.)"

Host response: "The room lists at $20. On my profile page I talk about walking my dogs. Obviously this chick is high maintenance looking for things to photograph, document. Bougie 40+ Lingerie models should not book $20 rooms and expect the Hyatt. Be wary of this broad."

[Sarah977]

@Dave446  Guy sounds like quite the rude jerk. Place sounds ill-maintained and grubby. However his place is dirt cheap, so cheap that people should realize they shouldn't be criticizing much of anything, do they really expect some nice place for that price? Altho the least a guest can expect is a clean bed to sleep in.

I suspect this host's responses will put most prospective guests off of even thinking to book there, so he's basically shooting himself in the foot with his comments. 

[Julie143]

He sounds like a loon. Has he gotten bookings after those review responses? IIf you wanted to report them, there is a tiny flag to the upper right of the review text. Just click on it. I think this is only possible on the website, not the app.

Some of his comments, particularly the things about AA, Trump voters, aging husbands and 40+ lingerie models could be against Air’s policies...Not sure what they will do, though.

[Daniel1598]

@Dave446 The host's comments definitely sound off base. The comments are harmful to the guests' profiles who, as it sounds like, gave objective reviews of their experiences. I think that ultimately the host is hurting themself with these nasty responses. Hospitality and graciousness would go a long way.

[Paul154]

@Dave446 

I would mind my own business and let the system handle it.

Guest 3 seems very able to complain and press the red flag button. His comments are against Airbnb policy.

Let the market handle him. He's only getting $20/ night. Let that be his punishment.

[Lisa723]

@Dave446 just fyi omitting names doesn't protect anyone's "privacy" (as if) since you've quoted enough for Google to identify the listing immediately.

@Paul154 @Daniel1598 @Julie143 @Sarah977 and FWIW the host in question has many excellent reviews, lots of comments about what a nice guy he is, with an overall 4.5 rating. Unfortunately for him he seems to have a few times made the common mistake of frustrated public replies to private comments.  I can only second Paul's advice that people should mind their own business.

[Sarah977]

@Lisa723  Good sleuthing. Host seems to have a sarcastic bent and emotional responses to anything perceived as criticism (I don't think the first 2 reviews were negative or required a response), altho the 3rd review sounds like a typical revenge review likely full of lies. Just not very professional responses. Also the reference to Neighborhood Nazis must have been in response to something verbal or in private feedback, unless the review was longer than what the OP posted.

For $20/night I think all a guest can reasonably expect is a clean bed, a clean towel, a non-toxic bathroom, that the front door locks, and that the place isn't filthy. Complaining about a damaged ceiling, renos in progress which don't affect the guest's sleep, etc, are unnessary to mention when essentially renting a place to crash for the night.

And yes, I agree, I'm not fond of tattletalers.

[Dave446]

Thanks for the replies. 

@Julie143 re flagging posts, to me it looks as if I can only flag the post the guest's remarks, not the host's response to the guest (there's no flag next to his comments). I didn't see anything in the guests' remarks that merited any action.

Calling a woman a "chick" or a "broad" or a "40+ lingerie model" seemed really inappropriate to me, but of course it's her option to report or not. From my perspective as a guest, though, I can imagine some users being uncomfortable pursuing anything.

Thanks to all of you who have not been this guy, and who made 40+ trips amazing for me.

[Ann72]

@Dave446 If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of a listing, you'll find "Report This Profile."  If that's what you want to do, go for it.  I'm guessing you have a personal reason for your interest in his responses to reviews, but don't tell me, I don't want to know!  🙂

[David-and-Fiona0]

What on earth has this got to do with you? I found his listing and there are many other great reviews. 

[Sean433]

@Dave446 

@David-and-Fiona0 

Haha, this was so funny to read mainly because I can't imagine someone having such a lack of emotional intelligence to write those responses and still get bookings.

But as David & Fiona said, why are you focused on them? Don't take bread away from someone else's table. It's pretty sinful and petty. Focus on yourself. If he is that horrible, i am sure his guests will report him..