Much of what Hosts experience are because other Hosts don't review Guests!

[Jann3]

I'm on my 5th Guest's stay...and my 20th applicant (for a future stay).

I have a complaint against the AirBnB Hosts: Over 3/4 of these Guests have stayed at properties, have profiles 2-4 years old, are "verified" -- and yet have NO reviews!

My complaint stems from the need for Hosts to investigate people; Investigate whether they're good Guests, left Host's properties intact, or perhaps caused damage at other Host's properties. This can never be known/inferred when PRIOR Hosts don't review the Guests! In two recent cases (I still rented to them) Guests have actually wanted to show me they DID make reservations and stayed at previous locations, they actually SHOW me the approved request for their prior stays were in their profile name! (ie: they didn't use another profile to rent...) Some Guests have opened their app, showed the reservation with me (so i knew it was the same profile) then scrolled back to previous stays...so I knew those Hosts should've reviewed them!

There's no excuse for every single Guest NOT to be reviewed by Hosts! It's part of doing business on AirBnB people! You may think it takes time...and it does, but it helps us all! AT LEAST do the thumbs up/down, and star rating. You can put a couple words in the review if you wish (good Guest, etc) but at least star-rate them!

End of rant! Thank you!

[Nancy67]

@Lisa515

I had a guest request to have my review removed from her profile because I used her and her "friends" name-- She called me and begged me to take it down-- I couldnt of course. She evidently belongs to religion where as a single woman she is checked up on frequently by others in her family. Airbnb complied-- I never got her review-- boo.

I'm sorry-- Digital footprint, smigitial footprint-- It's part of the STR property game-- They left a financial digital footprint when they booked-- they left a huge digital footrint when they signed up-- Its part of the terms of agreement. Thumbs down.

And in case you weren't paying attention-- You can google yourself and these posts/threads will come up-- they aren't so private to the Host Community. Anyone can see them.

[Lisa515]

@Nancy67  You don't know me very well, but I'm always paying attention 😉   I am, indeed, aware these are completely 'searchable'! lol  Nothing I wouldn't share or say with anyone really.  There's another forum I comment on occasionally too but you can give yourself whatever name you want. 

I do agree there have been other digital footprints anyway....

[Nancy67]

@Lisa515 Hahaha yes women usually are paying attention. I don’t mean you specifically— when I’m on a roll, my “you” tends to be shotgun vs slingshot. I will do my best to remember to make it a y’all next time. Tee hee. 

[Ange2]

@Nancy67   "They left a financial digital footprint when they booked" .  True, but there's a a world of difference between that information and a written review about them as a guest or from them, it's a whole different level and type of information.

[Lisa515]

@Ange2  Don't get me wrong, I love anonymity.  My house isn't even in my name I love anonymity so much.  It's just that Airbnb isn't really a place you can even search for someone. 

[Ange2]

@Lisa515  If you have a mind to it's surprising what you can search for even behind firewalls and encryption and some people are wary about that especially those who are already click-bait fodder for infotainment.

[Fred13]

My guest reviews always include only who booked, just in case. The same with public responses, unless they include 'others'. I run a private island, where people stay all by themselves, you can just imagine the 'interesting' liaisons I get to witness. Half the time I am (or act) totally confused, the safest route. 😉

Something @Nancy0 touched upon, in part; to me exchanges between guests and hosts say just as much about the host, as the guest. A well written and reasoned complaining guest is a formidable 'opponent', and hosts public ~responses~ must match their level of thought to come across equally credible and turned into a plus. Excessively long, defensive and caustic host responses are a turned off to me, maybe they are to potential guests also, in general. A bad guest review tends to be a one-time event, if 'boxed' succesfully, a poor response tends to be more lasting and harmful. I do cringe at some of the advice given in some of these forums, though usually come from inexperienced hosts, or those with a obvious chip on their shoulder.

[Lisa515]

@Fred13  YES! You can't sound like a crazy person in a response to a bad review.  You lose all credibiblity.  But proper writing and speech is a lost art form so it's pretty easy to sound more reasonable and intelligent than most people.  Snap, yes, I said that!  😜

[Fred13]

Aye @Lisa515. We all start knowing zero, about any subject in life, absolutely clueless. With responses, perhaps best to ASK others for opinions, nothing to loose, and specially listen to those carefully, devoid of personal agendas or theoretical positions that may be ill-suited to address real-world reality.

[Lisa515]

@Fred13. I have no idea what you're trying to say. 

[Fred13]

I do. LoL

The point, WHO you listen to is the difference. Speaking in general.

[Momi0]

@Fred13   and @Lisa515   You both are spot on about how one responses to both messages and reviews can be looked upon as unprofessional.  I have found that there are quite a few hosts who will write a very angy public response to a guests review and my jaw drops in shock.  Definitely not staying with that host just based on how angry and defensive they got in that written response.   Sadly, most don't realize that their public responses do not get sent to THAT very guests unless they copy and paste it into the guests ABB message inbox.  The only folks who really see it are those looking to make a booking decision.  Quickiest way to lose a potential booking.  imho.

[Caterina33]

Totally agree. I always write reviews, and also bad ones when it's needed. Otherwise, how can we hosts know who we are hosting? So don't be shy, write it all! Be polite but objective! That's not going to hurt you because reviews are blind!