NEW REVIEW PROCESS ( Resulting in fewer reviews from Guests )

[Dennis234]

I have been a host through Airbnb for two years now and as a *Superhost* have received a 5 star rating from the majority of my guests who stay for a day or a month. I have had people stay from all over the world and we cater to our guests with plenty of little extras to make their stay more comfortable. Breakfast, protein bars, chocolate and longer bookings, a bottle of wine. Recently due to the new review process which takes longer to complete I have had no reviews from many of my guests recently.  I questioned a few guests and they indicate it was the length of the review questions and they quit before the end of the survey.

Last week I travelled to Eastern Canada and booked myself into an Airbnb for the week. The accomidation was excellent and when I left I actually experienced the new review process with many new questions about my stay. Now I realize the length it takes to complete the review and kept thinking as i was answering the questions, how long was this going to take? No wonder reviews have gone down and time consuming in this day and age when most people are extremly busy with their lives.  Even thou it was a simple process no one has the time to click all the features to a question asked.

Has anyone else experiened the same trend and what did/can you do about it? I assume this will hurt our *Superhost status* if this trend continues that we have worked so hard for as hosts.

[Catherine969]

These staff seem to be young and without any life experience.
The review process is a mess and actually hurts reputation.

[Sarah977]

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@Ana7 wrote:

Regarding the Airbnb staff who are writing the programmes - I think they should first host themselves for a month or two, and only then be allowed to set up a review system!

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Oh, wouldn't that be a choice experiment. 100 to 1 they would be TERRIBLE hosts, because they quite obviously have no understanding of human nature and interaction. 

Airbnb programmer 'host' to guest: 

"Too messy!"   

"Too noisy - shut up!" 

" The fact that all the internet was down in your town is not on the list of extenuating circumstances. You didn't respond to my message within 1 hour, so I'm cancelling your reservation."

"You need to work on your toilet aim before I slam the lid closed on it."

"Check out's in 10 minutes- I'm deleting your account if you're so much as a minute overtime."

"I'm reaching out to you to ask why you left me such a terrible review- was it that comment I made about your toilet aim?  Because my intention was to be helpful. I hope you're having a good day."

[Catherine969]

Let me ask all of you:
Will this discussion lead anywhere? Are we just wasting our time by bringing upp all kind of issues?

Christiane found this in a cupboard and commented: there was TRASH in a cupboard!! She did not bother telling me, but commented on Airbnb. This is against our local laws. Any damage (or here TRASH) has to be reported immediately otherwise the guest takes the responsibility for it.

Christiane who was actually really friendly and pleasant to host, made a deduction regarding cleanliness in MY HOME!  Airbnb did not find anything strange about that despite the fact that the guest failed to report irregularities.
In these reviews certain points have to be ommitted: cleanliness and location.
it is simply nonsense.

Now what will happen with this comment? I assume nothing... 

[Aurora62]

@Catherine969 it's unfortunate that for this few pieces of paper you got a bad review in cleanliness, however I don't agree that cleanliness shouldn't be reviewable at all; unlike the location, it is something that the host is responsible for.

[Catherine969]

@Aurora62I absolutely agree with you that the host is responsible for cleanliness.
This is not what I meant.
The guest is 100% responsible to report IMMEDIATELY if and when  s/he finds the space not clean or damages occurr.
By Swiss law the tenant has to inform the landlord immediately after taking over the space. If the tenant fails to report irregularities, the damage will justly be charged to the tenant at the time of departure. This is Swiss law.

Therefore what should be commented in a review is if the landlord fails to take action when complaints had been filed.

In the case of Christiane: she failed to take responsibility. Anyone can blame the former tenant for having left this or that...  Things simply don't work like that.

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[Aurora62]

I understand, however unless the guest is swiss you can't assume they'll know the law..

In theory it makes sense that if there is something wrong they should tell you (i got guests telling me all was fine, and then complaining about missing towels, that if they asked I'd have told where to find, or TV not working - they just didn't know how to operate and didn't bother asking, but did bother in complaining in the review!).

However this is just common sense, and some guests are just lacking it.

If in your case it's a local law, then maybe you should mention it upon booking or when meeting the guests.

[Catherine969]

I do mention that they have to report immediately. Actually I have been doing that since 2008. But some guests are cowards.
After the incident with Christiane, I am even much more clear about it showing them the cookie wraps that Christiane had complained about.

It was ridiculous behavior, for sure.

[Victoria567]

I’ve had a few like this this season.

A guest who gave me 4 stars for cleanliness and 2 other guests who gave me 3 stars for location and accuracy and feedback regarding my location.

Im a bit concerned that as a host I cannot read the feedback given to air bnb or be allowed to comment on it yet these guests gave me a 5 star rating and very positive private feedback.

It just does not make sense whatsoever.

Also the standard of guests has declined since last year, with several expecting a hotel when in fact, my accommodation is in my family home.

Also the market is becoming saturated with hosts who are in fact b&b businesses working on low prices but high turnover or other newcomers who are operating at very low prices.

I refuse to lower my price as my beautiful home if it gets damaged as it did with guests who totally drained my hot water tank and 2 reserve cold water tanks, causing airlocks results in a dent in my bank balance.

Furthermore I got a scare last month when a guest had a severe allergic reaction to some fruit at breakfast, so now Ive altered my house rules accordingly.

Im waiting for the next air bnb scandal when a guest has severe anaphylaxis in some poor hosts home and gets the pants sued off them!

[Sarah977]

@Victoria567  Just a tip for you regarding air locks in your water system, so you don't have to spend $ on a service person if it ever happens again.

Once your water system is full again, open ALL the faucets in your house, don't forget the ones outside, all the showers, the washing machine (start it as if you're doing a wash so the water line to it is open), etc. Then go to the faucet furthest from the water source, i.e. the end of the line. The water will be sputtering, because the line is full of air. Wait until that faucet is running full without air sputters, then close it. Then move to the next open faucet up the line and do the same. When the last faucet has stopped sputtering, your lines should be cleared of airlocks. It takes awhile, depending on how many water outlets you have, but it's not rocket science. 

[Victoria567]

@Sarah977 thanks for the tip.

Ive now written into my ever growing list of notes for guests that there is no washing of clothes in the bathroom or shower room and that I have a washing machine available at a small cost per each load.

Ive also added no hanging up of wet or damp clothes in the bedroom and that I have an electric drier available at a small cost per load........this was after the guests who had washed 3 months of laundry under the shower decided to dry this industrial sized amount of laundry using the hair drier........Yes folks the hair drier!

[Catherine969]

@Victoria567do make it very clear that you reserve the right to control the rooms. This helps you prevent disasters like the one mentioned.
Hang up the house rules clearly visible in your spaces. Possibly ask the guest to sign a paper that they had read the rules.
Safes yourself lots of troubles

[Sarah977]

@Victoria567   Oh my goodness- hair driers are one of the biggest electricity draws, that would have been hugely expensive for you. I guess they though they were being really innovative.  

I've come to the conclusion over the years that almost the only people who won't do things to wreck, or threaten to wreck (i.e. hanging wet clothes up all over a bedroom so the damp gets into the walls, they drip on the floor, etc.) your house in some way are those who are homeowners themselves. People who have only ever rented, tend to be totally clueless and thoughtless about how to be careful with things and don't foresee the consequences of their actions. They've always just called the landlord when something breaks or needs servicing. 

"The toilet's plugged up, when can you send the plumber?" Nothing to do with the 10 wet wipes they tried to flush down there.

[Catherine969]

@Victoria567re location:
I find this point absolutely useless to review. Airbnb does not give the correct location at the time of booking. So why should the host get judged on the location?
If the location is NOT where it shows on the ad, fair enough. Yes, then one can complain that one had booked a room next to the train station and ended up near the woods.
Why otherwise should anyone comment on location?
I have a loft in an industrial building. I am very clear about it. Lofts are spaces in industrial buildings... Anybody wanting a chalet should not book a loft!
Elisabeth (an elderly Polish immigrant to Canada) commented that I live and work in an industrial complex in an industrial area that had no charme. It was a laugh! The factory is in the centre of town not in the industrial area. She wasn't even able to understand that this is a big factory where precision scales were produced until 1993. ...
Too many guests book Airbnb spaces expecting 5* hotels.
Why do you offer breakfast? I do not do that. My spaces are all self catering.
I tell you, you are better off that way.

[Victoria567]

@Catherine969

Hello there, thanks for your advice about the breakfast.

The reason I provide breakfast is because it is, in my opinion, a value added service that costs less to provide,than the perceived added value by the guest, particularly now in a rural area where air bnb this season has mushroomed with many others offering a room for as little as £19 per night....

.I cannot compete with that once I factor in wear and tear to my beautiful home, the energy costs that guests use up with really prolonged showers, leaving the lights on in their bathroom with extractor fan running all night, the central heating at full blast in summer! Yes you read that correctly and so on.

I am now coming to the conclusion that next year will be my last season as thecstandard of guests this season has been questionable with many using the platform like a hotel.

 I rent 2 bedrooms in my large family home and don’t do self catering as I don’t want guests using my kitchen as I use it several times daily to prepare meals for my family.....too many cooks and all that springs to mind!

Furthermore my standards of housekeeping are high and I think that self catering lerha

scallows guests to feel really at home and live in whatever conditions they think are normal and acceptable for them, but unfortunately not acceptable to me and who am I to judge other folks standards of living?

Its just that after this season, I’m going to have a rethink as I think the platform has mushroomed exponentially without educating guests about the fact we are not hotels but ordinary folk hosting guests.

We operate on trust as we really do not know who is sharing our home with us, and I’m beginning to have doubts about the entire concept of the sharing economy when you have an increasing gap between guests expectations and what we as hosts provide.

[Victoria567]

Typo ...self catering allows guests to really feel at home....