Negetive Review

[Susan227]

Hello Fellow Hosts!

I am relatively new to airbnb.  My husband and I have been renting the ground floor of our home as a private studio apartment.  We have rented 11 times.  We have received wonderful reviews.  This last guest left a simi negative review.  He says he would recomend the place for short stays and that he enjoyed it.  But in the next sentence he writes that the pullout bed is unsteady and needs to be fixed.  He probably could have mentioned that privately, no sure why he put it out there on the review.  It is not a terribly bad review and I want to reply.  Can anyone with more experience please help me with a reply that will address the issue and not deter any furture renters.  BTW  the bed is getting fixed this weekend before our next guest arrives.

Susan

[Ange2]

Maybe just apologize and/or say the bed is being repaired/replaced, however you are addressing it. Short and sweet is usually best.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Agree with Ange - you could also add - I wish you had let me know while you were here and we would have fixed it imediately for you. Thanks for the feedback.

[Annette33]

Yes, leave a public response under that review, make it short and "positive", say thanks for letting us know, we fixed it immediately. They cannot respond to that anymore, so it's done. Thus, potential renters will not make it into an issue. Furthermore, these days, just about all reviews are always glowing, it really doesn't tell the potential renter much of anything. 
I had it once also that someone "complained" about something (very minor), but only later in a private message, not to us in person , though we always invite everybody to let us know immediately if something isn't quite right. It's just not what some people like to do.....on the positive side, such complaints alert us to something that can be made better - and you and I did!

[Anja17]

I've just had a similar problem with a guest who gave me a really down review although she said on the phone things were ok. I suspected from the tone of her voice though, and a handful of little remarks (like toilet rolls "hidden" in closet) that something might be cooking. It's my first season hosting so this one review is quite visible in statistics. I feel disappointed and ponder if I shall write her.

I did make a public comment, thanked her for feedback and said I'd added a couple of things to thepresentation 

[Anja17]

.....continued:

so that it should be easier to understand what to expect beforehand. But it still bugs me.

[Andrew90]

I've been renting for 10 years and some people will never be happy. But as has been iin Ed each British is usually a learning opportunity and you are "blessed" with the option to respond and show how responsive and wonderful s host you are.

Like politics all publicity is good publicity.

Andrew

[Anja17]

That's a nice great attitude :)! Thanks

[Mitch-and-Denise0]

Making a positive public response is great and absolutely the right thing to do.

However the problem is if you get a negative review, we had ''a mattress was too hard'' comment and there was ''no air conditioning'' when we make it quite clear was wasn't any, the review is there forever and we have seen a decline in enquiries and bookings as a consequence of one negative review.

No matter how positive your public response is there is nothing else you can do about it!

Very frustrating!