Not leaving a review for my guest.

Mark2948
Level 2
Pontiac, MI

Not leaving a review for my guest.

Ok, I have been hosting on airbnb for about a year now and I have a situation that I want to throw out there and get some feedback because I am at a loss on what to do..  

 

I am superhost status and 5 star reviews, and I always leave a review for the last guest that stayed at my unit.   My unit is in a downtown area (urban neighborhood) not necessary bad just not upscale.  I have about an 80% rental rate and have not had any issues thus far.

 

The last guest who stayed with me, booked wanted to come immediately, could not instant book because no reviews yet.   They are local guests and when they showed up for the three day stay looked as if they just got kicked out of someplace, many bags and boxes.   As time passed it was  obvious that they had some problems, even my neighbors brought to may attention that they where out smoking and such at all hours, about ever half hour.  had other cars stopping by to drop stuff off or give them a ride someplace. 

 

it was 25 degrees out and most of the windows where open there where obvious signs inside that they where smoking inside.  They tried to clean up (I think the best they knew how) but was still left worse than I have seen from my guests.  They did ask for another night and asked if I could do a long term rental.  I did grant the extra night but said could not do a long term rental as I have bookings.

 

Now you know where I stand.    I would rate them like this.  house rules a 1, clean 2, and communication 4 and would not want them staying again and check this box.

 

Since they are local I don't want any issues as they know and live near the area.  And with 0 reviews they wont be able to instant book again and I would not accept a rental from them.

 

Do you know if i have the ability to block a user from renting from me?  Should I leave a review?,  please give me some of your opinions on this.

 

Mark

 

9 Replies 9
Lawrene0
Level 10
Florence, Canada

It's best to be honest in the review, @Mark2948 , but I completely understand when the guest is local and you think there might be physical trouble. I've been there. Go with the star ratings you are considering. The guests don't see those, but IB hosts do. 

For the written review in this case, you could write, "[Guest name] and [guest name] stayed four nights."

It's not ideal, but at least you have written something you can live with. 

Kath9
Level 10
Albany, Australia

@Mark2948  first, unless they can give you a very good reason for wanting to book, locals are usually a big red flag for hosts - looks like you have unfortunately discovered the reason for this. 

 

I too understand your reluctance to leave a bad review. Go with what @Lawrene0 said. A blunt review like this will give hosts quite a bit of information. The guest won't see your star ratings. And if you tick 'No' to 'would you host this guest again?', they will not be able to instant book with you or others that have this in their settings.

 

You can also report and block guests from any future communication:

  1. Open the Airbnb app and tap the Inbox icon in the menu bar
  2. Tap the conversation with the person you want to block
  3. Tap the More icon 
  4. Tap Report
  5. Select the reason you’re reporting this person, then if you also want to block future messages from them, tap Submit > Block

    If you block someone, they won’t be able to send you messages, send you a reservation request or accept a reservation request from you.

     

Jules106
Level 2
Rhode Island, US

my guests could not make it and let me know the day of I have a strict cancellation policy so I still get paid but how can I leave a review if they never stayed.It keeps prompting me there are no hard feelings and I dont want to say anything bad i am guessing it was a personal issue and did contact them to make sure everything was ok

 

@Jules106The prompting is just an automated message from Airbnb: you can choose to ignore it. You're right: what would you be reviewing them on? There is no reason to leave them a review in the case you describe. 

 

The review option is available in case the reservation was cancelled for cause: for example, if the guest showed up and the place wasn't as described and chose to cancel, or the guest showed up with 20 people with the intent of having a party and the host chose to cancel. There are legitimate reasons for needing to review a host or guest even if the stay hasn't taken place. 

Mike-And-Helen0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Mark2948 go with what @Lawrene0 said to write but maybe also describe the guests as local. This will (should) give other hosts all the information they need.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

 "local & a very last minute booking!"

Jay1289
Level 3
Atlanta, GA

It is my policy to not rent to locals. The couple of times I did it did not go well.  I had a similar experience with a homeless chain smoker who found his way to complete a profile on Air. It took two days to get him out of my house. When he refused to leave Air gave him his money back and then paid him extra to vacate. But before leaving he called the police on ME twice. Leave the honest review. In mine I simply said: "I do not recommend this guest." Air does ask if you would host the guest again. If you say no I presume you will never see them darken your door again.

Heather133
Level 10
Stowe, VT

I agree with @Lawrene0 100% - it's exactly how I would handle it. You'll be protecting yourself while giving fellow hosts important information. 

In this situation, them being local, I would say nothing. Could cause more trouble than it is worth especially if these people are going through a difficult situation and their emotions are running high. And honestly, as a host I have recently learned that a LACK of reviews in itself is a potential flag (because being a host myself who has elected to not leave reviews for "not great" guests, I assume other hosts are doing the same).