Quick phrases for guest reviews - Cleanliness

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

Fellow hosts - I struggle with writing an effective phrase for guest reviews that indicate that they were dirtier than normal.  

You know, the guest who leaves soap and shampoo all over the bathtub, huge globs of toothpaste in the sink or makeup smears on the counter, hair everywhere, extra garbage to pick up, the hair dryer, iron and ironing board left for the host to put away, sheets or towels that had stains to be treated but weren't ruined (a skidmark or makeup), and maybe missed the toilet a little or left you some extra cleaning to do in the bowl.  Stuff that can be taken care of but will cost you an extra half hour or hour of cleaning to get it all sorted.  

Do you have a short, effective sentence that you use in a guest's review that indicates that they were a little dirtier than normal?  

[Beth44]

I know some hosts are reluctant to leave a pointed review. I believe in leading with a positive note and feel a responsibility to follow up with  a kind but true evaluation. Example, they had no reviews & now I suspect why- as it was hard to gather the truth of hosting them.

[Terri38]

Great topic!
Some phrases I have used for 'those' guests:
"X was very enthusiastic about his multi-level marketing scheme"
"Y had some very strong opinions about how things should be done in my home.  And she frequently voiced those opinions."
"Careful reading of the listing before booking [or house manual - whichever was appropriate] may have done much to avoid Z's frustration with...."

[Ruth563]

---

@Terri38 wrote:

"Careful reading of the listing before booking [or house manual - whichever was appropriate] may have done much to avoid Z's frustration with...."

---

@Terri38Great suggestions. I wish I came across this before I left a review for a recent guest, particularly the last phrase you provided. I'm a newish host and I should have been more upfront in my review of the guest. This guest didn't read the check in instructions I had provided (I had provided pictures and text as we know that our secured apartment can be a bit tricky to find). He demanded that I call him (I did immediately), and he proceeded to be rude and condescending on the phone. Told me that I gave too much information that he can't be bothered to read. He gave me a 2 star rating (2 stars in EVERY category - not just the check in) with no feedback, except the public review of "nothing special".

He did leave the place clean (unlike the guests who checked in after him), which I appreciated and acknowledged in my review. So frustrating when our other guests complimented us on the check in instructions.

[Todd-and-Reese0]

I still go by the passive-aggressive "good guests" that I learned here on this forum and I decline anyone that I see that on their feedback. Is this not still a thing? They don't see that we gave them one star ratings and a thumbs down and I don't want to waste any more time on them so they just see the "good guest" and don't know why they can't instant book anymore and so they won't come after me.

[Sarah977]

@Todd-and-Reese0  Why would a host write "good guests" when they were bad guests? That makes absolutely no sense at all. When I see wording like that in a review, my assumption is the host never met the guests or had very little interaction with them, they didn't cause damage or leave the place filthy. 

Please don't write "good guests" if they aren't- you are misleading other hosts. If you want to be vague, say " Better suited to a hotel", although as a host, I'd like to know the nature of the problems if the guest was someone you wouldn't choose to host again.

[Robin4]

@Todd-and-Reese0  Yeah I understand why you are doing this Reese, you don't want any repercussions for giving them a poor review. I can to certain extent agree on the basis that Trust & Safety do get a lot of flagged (reported) profiles for no other reason than the person flagging the profile got a bad review! Wheels within wheels @Sarah977 !

Most amount to nothing, and are just seen as 'sour grapes' but it is a hassle....you have to respond, spend time justifying yourself.  What you are trying to do is protect yourself from a guest you have penalised and want nothing further to do with from a level of anonnimity! I can understand that.

And this is probably fine until you come across the guest from hell who has a perfect hosting record because everyone before you wished to protect themselves. There are ways of writing in the review process that gets your point across without making the guest unduly resent you. You do have a duty to yourself Reese, but you do also have a duty to other hosts too,.......because, one day, you may just be one of those.....other hosts!

Remember that!

Cheers......Rob 

[Beth44]

I'd like to add that one simple protection for both hosts and guests and that is to keep communication and issues between host and guests through the airbnb messaging system. I caution hosts about guests who only use text messaging through phone numbers. Although this may be a more expedient way to communicate, we recently had a guest who only communicated this way which afforded him a way to "hide" issues (some very spooky conduct was discovered that went on in the house upon cleaning it). Fortunately, we had screenshot backups of very long text messages that could be shared with Airbnb. He was "ghosted" because of our documentation.

He may slip through the system by picking another identity so another clue for these types is a profile that claims to have been on AIRBNB for some years but has no reviews. I then usually send a message to the guest that tactfully says "...it seems you are new to Airbnb because you have no reviews?" Most guests give me an explanation, like "...I 've stayed in Airbnb's that my boyfriend/spouse etc have booked and decided it was time to get my own profile". This isn't foolproof but it does ease some uncertainty in me about the guest.

[Frank-And-Monique0]

@Beth44 Oh I like that response about being new to airbnb.  We've had issues with our security system and have had to call our guests.. which I do not like doing.  So thank you for this info.  

And I'm very curious about the "spooky conduct"  EEEEEkkkkk.  

[Frank-And-Monique0]

@Sarah977  @Todd-and-Reese0 

I Truly do not feel protected as Hosts.  The Ghosting is what totally gets me.  We can't be honest because they will Ghost their account.  Just the fact that they can do that.  We had a couple stay that didn't even look like their profile pic.  Luckily there were no issues.  This is just a crazy thing at times.  

[Ange2]

@Todd-and-Reese0    I wouldn't understand good guests as being one star.  I write "guests stayed xx nights" if they are that terrible and Airbnb has warned me about writing details because I have a claim in (but also not sure if everyone gets it as "guest was super terrible").  I thumb them down and low rate them too.

[TJ53]

@Ange2 That is very interesting. I was not aware of that rule regarding details. How can you warn others then? I did read in other threads that "may be best suited for a hotel environment" was the catch-all phrase or "code" for skip this guest. Have you heard of this?

[Kelly149]

@Ange2    I do the same. “3night IB for 4 guests” and then star & thumbs down away. 

Non- IB hosts don’t get to see stars so...

and in the vein of profiles can be confusing...

@Todd-and-Reese0  are now @nella...

Listing is changed up too... confusing

are there profile snatchers in the CC @@Lizzie

[Michelle1728]

I actually have guests that I don't see more than letting them in and then they sleep. I'm up and out the door before they're up and they leave. (I have a check out process that they can do on their own). I struggle with leaving some reviews when there is little to no interaction.

[TJ53]

@Michelle1728 This has happened to me a few times too. I mention that we never got to meet however, communication through the app was great, they observed the rules and left the place clean....or anything else you find relevant. People don't always get to meet, but as a possible future host of that guest, I care about the other factors. Sometimes I enjoy those quiet guests that I never see. It's a welcome break at times.

Happy hosting!

Tricia

[Frank-And-Monique0]

@Michelle1728  @Allison307  I'm actually in a different state at the moment.  So I rely on my Cleaning crew to let me know if anything is amiss.  We will be in the same state soon, but it is sometimes difficult to leave an accurate review considering I don't actually see how they leave my home..  I recently had a review where they complained about a neighbors dog howling all night and they felt they shouldn't of had to deal with that considering the price they paid.  I'm thinking "Ok let me control all the noises in the world for you"  of course that was my initial thought.. oh wait I still pretty much think that..  We have a beautiful home in an eclectic neighborhood of Waco, the whole town is old mixed with new.   I'm just venting but this is definitely an interesting thing to be doing.  Short term renting that is.  We've only been at it since This May.