Review reply

[Joe-And-Patty0]

We recently had a very hostile guest who left us a bad review, and has since left us personal messages which were very accusatory. In his public review, he mentioned 3 things which are not true about our place. I obviously want to reply to the review to correct this, but I want to know if he can respond to my reply? I am afraid he is going to continue to write us hostile messages. I just want to respond to his review (or have it taken down) and move on. Thanks for the help!

[Clare0]

@Joe-And-Patty0 You can respond to this person's review if you want to but keep in mind, responding, especially a long response, usually brings more attention to the original review.  Many hosts feel that a response is necessary and wind up highlighting the very review they object to . 

I took a look at your listing and this one review looks kind of silly amongst all the other great reviews.  In time this particular guest's review will drop off the 1st page and more glowing reviews will be ahead of his.  I would imagine many prospective guests would feel like this guy is an idiot.  If it were me I'd let it go and stop corresponding with him. 

As to your question about whether the guest can publicly respond to your response, the answer is no.  

Maybe other hosts will chime in with their opinions here. 

[Andrea9]

@Joe-And-Patty0  

I agree with @Clare0 that the message sticks out like a sore thumb and doesn't need addressing.

Any host clicking on his profile pic to check him out will notice that you didn't write him a review which to me also says he wasn't the best of guests and possibly too difficult to leave an appropriate review.

However for the future, I'd strongly advise even leaving reviews for the challenging guests. If you peruse this community you'll find a wealth of really smart and professional ideas by experienced hosts like Clare that are so spot on for wording reviews of even the worst of guests while avoiding far too long and petty washing of dirty laundry.