Reviews

[Sheila22]

The problem with Airbnb is you don't get to easily see all the past reviews that guests have left.  This should be on a guest's profile but it is not!  You only see reviews left for them -- which is not as helpful actually.  As a host I give guests 5 start reviews easily -- I do not judge harshly if they are a little messy or if they are unfriendly/uncommunicative or if they ask lots of questions (people are all different and I'm open to any kind of guest -- I assume no one is trying to be a bad guest) -- I have to clean throughly between guests anyway so a little messy doesn't matter -- they should feel as at home as if in a hotel.  So, I try to be professional and fair-minded in how I leave reviews, but guests on the other hand can just be complainy people and for no good reason leave a terrible review -- I had one person give a 4/5 overall review state that everything was great but write "hosts should leave water bottles in the apartment" -- even though this is a major city with a ton of stores 2 blocks away (what do hotels leave for guests?) .  I've taken it upon myself to look up the past reviews that guests have left for hosts in order to protect myself from that type of guest.  This is not an easy task.  You need to look in the guest's profile at all reviews that were left for them, then click into the host's profile and then scroll through all the host's reviews until you find the one left by that guest.  You have to do this for every host they stayed with.  This process is a pain.  It's also not fool-proof because I have had guests who leave perfect written reviews but give only 4 stars, as though somehow their thought process is "I should only give 5 stars to the very best apartment in the entire city" -- I guess this is their phiolosphy, as since it wasn't a penthouse on Park Ave then it can't get 5 stars.  But this is a math issue that they are not grasping -- 4/5 stars is an 80% which is like getting a C on a test when you got everything correct.  So, if you are leaving a 4/5, there should be a real reason -- it shouldn't be 4/5 along with a glowing written review.  Anyway, I digress.  It would be very helpful if hosts can see the past reviews that a guest has left ON the guest's actual profile, NOT just the one's received by the guest.  I don't understand why Airbnb doesn't do this.  Airbnb is actually more guest-centric I think.  Oh, and the other annoying thing is this -- and Airbnb should do something about this as well.  If the guest had some kind of problem but did not ask the host about it during the stay and only voiced it after the stay,  this is completely inappropriate too.  Airbnb should probably not allow bad reviews if the person did not voice a concern during their stay.  This should give reason to strip the review from the host's status if you ask me.  I would handle anything for the guest (and there are many things Airbnb would hande too) if the guest communicated appropriately during their stay.  For example, if the internet is weak during the stay (not even host's fault usually), as  the host I would call the ISP and take care of it.  Don't neglect to say this in your stay and only say it in a review after you've checked-out!  Airbnb should have a policy "if you didn't tell Airbnb or the guest about a problem during the stay, the review does not stand" -- this would be fair!

[Mary59]

My last 2 guests left me 4 stars but glowing comments about their say including how good the location was.  AirBnbHave sent me a TIP to change my description about my location as that apparently is where I fell down on 5 stars.  I am totally confused and disappointed Fter excelling my self to please them

Mary

[EcoBuilt0]

I recently had a guest review that really trashed us.  From the start there were problems with this booking and during this guests’ stay I called AirBnb to discuss the problem.    

I took a gamble when approving this guest’s request since they did not have any reviews. Not that that matters since Airbnb does NOT give hosts the benefit of the star rating system like guests see about hosts.  

Right now another Host’s written review is all that we as hosts get to see, and when my experience with a guest is poor I won’t write a review. I like the suggestion to write a guest review that states the guest would be better suited for a hotel than an Airbnb property.

In my opinion, as hosts we are "buying a pig in a poke" because we have NO idea if a guest follows the house rules, how clean they are, etc. We’re not on an equal playing field with guests. 

To compound the problem, and I think to our detriment as hosts, a public response to a review is not visible on a hand held device. If a person uses a desktop, laptop and POSSIBLY an Ipad they will see a host’s response.  However, at this time the response is NOT visible on hand held devices such as a smart phone or an Iphone.   

I suspect that at least 50% of our bookings are made from a hand held device.  People on the go rely on the mobile app.  So to tell me that I have a way to rebut a really bad review by making a public comment isn't really accurate or beneficial, especially since a large majority of potential guests us a hand held device and they won’t see my review comments. 

From now on this experience has taught me to terminate a guest's stay when the house rules are broken.

[Raymond24]

I can't see review left by guest anymore. Could see it before but now seems not visible anymore when I preview my listing. Any idea what might have happened?

[Aleksandra10]

Hi Raymond,

Sometimes reviews get moved down in a clisting & are not in a chronological order. Please, check if the review doesn't appear further in your review list

hugs,

[Kathryn570]

Do you have to leave a written review or are the ratings enough?  My last guest apparently dyed their hair in my all-white shower and got pink hair dye on the towels.  They also left the kitchen dirty...

They have 5 star reviews and comments about leaving the other places very clean.  Not sure how to phrase a comment.

[Sandra856]

Hi @Kathryn570  🙂 Sorry to read about your bad experience. How I see it - it is important to leave an honest, non-emotional review to warn future hosts. Your guest can’t see or read the review you have left them before the leave one themselves and/or after the 14 day review period is over. Leave an honest non- emotional review. Important thing is to start with the good things - were they nice people, good communicators etc. That way you sound like a balanced, fair person. Then write that unfortunately bathroom was left in a bad state because of hair dye, towels ruined etc. Kitchen was left dirty. Short, fair and precise. You can prepare the review and leave it last minute if you wish. You can see how much time is left of the 14 day review period when you enter the guest’s review section. It will tell you hours left within the last 24 hours and minutes left within the last hour. If you leave it within the last 10 minutes or so there is a very small chance the guest will have the time to leave you a review - if the haven’t already submitted one of course. Guests can leave you a review no matter if you leave one as a host and they can’t write a revenge review as the review system is blind. To answer your question - you can’t leave a review without ratings. Or leave ratings without a written review. 

[Kathryn570]

Thank you.  Can I just not leave any review or star ratings....they weren't terrible, just disappointed as they had 5 stars and great reviews from others.

[Sarah977]

@Kathryn570  Why do you not want to leave a written review? (No, you can't just rate and not leave a review).

First of all, hosts who do not use Instant Book cannot see guests' star ratings. We have only the written reviews to go on.

Secondly, star ratings are entirely subjective and give no explanation of why that rating was given. What might be a 3* guest to you might be a 5* guest to me. Different hosts have differentt expectations of guests, so may rate quite differently.

If everyone only writes reviews that are glowingly positive, and doesn't leave honest reviews for all guests, even if they weren't good guests you would welcome back, the review system is pointless.

Please leave an honest written review. If there are good things you can say about the guest, include that along with the negative. Example:

"Pre-arrival communication with xx was good and they followed house rules. Unfortunately, hair dye was found on towels and staining the shower stall and kitchen was left quite dirty."

[Kathryn570]

Thank you that makes sense.

[Sandra856]

@Kathryn570 You relied on these guests great reviews - but maybe their previous hosts were afraid to be honest as you are. It makes the review system pointless, meaningless if we don’t leave honest reviews. Don’t be afraid to be honest 🙂

[Kathryn570]

Thank you.

[Dora486]

Just state it as it is.  Factual and non emotional.  

[Kathryn570]

Thank you.