Strangely bad reviews of AirBnB on TrustPilot

Jiw0
Level 10
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Strangely bad reviews of AirBnB on TrustPilot

TrustPilot is a community site where people can leave reviews (or, vent) about just about any business or organization.

 

When looking at AirBnB there, the reviews are really quite bad, and there are a lot of them. 

 

https://www.trustpilot.com/review/www.airbnb.com  

 

I read though many of them, and I think the reason why so many people go on there to vent is the following:  Many of the bad reviews are about a cancellation: typically a host cancelling on them which causes them a problem, but also the guest cancelling on the first day when the place is seriously below expectations.    Both things just can't be helped, it's the nature of AirBnB and it probably doesn't happen too often.  However, in both these cases the guest ends up feeling 'bad', yet there is no opportunity to leave a review of the host or place on AirBnB, even when the guest cancels after seeing the plece and finding it lacking.  This I think then causes people to go search out other places online to complain and 'vent' a bit, causing relatively a lot of bad reviews.

 

So if AirBnB wanted to improve this, they could offer guests who cancel /after/ check in the opportunity to review the place, which would actually be helpful for other guests, or in case the host cancels then in that case too they could be given the opportunity to reflect a bit on how the host handled it in an AirBnB review.

 

And then secondly if AirBnB wanted to crowd out the bad reviews, they could request guests who just put in a 5 star review of their stay, to now also go online on TrustPilot and say some nice words there.  (The AirBnB site is generally quite good at coaching people what to do next.)

 

(Then again it may just not be too much of a poblem, likely many of you here have never heard of TrustPilot? )

8 Replies 8
Sandra126
Level 10
Daylesford, Australia

Never heard of trustpilot, but it is a good idea to keep the bad and the good inside Air, if guests can't vent on this site they will indeed seek another way. They will want the world to know about their grievances! Don't think guests should be prompted to leave a review twice, it is a lot to ask. But offering the cancelled guests a chance to comment on Air is not a bad idea at all, might alleviate the problem.

 

ElliandRob0
Level 2
Vienna, Austria

Hi, 

Just wanted to say that I, a guest, cancelled a booking an hour after checking in because of a very toxic smell going on there. The host was still allowed to review me and wrote that I had been difficult, demanding, complained about almost everything and she did not recommend me as a guest! Why was it possible for her to write a review? Also, the fun thing is: we never met her in person, didn't even talk on the phone. All we did was write 2 messages via airbnb to explain why we were cancelling. I have proof that what she wrote about us is just not true (and we have loads of positive reviews). Very disappointed that airbnb says this is a matter of free speech and she should be allowed to voice her opinion... But guests can't voice their opinion after a cancellation?

It was complete unfair business practice @ElliandRob0 !

It has now been changed - thankfully but no use to your situation of course.

btw, your response to your dumb host was fair and I see that normal and well-balanced people have reviewed you positively.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jul/27/airbnb-agrees-reviews-loophole-intervention-cma-r...

Thanks, Christian! I appreciate your comment.

But was it okay that the host was enabled to write a review? I would have thought not!? I am really angry and thinking of leaving airbnb...

Daniel-Rusteen0
Level 10
California, United States

I just looked at my business on trustpilot and I have 2, 1-star reviews, one is from a prior customer and the other is not.

 

The problem with these sites is that the negative reviewers go on to many sites to leave bad reviews while the positive reviews either don't leave a review or leave one on one site.

This is a very biased article, trying to make AirBnb innocent. However, on the contrary, AirBnb is not. I, as a guest, left a bad comment after a very unpleasant stay, so did the host, but AirBnb said that my review is biased but not the host, what the heck is that? AirBnb is definitely an evil business which favours the hosts not the guests. Then of course AirBnb deserves all the bad reviews as many as possible. The goal of the bad reviews is to make sure people stop using AirBnb and use alternatives, like myself. We want bad business to end, no matter using what approach. That’s it.

Laura2592
Level 10
Frederick, MD

@Jiw0 there have been many articles on guest dissatisfaction with ABB. One I posted about a few months ago was after a long rant on Twitter about how hosts had too many rules and ABB costs too much. I think this and the trustpilot reviews, are the result of a lack of effort to educate guests about what is expected at an ABB.

 

For example, ABB WILL cancel if you have a credit card issue. The host gets a generic email as does the guest. There is no attempt to explain this and perhaps it was an innocent mistake on the guest's part with a missed expiration date. I can understand why that upsets people.

 

There is no effort to tell a guest that if they bring more people to the reservation than they originally booked for, they risk a very poor review. Many still think that is okay. There is no campaign to underline that ABB is not a hotel and hosts are not just poised in a state of cat-like readiness to deliver extra towels to your room or trays of food in the middle of the night. 

 

Guests are not educated on how much it costs to run an ABB and get upset at pricing. They aren't given any responsibility to be a partner in this exchange, just messaged with commercials that show kids jumping on beds in hosts homes and adults acting like children. So when the host has to bring them down to earth, they vent to any internet forum that will have them.

Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Laura2592 

 

I'd just add that the evidence indicates that Airbnb overwhelmingly favours guests over hosts. It's hardly a topic worth arguing.