Torn about writing a bad review

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Tina26
Level 4
Richmond, TX

Torn about writing a bad review

I was excited and nervous about my first guest, as I am new to renting.  

 

I arrived at the house 30 minutes after check out time and they were still there, almost done but still bringing things out. They had contacted me to see if they could check out late but I had someone else coming in that day so I had to decline the request.  I thought it no big deal I can still clean and turn it around for the next guest.  All the laundry had been placed in the laundry room per check out request but as I am pulling out the sheets from the hamper I find vomit, lots of it all in the sheets, along with the mattress protector also (thank goodness for the mattress protector). I cannot understand why someone would leave them in the laundry basket like that, at least rinse them out or put them in the washing machine?  

 

As we moved on to clean the bathrooms, we found vomit behind the toilets in two of the bathrooms.  I had to bleach and disenfect all the floors in the bathrooms, it was disgusting. There were lots of leftover food in the fridge, food all over the floor, the oven looked like something has exploded, a broken glass, smoking on the back when its is strictly no smoking.

 

Now in the big picture nothing big was runied, everything cleaned up and all is as good as new so part of me wants to just let it go, remind myself that not everyone has the same standards but I also wonder of I should put it out there so the next person knows.

 

Thoughts please .........

1 Best Answer

@Clare241 Nothing happens if you tick do not recommend, except if they try and book with a host who has a recommendation set up as a requirement for instant book, they will need to send a request. Also remember that other hosts who don't use instant book can't see star ratings, so please do include details of what happened in your written review.

 

For the review,  I would say something like:

 

"X booked my cottage for her son's graduation, and she seemed pleasant on arrival. However, the cottage required a significant amount of extra cleaning after checkout, and our space was not treated with respect. I would not host this guest again, and I can't recommend her or her son to other hosts."

 

Make sure you don't mention any bodily fluids or any suspicions you may have about extra guests: I'm sure you're right, but this type of thing will get a review pulled.

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209 Replies 209
David1193
Level 2
New Hampshire, United States

We've been hosting a nice condo in the USA NE for about 8 months, and we have all five star reviews.  On Father's day we had a guest and her two friends scheduled for arrival for what they called "either 5 or 6 pm "  for a two day visit.  Our house rules are 3-6 pm.  Our guests indicated they would contact us 45 minutes prior to their arrival so we could check them in and provide keys.  At approximately 5:30 pm the guest contacted me and said they had not done socializing with some friends at a party from our so they would 

arrive around 7pm.  At 730 pm they contacted me and said they would be there at 815.  I met them, showed them the condo etc . As I started to leave I noticed two more guests exit their car and walk towards the condo, one more guest than was authorized.  It was around 845pm and dark but I noticed none of the guests had luggage, tote bags or purses etc.  I left the area and approximately 90 minutes later I rec'd a msg through airbnb from the guest indicated she had discovered "feces" in the toilet and "feces" on the hand towels.  As I had just been in the condo with the guests, had cleaned the condo myself, my heart sank as I knew I had a problem as these complaints were bogus.  The rest of the guest msg indicated due to the late hour of their check in (which they created) they would spend the night in my condo but felt they shouldn't pay for a second night due to the "feces".  I live near the condo in a small town and felt troubled so I called the police and asked if an officer could meet me at the condo.  I drove to the condo, spoke to the guests and noticed they were eating fried chicken /fries take out on our sofa.  There was no luggage in the condo.  The guest showed me to the bathroom which was immaculate and said she had cleaned up the mess and decided not to photograph.  I noticed one hand towel with a brown substance on it.  When the police arrived the guest admitted the condo was clean upon their arrival but that someone must have broke into the condo and soiled the toilet and towels while they were out grabbing dinner.  The officer pressed the guest asking her how she cleaned up the mess and she indicated she used toilet paper.  The toilet paper roll still contained a full roll of paper.  The officer made some documentations on their vehicle etc and the guests said they were leaving.  The officer then proceeded to check the condo and the vicinity and found no sign of forced entry into the condo either at the outer door or residence door (two different keys).  The officer told me it was obvious to him the guests had no intentions on staying in the condo.  I contacted Airbnb, they were very helpful; however, the guest began to send rambling messages through the Airbnb site one of which stated the guests father had died that morning and she was being mistreated (Airbnb advised me to document the facts via a msg to the guest which I had and the guest was responding).   When the officer had arrived the guest told him her father was a police officer in a certain place and she had the highest respect for the police.  Later that evening I checked that Department's Association website and confirmed the guest's father had died 18 months earlier. Airbnb stated the guest wanted a full two day refund, but asked me if I was good with 1/2.  So Airbnb provided a one day rentals worth of refund. When my wife checked the condo the next day we noticed the guests had consumed some complimentary chocolate but spit it out into the trash. This was the source of the brown stain on the towel. Even though the guests had only been in the condo for a couple of hours, we had the condo re-cleaned and sanitized.  I am not conflicted about leaving a bad review but I don't look forward to the retaliatory review I know will be waiting for me.  

 

On another note, I have only had great people utilize my condo via Airbnb from all over the world.  Everytime I check someone in and return home my wife asks me "How were the guests"?  On this particular night I told my wife that I did not have a "warm and fuzzy about these guest".  Basically they ruined my fathers day as I spend almost five hours that evening dealing with them.  No doubt they did not expect the police to arrive and I feel that's when they decided to depart the area immediately.

 

I also feel they had either found other accomodations or were trying to scam me out of the rent with veiled threats to leave neg feedback regarding feces in the condo.  Airbnb advised that in the future if a guest begins to push the check in time later and later and I'm not comfortable with that advise them of a certain "deadline" arrival time. If that is not met, advise the guest they'll need to look for other accomodations as you won't be able to check them in. They told me not to "cance" the reservation, but call them and advise them of the circumstances.  

 

The guest has yet to write a review..I plan on writing a non emotional review, just the facts etc.  Just throwing this out there as I'm a novice..thanks

 

 

Alison30
Level 2
New Jersey, United States

I am so sorry this happened to you, but I thank you for sharing your story.  I sincerely encourage you to write a non-emotional but factual review.  We hosts depend upon honest reviews of guests so we can weed out these scammers.  I have begun taking date-stamped photos of my entire home prior to a guest's arrival so I have a record of how my place looked. 

Airbnb2
Level 2
Aurora, CO

With no question, you should leave the details of the review and you can explain it without being unprofesional, so the next hosts are aware, so if they vomited all over your bed sheets, and left your refrigerator a mess then the hosts that dont enjoy or want to experience this they dont have to. Hotels are more for people that have little or no respect

@Airbnb2   I really want to encourage you to please change your actual user name to reflect what your host name actually is.  These posts written by you can actually be very misleading to other hosts on the CC as being Airbnb is responding and posting on the CC when in fact they do not. 

 

****WARNING TO ALL OTHER HOSTS*** ..... please be aware that this particular host in Colorado is using the term "Airbnb" as their host name here on the CC and in their listing.  This is not to be confused with the actual Airbnb company.  I have reported it to Airbnb CC online moderator already.  I am very concerned that others (especially new hosts) will think this is Airbnb. 

If you feel that me or another host have helped you, feel free to click on the "thumbs up" button at the end of any post. Thank you so much.

Aloha, Momi

Great way to contact Airbnb or via Twitter at AirbnbHelp / Facebook


Anthony236
Level 1
Sunshine Coast, Australia

They are pigs. You must write a bad review. That's disgusting.

Mary517
Level 2
Ennis, Ireland

This comes well after your post, so you may be well over it by now- I hope so- and also hope the episode has not repeated.  I have been taking occasional clients for 3 years and just had the first sour experience- which was probably not as rotten as your description.  My clients had a dog, which I accepted with limits.  No bedroom access was the rule.  When the clients had left I found all the beds destroyed with dog hairs and muddy paw marks.  Bath had been used for dog washing and dog paw marks on wall of bathroom.  Windows left open and rain damaged paint work.  Keys missing.  Kitchen filthy with ketchup and melted cheese all over.  Something spilled into a drawer and lots of tea towels shoved in to drawer to mop up and just left there.  Cleaning took 2 days and multiple washings of bed linen.  Soul destroying to think that guests could treat an owner like this.  It feels very invasive 

Mary286
Level 2
Charlottesville, VA

The very sad truth is that literally ever single time I have attempted to confront a guest about things they have done wrong or items they have damaged almost 100% of the time they will write me a revenge review and say they had a terrible time and did not like the Airbnb which I know is dishonest because they will have already written me that they had a wonderful time and I loved the space

@Mary286, there is an easy answer to that: wirite a public answer, stating: "before I asked to pay for xy, the guest sent the following message:'..'"

that anwers the bad review efficiently and warns future hosts, when they crosscheck. 

 

In case you had to open a claim with airbnb, write rather: "before xy learned, that I was not happy about broken xxx, he wrote etc"

 

Mary286
Level 2
Charlottesville, VA

It is not a fair system to hosts or future guests because of this. It makes hosts afraid to confront guests or go after damages. I speak from experience. I need honest reviews from my guests in order to rent my Airbnb, a few bad dishonest reviews driven by revenge can greatly harm my ability to rent in th 

Laura865
Level 1
Milliken, CO

I have realized that I cannot write a bad review. I don't have it in me and I also feel like I am the one to blame if guests mess up. So if I have an unpleasant experience, I simply don't leave a review. If hosts do basic sleuthing (which is reading between the review lines, seeing if reviews are specific and from a variety of hosts, etc), they can figure out if a guest is good or not. I have found a way to be proactive though! I have started putting a "Welcome" sheet in my guest rooms that outlines in a friendly way everything about our house, the quirks, the cat, and most importantly our expectations. It might sound snobbish to some people, but I would rather be up front and blunt. If they don't know them, I consider myself at fault. Not all guests read through the expectations on your site, which is not very user friendly to begin with. 

 

I literally write "We expect guests to...." It has worked well, and guests have said they appreciated it. I am even specific as to where a guest should put their wet towels ("not on the comfortor, floor, or wooden furniture, but on the towel rack"). It's crazy, but we have started assuming that most guests have never cleaned a room or bathroom in their life and just don't know basic guest etiquette. Bottom line: having a welcome sheet upon arrival that includes what we expect from guests has been great. 

@Laura865, i like your welcome sheet with your expectations, but not your refuse to review bad guests. How on earth would even Sherlock Holmes discover, that you were unhappy with a guest, if you leave no review at all? 

It's better to leave a very short one, if you do not dare to write a thruthful one. In the style "XY spent three nights at my place." 

That's at least à warning, that there was a stay with nothing good to say about. 

Hi Helga 

thanks thats such a good idea:-)

Kari

I would love to see a copy of your welcome letter! We too are realizing the same thing about guest etiquette and common sense not being so common.  Right now I have a simple welcome letter but after some recent damage due to lack of care I love the idea of a more detailed one in each room.

Khwan0
Level 2
SF, CA

Hello - Quick question - I just had a tricky guest, not horrible just not a five-star kind. I don't want to leave bad review because she wasn't bad, I just don't have anything good to say. I got an alert that she had left a review for me which of course I couldn't see until I write one. The question is, if I don't write a review at all, will her review show after 14 days? I'm not sure whether it was a good or bad review since there was some frustrations in both ends during her stay. Thank you! 

@Khwan0 Yes, if you do not leave a review, your guest's review will appear at the end of the 14 day window.

Cheers!