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

@Dinko-and-Pam0. You should always leave an objective honest review.  Since Airbnb's reviews are "blind", one review cannot trigger a bad review.  In other words, if you write a review for me which is somewhat negative, I will not see your review until I write my review of you.  I have no idea what you wrote until I leave my review.  

 

Here are my own guidelines for writing a review (good and bad):

 

1. I never write a review until my house has been thoroughly inspected and cleaned for the next guest.  That could mean 3 - 4 days after checkout.  Many hosts write a review right away and find out later they should have written something different.

 

2. I limit my review to a maximum of 2 to 3 sentences.  A "just the facts, ma'am" review. I think about what I want to say for some period of time before I write the review.  Once reviews are published, there is no going back to edit or remove it. 

 

3. My yardstick for whether I write a good or bad review is whether I would want this guest to re-book with me.  If yes, I say so.  If no, I say why not without being judgemental. 

 

4. I take it as my responsibility to inform future hosts about my experience with the guest so they can make an informed decision. I've never failed to write a review for a guest. 

 

Here's an example of a review I struggled with since the guest was atrociously late (arrived 5 hours past my check in window at midnight) but otherwise was a great guest: 

 

"Although X arrived quite late, she was a great guest and the next time I would feel totally comfortable leaving the key under the doormat."

 

This conveys to future hosts that the guest might not respect check in windows ( I saw a previous review that mentioned a late arrival) without disparaging her as a guest.  Short and to the point. 

 

In your case you might write something like "X needs to improve in making sure trash is disposed properly and take more care in avoiding spills on the furniture as well as tracking mud into the house for which he apologized."

 

Honest reviews are the keystone of Airbnb without which people would not think of letting strangers into their homes.  So go ahead and describe your experience.  I, for one, want to know what the person was like as a guest before I accept a reservation request.  That said, I also accept many new guests without any reviews and have without exception, found them to be great guests!

 

I hope this helps!

Clare

 

 

 

Thank you Clare....your suggestions are very helpful. 

Maybe other hosts will see it for what it is a warning.. no?

You will feel even worse if you get the "revenge review" anyway and you haven't been truthfull about the abuse you experienced.

Kari

We've had some bad guest stay at our condo. It's a frustrating system to adhere too. I was fortunate enough on my last guest, to have them review me first, then I was able to let it flow, keep it real. When I wasn't able to be so fortunate to be the "last one to speak"  I got a revenge response, which can be typical human behavior. I wish today I could be so honest.  Something oily all over floors and glitter over entire condo. Little sparkles. We'll be seeing that for months. I reached out to ask what was spilled and there were lies compounded to hide something. Our youth haven't the skills to deal like the plus 30 crowd. 

I just had back to back guests who caused me a lot of stress . The first one accused me of misrepresentation of my sleeping arrangements , when my pictures and number of beds clearly shows everything . This guest also exaggerated every complaint she had with me . The funny thing is all my previous guests had not complained about my sleeping arrangements but gave excellent reviews . My resort where my cottage is experienced a water pump issue at 11:36m and the resort management had the technicians work on the issue the following morning . They managed to restore water supply at 1:26 pm . She complained to Airbnb they had no water for 18 hours ! What a lie ! Cause she wanted to be reimbursed $200, She suggested we deal with this matter outside of Airbnb cause if I went through that route it would cost me more . I was astounded how would she know how Airbnb would solve this issue and why she wanted to the issue solved out of Airbnb portal ??  It looks like this guest is a pro in this . She must have done it before !  I stated I wanted Airbnb involved and her answer was : "fair enough ! I will write my review accordingly " I did not know why she told me this and what was the motive?  I Want to write a true and honest review for this guest but I'm fearful she will revenge and destroy my excellent ratings . Also what I noticed is this guest has been a guest since 2015 but has had only I review with a 4 star rating . I'm pretty sure this wasn't her second stay in am Airbnb . Could anyone tell me what to do . ? As for the issue I did not reimburse her $200 for the misrepresentation borgus claim but I reimbursed her $100 out of my own confederate thoughts the convenience they water issue caused them though it wasn't my fault nor was the issue affecting my cottage only but the whole entire resort . I

It's a phrase I'm going to remember:-)

Kate. In this instance, I think, “better suited to a motel” says more. 

A hotel ssuggests, picky, fussy, time consuming and needing lots of attention.

A motel suggests - more messy, not a rule follower.

I always check responses to feedback because:

    - it tells me the hosts care about feedback and are more likely to respond

    - the language of the response makes a difference  -- e,g, thank you for your review.  Based on ...... (what you said ) we now .......   There is always something you can say.

    - very few hosts respond to all or even most comments.

    - If you care to be specific about tricky, I suspect you'll get some help here.

    - Imo,  the worst thing to do is ignore

    - You can highlight the good things about your place by responding to specific commernts from positive requests

 

Write the truth.  The truth is it's own defense.

And write the truth about Airbnb.

They have an "extortion" policy but I bet most people would worry about writing the truth about Airbnb.

The truth is that Airbnb has not phone or email or chat or carrier pigeon service to resolve any problem as far as I can tell.

And that is just about as bad as service can get.

The BNB in Airbnb stands for bed and BREAKFAST. Since they rarely give breakfast, I don;'t expect them to be buttoned up otherwise.

 

I look at this company as a matching service. Nothing else. I am the one who has to do the research and decide. This is annoying - from misleading pictures, omitted information, missing parts of a  house, vague or negative answers to questions or no answers. It takes time but at this point, it's worth my time because the result is more pleasant.. more space.

 

I have been able to contact them easily but the results were poor. My one experience from hell was an apartment that listed air conditioning but had none. My complaints led the host to remove the A/.c  feature when he should no longer be a host.

 

This company hs grown too fast and neglected quality. If it continues to, it will face competition and lobbies for higher taxes (the same as hotels),  zoning etc,

 

Well imho if there was vomit all over then someone was not well and when you are unwell you don't feel like rinsing sheets and doing laundry. I personally would not hold an ill person to the same standards that I would a well person. Song

 If this is the case, it is the guest responsibility to let the host know this in advance. Although a person is sick, they have to put themselves in someone else's place. Who would want to go thur laundry only to find that vomit (human waste) is inside. No one! They could have put the sheet in the tub or at least clean it up the best they could.

Goes both ways. The host needs to be clear as well, very.  If you go to a hotel and vomit on the sheets or urine, or if you are on an airplane ( happened to me w/my son) it is cleaned up immediately. Airbnb could avoid this by setting standards and consequences.

 

Well, was this person by himself? If he was able to walk out on his 2 feet and not on a stretcher he could have soaked the bedsheets. If he was with someone the other person should have done that. If it was a woman even worse!  I had a guest who left bloody sheets. He said his nose bled and was asking me why I complain when it's easy to get the stain out with clorine. If it was that easy why didn't you get it out, I thought. I draw the line at bodily fluids. If an accident like this happens I think it is the guests responsibility to clean the best they can. Otherwise it is disrespectful.  I as a guest, spent one night trying to flush a toilet that my nephew clogged with a big poo. He was severely constipated. That was the only toilet in the apartment we rented and there was another family with us. The host didn't have a plunger. It was a nightmare but i fixed it. I'm sure these people who leave vomit, blood and poo would have left the toilet clogged and wrote a bad review like Host had no plunge.

Tatyana5
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I agree with not holding an unwell person as accountable. However, what the original poster wrote sounds more like partying and vomit from a person who likely drank too much. I suppose in the most basic sense that means they 'weren't well' but it's very different from having a tummy bug. Also the rest of the mess they left is outrageous. There's no way to clean up in time for the next person.

 

I have had people who were genuinely unwell leave a blanket with vomit smell on it (not visible) and put back into the cupboad sloppily. I doubt they even realised themself. Thank goodness I smelled it when refolding the blanket. In this case, it wasn't a big deal and I didn't hold it against the guests – even though it meant I was inconvenienced by not having a n extra blanket for the next guest... However, if there was evidence of a party and so much mess was left I would be pretty angry.

 

Many guests don't take into consideration the actual costs of cleaning a house – not to mention the limited amount of time we have to clean on a back to back and how that can ruin the next booking.