Warning hosts of a potential risk guest

[Hellen8]

‘If I want to warn other hosts about a guest, how can I do this without the guest seeing?’

[Kath9]

@Hellen8, guests will be able to see your review of them, but they won't be able to see if you give them a thumbs down. Can I ask why you don't want the guest to see your warning?

[Hellen8]

Hi Kath,  The guest was a little concering in so much as if they read a negative review or any little comment that would be the slightest negative I worry I would attract aggresive behaviour

[Hellen8]

Hi Kath,  The guest was a little concering in so much as if they read a negative review or any little comment that would be the slightest negative I worry I would attract aggresive behaviour. 

[Ava30]

Hi @Hellen8, If you are worried about a guest becoming aggressive toward you because of a negative review, I strongly suggest that you, at the very least, contact AirBnB customer service and let them know that you feel threatened by this person. I probably would also be calling law-enforcement if I was that worried about it.  If you have any kind of threats from them on the Airbnb messaging platform, you can point that out to customer service. Hopefully you can get them banned from the platform. 

[Hellen8]

Thank you Ava.  II'm not sure how this guest will go it's a gut feeling.  They went right into all there drama in life on meeting and seemed very edgy.  Then over the time this one person was in the accommodation There were strangers popping in.  A little bit dodgy.  It was concerning and I wondered if there was some way I could let other hosts know without stirring anything up.  I think it will be okay just warning bells ringing.  The accommodation was left in an acceptable state.  But it was an unerving experience, that's all.  The advise is great for any future troubles.  It's my first strange guest I have had to deal with, so wanted to get some feedback.

[Hellen8]

I'm thinking perhaps best idea is not leave a review??

[Rachel177]

@Hellen8 you must leave a review. You've mentioned you want to warn other hosts and as a host I would like to know whether or not to accept a reservation.

The review doesn't have to be negative. Something along the lines that "X stayed for Y days, and seemed to have extra guests over". Then give them a thumbs down (the guest does not see this only hosts), and if they broke your house rules by having strangers visiting then I would be marking him down on house rules.

[Hellen8]

Yes I like the sound of that.  So only the host's get to see this?   

The reason I thought of not leaving a review is because they have none, to date and I thought that is like a code 'Don't accept'.  I am still feeling my way around this new experience, however with this experience it's alerted me to the security reviews give in accepting or not accepting.  Thanks for your input Rachel 🙂

[Rachel177]

@Hellen8 only hosts see that a guest has been given a thumbs down. It also means that the guest cannot book using instant booking & has to request to book, which is great for hosts (like me) who use IB. It's a pretty big flag for hosts & I really appreciate other hosts giving honest reviews about problem guests.

[Heather133]

@Hellen8, @Rachel177, yes, Rachel has suggested what I consider the code for a challenging guest without explicitly saying so. I've only done it a couple of times, but it goes something along the lines of "X was a guest over a weekend in February." Other hosts will be able to read between the lines. Then give them the thumbs down.

For a long time I was under the impression that one had to choose thumbs up or thumbs down. I learned here in the CC that another option is neither up or down. It taught me to look for the indication "this guest is recommended by x hosts." 

I made a resolution to leave more honest reviews for people in a nice way going forward. If someone isn't instant booking their property they won't see the star ratings. So glossing over in the written review and relying on the stars alone isn't going to help everyone.

Good luck Hellen!

[Hellen8]

Thank you Heather and Rachel.  It is fantastic to be getting all these bits of advise from people who have been involved for a while and have leanrt 'the law of the land' so-to-speak.  I tend to get a little rattled with the airbnb platform at times and press things without taking my time and understanding all that is possible before I go pressing things.  So I ended up writing a really honest review, but unfortunately I did it too quick and forgot to press the thumbs down.  Anyway, she did get a little narky in the end, obviously reading my review and wrote a comment saying it wasn't her style and that she's used to doing what she likes, basically and took stars off.  Anyway, at least hosts will read what I've written.  Lesson learnt.  

Many thanks to all who participated in this experience.  Happy Hosting 🙂

Kindest regards

Hellen

[Ange2]

@Hellen8  Your safety and well-being is paramount. But to warn future hosts you could  just write as review:  "guest stayed xxx nights",  and give 1 star to all categories, thumb them down and flag their profile. Most hosts will see that as a warning and the guest will not be able to book IB with such a rating,  and Airbnb may do something about the flagged profile.  Good luck!

[Hellen8]

Thank you Ange.  Yes this is what I was thinking to do originally.  I am a little uneasy in doing this, because if the guest sees this it could stir them up and I didn't want to attract/ignite any aggresion.  I have a supision the guest wont bother with a review.  In this case my review will not be shown.  Is this correct?  

[Emilia42]

@Hellen8, If this guest does not leave you a review, your review of them will post after the 14 day review period has ended. Please leave a review. It is a very important aspect of being part of a hosting community.