When Passive Aggressive Guests making bad reviews should be treated as TROLL

Maddalena0
Level 4
London, United Kingdom

When Passive Aggressive Guests making bad reviews should be treated as TROLL

It happened to me, luckily not often,

to have guests that kept saying that everything was good, either fantastic, during their stay, and then they come out with bad reviews after the stay.

 

I don't know if that happened to you but it is extremely frustrating and should be not accepted by Airbnb rules.

 

My guess is that they don't come out with request during their stay because they don't want bad reviews from the host.

 

I had a guest who kept saying everything was good,and then gave me 3 stars complaining that the shower was not working well, which turned to be true, but I  don't have  a crystal ball to gaze into, if I knew I would have fixed, as I did in no time after his departure.

 

I had another guest, even worse then the previous, that same, kept saying everything was absolutely amazing and then he left a very detailed review explaining everything that was not going well during his stay.

What made it worse is that he complained about lack of services that it was clearly written in the description  that are not in the apartment ( like washing machine or wifi). 

 

Did that happened to you as well?

Don't  you agree with me that this behaviour is absolutely petty and despicable?

 

Airbnb policy should allow to remove reviews of guests where there is a clear proof that they declared that everything was fine during their stay and then unfairly hitted the hosts. 

 

55 Replies 55
Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

The problem is how do you prove they were indeed passive-aggressive; specially with Airbnb who loves all guests so much, even the semi-lunatic ones. Btw, you did raised a good point..

 

"My guess is that they don't come out with request during their stay because they don't want a bad reviews from the host."

 

The epitome of being a slimy snake.

Maddalena0
Level 4
London, United Kingdom

Hi Fred, thank you for replying, I have plenty of prooves to show the behavior.

 

I have my messages saying "is it everything alright?" "yeeeees all wondeful!!!" "... can I help you with anything?" "noooo! you are a WONDERFUL HOST I am so IMPRESSED".

I am not exaggerating, I can show you the conversation. 

 

These guests should be banned because they are malicious and they don't meet the community spirity and the basic interpersonal rules.

 

It should be in the Airbnb policy " Any issue should be raised to the host first in writing. Any review that regards issues not Guests who deliberately avoid to inform the host about any issue and then complain about it on the public review, will be deleted" 

 

"Any Review describing issues on the apartment that have not been reported to the host during the stay, will be deleted, and the guest will be  warned for violating the terms of mutual respect" 

 

English is not my language but something like this..

On logical grounds of course you are right, on Airbnb grounds - the snakes will be favored. I do not know if you have reviewed them yet, but in a short manner I would point exactly that:

 

"How exactly did you go from such gushing compliments like: "Yeeeees it is all wondeful" & "Noooo! you are a WONDERFUL HOST I am so IMPRESSED" during your entire stay, to "(two examples)", without the slightest warning? The Airbnb review system was not meant to be used as nothing but a 'trap', as you have done so."

 

Trust me, no host able to think will touch them.

 

 

Maddalena0
Level 4
London, United Kingdom

Of course I reviewed him already and with a high score, despite he has been very high maintainance during his stay (even the "tick tack of the thermostat was bothering him so much that I had to send a electrician to unplug it from the wall.. ).

 

This is exactly the bad thing. No host will know because I reviewed him well.

 

Airbnb should really persecute that guests. What do you reckon?

Just read the actual review, and the impression I got was that he was the fastidious, 'touchy' type about small things and that is what made him a guest you (or many other hosts) would definitely not relish having him stay again.  I would have reviewed him in this way, by way of example:

 

"A pity you made no mention of such things during your stay along the way, which then we would have easily shown you were they were at or address. I trust we were more than accomodating by letting your girlfriend stay the entire month for free, and at an exceptional original price to boot; wanting our guest to have a great stay is our foremost objective. We wish you the safest of journeys."

 

Read the ongoing thread 'How to Response', which mentions some very helpful hints. The trick in this particular case was to give the the reader of reviews (future potential guests) the impression that the host was cool, the guest, on the other hand, was nothing but a fastidious whinner.  😉

I think every host has that type of guests.

I sugest to hand guests at check in a form where they need to fill out and sign.

the form includes "Dear guest, I/we value our guests and we thrive providing the highest standard

possible and guests experience. That said, I/we appreciate you taking the time to make me/us better hosts. Please let me/us know what I/we can approved and please sign below."

 

you can write a list of questions or just let the guest write their suggestions. collect the form the next day and make sure the guest sign the form.

The signed form will take the steam out of pasive agresive guests

and hold guests responsible for any not acurate reviews, you always can present the signed form. 

However, take the time to immidiatly fix any problem the guest poit uot to you. 

insist the guest will fill out and sign the form the next day.

You can add it to your house rules so guests will be require to fill and sign the form house rules: "guests are require to fill and sign evaluation form. Thank you"  Happy hostings.

I was just scrolling through looking for a similar question.  I just had a guest do that to me 2 days ago.  Over an issue that could have been resolved easily had I known or if it was a real issue anyway.  She smiled at me and told me everything was great the whole time.  Gave me a low star rating on everything including price.  For $29 I think my listing is one of the cheapest in the New York City area.  Now I'm scared to death of losing my listing.  

HI @Andrea0, I had a guest who had "an issue with the hot water in the morning that was resolved quickly;" nonetheless, she gave a poor rating (as you know according to the Airbnb calibration system, anything below 5 stars is considered bad). The issue with the hot water was that another guest started doing his wash early in the morning, and as soon as I received a text from the guest complaining about the hot water, I turned the washer off, and the "issue was resoved." How would you call that? That day I was off work sick as a dog

Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

Hello @Andrea0

My experience has been that lowest prices in the area tend to attract the lowest quality of guest......the inconsiderate guest.

I had to raise my prices last year just to weed out these characters and review and rewrite my description and write draconian house rules.

 

This season as there was less room for manoeuvre for lack of consideration,  but instead I have landed up with the entitled guest, who thinks my beautiful home in a stunning location in the countryside is a hotel offering 24/7 service in a bustling metropolis of shopping malls etc open 24/7

Maddelena, 

 

I agree with your posts. There needs to be more layers protecting the host. 

Anytime I charge a guest a fee for throw up on the bed or anything I automatically get a passive aggressive review. 

 

Crystal144
Level 10
Central Coast, Australia

Hi there! I know I’m late to the sub, but just wanted to check in and see if any changes were made to Airbnb rules as a result of your post? I feel you raised and made excellent points 

No changes.

When I talked to Airbnb support, the guy was sympatizing with me but he said that sadly he couldn't do anything and he said I should write a feedback to Airbnb.

I did write the feedback but Airbnb never got back to me.

Maybe if we all do...

 

Hosts need to stop writing up how wonderful their guests were when they know they've either been irresponsible or have chosen to write petty-minded reviews as if they were on a reality tv show. It's a two way street, so write as you find. As they say the customer is king/queen, but not always right!  More often than not they are paying significantly less for so much more & either choose to ignore this fact or think they can write as they please. Moderators take note!

yes but in my case I found everything good.

And during his stay, the guest was super nice and saying eveything was eccellent 

( I am not  exaggerating).

Then he wrote a bad review.