Why did the guest see my review before he wrote his?

Answered!
Steffi16
Level 3
Zürich, Switzerland

Why did the guest see my review before he wrote his?

I just wrote my first negative review for a guest. Maybe I could have worded it a bit more diplomatically and done more writing between the lines (see the review below) but I wanted to be honest so that future hosts would not experience the same as I did. I took a chance on the guest as he had no previous reviews, and in the end wished I hadn't.

 

So, I left an honest review, with the understanding that the quest could not see my review until he wrote his - but he definitely saw mine, as he contacted me on whatsapp asking why I had written a negative review and then left an utterly horrible review as revenge. I bent overbackwards for this manipulative guest and although I didnt expect a perfect rating I am confident he would have written a better, more honest review had he not seen mine.

 

 I thought the point of Airbnb is the honest reviews that promote both good hosts and good guests? How am I supposed to leave an honest, negative review that will help other hosts in the future if the guest can see my review first and will punish my listing by giving me a horrible rating?

 

Here's MY REVIEW:

"Bruno was a clean guest, but he did not communicate well about his needs. He was extremely sensitive to house dust and allergic to dogs and did not mention this beforehand, even though my listing clearly states that we have a dog in our apartment. Although the room was spotless before Bruno arrived, I had to remove our goose down blankets, re-wash all of the bedding, and remove the curtains (which are washed 2 times a year), and re-vacuum the entire room due to his allergies. Note that none of our other guests have had any issues whatsoever. As I work 60% and am also studying for my Masters degree this is a lot of extra work and I would have advised Bruno to find another, allergy-friendly listing if I had known this beforehand. In addition to this he became very unfriendly towards me when, during his stay, he contacted me last minute about a ride in my car (I had already arrived at home) and when he requested to check out later than the stated time on airbnb and I declined due to my work responsibilities (he requested 12:00 pm, and my Airbnb listing has a checkout at 09:00 am). In addition to other factors (e.g. crumbs in the bed) I would not recommend Bruno as a guest."

GUEST RESPONSE: "
I can forget things like dust, bugs, noise, but what turned my bad experience into a "never again" was host´s bad attitude, dishonesty and cowardliness."

Accuracy feedback: Noise, WiFi

Cleanliness feedback: Dust, Pests

1 Best Answer
Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

Hi Steffi

to prevent entitled guests like this crossing your path again....may I suggest that you add this to your description/ house rules/photo headings etc as I have done on my listing for my place.

 

If you have nut allergy, food intolerances or allergies please do not book my accommodation but find somewhere else to stay that suits your specialist dietary needs or personal needs as my accommodation will not suit you.

View Best Answer in original post

48 Replies 48
Jan384
Level 3
Dübendorf, Switzerland

Well what you can do is try and contact Airbnb... I mean the system can always have a bug and the messages do seem to indicate the guest saw your review.

 

I'm not quite sure how things are currently and I suspect that you're attempts might be futile, but in the past we were successful with fighting one review where the guest wrote to us - after we inquired - that everything was perfect and gave 4stars because he NEVER gives 5 stars.

I had exactly the same issue with the same solution.

Marisa182
Level 7
University Park, MD

I've been hosting for just over three months, so there's a lot I don't know, but I do think that somehow guests must be able to read the hosts review before they write their own. I recently wrote a review saying that communication was a real issue with this guest which  made hosting a challenge. I specifically did not say that language was the issue because this guest communicated well enough when he chose to. In his review he only mentioned communication, saying " Even we had some communication problems... " That makes me think that he had read my review. He knocked down my overall rating to 4.9 and gave me 4 stars on cleanliness, which is just plain silly. My place is brand new and absolutely spotless at all times when a guest arrives. And yes, even though my space is for one, he is correct when he says "we".

Dana219
Level 2
Snoqualmie, WA

I agree that guests appear to have at least a bit of a preview or another method of knowing what the host's review will look like; I have been hosting for just a few weeks and already had to leave an average review for a guest, knowing that they most likely would lower their review of my home in response. I consider 4- or 5-stars to be "Great" and "Exceptional." 3-stars is average, and that is what I gave them. Why?

 

  1. The guest making the reservation (at midnight) requested within my 3-day heads-up window, meaning it was already shorter than usual notice mid-week.  I accepted their request within 12-hours of receiving it after waiting 4-hours to see if I could get more details from them in response to my first message.
  2. They did not reply to any of my messages trying to confirm arrival and departure times so I could coordinate cleaning; I needed to plan access and turnover between guests.
  3. Their first reply was sent less than 2 hours from the time check-in was to end.
  4. They still did not arrive until 1.5 hours past check-in.
  5. They did not read the house rules they agreed to and brought in food products that I request (in my house rules) not be brought into the house; I have made exceptions if a guest asks.

 

My review was very diplomatic, and in the private feedback I encouraged them to read rules more closely and be more communicative to help future hosts plan. That's it. In return, I received a poor review and my overall rating dropped; a single poor review when you are a new host has a major impact.

 

Thankfully, that review stands out as an anomaly amongst all my other 5-star reviews, and my other guests have been fantastic. I even ask for their direct feedback on things to improve (lighting, additional items in the bath, kitchen, updates to directions, etc.), so I am not opposed to hearing I can do better. A minimal amount of communication and attention to detail would have made the difference with this guest.

 

Here's hoping the system gets some kind of improvement in keeping reviews double-blind so hosts can be honest about their experiences without fear of backlash from guests/an imbalanced review system.

 

Venting over. Moving on to my next awesome guests!

Teresa580
Level 1
Arlington, VA

Agreed. I had to leave my first negative review of a guest, after hosting many fantastic ones, and he definitely got word.  He wrote an angry review within the hour.  

Victoria567
Level 10
Scotland, United Kingdom

Hi Steffi

to prevent entitled guests like this crossing your path again....may I suggest that you add this to your description/ house rules/photo headings etc as I have done on my listing for my place.

 

If you have nut allergy, food intolerances or allergies please do not book my accommodation but find somewhere else to stay that suits your specialist dietary needs or personal needs as my accommodation will not suit you.

What had been your response to the guest’s WhatsApp inquiry?

Vinstant0
Level 2
Malvern, AR

I no wat u mean

Misha30
Level 2
West Chester, PA

As a host I thank you for writing an honest review. Your guest sounds like a jerk! Be glad you are done with him! 

I don’t know why anyone thinks you can simply get a guest rehoused. I had a guest complain that the A/C wasn’t working. I freaked out and tried to alert airbnb to a “safety issue” since it does get quite hot here and I was afraid it could get quite uncomfortable. Airbnb didn’t contact me until the next day, by which time I had remedied the situation. I think they may act faster if a guest requests alternative lodging so in the future, I may recommend that an unhappy guest do so.  Luckily, it wasn’t necessary in this case. 

Lisa391
Level 3
Asheville, NC

I've been asking Airbnb about reviews being seen when they are not past the 14 day or mutual review. Airbnb swears that is no possible.  I'm seeing and hearing that isn't the case that people can see reviews before the mutual review is done.  And leaving a review after they see what the other person's review was.  I've called Airbnb out on this and they say it isn't possible.  I clearly see that isn't the case.  I just am in awe that this company does so well when clearly it has major internal issues going on.  I appreciate the honesty here and see how Airbnb really has a broken system. 

Adriana920
Level 2
Ruse, Bulgaria

I have just had a very similar experience, but as a guest. We just left an Airbnb, which was our worst experience with the platform. Communication with the host was mainly missing, we asked them direct questions and got answers within 12-16 hours, which had nothing to do with the subject of the question. The place was a total mess, with a lot of basic amenities in bad condition or not working and overall the apartment was very dirty, we had an awful check in experience etc. Last night I wrote a 3-star review, explaining all of that and recieved a negative review in response from the host rightaway, which stated "The left apartment very dirty".  As I responded, non of our previous hosts complained about our cleanliness and they all left us very nice reviews. Also, the host never responded to our message that we left the apartment, but just after our review, they wrote us a bad one. Which made me think if there is a way for the host to find out that we left them a bad review and respond with a bad one too...

@Adriana920  I think what happened is not that the host could see your review before he wrote his, but when he received a notification that you had left a reveiw, he assumed it would be a bad one, because he knew the place wasn't up to par and you made him aware of it during your stay. So he wrote a bad review to counter the bad review he assumed he'd get from you.

It works the other way around, too. Many times guests are pretty sure they are going to get a bad review, because they broke house rules and were called out on it during their stay, or they damaged things. So they write a bad "retaliation" review even though they can't see the host's review until they post theirs.

I've been hosting for 3 years and I've never been able to see a guest's review until I submitted mine.

Lisa4991
Level 1
Oshawa, Canada

I just had a very similar experience in that our last guest completely trashed our place, broke furniture and completely disrespected our place. We didn’t charge a damage deposit unfortunately so we’re SOL.

As soon as I was able to write a review I did so that this wouldn’t happen to other hosts or at least make them think twice about allowing this person to book their place. Shortly after I submitted my review I received their poor review which made ridiculous claims about the cleanliness of the house which I feel would only have been prompted by seeing my review of them.

They were only our third guest and the house was made immaculate before their arrival. My husband and I had little contact with this person as it was self check-in and we were nothing but pleasant in our communication. 
It has just been really upsetting to know that people can get away with completely disrespecting your property and the host is the one to suffer at the mercy of their review.

That's shocking.   Did you make a claim through Airbnb?   I understand they have insurance to protect hosts?