iOS app is sending review period reminders as notifications

[Jason25]

Hi All,

I use the iPhone app for a lot of my messaging needs and like that my phone vibrates when I receive messages from guests or booking requests. That said, this week, my phone has started vibrating in the middle of the night prompting me to review guests that just checked out. I'm on the East Coast and used to get the review reminder emails in the AM (shortly after 11am and never as a notification on the phone app).

Any idea on how to adjust the settings - I already unchecked the option to receive notifications about upcoming trips and reviews as I already know when my guests are coming. But receiving review requests in the middle of the night is becoming a challenge - I'm happy to wake up in case a guest needs assistance (lock out, etc.), but don't need to be woken up telling me I have 14 days to leave a review....

[Amaris0]

Hi, just checking that you have reviewed your ticked options for Push Notification Settings & Text Message Settings as the nature of information you receive to an iPhone, iPad or Android device depends on the options ticked - 

If you point the cursor on you name and choose Account Setting from the drop down menu then choose Notification, you will get a list of contact options and you can choose which to turn on or off

Hope this does help, it must be a pain having non-urgent messages disturb your sleep.

Ama

[Roger0]

I too am supremely annoyed about getting push notifications for review reminders, though VERY much appreciate the email version. I followed the instructions here, however I only find a "Reservation and review reminders" option under "Email Settings" not under "Push Notifications" or "Text Message". I also did not find anything that granular in the app Settings > Notifications screen. Care to be more specific about what option will disable this?

--Roger

[Gregory18]

I agree.  The settings do not allow me to keep push notifications for actually ugent things, without also recieving alerts that I can write a review.

I my current setting for Push is only for "Messages from hosts and Guests" yet I am recieveing messages about reviews.

In my opinon there should be more options in the settings, but if things are going to be lumped, these are what are important to me and deserve Push for timeliness:

Inquiry, Reservation Request, Request to Alter, Message from Guest

The rest can go to my email...

[Roger0]

I both submitted an email/eTicket and spoke with an Airbnb Rep (1-855-424-7262) who confirmed separating out guest activity (new inquiries, communication, etc.) is not presently an option. They provided the following form to ensure the appropriate resources there fielded the concern:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

I encourage anyone else troubled by this new behavior to fill out the feedback form and/or reach out to Airbnb Support as you see fit, so they are clear on host impact.

I consider the inability to supress non-guest related activity as annoying, but receiving them at 4am in the morning and being woken up is enraging. Another host suggested simply putting one's phone on silent mode and/or programming only certain family members be able to trigger a notification, however I pride myself on responding to inquiries within one hour no matter the time of day/night. My understanding is this also improves one's ranking in the search results (one of many factors). So putting my phone on silent and ignoring any guest inquiries or communication all night is not an acceptable workaround.

Please make your voice heard on this in hopes of a solution or workaround!

[Jennifer168]

I 100% agree with you on this.  I too am being woken up in the middle of the night with push review reminders and it is ridiculous.  Like you, I want to keep push reminders for important things but reminders are not one of them.  I submitted my plea on the feedback form you provided.  Thanks.

[Tim54]

Completely agree, the recent change to this functionality is very annoying.  My wife and newborn baby (6 weeks old) have been disturbed on too many occasions in the last few days which is resulting in me getting grief.  Have submitted feedback to Airbnb, hopefully they resolve asap.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

Set your phone to silent during night time.....you can usually allow certain groups/numbers to call you (eg family members)

[Andrea220]

I have noticed this too and been woken up at 2:00 am and 4:00 am twice in the last three days. I too do not want to turn notifications off completely in case of a guest emergency. If anyone finds a solution, please post it here.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Andrea220 Just set the hours that you want your phone to be silent. Emergency texts and calls from family can still get through, but it will not make noise or vibrations for regular e-mails, spam text, or other notifications.

[Jennifer168]

@ed&hugh But I still want to receive the push notifications from Airbnb to be audible if it is a message from a guest and I can't set my phone to do that. The only way to resolve this problem is to have Airbnb make the push notification for reviews an opt out.@Ed0&hugh But I still want to receive the push notifications from Airbnb to be audible if it is a message from a guest and I can't set my phone to do that. The only way to resolve this problem is to have Airbnb make the push notification for reviews an opt out.

[Andrea220]

Exactly! Ed does not understand what we have all been saying. The structure within the app needs to change. Not us.

[Andrea220]

@Ed-and-Hugh0That doesn't solve anything. As the original poster stated, most of us like to be available for our guests 24 hours a day. I am happy to be woken up to be available in an emergency situation but reviews should not be on push notifications PERIOD. I have two weeks to complete them and get multiple email reminders, I do not need push notifications saying I should leave a review or a guest has left me one.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Jason25 Use the silent mode on your phone. This will stop this, but still allow emergency calls and texts from family and friends (or whoever you set up) to come through.

[Trip0]

I called tech support on the morning of July 13, 2016 and asked them how to turn off these annoying messages.

They can not be stopped without stopping essential messages as well (like a reservation request from a guest). For those of us who manage multiple properties, it is essential to be able to narrow the data stream to include only the most time-sentitive info.

Like a controvercial rider tacked on to an American congressional bill working it's way though that governament, these review reminders have been 'bundled' with our essential data stream, despite that fact that most hosts prefer to use a proper keyboard/ computer to write a proper review.

Hosts of the world, PLEASE SPEAK OUT and help the management and tech departments of AirBnB understand that hosts want to preserve our capacity to customize our data stream so AirBnB will add a preference to the mobile app which premits hosts to STOP these messages.

Here is the message that I sent to Cust. Serv. yesterday and I encourage, nay, IMPLORE you to borrow, copy or steal any part of it in word or spirit to provide informative feedback to the powers that be and correct this new direction which has them manifesting the sort of top-down managment style which I've come to expect from VRBO.

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In general your web and phone interfaces are great and your customer service is very good, but you've just recently changed WHICH messages are sent to phones in the SMS push bundle and the result is very aggravating.

I have push notifications on because you penalize hosts who do not respond promptly to guest's reservation requests, but now you are sending other non-essential messages ("this is a reminder to review your last guest") in this data stream with no way of turning this feature off, when this message could have been more effectively delivered and addressed via email.

Those of us who manage multiple properties and get a LOT of messages, only want our phone to serve up calls and messages which are time-sentitive and essential. This over-reach is a most uncharacteristic privacy invasion for Air BnB, the sort top-down management directive that I expect from VRBO.

–––END SAMPLE TEXT–––