Guest and host reviews

[Shealagh0]

If I give a guest a bad review for leaving my home extremely messy and not following the rules, just not respectful  will it get published even if the guest does not leave a review. I choose to host a guest based on reviews but if bad reviews are not published then that gives a false impression of that person. 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Shealagh0 Yes it will. Your review will be posted at the earlier of when the guest reviews you or 14 days have passed since the stay ended. After 14 days it is then too late for the guest to review you hence maintaining the integrity of the system.

[Shealagh0]

Thanks for confirming that for me.  Another question, when airbnb sent an email saying So and So has left you a 5* review, if I give a 1* review and they get an email  saying that are they more likely to retaliate and not be truthful so then give me a bad review. Should I wait until they do their review first. 

I suppose I have been fortunate to have only had 2 really bad lots of guests which is really upsetting when its your home and you know you had it all looking pristine and lovely for their arrival, nice flowers, bottle of wine, garden lawn cut and everything set out nice.

If I had the security deposit and not Airbnb I would definately tell people there would be an extra cleaning fee deducted if dirty dishes are left out, bins full, recycling left in the kitchen, furniture moved around and not put back, lights and heating left on and windows left open after they have checked out etc.

Sorry, having a rant today as that is what my house was like this morning

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Shealagh0 Oh dear a few points to deal with here:

1) You only get the 'XXX has left you a 5* review' after you have reviewed them. This will apply to the guest as well so there is no need to worry about reviewing first. In fact if you are planning to claim for damage you should leave a review (slating the guest) asap in the hope that they review you before you then claim the damage from Airbnb.

2) I doubt anyone will ever prosecute you but technically it is illegal even to give wine away in an Airbnb without a licence in the UK. Also some will be concerned if a recovering alcoholic is booked with you.

3) Airbnb does not hold a security deposit. I don't know where this myth comes from.

4) Do leave honest reviews for those guests who treat your place badly but also remember the vast majority of guests are great. I can only think of 2 or 3 that we wouldn't want to return in the 5 years we have been hosting.

[Stephanie2802]

What Mike said especially in part one. I made the mistake of reaching out to a guest who flooded my unit before the review process was done and a great stay turned into a bad review that lost me my 5 star rating, and airbnb wouldn't do anything about it. So definitely get the review in then start the process.

[Fred13]

@Shealagh0  Hosting goes a lot smoother if hosts do not apply 100% of their personal standards upon their guests. After all, they are total strangers and you certainly are bound to be at times very disappointing when you 'had all looking pristine and lovely for their arrival, nice flowers, bottle of wine, garden lawn cut and everything set out nice." and then the 'messy' ones arrive.

   Granted these folks left the place 'messy' so thus technically they 'didn't follow the rules', and thus they were not 'respectful'. How 'messy' were they really? Were they at the edge of being a bit sloppy, well about 20% of my clientele are, but I have yet have had reason to give them less than a 4 because they were fine in other respects. You mentioned a #1 star which caused me to write the above. The point? Caution with too high of expectations, which may take the fun out of hosting and perhaps lead to unnecessary confrontations, which I suspect this could easily be one.

P.S. My wife is a stickler for 'everything has to be perfect',  but I get to review the guests otherwise few would merit higher than -1s. 😎

[Shealagh0]

General messiness, ie dishes left in kitchen,  recycling and dirty bins left in kutchen too, wet towels all over the place, living room like a bomb has dropped, i can manage to overlook but leaving central heating on full blast, lights on everywhere, windows left open, doors unlocked is disrespectful and if I hadnt gone to check within the hour that would have been expensive and a security risk. For that reason they will definately not merit more than 2*, I would never have them back even if they offered double the money.