Guests not leaving reviews

[Leigh523]

I have had 5 guests so far and have only had 1 review. Is this normal? 
I have kept my prices low so I can get some reviews then raise them to match to surrounding properties but no one seems to want to leave a review?  It’s so frustrating. 

[Kate867 · Accepted solution]

@Leigh523   Quite often Guests do not bother to leave a review.  They have had their holiday, short break or needed break and rapidly move on to other things.  Airbnb do remind them to leave a review but generally they just ignore.  I recently left a review as a guest for the first time ever and was surprised at how long it took!  

Perhaps you could mention to ‘outgoing’ guests that you are new to Hosting and would really appreciate a review along with some private feedback.  The personal touch goes a long way in my experience.

[Leigh523]

Yes I always ask them to leave a review when they leave. 

I’ve stayed at more Airbnbs than hosted so I always leave a reviews as soon as I get the email. I know how important it is for the hosts. 

[Emma2903]

I find 1 out of 10 leave reviews 

ive stopped leaving guests reviews unless they review me. Reviews are so important and guests just don’t seem to care they got what they want and don’t care about the host 

[Bob40]

I've been hosting on Airbnb for 5 or so years. Until recently, almost every guest left a review and as a result I have a huge number of 5 star reviews and perhaps three 4 star ones. Suddenly I'm not getting any guest reviews at all. Nothing from the last 5 guests.

It looks to me like Airbnb have forgotten to ask for them. Am I alone with this recent experience?

[Helen3]

I would say 90-95% of my guests leave a review @Bob40

but I'm a homeshare host

do you ask your guests to leave a review indicating how important it is to hosts?

do you always leave a review yourself ?

[Bob40]

@Helen3I've never asked guests to leave a review as it hasn't been necessary. And yes, I review everyone as soon as they've left (or max the day after).

That's why I fear Airbnb has made another 'improvement' and guests aren't being asked or chased any more. 😞

[Huma0]

@Bob40 

No, Airbnb hasn't forgotten to ask them. I very recently stayed at an Airbnb and I got the review reminder pretty much straight away.

[Bob40]

That's good news @Huma0 . So the question is whether they get chased. It's pretty common that guests have a full day of travelling after they leave so they're unlikely to write a review immediately. I suspect Airbnb doesn't follow them up any more.

[Huma0]

@Bob40 

My stay was on 20th August and I got an email from Airbnb on 23rd telling me to write a review by 4th September, so I am pretty sure there are reminders, but I don't know how many or how often as I wrote one at that point.

[Lauren-And-Jeremy0]

But is there more than one reminder? Agreed that most guests leave, have a flight,  long drive whatever and may not have time to write a review right away. Then they forget all about it. Airbnb shouldn't hound them about it with emails every day. But maybe an email a few days later, a week later, a day before the 2 week deadline....just seems to be a noticeable decrease in reviews over the last month or so. 

[Huma0]

@Lauren-And-Jeremy0 @Bob40 

I really can't remember to be honest as I was planning to leave a review anyway and just delete those kinds of notifications. However, I think I got at least two...

[Lauren-And-Jeremy0]

This is  my experience too! 

[Lauren-And-Jeremy0]

It seems like a much smaller percentage of guests are leaving reviews then in the past. Used to be just about everyone did but of the last  8 stays 5 people have not left a review.  I stayed at an Airbnb myself a few weeks ago and only received one email to leave a review.  And it was the day I checked out. No reminders as the 2 weeks approaches. So basically if someone doesn't leave a review immediately and forgets there will be no reminders?? Doesn't seem right,  did something change??

[Huma0]

I am not sure if less guests are leaving reviews as a general trend. I find it depends on the personality of the guests. 

Of the last five guests I hosted, three were wonderful and very conscientious. All of them left a review within a day. One even wrote his before he left (I allowed him a late check out)! They all wrote lovely messages in my guest book and all of them have been in touch with me after their stay (no reason, just being friendly).

The other two were a pain in the backside. Nice people, but disorganised, bad communication, breaking lots of (minor) house rules. They did not say goodbye before they left (bear in mind that I host long term stays and these guests were here for 4-6 weeks, so this is odd), did not write in the guest book and I haven't heard anything from them. No thank you. Again, unusual.

One did not leave a review. The other one still has time but I am not counting on her getting round to it.

That's not to say that I think those guests were unhappy with their stays. One even specifically told me, unprompted, that she was definitely going to leave me a good review. They are just disorganised. You know, the type of people who don't properly read the listing/forget all the house rules or who leave the fridge or the front door open...