I will no longer post a bad review about a guest

[Megan160]

I had an awful guest experience and tried to settle it with the guest personally. She stayed at a reduced rate and then needed to extend her stay. We gave her an even bigger rate discount. When she left, she left the place a mess. Dirty, greasy dishes, pots and pans. All the furniture was in dissaray, both sets of blankets/quilts had spots and stains on them, there were crumbs in all the beds on the mattress pads (which had to be hand picked off), and she ruined a set of sheets.

I took 3 days to cool off before I texted her because we really went out of our way to help this guest and she took advantage of us. I told her I was unhappy about the state of the place and asked her to pay $50 to replace the sheets. Prior to this text, she had nothing but glowing reviews and thanks for me in all her texts. She did not understand why she should have to pay for her sheets because I was a woman and the damaged sheets were a result of a "woman thing" and thus I should understand. I said I shouldn't have to pay for her "woman thing".

After much internal debate, I decided to warn other hosts and gave her an appropriate but still not brutal review, even leaving out the refusal to pay for damages and passing on her lame excuse for the mess. She then gave me a bad review, lying about my place and me. Prior to this review, I had 5 star reviews. Now people think my place is noisy and I am rude. My bookings have almost stoped dead in their tracks after her review. Plus, my 3 month pre-book for Jan-March canceled right after the review. I have contacted Airbnb twice about this to no avail. I had responded to her bad review, but not in much detail because I assumed that if I could prove it was a retaliatory review, it would be removed. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! Not only will they not remove it, they won't even let me expound on my explanation to her bad review.

So frustrated! I am knee deep in the process of spending a lot of money to make my other 2 rentals Airbnb rentals and now I can't even get bookings in prime season. Airbnb penalizes us for trying to warn other hosts about bad guests.

[Jessica4124]

Megan, I am responding to this because I googled what happens when as a guest if you leave a poor review and your host retaliates. I am so sorry as a host this has happened to you, but I wanted to reach out and let you know that as a guest, this  also happened to me. I was lied to about amenities, and my actions and I even have photographs of the green swimming pool upon my arrival and upon leaving, and photos of the missing amenities where there’s nothing but dead plants in place… I traveled 4000 miles and stayed nine days to relax and swim and soak up sunshine, unfortunately we ended up swimming in a green pool… after leaving an honest review about my families personal experience, they left me a very bad review immediately after as well. None of which was true 😞

i contacted Airbnb and I was told by Airbnb that I could ask the host to mutually agree to remove our reviews together. I felt like would not be helping the other guests out because my review was honest and I had pictures to support it, and it felt like leaving no review was the same as lying to the viewers because it was just that bad for us. Plus why should I be the one fighting for the good review when I was an amazing guest! I left the place cleaner than I arrived other than bedding and towels. I even took pictures after leaving to show the state we left it. We did nothing wrong yo deserve a bad review other than leave an honest one. I decided to take the hit and let the hosts ugly untrue words speak for themselves. Anyone who books with TingTing in Glendale AZ. will know I was right, even if they aren’t willing to risk their reputation or stars by leaving an honest review. I guess I am taking one for the team at this point because I refuse to be silent… I feel like Airbnb has allowed defamation of my name and this is illegal, because they only left me a bad and dishonest review after seeing mine and I did nothing to deserve theirs. I paid them, respected their home and kept the place clean and damage free. 

I think there should be consequences if anything other than an apology is posted in response to a negative review from either party. A better response/review from my host would have been “I am sorry”, and for Airbnb to not even allow me to be able to defend myself at least once after he lied about me is frustrating. 

like you I agree something needs to change here. We should be able to leave an honest review with fear of retaliation. Otherwise what good is a review….

[Lillian204]

Thank you for your honesty, it is helping me decide not to leave a bad review for a recent guest. I'm still new at this, and I have learned not to allow people with no previous stays. I understand now that they can make up new profiles to avoid consequences of bad reviews. I wish AirBnB would have hosts back if we can prove our reviews have merit and the guests bad review is retaliatory, but they are not willing to do that. So I will not be reviewing bad guests, only the good, and fellow hosts I'm sorry to do that but the consequences are too dire. I had to learn the hard way and so will other hosts I suppose, a "new to Airbnb" or a guest with no prior reviews is not a risk to take.

[Tracy97]

It’s sad, but you really have to wait for them to rate you before expressing any unhappiness. Any expression of disappointment or request for money should be through Airbnb not private text. But I totally inderstand your frustration. 1 bad review could ruin you.

[Jiw0]

Nah, one bad review doesn't ruin you unless maybe it's the first review ever, in which case you can just cancel the listing, fix whatever needed fixing and create a new one.  I know because a friend is an AirBnB host who operates a hostel that's a lot... less upmarket. 😉

It's emotionally strange to watch my friend's listings actually because personally I go out of my way to meet any guest request and generally try anything at all to make the place as good as it can be, and to help guests have a great holiday.  (When people have a fun holiday they will also leave a good review, almost regardless of what your place was like.. and the other way around)  But then seeing some guests at my friend's property struggle, I felt like jumping in the car immediately and sort it out, but then over time I learned to just let it go, and realize that it is what it is, for a very cheap price.. 🙂

And it's been very interesting to see how things develop after bad reviews.   And that AirBnB will actually temporarily disable a listing if the average score goes down to 4 (!) stars or below, with more than one 1-star review in there.  You get a message saying that your listing has been disabled for a week, please improve and then you can re-enable it after your week in the naughty host's corner. 😉

Especially if the bad review is due to a single incident and you answer it professionally I don't think there is too much of an impact, especially if there are many other reviews that are really good.  And if you have additional bookings lined up then those guests will ideally put in good reviews and push the bad one down.

[Paul154]

@Megan160

I do feel you frustration, but am alarmed by one thing you did. You told her how unhappy you were with her stay.

As a guest, I would be very angry and weirded out if you told me that you were unhappy with my stay.

Yes you can charge me for clean up. Yes you can charge me for ruined sheets.

But you have no right to offend me.

Go to yoga , go to poetry reading or coffee to discuss your feelings. The guest is not your therapist.

[Jennifer--And-My-Brother0]

If they paid money, I want them to be happy even if I am cheesed that they showed up with a guest advance notice and i dont put it in the review because ultimately I was happy to have hosted them and to have met them - it was $70 that I could have used but I let it go - if I put it in a review, people may think less of them but will probably still book him but just ask him if he is going to bring a guest  - cuz it's cheating - but I think well it was the once with me but probably not always - I'm not sure he should be permanently marked in reviews.   

I still think they are nice people - maybe I am wrong.  Maybe I book a lot of sociopaths - lol.

I cancelled a bunch of guys for the last room for New Year's and I'm glad I did.   However nice they would have been, when I saw the youngest guest on the chaise spread out like a barefoot baby goddess - cute but not for young male strangers' eyes - I knew I had done the right thing. 

[Gs0]

I disagree that she should not express her disappointment directly to a rude, disrespectful and slovenly guest. Your statement shows that there is no accountability. It is her home. No one has the right to usurp her rights to the quiet enjoyment of the premises. I hope you don't fight for squatters' rights too.

[Jerry-and-Kerrie0]

Airbnb, themselves, has made this an even more sticky situation with their SUPERHOST ranking. Just recently, we had guests who had booked over a year ago for the entire month of January. In late December, they changed their reservations down to two weeks. Due to their late change, we lost out on renting the rest of the month with the exception of a couple of 3-day rentals. (Typically in January, since we are in Florida, we have the entire month booked.) If we lose the SUPERHOST ranking, then if someone uses SUPERHOST as a limiter, we are left out. Because of sour grapes.

When these folks arrived for their two-week visit, they picked on everything. We had spent a lot of money on baseboard heating at the end of 2017. We are so glad we did because we have had one of the coldest Januarys on record. They complained about the noise the heaters made (to us and even in their review.) They didn't like the "clicking." They also said the weather was bad, the bed was uncomfortable, the recliner was hard to close (it is - but smaller recliners are all hard to close) and there was no shampoo. They gave us our first "4" rating - saying our place was not a good value in over 2 1/2 years.

The entire time they were there, whenever we saw them they complained about something or another. (My husband called it their "Morning whine.") Our rental is on the back corner of our property. So we do see guests more often than we would if the location was remote.

All that said, they left the cottage in fine shape. HOWEVER, for us as hosts, the pain and suffering was brutal. 

I think there should be some kind of host code - to warn off other hosts. Something that a guest would not think was bad and yet it would warn us of potential issues. Maybe a separate star rating with notes for HOST-ONLY viewing (both the stars and the notes.) Of course, it would have rules, one of them being, be fair, no ranting. If I were to review these folks, I would probably give them a 4 and note that they were never happy and required a lot of attention. Then if they go anywhere else, hosts can decide if that is an issue for them.

The bottom line is 99.9.5% of the time we have awesome guests who absolutely LOVE our little cottage. Maybe we should focus on that. But when something like this happens, where we continually bent over backward for these folks and their thankyou was to give us a 4, complain about the weather and no shampoo...(and really fussed at us in the non-public note) it really took the wind out of our sails. The only thing that saved us from their attitude, behavior, and review was the next guests absolutely loved the place and couldn't wait to return.

**One side note regarding the shampoo - we have given up trying to provide shampoo to guests. They all seem to have their own preferences and we were spending too much money trying to guess what they might like. We do provide Tom's bar soap, pump hand soap, laundry detergent, dryer sheets, dishwashing detergent, coloring books and markers as well as their red and white bottles of wine, wrapped licorice, coffee pods, tea, and a rubber pelican for a souvenir. (our place is Pelican Cottage.) I'm not trying to boast or anything - it's just when someone complains about something we don't provide - I get defensive.

[Linda108]

 @Jerry-and-Kerrie0  Your profile picture matches your positive reviews and your lovely cottage!  So happy!  The review was not that bad, but your response only made it stand out more just by being too long, detailed and a bit defensive.  Short response is best.  Something like, "Pleased to have X & Y stay at the cottage for two weeks but sorry to hear our newly installed baseboard heating did not meet expectations."  As for your review, there are some "host warnings" you can build into your review such as, "X&Y were clean and responsible guests, but their expectations might have been better met by a hotel rather than personal cottage".  There are hosts that have a business through Air BNB that would be fine as with this type of guest, but hosts like you and I are not as happy to host this type of guest.

If you had a monthly discount, when they changed from a month to 2 weeks, I would imagine some of the loss would be off set by the higher nightly rate, right?  As for Super Host status a single 4 rating amongst 25 5 ratings is not going to hurt your status.  

[Michele39]

100% agree. That's what my "bad" reviews look like: "X&Y were (positive comment), but they also (general bad comment, no specifics) so they would be better off at a hotel."

Example: "Teresa left the place relatively clean. However, she broke house rules and caused trouble with my neighbors. I think Teresa would be bettter off in a hotel next time."

This for a guest who smoked pot in the house, then got very drunk in the back yard and threatened to beat up one of my neighbors who was making "too much noise" outdoors. There was no negative fallout over this review, and I think my review was sufficient to warn future hosts.

As for stained sheets, I don't bother charging guests for this. Why would you give a beautiful, expensive matched set to Airbnb guests? I buy my sheets used at the thrift store, only decent, comfortable ones, some of them very pretty and even matching sets. If they get stained or ruined, as happens on average once every month or so, c'est la vie.

[Gs0]

Not to sidestep the conversation, but I want a yellow pelican too. (No, I am not whining.)

[Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0]

I am about to post three negative reviews in a row about guests.

One seemed to think that a rash on his back was bedbugs, even though I could prove no infestation.

Another assumed mine was a full service hospitality deal, including gratuitous sex.

A third flatly refused to leave my home, despite all efforts (including Airbnb) to remove him.

It seems incredulous, but in fact that is what happened.

I deliberated this with myself and carefully considered my role in each of these scenarios.

I also notified Airbnb, and included my new "partner" etc. On my profile as a deterrent.

Two of these guys had high reviews. For those of us who suffer as a result of being disingenuous, I am obligated to tell the truth to others.

It's really easy to fluff it off, but I wouldn't want to have this happen to anyone.

[Linda108]

@Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0  RESPECT to you!  I have never had the difficult scenerio's you describe, but I appreciate your being true to the backbone of the shared economy, honest reviews.  Thank you

[Isabel203]

@Megan160, I feel for you. Some guests make the job of hosting feel pretty thankless.

In case it takes some of the sting away: I had a look at your listing and the review from this guest was pretty much buried among the other glowing ones. And anyway, it was not so damning that it would have dissuaded me from booking with you. I have heard the advice from other hosts (and it seems pretty smart to me) that it is best not to respond publicly to bad reviews if you can avoid it at all. The response tends to draw the eyes of potential guests to that particular review who otherwise might not even notice it.

I tend to think many of us can spot a vindictive review pretty quickly: 20 glowing reviews + 1 that claims the host was Frankenstein's monster = 1 bad guest.

[Lorna54]

i had 2 instant booked guests from hell over easter. 

Both different bookings - one after the other. 

They both left my house a complete PIG STY and over easter cleaning staff are under the pump as it is and ofcourse get paid double time !

I requested the extra payment for the filth they left WITH PHOTOS and got shocking and untrue , retaliatory reviews from both guests and airbnb didnt remove or report the guests as promised on my conversation to them at the time. 

my greatest concern with this fantastic forum we have to create our own businesses and host (which is what I always wanted to do ) is that the guests have the ultimate power !

I am a super host but you never know , even with constant messaging and trying to get a 'feel' of your guest how they will leave your house. 

Then if you complain - you get paid back by untrue and business damaging reviews .

This affects business, and its not what its supposed to be about. 

Guests who did this to me had NEVER used airbnb before, DID NOT HAVE PROFILE PICS, DID NOT HAVE PREVIOUS REVIEWS, and one even didnt have ID !  but was able to join up ... INSTANT BOOK ... TRASH MY HOUSE over easter and leave a BAD REVIEW for my right to complain WITH PHOTOS of the state of my house.. i got reviews from them saying my house was dirty with they arrived ??????

I Have  5 STAR RATINGS and am a SUPERHOST with 178 FANTASTIC REVIEWS and they get to do this to me ??

How is that fair ?