If I don't write a review for a guest, will their review of us appear on our page anyway?

[Amber-Y-Andreu0]

Hello,

We had two guests recently that we were very displeased with, and I suspect the feeling was mutual. Since almost 14 days have passed and they had not written a review I figured I would do the same, the old "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" rule. However, I just received notice that they have now written a review.

If I choose not to write a review for them, will their review go public anyway? Even though we bent over backwards to please these individuals who seemed to think they should have been staying in a polished urban hotel instead of a country house I'm afraid their review will reflect their (apparent) disappointment, and not our efforts to please them.

Thanks,

Amber

[Wendy117]

The guest does not know either whether you revommended them or the number of stars you gave them.

Another host can just see that there were say 9 reviews but only 7 recommendations, so obviously 2 hosts have not recommended them.

[Deborah1096]

I'm enjoying reading these posts (new to AirBnb)....so, just wondering-when I review a guest, they don't see how many stars that I give or that I'd likely not rent to them again??

Thanks for your reply.

[Sarah977]

@Deborah1096  The guest sees neither of those things. However, hosts who don't use Instant Book also don't see guest star ratings, so please make sure the written review you leave doesn't make the guest sound desirable, if you rate them low and wouldn't want to host them again.

[Deborah1096]

Thanks for your information-much appreciated!

[Karissa31]

I can see how many stars my guests gave me.

[Debra695]

Hi Wendy, regarding this part you mentioned, "The guest does not know either whether you recommended them or the number of stars you gave them." 

As a host and guest on Airbnb I wanted to mention, although I can't see how many stars a host gave me on my guest profile,  I do receive an email from Airbnb. And same when I host, I can't see how many stars the guest gave me, but Airbnb does email this information. For example, a guest checked out last week and after we both reviewed each other Airbnb emailed me "_____ left a 5-star review!" in both the subject line and body of the email.  So I would anticipate the guest receives the same email.  All this to say, it looks like the amount of stars we give each other is disclosed by Airbnb unfortunately.

[Sarah1644]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who has had an undesirable guest but only a month in to the experience of hosting I'm probably going to unlist my property . Guest should not expect luxury  and realise it is your home which is precious to you .

[Sarah2076]

We feel the same.Our home is lovely and people want to party in it,no matter how strict we write our house rules.I had verbal abuse last week and it's just not worth the aggravation.Please can be so rude. I feel for you:/

[Kami6]

I agree. They are paying way below market and expect luxury. It is so bizarre.

[Delje0]

I feel the same way. I’m two months in and rethinking it as well. Had my first couple who kept having extremely loud sex. Then explosive arguments and I’m concerned there is damage to my home after all if the loud fighting. I called Air BNB  and they warned them but Airbnb didn’t even have the courtesy to call me back. Moving forward I’ll be calling the police and cancelling reservations which won’t give me good ratings. Just torn on what to do.

[James2178]

Hi DeljeO,   a reading of house rules may be of help.  

[Karen1403]

Perception of your home is personal, a guests perception of your pictures and description is also personal. Make sure your pictures reflect what they are walking into. Don’t glamorize your home, if you are afraid to post clear pics of all the rooms or condition, don’t list it. Also, make sure it’s CLEAN and fresh!! If there is an issue, take care of it immediately. If it’s unrealistic, kindly point them to your honest listing. 

[Steve-and-Angie0]

We just had guest that did nothing but complain from the minute they arrived. We asked for pictures only to realize it was about 6 pieces of dog hair, which in their words "it is all over". Then more "fabricated" excuses, for the next couple of days. We are fairly new hosts, and it really put a damp on our weekend dealing with it. Since a lot is about perspective, although this group seems to be looking for $$$.... Should we offer anything? 

[Erica257]

Hi Steve & Angie, I too am a newer host but have had similar experiences with high maintenance people. I would offer a discount if it was me (10% to 20%). At the end of the day we are in a customer service position even if we own the home...which has been a bit of a learning curve for me as well. 

I have had people emailing me at midnight about the smallest thing. I have learned that boundaries are very important while still being polite and providing good customer service. That said, if guests overstep boundaries or are trying to take advantage of you, that is a different story. If there is nothing I can do, I apologize for the inconvenience and simply tell them there is nothing I can do to remedy the situation (if I cannot or it is an unreasonable request). 

Regardless, I try to keep the peace until their stay is over, at which point I make a point to write reviews for other hosts. Hope this helps... 

[George576]

Does anyone know why AirBNB lies about this?

I just had a guest do a same day booking and no show no call. 15 mins before my late 12pm checkout he CANCELS the stay and texts me that he already asked me for a refund.  Dumbfounded and not wanting a problem (he is local, we are a tough city)  I decided not to respond.   So obviously he wrote me a review.

Then he called customer support to ask for the money back.

So Customer Support messages me and begs me, BEGS me to give him his 40$ cleaning fee. To keep from having a problem since he knows my address and phone number and lives in my city I relent. (I did tell the person to ask supervisor to get Airbnb to foot the bill, they arent refunding us our fees)

Anyways then the light bulb goes off, I remembered that the "If you don't write a review you cant see their review" was a lie, panicked and told the agent to reverse the refund because his negative review would go up.

They assured me that he would be violating the "Content Policy" and it would then be removed.

Well I read the policy and I don't feel like it will.

If they are still lying to me I will be devesating.  Some kids last year, again one night stay left me 1 star review for no reason.

I lost superhost status and it has taken me 1 year to get my numbers back  up (lots of begging guests for 5 star reviews) and this loser is probably gonna take it from me.

Because I still think they are lying.