Inaccurate information in a good review

[Jianjun1]

I have had a guest left me a 5-star review in the last week, but I am afraid the review may do more harm than good on my listing. The review said "Great place for couples. It was affordable, quaint, and a 5 minute walk to the beach...".  My condo is on the beach side, the complex is built on the beach although my unit is not facing the beach. I have other reviews phasing it as "steps away from the beach". There is no way it would take "a 5 minute walk to the beach". I don't know what was in the guest's mind when he wrote it, but it's misleading information and inaccurate. I know once the review is published the guest is not able to change it. I'm struggling how to handle this. Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation before?

[Cathy864]

Hi:

I  understand your concern and frustration. We had a nice review that ended stating the house was lovely but, far away from shopping. Shopping is less than a 1/4 mile away-Thanks. Unusual but we did contact Arbnb and had the review removed. I copied and paste previous reviews that stated how close shopping was. Made note the review in question was damaging to my listing and future tenants and most of inaccurate. 

You will however still keep your 5 star's and not saying anything given that your previous reviews mentioned how close the beach is. They won't blink at her's

On the other hand I have done this also. You can reply to their review. "We are happy you enjoyed your visit in our condo. Guest's do enjoy our beach front condo and the salt air. We would be happy to host you and your family on your next family vacation.

Good luck!

[Jianjun1]

@Cathy864Great tips and advice! I just sent a message to Airbnb support. Hope they will help.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Jianjun1 just comment/reply to the review thanking them for it but saying the complex is beachfront and hence less than a minute too the beach.

[John5097]

@Jianjun1 

Funny this was my first post here at the fourms. Five star review but said it took twice as long to get to the City. 

You can also upload an arial photo, say off google earth, of the condo and beach and put a little arrow about where the the condo unit is on the back of the building, and put that in your listing photos with the caption. 

You can respond, thank guest, mention accurate location, and that you uploaded a picture to help future guest. A lot of people don't understand distance or location. 

[Jianjun1]

@John5097 @Mike-And-Jane0 Thank you for your prompt replies. I was hesitating to reply to guest's review b/c I was afraid it may cause a debate between me and the guest. But I'll try it if AirBnb does not remove the review.

[John5097]

@Jianjun1 

This could be to your benefit.  Rest assured the next guest will correct any TJ hung misleading. They will be even happier that it’s closer than they anticipated. It a good idea to keep the listing as accurate as possible. 

Reviews like this are almost never removed. In this case I would keep the great review. 

im glad you are off to great start and have received constructive feedback back. 

[Andrea4731]

Maybe they meant from condo door to their toes in the sand at the beach, as condos often have stairs, elevators or a pathway before actually reaching the beach which could take 5 minutes to get to? Just a thought.. I don’t think it will be damaging to you as 5 minutes from condo to beach really is not a long time 🙂

[Andrea4731]

Also, upon viewing your listing, you may want to make it a little more clear that there is a bed & a sofa bed (not just in your description but in your listing settings) as groups of 4 will generally use the search filter for more than one bed and upon first glance of your listing it seems that 4 guests would be sharing one bed. 

[Jianjun1]

Thank you @Andrea4731 !

[Kate867]

@Jianjun1   I think it is a nice review and the 5 mins to the beach is not at all damaging… they probably ‘dawdled’ their way there from your condo looking at everything else in the process.  I think trying to ‘correct’ this in a response to them could potentially cause more harm as future Guests will see this and worry that any review they leave might be ‘corrected’ in similar fashion.  If they said 10 mins to the beach or more, then yes I probably would mention it.  

[Lorna170]

@Jianjun1   IF it is not right at the front door, it may be 5 minutes for a 20 something who wants to fall right into the water with no effort...or older lady had to stop to keep taking the sand out of her sandals...or mom was juggling infant, toys, beach bag, umbrella and it was just toooo far.  Relax, make sure your pictures are good and informative and keep smiling!