Irrelevant Guest Reviews

[Rob9392]

I am a super host with over 350 five star reviews approximately.  All of our guests love our  5 suites.  Our average is 4.96 stars or something out of hundreds of bookings.   Recently one of our guests checked out and before she wrote her review, i brought it to her attention that she damaged one of my face cloths (wiped makeup off with it) not a big deal but we may have to charge a damage fee.   It really set her off...she trashed us in the review.  She would have given us 5 stars if we didn't mention the face cloth, but I pissed her off and she lied in her review....Ive had discussions with Airbnb support to take the review down, because the relevancy is basically zero, she lied! However airbnb support won't remove the review....Furthermore this this girl only  has 5 reviews, and thus is very new to the community  and has no experience.  I can not believe airbnb supports this guest over a super host.   It makes me want to leave the platform and take my 5 suites elsewhere...Does anyone else agree with me that this is a terrible Airbnb Policy? Thanks, BobF

[M199]

@Rob9392 

No, we are in the hospitality business.  Calling out guests for a face cloth. Really🥴

[Rob9392]

Call it what you want...my point is, we feel the guest is holding us hostage.....we tell the truth and are punished for it.... We were advised by airbnb support to not say anything until the person has left their review - (it would have been 5 star) - document the damage and then make a claim....the point was, we weren't even going to make a claim, and told the guest that we will keep things in private and not give her a bad review....but her personality led to her trashing us...

[Rob9392]

Can a host not call out a guest without getting trashed in the review? ...  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rob9392 Just a thought - When you get a bad review the response you make is critical as to how future guests will view the issue. Your response (copied below) is rather long, rambling and will likely put people off booking with you if they read it.

Your review is of great concern to us as  we feel there are quite a few false claims and strange comments throughout. We also feel it shows a lack of integrity on your part, and it has led to us to report you. Your first concern was that we greeted you upon arrival which wasn't expected. Almost as if you believe that to be a bad thing? This caught us off guard because we have NEVER had someone complain about that on a review before. Honestly out of all of our (300+) guests you are the only one to ever mention it. Most people are happy to see us if/when we are able to greet them. We feel that was a very unorthodox comment/expectation on your part. Maybe you should have mentioned to us that you would have preferred not to be greeted? It's definitely not something we hear every day but we would have respected it. The only issue we had with you was that you girls wiped massive amounts of make up off on a whole set of white bathroom towels. It was frustrating because we provided wipes in the bathrooms for that. Alison brought it to your attention when she went in to clean the space. You mentioned when she contacted you about it she was "rude" and that she said she was going to charge you the "damage deposit" for the towels. What she actually said was that we were upset to find them in that condition, especially when make up remover wipes were available to you in plain sight. Her exact words were that "if we can't get the stains out we will have to charge you a damage FEE". Not the "damage deposit" like you said in your review. We are thinking that was what set you off? That you read it wrong and thought we said we were going to charge you the full damage deposit? If so, then maybe you need to go back and re read it because that's not what she said. Thankfully it is all documented (and your comments are currently under review) because we feel it's ludacris for you to have suggested that's what we said. Damage fees for towels are usually 10-30$ each depending on size. We always try to get the stains out first and often don't charge even when we can't. Just like with you! We weren't able to get it all out but we decided not to charge you or put it in your public review. That message is also there if you want to go back and have another look. It was a nice gesture we thought, considering your lack of consideration. You said it was "minor damage" but remember we added photos to the conversation thread and it is very obvious in the pictures that there was nothing minor about it and it was all over a whole set of towels (a facecloth, hand towel and a bath towel) and actually it was in quite offensive amounts which is what led us to bring it to your attention. You had also mentioned that upon checking in there was a long and intensive list of rules to abide by? In reality it's 1 laminated sheet, and it's really just the basics. Quiet time, lights off when you leave, please recycle & compost..damage fees for stained linens...hot tub stuff. We've been to Airbnb's with binders full. Also, you are the only guest who has stayed in our suite and mentioned this list or the items on it as being an "long" and/or somehow intensive or unreasonable. Please check our past reviews, they are all glowing. No one agrees with you on that, which we feel says a lot. You mentioned having no privacy? Alison saw you on arrival, and I saw you once as well. That's 2 times in 3 days. We both got the feeling you didn't want to chat so we didn't push it. It is not our fault you chose to ignore our suggestion (which came with directions) to walk up the right hand side of the house through the gate, up on deck and down the stairs. Instead you walked up the driveway (left) side of house where we pull our cars in and park & then you crossed the part of the deck where our entrance is. If you wanted more privacy you could have gone the other way, but honestly neither of us even saw you after that first day so it really didn't matter.  We feel we give our guests more than enough space. It was you who decided to walk up the driveway side through our parking area instead of going the more private way on the other side of house like our instructions mentioned. I was very pleasant to you while unloading my groceries 🙂 we usually are when we run into guests. We say hello, make conversation because we love hosting and appreciate the business. We like to answer questions and make people feel comfortable. It's what we are known for, our exceptional service and 5 star accommodations! You said that Alison accused you of damaging the suite, which again we have proof she did not say that. It was only ever about the towels. She did mention you had left lights on in the suite all day while you were out, which she had noticed when walking down the driveway to water the plants. She said that as an example (after you had checked out and she found the towels and you two had been messaging) that leaving lights on are "the types of things we are able to let go of" she then went on to say "damage to the ITEMS in the suite we can't unfortunately". Maybe you read that wrong too? You also said she went on to mention all the other rules you broke while you were here which she didn't do either. Towels and lights were all that was mentioned. It's all there for you and Airbnb to see. You should really go back, because it's pretty incredible how many false accusations you have made about us. For instance, you asked us for a late check-out and we gave it to you, but otherwise there was zero contact from us for your entire stay. So the comment that you were "micromanaged" during your stay is very strange and upsetting as well. You said Alison was rude in her messages but yet again we have documentation of the conversation between the two of you. She mentioned being upset to find the towels like that, and how it's hard to get those types of stains out..she added pictures..talked about a damage FEE (not deposit)...then finished (very politely might I add) by explaining that we will not be charging you even though it DIDN'T all come out, and we wouldn't be putting this on your public review, and that it was intended as private feedback for you. She simply wanted you to understand the time it took soaking and scrubbing those towels and how they still didn't come clean. "We are just a "ma & pa operation, and our towels are by no means disposable, and that we don't have 100's of them in stock like a hotel". That is what she actually said. Which is true and quite reasonable, I believe. You read that and then went on to write the most ruthless review which was full of lies about her, and us as hosts. We feel that  your review says a lot about your character, and it brings me back to the lack of integrity comment I made at the beginning. You also went so far as to say she accused you of, and I quote "being too drunk to take care of yourselves" again we have proof Alison didn't say that. Those were not her words, not even close.

[Rob9392]

Sure, its long and rambling....however, since Airbnb customer support will not help us, my wife took the time to write that  reply..

[Sudsrung0]

@Rob9392 

I would take one look at that review and move on to the next property, over one face cloth,  Even I didnt read it all my eyes were going wonky

[Rob9392]

My point is ... guest made false review because she was being vindictive, her review is thus irrelevant to future guests and Airbnb should talk it down....Not to mention giving a 1 out of 5 for value...when everyone else gives a 5......its a dumb rating system if some crazy person can just trash you cause they are having a bad day...

[Rob9392]

Ha, Right on! ... 

[Anne44]

Same here

[Huma0]

@Rob9392 

Yes, it is a dumb rating system, but Airbnb have covered their backs by including in the review policy:

"If you feel a review is untrue

While we encourage and expect all community members to post reviews that contain objective and accurate information, Airbnb doesn’t mediate disputes concerning the truth of reviews. We expect the author of the review to stand behind the content of their review."

So, it doesn't matter if what the guest wrote is true or not. Airbnb are not interested in that. Also, they do not count false statements to fit under the irrelevancy category. That is for comments that have nothing to do with the listing. Your guest left a review that was 100% about the listing and hosts, so I doubt you'd be able to get it removed on the basis of irrelevancy. Airbnb CS will probably just argue that it's "the guest's experience".

It's certainly annoying when a guest is careless with things at the listing. I've had guests leave an insane amount of make up on a wash cloth and it puzzles me how people can treat other people's stuff that way. However, it seems like what was essentially quite a small issue blew up into a huge one. 

I don't know the extent of the damage (you mention above that it was one face cloth, but in your review response, it has become a whole set of towels) but sometimes you have to pick your battles. Perhaps you have been lucky thus far in having very few guest damages, but I would have put this one down to wear and tear. Or, if I did feel I must mention charge guests for this sort of thing, I would have first tried to get the stains out and only if and when that failed mention charging for it. What is the point antagonising the guest BEFORE you know whether there is any need to charge?

As for the review response, I would ask Airbnb to remove it. It does you no favours at all and is potentially very off putting to future guests. Something shorter and more to the point would have been better, e.g.

"Our guests usually seem to appreciate being welcomed on arrival so we are surprised that X felt this was an inconvenience and also that she felt the one page of information provided, which most guests find useful, was too long. Again, we have never had any complaints about it before. X actually didn't complain about anything during her stay. It was only when we discovered the damages her party caused and mentioned these to her that she became extremely hostile. Please see our other many reviews for a more balanced perspective on the listing."

[Anonymous]

@Rob9392  I agree with the others here. Maintaining nice and clean properties for your guests is one side of hospitality, and you've clearly had a lot of success with that. But the softer side of it involves anticipating not just guests' needs, but how they will receive the communication you put out to them. If the freshest thing on a guest's mind at the end of their stay is not what a nice time they had, but rather getting threatened with a damage claim over a small piece of cloth, there's no way that guest will feel they had a 5-star experience. It only takes a few words to poison someone's entire memory of your interaction.

And when you respond to a review, what you write becomes a part of your listing, so you have to be able to look at it from the other side and imagine what kind of person it makes you sound like. To a stranger, a tirade like that sounds nasty and unhinged. Even if you had a listing that was exactly what I wanted as a guest, I would not book it after reading what you published there; it makes you come across as someone who's very quick to blow a minor issue up into a huge drama out of all proportion.

I recommend asking Airbnb to delete that response so that you can go back to showing the kind, welcoming side of your character upfront. Guests will overlook one critical review in a sea of good ones when they see a listing they like. But they can't un-see something that makes them wary of the host's temper.

[Rob9392]

More good info, thanks! ... I was able to get airbnb support to delete my review response, but they won't let me edit it...lesson learned!

[Mark116 · Accepted solution]

@Rob9392   I would recommend you remove your response to this guest's review.  She sounds immature and ticky tacky, but that is nothing compared to the novel of minute, even more ticky tacky details of your mammoth response.  A simple 'we want all of our guests to feel at ease and enjoy their stay, to help ensure this, we meet our guests in person and also leave instructions for YX in the home.  We are disappointed that Z did not appreciate these efforts.  We believe the vast majority of our 5 star reviews speak to the level of hospitality we offer.  Something like that.

I will not say that you shouldn't have planned to ask for damage to towels, because I deeply resent that Airbnb sets the system up to create a huge disincentive for hosts to ask for any compensation for small items for this very reason of revenge reviews.  But, I suspect in hindsight you would have preferred to absorb the $30 cost.

Take anything she said that is worthwhile, like ensuring all the rules are written in the listing and move on.

[Rob9392]

Thanks for the info, i will take your advice...unfortunately airbnb won't let me edit a "Review Response" So i just removed it.