[POLL] How do you respond to reviews?

[Sybe]

Hi everyone,

There are always discussions going on here regarding reviews, quite understandably, as they are a vital component of and have a direct influence on your hosting business. They allow guests to read about others’ experiences, and are a great opportunity for Hosts to receive feedback. 

Whether positive or negative, it can be useful to respond to reviews. You can explain the reasons behind a disappointment or thank a guest for leaving feedback. It can also show guests that as a Host you’re invested in improvement and care a lot about the guest experience. That being said, it’s not always easy to know when or how to respond.

How do you respond to reviews? 

You can fill in the poll below and please do elaborate in the comments, I’d love to hear more about your strategy!

Sybe

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Sybe we only respond to negative reviews where there is something to be said that will help future guests in their decision as t0 where to book. One review marked us down for broadband speed so it was important to inform people that FTTP had just come to our village and hence low speeds were a thing of the past.

[Sybe]

@Mike-And-Jane0 That's definitely helpful and amazing example, it shows guests not just that you care but also that you have actually fixed the issue. Thanks for sharing! 😃

[Mary419]

@Sybe I have been locked out of responding to reviews for months. I have seen posts from other hosts complaining that this feature was removed.... for a decade the agents told us to write a reply when we were upset about reviews that were retaliation/lies etc.

Why has it become different and difficult for a host to see how to write a reply? Seems it actually has been disabled entirely so hosts cannot comment at all on a review regardless of how inaccurate it may be?? Can you help me understand? I used to respond only to bad reviews that included misleading complaints AND/OR good reviews that were possibly misleading or seemed to benefit from a clarification.... anyway I have been unable to respond since at least 5 months ago.

[Laurelle3]

@Mike-And-Jane0 we have the same experience with the internet service as you do by living in a village and when the population swells during holiday season it slows down. I do have in the information if they read it that we provide and pay for fast service and if it slows down we experince the same and it is out of our control. Most people have excepted this explanation and had no negative reviews regarding the internet. So far!

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

While it's important to let future guests know about stuff like that, the problem with only responding to negative reviews is that you draw attention to those. The eye is naturally going to focus in on the few that have a response from you, and might even skip the others if you have a lot of reviews!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Huma0 I agree there is a risk of bringing attention to a poor or less than stellar review however we are happy to be honest with our potential guests and would hope they would see this as a positive.

Unlike some we haven't had a really bad or untruthful review. To us a 4 star review is 'bad'. Time will tell how long this will last but I still believe responding is the right thing to do.

[Huma0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

I agree with you. I didn't mean DON'T respond to a less than glowing review, but I think it's not a bad idea to respond to the positive ones too so that you are not drawing attention only to the ones where people are complaining about something! I occasionally forget, but I try to respond to the nice reviews too.

[Laurelle3]

@Sybe I always write in the private email Thank you for staying with us and a little note regarding their stay with their family, what they saw in the local area . I dont add another reply after the review because I don't want to get into a continueing dialogue. I just keep it simple and sweet.

I have had 3 only low reviews for value and I then look at their social economic status decided from their verbal conversations and lifestyle. My assesmentis that they have booked a place to stay a little more than they can afford and the weather also plays apart too.

Our price is in the middle but at the top end of Airbnb's located close by, provided is a full kitchen (most eat out), offer the use of close dryer if they have children and it has been raining or guest stay more than 2 days in wet rain. No cleaning fee anx I provide a gift of a breafast hamper to get them started along with milk, tea, coffee, milo and fruit. Personally I  think they are getting a good deal.

My other gripe has been 3 for location, I don't understand this as they know where they are choosing to stay and google map will show them exactly. 

I don't you can ever please these people so I never go there by asking Why. Also, you can never please everyone and we all have different values in life.

[Sybe]

@Laurelle3 There are certainly some issues that you can't prevent or control, the weather being one of them. It's difficult to reply to those reviews because there's not much you can change but the real question for those is, is it necessary to reply?

A private thank you message is always nice to receive afterwards. Do you remind them to review in that message as well if you noticed they haven't?

[Laurelle3]

@Sybe no I do not go shopping for reviews from past guests. My thoughts are if they don't want to, I 

leave it be because it could possible be negative. I find that some leave it to the 12th to 14th day. They are usually have young families and are busy.and I know that they get continuous reminders from Airbnb as I do on the odd time I have been too busy to write. As my habbit is to write it on the evening they have departed. 

I have asked my own family members and they say they don't always do reviews because the hosts have left a list of things to do before leaving and they have paid for a cleaning fee. They just clean and leave the place tidy but refuse to stripe the beds, put washing in machine and empty the garbage.

I also don't leave a note to say don't forget to leave a 5 star review because I  will leave one for you which my daughter has found at 2 places she has stayed at and she is a host as well.

[Huma0]

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@Laurelle3 wrote:

I dont add another reply after the review because I don't want to get into a continueing dialogue.

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@Laurelle3 

There's no continuing dialogue. Everyone gets one review and one chance to respond. When you respond to the guest's review, that's the end of it. They can't respond to your response. If you message them, on the other hand, that's where there is opportunity for continuing dialogue! 

It's nice to send a message anyway and I often do. The review response is more for potential future guests to see, as the actual guest who stayed is unlikely to look at it.

[Sudsrung0]

@Sybe 

HI, how come you are showing somebodies email? 

[Sudsrung0]

@Sybe sorry my mistake it's google

[Sybe]

@Sudsrung0 Yes it's because it's a Google Form, but I've made sure the email addresses aren't being shared so nothing to worry about! 😃