Shall I contact the guest on bad review ?

[Vicen465]

Hello everyone,

1 day went by and my spirit is a bit calmer but decisions need to be made.

I posted "A shocking bad review" where I explain the whole thing (I'm sorry for its length)

And now... The big question. Shall I contact the guest? If so, in what terms? What to say, what channel of communication is recommended to use... 

When one has the feeling that the guest acted on bad faith and a desire to hurt... Little things can be said to make her understand and change her mindset.

Shall I then forget about it and move on? Probably the impact of her review won't be that much in terms of revenue and for as long as the question as what to do is in my head, the inner peace will be on holidays.

I hear you, please share your input.

Thanks, Vicen.

[Emiel1]

@Vicen465 

Where is the review ?

Is it still pending awaiting review from the guest, or the 14 days review time limit  ?

Why would you contact the guest about the review ?

[Vicen465]

Hello,

Thank you for replying.

I explained everything in another post: "A shocking bad review" 

Just to avoid repeating myself.

[Adil342]

Hi @Vicen465 ,

I completely understand how you feel, it’s frustrating.

I wouldn’t contact the guest. Sometimes guests are pleasant in person and more critical once they leave. If she said everything was fantastic at checkout, contacting her now likely won’t change anything and may create more tension.

I’d contact Airbnb only if some statements are clearly false and you have proof. Otherwise, I’d post a calm public response and move on.

This happens more often than you may think, so the key is to keep improving the guest experience and to report it to Airbnb when you truly have a bad experience with a guest.

[Vicen465]

@Adil342 Thank you for your response, feeling understood is comforting.

Well, I thought about contacting her because her review and her ratings don't match with her statements on the checkout so maybe she confused my apartment with another Airbnb.

We spoke on the phone several times the day they arrived and she rated communication with a 3. She rated a 2 in veracity because according to her, the furniture is all old and in bad conditions. I must say almost everything is brand new, bought only before Christmas (chairs, bedside tables, mattresses, wardrobes...) She rated cleaning with a 1 , the kitchen , she said. This is shocking because that day I did clean even the out of reach places and even when the kitchen is dirty, scoring a 1 sounds hard core to me.

Another reason to contact her is to kindly ask her to remove her review. She may have been upset for whatever reasons and days after she might be more calm. Sometimes dialogue solves issues.

Yes, it could be tension but I thought in WhatsApp rather than talking. I will never see her again so maybe It's worth trying.

[Adil342]

Hi @Vicen465 ,

I understand why you’d want to reach out, but contacting her to ask for the review to be removed is probably not the best move.

Airbnb’s review system is meant to keep reviews authentic and unbiased, and they don’t really encourage hosts or guests to influence someone to change a review. Also, once both reviews are published, or once the 14-day review period ends, the review can no longer be edited.

So even if your intention is calm and respectful, asking her to remove it probably won’t help and could even backfire. And honestly, I don’t think she mixed your place up with another one. From your story, it’s quite possible that the checkout moment, especially the ID request, created some frustration and affected her final impression, even if she stayed pleasant in person.

If you believe some points are clearly false, I’d go a bit deeper: gather concrete proof like cleaning photos before check-in, messages showing everything was fine during the stay, or anything that directly contradicts what she wrote. The more objective and documented it is, the stronger your case for a removal request.

Otherwise, I’d leave a calm, factual public response addressing the main points and move on.

[Vicen465]

I see.

But I don't ever make pictures before guests so I can't support my case with evidence.

I don't understand this review from this person but I suppose you are right and it is better to move on.

I don't usually get bad reviews, fortunately it happens like once a year but I don't bother in replying to those who aren't genuine. I know the apartment was spotless, comfortable and I treated them all marvellously so if you are correct in your guessing which most likely you are, then, she acted on bad faith so replying back on Airbnb will give her a pleasure she does not deserve.

Many many thanks for taking the time to give your opinion and advising me on this. Good night 🙂

[Adil342]

Hi @Vicen465 

It’s a pleasure, glad I could help a bit.

That’s really the key point. Without evidence, it’s very difficult for Airbnb to act.

I don’t always do this myself, but your situation is a good reminder that taking a few photos or a quick video after cleaning, before check-in, can really help if a guest makes a false claim later.

Unfortunately, some guests can act in bad faith, and when that happens, staying calm and protecting yourself with proof is usually the best approach.

I don’t know if others will agree, but for this case I think it’s probably better to move on and focus on the next guests.

Wish you the best going forward.

[Gul306 · Accepted solution]

Hi Vicen465. First, I am sorry that this happened. My advice is as follows. 

Please stay very calm and professional. A bad review hurts but being an excellent host means that we learn to keep objective and respectful of guests’ comments. I would say that we reach out to guests (within all airbnb rules) and explain to help them understand facts if the facts were misunderstood. For example, a guest from Europe once found the smoke detector light annoying and we were able to explain that a smoke detector light blinking means that they were safe against smoke and carbon monoxide.

If there was no explainable point and the negative comment seemed unfair please consider letting it go. It is not easy but if ur positive comments out number one or two bad comments, it is the majority of those good comments that will define your hospitality and u as a super host in the long run. 
Best Regards

Gul. 

[Vicen465]

Thank you Gul,

I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

I particularly was more affected than usual because this lady was very empathetic and nice to me so I was shocked at her lying review. It's beyond my comprehension why certain people do bad things intentionally knowing they will hurt others.

I already moved on 😉

Cheers!

[Vivien280]

Hello @Vicen465 ,  

I once received an unpleasant review, which I considered shocking as well.  In my humble opinion, it is best to move on since the impact of her review won't hurt your revenue. Though, it is understandable that it will impact your psychological / emotional well-being.  There are a lot of strange people out there and we can't control how they think. Sounds like whatever she wrote was not true anyway.  Try to focus and dwell on guests that value and cherish your property and hospitality. 

[Vicen465]

Than you very much,  Vivien.

I appreciate your input and you taking the time to reply. 🙂