@Lilly28
Yes, I for sure have had some similar experiences. I think after a time, most hosts will have them unfortunately. I check in on all my guests to make sure they are happy and ask if there is anything else they need, but most of them will say "Everyting is great. Everything is perfect." You only find out in the review if that was true or not.
Even then, many will leave a 4 star rating and no explanation as to why. As @Ange2 says, that doesn't necessarily mean anything was wrong. They are being told 4 stars = good, so maybe they were happy with everything. When there is no indication in the review or feedback or individual star ratings, I take it simply that they thought it was good and hence the 4 stars.
When guests do give reasons in the review/feedback, they are often quite silly, in my opinion. Some examples of my 4 star reviews:
- Guest claims she was never informed of something, which is actually clearly stated in the listing and house rules and which she was also reminded of in two separate messages after booking. She never mentioned this during her stay, just said my place was wonderful.
- Mentioned my place is not in the city centre. Listing does not claim it is in the centre, but that there is convenient transport to the centre (with a breakdown of journey times). No complaints during stay.
- Said the listing was very detailed and accurate but gave me 4 stars for Accuracy. Said it was "sparkling clean" but gave me 4 for cleanliness etc. etc.
- Complained that they did not see me after check in. I was home all day and evening but they were out from 7am until late at night, which is why I didn't see them. They didn't respond to my messages asking if everything was okay with their stay.
- Said total price was more than original price advertised (i.e. clearly didn't expect Airbnb to add fees).
- Didn't like tthat I didn't respond immediately to a message they sent me while I was in hospital, which is the only time I didn't immediately respond to their many messages.
- There were some renovations going on in the house. I had told the guest this in advance, but I think it is totally FAIR that she marked me down for this because she was not aware of it when she booked (I didn't know that many months in advance).
- Said the room was cold although they had said it was warm when I checked them in and never mentioned being cold during their stay. I only realised after they left that they had turned the heaters off themselves!
- Said the location was 'lively' but not noisy and very convenient. These folks came from the woods with bears on their porch, so London was going to be a bit of a culture shock!
- Guests who totally broke my house rules (smoking weed in the house, having people over without permission) and then blatantly lied in their review to cover themselves.
- Very unfit guest who found the five minute walk to the tube station too 'strenuous' and had difficulties with the stairs (mentioned on the listing). Found my four storey house (2.5 times the size of the average UK home) too small. Not sure why she expected to stay in a mansion in London for £40 a night, but hey ho, she was from Texas where everything is supersized.
I am not saying I am not open to criticism. If there is a problem with the WiFi, then there is a problem and the guest has a right to mark me down. If the heating wasn't working, I hadn't cleaned properly, failed to mention something important, then fine, but I really think the only guest listed above who was fair was the girl who stayed during renovations. She had a great time here. In fact, in the week she stayed, she barely left the house and had her friend over most days, she liked it that much. Still, there were renovations going on so it was not as originally advertised = FAIR.
The rest I think are either a bit silly (it's not my fault if guests ignore my instructions and turn their heaters off and then fail to mention they are cold when I ask if everything is okay) or just blantantly untrue (saying the WiFi and fridge weren't working when they were, because they were expecting a bad review from me due to their drug use and partying).
This is why the new 'expectations' language in the review system is so stupid. Of course my location in a residential area with no bars or restaurants within sight or earshot of the house is going to seem too 'lively' to people who live in the woods with bears on their porch!