The coded language of a review

[Laura2592]

I struggle with reviews. I try to be as honest as possible without being unkind. I have noticed that there are a lot of 5 stars out there for guests I would not have given 5 stars to. Digging deeper, there seems to be some common themes and coded language to warn other hosts that there might be issues belying the 5 stars. No one wants to come right out and say that this person was painful to deal with.

For example a recent guest emailed me 20 times or more per day of his stay with questions about very pedantic things. The sink made a gurgling noise. A light bulb in a decorative lamp went out. One remote only has one battery. He counted the light switches and can't figure out what one does. We addressed all of these concerns but it didn't stop until my husband took over communication. He responded immediately to that and the masses of emails halted. On his reviews this guest is described as "extremely communicative." When I write mine, I  would like to add that he "responded well to my husband" and that he may do better with an onsite host (we aren't.) 

Another guest had expectations for kitchenware we could not meet. He let us know our brand new Amazon delivered set was no match for what he expected. His reviews when I looked (too late, he was an early guest and I was still learning) said things like "this guest has a very high standard" and "this guest described himself as a chef and enjoys a restaurant style kitchen." Likewise one guest was very upset we didn't provide a lemon zester in our normal kitchenware (we had to go get one, she was having a literal melt down.)  Nothing in her reviews addressed that specifically but did say "XX has some quirks about what she needs during her stay. Best to communicate with her beforehand."

Another couple booked our place and brought in other overnight guests without paying. She sent us pics of the families standing on our porch. Her ratings from other hosts (all in our area) said things like "this guest likes to visit with family in the area." Or "so and so visited our place to be closer to her family in the area." I would have appreciated a "so and so had her family stay with her." It was obvious when we sent her the charges afterwards for the number of guests that she had done this before.

What have you said about guests in reviews that you meant as a warning to other hosts? Have you come right out with it or somewhat coded your responses?

[Greg-And-Bird0]

FB-Facebook. Finally got it. Duh!

[Susan1028]

@Sean433 in Toronto and everyone else...

It's no one's business what religion anyone is and using it as an excuse to extort funds is against just about every religion I know of...except narcissism.

This has reached the level of the utterly ridiculous...as have so many matters on this platform that it's gotten to be like a bad reality TV show...

Yes, a total waste of time.

Go do something fun @ Sean!

[Greg-And-Bird0]

Would anyone be able to offer a coded review for a recent guest of ours?

We have a simple self check-in, but when they arrived they rang the front door bell asking what to do.

I replied all info (Self Check-In details, House Manual, etc) is in the message airbnb sends out and they said they didn't receive it (they didn't look).

The next morning at 6.50AM they were loudly banging the side metal security door on our house, no one answered so they went to the front and repeatedly rang the door bell. My daughter finally woke me up and when I opened the door he asked what to do with the door key (to the accomm.). When I told him all info is in the email he would have received he glibly stated he "didn't read it".

My wife was angry as it was the only day she had to sleep after working eight days straight and the next day facing another stretch of 5.00 AM alarm call.

I'm reluctant to give them a bad review as they seemed to nice, harmless people but utterly useless of course. Common sense would tell most people to leave the key on the table or some other prominent place if unsure, and not to insistently bang on a door waking us up to answer a mundane question that they already had the answer to if they had of looked.

They have left a review for us but obviously that's hidden until we leave one. They may leave us a bad review as he could see I was annoyed.

Anyway rant over LOL. Should I tell it as it is in the review, or code it?

[Sandra856]

@Greg-And-Bird0 Why not write a short honest, nice review where you state that the guests were nice guests but didn't read the important info about listing details, housemanual, check-in and check-out info etc. which complicated the experience for both guest and you as a host. Something like that. That is the truth. The guests cannot read your review and/or change the review they have already written so why not be honest? I really hate "coded reviews" and I don't understand why it is so hard for some hosts to write a short, factual review. That is what the review system is for.

Best, Sandra 

[Greg-And-Bird0]

Hi Sandra,

I suppose I don't want to hurt their feelings and ruin any future bookings of theirs by stating explicitly  what they did as they are nice people.

[Sarah977]

@Greg-And-Bird0  Lots of people are nice, but that doesn't make them respectful or welcome guests. An Airbnb review isn't a review of them as people, it is a review of them as guests. And why should guests who don't bother to read the information provided to them and think nothing of banging on your door waking you up NOT  have future bookings ruined? I can't imagine other hosts want to host these people.

Please write an honest review. You can say nice things about them, like if they left the place clean and were friendly, etc, but please make it clear that they read none of the check-out info and instead woke you up early to return the key.

[Greg-And-Bird0]

I took your advice Sarah  & Sandra, short & truthful; stated they left it clean but mentioned the not bothering to read the info. And gave them low star rating for communication, etc.

Weirdly their review included the comment that the self check-in is easy and no need to bother the hosts. LOL.

Cheers.

[Allison2]

If you need to leave similar feedback in the future, I've found this phrasing helpful...

"With more attention paid to reading check-in instructions, "so & so" would be a perfect guest."

[Sean433]

@Greg-And-Bird0 

If there was an issue with the guest, I leave a review that is honest to explain my side of the story so that should future guests read the review I left of a guest, they will see my side of the story. I am careful how I word reviews now after having had bad backlash before.

I liked the review you left the guest, it was very kind however did not state that they banged on your door and as a future host, would not know the details of what happened but would assume there was a check in dilemma. Your review however would not stop me from hosting them since it is just a good piece of advice

Good example was a review I left a guest today. Guest complained her boyfriend had a rash and accused us of bed bugs although the bed is new, we have a mattress protector and the cleaner cleans the sheets each time. I opted not to leave her a review and was worried she would accuse us of bed bugs in the review she left us. So my review was as follows..

"--There was 1 thing we did not appreciate. After the 1st of 4 nights, she messaged me saying her boyfriend had a rash on the inside of one of his arm and she suggested the bed may have been the cause of this although she did not have any issues nor any of our previous guests or those who stayed after her. -- As I communicated to Christie and reiterate here, our mattress is only 2 months old and purchased recently after we renovated. It also has a mattress protector, and both the mattress protector and bedding sheets are cleaned each time we turn over our suite by our professional full time cleaner who does a great job at all of our listings. To be courteous, i offered to send our cleaner again to give her peace of mind however she declined. To address this, future hosts may want to ensure that like us, they also have a mattress protector and perhaps provide bedding sheets that are new and unwrapped to provide her with extra assurances.--"

Would you want to rent to such a guest after my review? Is it mean? It's very honest of what happened and as respectful as it can be given how offended I was of her claim

[Stephanie365]

@Sean433 , you said you opted not to leave a review for someone. You need to leave a review. They will leave you one regardless of whether you leave one or not. You need to tell your side of the story.

[Sean433]

@Stephanie365 

Hi, what i meant was that I chose not to initiate the review in the hopes that she would not write one since I feared what she may write. I wrote a review only after I was notified she left me a review.

The review I left was "--There was 1 thing we did not appreciate. After the 1st of 4 nights, she messaged me saying her boyfriend had a rash on the inside of one of his arm and she suggested the bed may have been the cause of this although she did not have any issues nor any of our previous guests or those who stayed after her. -- As I communicated to Christie and reiterate here, our mattress is only 2 months old and purchased recently after we renovated. It also has a mattress protector, and both the mattress protector and bedding sheets are cleaned each time we turn over our suite by our professional full time cleaner who does a great job at all of our listings. To be courteous, i offered to send our cleaner again to give her peace of mind however she declined. To address this, future hosts may want to ensure that like us, they also have a mattress protector and perhaps provide bedding sheets that are new and unwrapped to provide her with extra assurances.--"

[Debbie605]

Everyone,

I hear you one and all and since I am fairly new, I am learning from all of you. I am so happy that I came in the Community.   One think that bothered me with an elderly guest, is that all along I had 5 stars then she came along and messed up everything, because she claimed it took her 12 minutes to open a lockbox.  I am confused as to why Airbnb allow this "star" rating anyway.  In my opinion, it should all be words.  What's with those stars anyway - 5, 4,3,2,1.  I just don't get it.

As I was reading all your feedback to Laura2594, someone said something along the line of hosts being fearful to be honest.  I think this may be true.  Because I had a guest earlier with only 1 review that read "This guest extended her stay".  Yeah!  What was that "bland no direction/indication of trouble rating" he left for that particular guest.  She did not give me any trouble, so I guess I was lucky.  I think we should be honest in our ratings, so other hosts will know.

[Pat271]

I’ve been a host for about a year, and I feel like I understand both sides of the review dilemma.  

I tend to err on the side of denial - i.e. guests were great, even if they were not great.  I do this in my messaging with them, as well as in my reviews of them.  

I have a pretty high star rating, which I think is partially due to my treatment of guests and responses to guests - they can tell I am probably going to leave a good review, so they do likewise.  

This of course is in addition to the fact that I try to provide stylish accommodations, a good price, good service, etc.

The problem is, with my problem guests,  I know I would be a lot more forthcoming, with them and with my reviews of them, if I were not sensitive to the reviews they might leave me.  

I am knowingly defeating the purpose of reviews, and also providing a disincentive for my guests to improve.

Let’s live in a fantasy world for a moment, and imagine that a guest would automatically get one Global Guest Demerit (visible across all hosting platforms) if they did any one of:

     1) disobeyed house rules

     2) trashed an accommodation

     3) failed to communicate properly

     4) was extremely demanding, critical, and/or high-maintenance

Just imagine how our lives would change!  Over time, guests would be incentivized to be good guests, just as we are incentivized to be good hosts.

I want to emphasize that I’m only talking about guests that cause real problems and expense.  Hosts should double-check their perfectionism to make sure they aren’t being unreasonable.  

For instance a guest in a stand-alone unit with a maid fee who leaves smudges on a glass-top table, or a blanket that drapes to the floor from the couch, or leaves some toast crumbs on the counter, is not a problem guest!  These guests should still be given good reviews, and if you must, you can mention little things you think might help them be better guests, in private.  Take it easy with this, though; these guests are paying you and deserve to relax a little bit. 🙂

This is not an easy problem to solve.  Airbnb has made a step in the right direction by allowing hosts to review guests.  But it does no good if we are not honest in our reviews of problem guests.

[Sean433]

@Pat271 

Hi Pat, do you get fussy guests in Hawaii or those who trash accommodations? That is a bit surprising given how much of a relaxed atmosphere there is in Hawaii. I would also think due to the high cost of traveling there for most of us, the quality of guests you would receive would be higher end to match the high cost?

By the way, your listing is very nice. Nice view. Would love to visit Hawaii one day.

[Pat271]

Oh yes, fussy and/or trashy guests come in all shapes, sizes, and income levels. 🙂

I love hosting our neighbors to the North.  They, in turn, love booking with us during the winter months, to warm themselves up! I also love hosting other hosts.  Come stay at my place anytime. 🙂