Is it a unbiased or retaliated review?

Is it a unbiased or retaliated review?

For example, if a customer buy a gasoline-powered car from you, he was told to put the gasoline in the tank to make it work, but he did not follow the instructions he put water in the tank instead of the gasoline, the car break down then he blamed you sold a bad car to him which doesn’t work. He wrote a review said you sold a very low quality car and give you a very low score that will influence your future potential customers. Would you think this is a unbiased one?

 

one of our past guests, In his review, he mentioned flushing toilet paper caused choking. Actually, this family did not follow the house rule and throw large amount of toilet paper in the toilet and cause the clog. We have put labels to remind guesses that “please do not throw toilet paper, wipes or facial tissues.
They clog the pipes!”. There are three of this note posted in the toilet area (on the cover of toilet; on the wall beside the toilet and on the wall close to the toilet paper holder) to remind guests about this house rule. Although we unclogged the toilet for him immediately, he still blamed. The fact is that our previous groups of family do not have toilet issue at all. But he did not follow the rule himself and caused the problem ( I have the photos of those labels as evidence).

 

Second thing he mentioned is that “washing machine didn’t work initially since hot water line not connected”. The fact is the washing machine works. We also have a label on the water temperature knob where it clearly stated “Please use cold water only, hot water pipe leaks. Thank you!” . He did not follow this instructions. He switched water temperature to the hot water, then he messaged us said he need the help. We went to the suite and told him to use the cold water for washing machine as the label instructed( we also have photo as proof)

 

This guest did not followed the house rules caused the toilet clogged and overflowed. Also washing machine leaking. We did not blame them at all because we want to keep our guess happy. At the end, he made false statements in his review, complaining all these issues because he did not follow the rules.

I know here have lost of super host experts and some Airbnb staff here. I am seeking advise, in the case, would you think this review is a biased review?

6 Replies 6

Hello Kevin - 

 

So sorry to hear about this frustrating situation.  I very much understand the issue, as we have the same policy with our home in Oaxaca, Mexico.  

 

I would suggest that you make a call to Airbnb regarding this.  I would explain the situation,  your stated house rules, and that the guest broke the rules.   And it turn you feel the review was written in retaliation.  

 

I once had a guest write a review based on a clear case of retaliation, and Airbnb handled the situation professionally. 

 

Personally, I don't feel guest should be able to leave reviews if they have clearly broken house rules. 

 

I wish you continued success with your listings and a good outcome with a conversation with Airbnb. 

 

Best, 

 

John

Hi John,

 

Thanks a lot for taking time reply my question above.  I really wish Airbnb support team can handle it professionally.

 

However the answer I got so far was: “…the review did not violate our polices. We also do not remove review based off truth or fairness.”  

 

I have asked her to escalate this to her supervisor.  Cross the fingers. I will be back to keep community posted. 

Thanks again and all the best!

Kevin

Fred13
Level 10
Placencia, Belize

What you are really asking is for the review be taken down because it is erroneous, as a direct result of the guests not reading, unable to comprehend or even think. Tall order.

Hi Fred,

 

Thanks for your reply. I understood guests might make mistakes if they did not read or understood.

 

What makes me upset is we explained to him.  I am very certain that he understood since he is a native English speaker. And he blamed all these issues in the review which caused by he did not followed the instructions . He gave us a lowest review score we received in the two years.  I can’t understand how this review is “unbiased”? 

Thanks,

 Kevin 

They won't take it down, just because the guest couldn't read or think.

   One thing we did do is add a 'macerator' to our existing regular toilet - no more clogging.

   The hot water thing is really a silly thing in the scheme of things. Best to make light of it, and say 'Oh, hot water is of course available, just need to turn it on, like the sign says. We rather keep it off since a lot of guests prefer cold water only in their washing and is safer if we keep it off, but still offer them the choice. Glad you guys had a great time.." .😎

Thanks again Fred for you helpful suggestions. 

If the guests don’t have to follow the house rule. Then why the hosts bother to set the house rules?

 

If the guests allowed to give bad reviews and  low score to blame hosts for the issues caused by guests didn’t follow the rules.  Then what is the point of the whole review system?

 

Thanks again for all your input. Let wait and see if Airbnb can  do something for this.

 

 Thanks,

Kevin