Post by High Priestess on Nov 25, 2015 10:35:22 GMT
Karen
Reviews for undesirable guests
I am wondering if any of you have ever left a negative review for a guest. If so, how did that play out?
I have only left positive reviews for guests so far, as most of my guests have been pleasant. But I recently had a bad experience with a guest. I've called the matter to AirBnB's attention, but I hesitate to leave a bad review, as I have reason to believe he is volatile and confrontative and I don't want to put anyone, including myself, into an uncomfortable or dangerous situation. I'm also concerned that he may respond in kind and I don't want to get into a back and forth with him online. Yet I would like to warn other hosts away from this person. I am hoping that AirBnB will simply extricate him from the site, but I have no guarantee that they will do so. If I am going to review him, I have to do so today.
I wish AirBnB would create a way that hosts could review guests anonymously. Perhaps that would help.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
Matthew
I've done it before - its not fun, but its necessary to keep up the standards and integrity of the Airbnb community. I'd just leave a completely factual review. For example: " guest did not follow house rules. Would not recommend."
Jenny
We have had to leave negative reviews of guest, but never in such nature as your guest. Safety first, always! If you're unsure, I would call Airbnb or tweet them using AirbnbHelp (who will ask you to DM them!).
karen
"DM them"?
Matthew
Direct Message - a private message between twitter users
karen
I have spoken to AirBnB about the matter. Given the circumstances, I thought they would agree to take this person off the site right away, but two weeks later, I still have no resolution.
Jenny
Our experience is that you will have to call 1,2,3 times before a solution is given by Airbnb, therefore we always use Twitter, since they respond there quicker!
Clare
Please explain more why you fear this individual. Does he live close to you? Why was he staying at your place? If you leave a negative review and he harangues you in messages, flag him and report to Airbnb. Leave a factual, honest review so other hosts won't let him in the door. Also, do a "thumbs down". I believe that will prohibit him from doing and Instant Book. Please let us know how this turns out..
Grace
Hi Karen, I would never expect AirBnB to remove a paying guest from their site based on a host's complaint, even if they broke the law. There is no "back and forth" once a review is written, only one response allowed by each party. I have had to leave probably 3 or 4 negative reviews. Not doing so would be irresponsible toward the welfare of other hosts IMO. I keep it factual and unemotional and expect a retort, which seldom ever comes. I feel it's a host's duty in keeping with the defined structure of the company.
Keith
If you're goal is to make sure no other host has to deal with this unpleasant person you MUST leave a review that would tell someone not to have this person.
if you do nothing or leave a good review then you'll be perpetuating this bad behavior and possibly rewarding it and cause their next host the same aggravation you have.
Juliet and Ed
Hi Karen! I believe it is important to warn other hosts about this guest, for the reasons Keith mentions. Yes, I have written a negative review about a guest, I tried to make it factual, without being mean. You can see it here:
"_____ arrived at the time we had agreed upon. She left the bedroom and bathroom neat and tidy. However, any future hosts are strongly recommended to ask this guest to confirm that she has carefully read the entire description of the listing. ______ admitted she had either not read the description, or forgotten what it said. Consequently, our home was not a good fit for her needs, especially without a car. Even with our attempts to help her, because of her lack of computer skills, she was unable to download one of the ride-sharing Apps, because she did not remember the necessary passwords to use. Perhaps _____ is better suited to a hotel, or, if she has to return to Memphis, she could try to find a listing within walking distance of her destination (there are at least two)."
This lady did not review us, I don't believe she knew how to do it at the time. And it's interesting that the next hosts felt the same way about her. I know your situation is different, but you do not need to fear retaliation, unless of course the guest lives near you or is likely to return to your area. Once the reviews are published, you can each write one response, and that's the end of it. If the person were to start harassing you by email, you can report it to Airbnb.
C C
Omg, Juliet & Ed--I recognize her!!! ____ was trying to stay with me & she was so bossy & short with me in communications!! Wow!! I hate women. Jeez
Mig
You hate Women CC?
Jeannette
She hates female guests ... is my guess at what is meant. #disclaimerI'mnotCC
C C
Hehe. Jeannette has been paying attention!! (I've only said that a thousand times. It's even in my listings--NO MORE WOMEN!!!). And I've had 10 women book since I put that. What words do you have to say?
Thanks, Jeannette!
Fiona
I recently had to leave my first bad review of a guest.
"This is the first time since beginning hosting we have had a guest I would not allow back and I say that with a heavy heart as someone who liked ____ and loves hosting. But reviews should be honest. _____ showed up earlier than arranged and sat on our lawn with her suitcase until my children told me she was there. I let her in and charged her the early check in fee that is in our House Rules. She seemed a little lost and I was happy to give her a ride to the shopping district and have a nice chat. The next morning she refused my offer of breakfast saying she'd already eaten and left without locking the front door. She did not respond when I messaged her about checkout the day before she was supposed to leave. The reason she is not welcome to come back boils down to poor communication and judgment. She didn't say anything about checkout to me or ask for any extension or left luggage service, yet although she knew she should have left by 11am she left her belongings in the room and took the house keys without permission for eight additional hours. After dark that night she snuck in to the house without ringing the doorbell and even undid the chain on the door by slipping her hand in. If I had had new guests in the room they would have been very unpleasantly surprised. ______ retrieved her belongings, left the keys then snuck out leaving the door unlocked. I was very unhappy to have a guest who showed such disregard and, although problems with ______ during her stay were minor, her actions after she should have left and her lame excuses in messages after I told her it was unacceptable mean hosting her was overall a sour experience."
It is poor form not to review a bad guest and also to leave one that omits bad behavior. Just state facts.
C C
Fabulous, Fiona! Tell it!! And tell why!! It's important that hosts know the degree to which she "broke house rules."
Fiona
"Broke In To House Rules"
Karen
This is very bizarre. Every time I signed on to the site for the past two weeks, I had a notification requesting a review of this guest. But when I signed on just now, not only is there no notification -- our entire message thread has disappeared from my inbox. Part of the offending behavior was in that message thread. There is no way to review him now because there is no evidence he ever at my home, beyond the payment. I can't imagine what is going on. This has never happened before. Could it be that someone is protecting this guest somehow?
C C
Keep us updated, Karen
Jeannette
Do you have copies of the messages in your regular email? I.e., I save everything that comes to me in gmail and practically never look at the inbox.
Karen
Has anyone ever had a message thread deleted from their inbox? I've been hosting several years and every message I've exchanged is in my inbox, from the very first one.
Is there any way to look up a guest on the site through a search?
Deborah
Yes, I have had a message deleted from my inbox -- it was a case of a local business, someone who was contacting a lot of hosts in my area advertising their carpet cleaning business. Someone must have flagged the guy, because Airbnb Trust and Safety contacted me, told me not to contact that person, and deleted the message thread! I thought that was an overreaction, but there you go, they seem to do it for situations that are not really egregious at all, just minor annoyances.
Andrew
Does the guest's itinerary still appear when you go to Your Listings > Reservation History?
Carrie
Karen - it may very well be that Airbnb removed that guest from the site, and, in so doing, deleted all evidence of them ever having existed. I think they did exactly what you'd hoped!
Karen
Yes, Andrew, the itinerary is still in the reservation, but when I click on the guest's profile, I get an error message.
I'm hoping you're right, Carrie. I think people who behave the way this person behaved do not belong in the AirBnB community, particularly here in LA where the company is fighting local legislation that would ban it because neighbors are complaining about unruly and disorderly guests in their neighborhoods. But I haven't received confirmation of that. And I'm still not sure why they would need to delete my messages. That seems kind of peculiar.
Reviews for undesirable guests
I am wondering if any of you have ever left a negative review for a guest. If so, how did that play out?
I have only left positive reviews for guests so far, as most of my guests have been pleasant. But I recently had a bad experience with a guest. I've called the matter to AirBnB's attention, but I hesitate to leave a bad review, as I have reason to believe he is volatile and confrontative and I don't want to put anyone, including myself, into an uncomfortable or dangerous situation. I'm also concerned that he may respond in kind and I don't want to get into a back and forth with him online. Yet I would like to warn other hosts away from this person. I am hoping that AirBnB will simply extricate him from the site, but I have no guarantee that they will do so. If I am going to review him, I have to do so today.
I wish AirBnB would create a way that hosts could review guests anonymously. Perhaps that would help.
Any thoughts are much appreciated.
Matthew
I've done it before - its not fun, but its necessary to keep up the standards and integrity of the Airbnb community. I'd just leave a completely factual review. For example: " guest did not follow house rules. Would not recommend."
Jenny
We have had to leave negative reviews of guest, but never in such nature as your guest. Safety first, always! If you're unsure, I would call Airbnb or tweet them using AirbnbHelp (who will ask you to DM them!).
karen
"DM them"?
Matthew
Direct Message - a private message between twitter users
karen
I have spoken to AirBnB about the matter. Given the circumstances, I thought they would agree to take this person off the site right away, but two weeks later, I still have no resolution.
Jenny
Our experience is that you will have to call 1,2,3 times before a solution is given by Airbnb, therefore we always use Twitter, since they respond there quicker!
Clare
Please explain more why you fear this individual. Does he live close to you? Why was he staying at your place? If you leave a negative review and he harangues you in messages, flag him and report to Airbnb. Leave a factual, honest review so other hosts won't let him in the door. Also, do a "thumbs down". I believe that will prohibit him from doing and Instant Book. Please let us know how this turns out..
Grace
Hi Karen, I would never expect AirBnB to remove a paying guest from their site based on a host's complaint, even if they broke the law. There is no "back and forth" once a review is written, only one response allowed by each party. I have had to leave probably 3 or 4 negative reviews. Not doing so would be irresponsible toward the welfare of other hosts IMO. I keep it factual and unemotional and expect a retort, which seldom ever comes. I feel it's a host's duty in keeping with the defined structure of the company.
Keith
If you're goal is to make sure no other host has to deal with this unpleasant person you MUST leave a review that would tell someone not to have this person.
if you do nothing or leave a good review then you'll be perpetuating this bad behavior and possibly rewarding it and cause their next host the same aggravation you have.
Juliet and Ed
Hi Karen! I believe it is important to warn other hosts about this guest, for the reasons Keith mentions. Yes, I have written a negative review about a guest, I tried to make it factual, without being mean. You can see it here:
"_____ arrived at the time we had agreed upon. She left the bedroom and bathroom neat and tidy. However, any future hosts are strongly recommended to ask this guest to confirm that she has carefully read the entire description of the listing. ______ admitted she had either not read the description, or forgotten what it said. Consequently, our home was not a good fit for her needs, especially without a car. Even with our attempts to help her, because of her lack of computer skills, she was unable to download one of the ride-sharing Apps, because she did not remember the necessary passwords to use. Perhaps _____ is better suited to a hotel, or, if she has to return to Memphis, she could try to find a listing within walking distance of her destination (there are at least two)."
This lady did not review us, I don't believe she knew how to do it at the time. And it's interesting that the next hosts felt the same way about her. I know your situation is different, but you do not need to fear retaliation, unless of course the guest lives near you or is likely to return to your area. Once the reviews are published, you can each write one response, and that's the end of it. If the person were to start harassing you by email, you can report it to Airbnb.
C C
Omg, Juliet & Ed--I recognize her!!! ____ was trying to stay with me & she was so bossy & short with me in communications!! Wow!! I hate women. Jeez
Mig
You hate Women CC?
Jeannette
She hates female guests ... is my guess at what is meant. #disclaimerI'mnotCC
C C
Hehe. Jeannette has been paying attention!! (I've only said that a thousand times. It's even in my listings--NO MORE WOMEN!!!). And I've had 10 women book since I put that. What words do you have to say?
Thanks, Jeannette!Fiona
I recently had to leave my first bad review of a guest.
"This is the first time since beginning hosting we have had a guest I would not allow back and I say that with a heavy heart as someone who liked ____ and loves hosting. But reviews should be honest. _____ showed up earlier than arranged and sat on our lawn with her suitcase until my children told me she was there. I let her in and charged her the early check in fee that is in our House Rules. She seemed a little lost and I was happy to give her a ride to the shopping district and have a nice chat. The next morning she refused my offer of breakfast saying she'd already eaten and left without locking the front door. She did not respond when I messaged her about checkout the day before she was supposed to leave. The reason she is not welcome to come back boils down to poor communication and judgment. She didn't say anything about checkout to me or ask for any extension or left luggage service, yet although she knew she should have left by 11am she left her belongings in the room and took the house keys without permission for eight additional hours. After dark that night she snuck in to the house without ringing the doorbell and even undid the chain on the door by slipping her hand in. If I had had new guests in the room they would have been very unpleasantly surprised. ______ retrieved her belongings, left the keys then snuck out leaving the door unlocked. I was very unhappy to have a guest who showed such disregard and, although problems with ______ during her stay were minor, her actions after she should have left and her lame excuses in messages after I told her it was unacceptable mean hosting her was overall a sour experience."
It is poor form not to review a bad guest and also to leave one that omits bad behavior. Just state facts.
C C
Fabulous, Fiona! Tell it!! And tell why!! It's important that hosts know the degree to which she "broke house rules."
Fiona
"Broke In To House Rules"
Karen
This is very bizarre. Every time I signed on to the site for the past two weeks, I had a notification requesting a review of this guest. But when I signed on just now, not only is there no notification -- our entire message thread has disappeared from my inbox. Part of the offending behavior was in that message thread. There is no way to review him now because there is no evidence he ever at my home, beyond the payment. I can't imagine what is going on. This has never happened before. Could it be that someone is protecting this guest somehow?
C C
Keep us updated, Karen
Jeannette
Do you have copies of the messages in your regular email? I.e., I save everything that comes to me in gmail and practically never look at the inbox.
Karen
Has anyone ever had a message thread deleted from their inbox? I've been hosting several years and every message I've exchanged is in my inbox, from the very first one.
Is there any way to look up a guest on the site through a search?
Deborah
Yes, I have had a message deleted from my inbox -- it was a case of a local business, someone who was contacting a lot of hosts in my area advertising their carpet cleaning business. Someone must have flagged the guy, because Airbnb Trust and Safety contacted me, told me not to contact that person, and deleted the message thread! I thought that was an overreaction, but there you go, they seem to do it for situations that are not really egregious at all, just minor annoyances.
Andrew
Does the guest's itinerary still appear when you go to Your Listings > Reservation History?
Carrie
Karen - it may very well be that Airbnb removed that guest from the site, and, in so doing, deleted all evidence of them ever having existed. I think they did exactly what you'd hoped!
Karen
Yes, Andrew, the itinerary is still in the reservation, but when I click on the guest's profile, I get an error message.
I'm hoping you're right, Carrie. I think people who behave the way this person behaved do not belong in the AirBnB community, particularly here in LA where the company is fighting local legislation that would ban it because neighbors are complaining about unruly and disorderly guests in their neighborhoods. But I haven't received confirmation of that. And I'm still not sure why they would need to delete my messages. That seems kind of peculiar.
