Airbnb guidelines on writing reviews

I'd like to see some guidelines for responses to reviews.

Once again, and I thank the Universe for some downtime after another jam packed month of the majority of guests not reading house rules.

House rules state that I request guests to inform me of their estimated time of arrival.

I keep everything in airbnb message feeds.

Recent guest who booked month in advance for a one night (Saturday night no less) couldn't respond.

Upon prompting the day before, she wrote "Guess we'll be there around 5:30pm."

6:00 writes they are at such and such beach, so "I guess we'll be later."

Then again, "per Google maps 7:30pm"....it's a 45 minute drive.

I respond back, they'd better pick up something for dinner, as our local eateries mostly close at 8 on Saturday.

"Got any restaurant recommendations?"

OK, now I'm ready to puke with frustration.

"Anything that's open, I don't know what's down there."

So, they end up blowing past to have dinner North of my house while I'm still waiting, tired, hungry myself, would like my own shower and go to bed after wasting so much time waiting around.

9 pm or so, I see car lights down the street, they can't find the gate code box which is lite up like a xmas tree, park on the grass outside the fence, and she's got a flashlight calling my name from the street.

I go out, open the fence, and play parking attendant.

He's spinnin tires and dirt like it's a flippin drag racing arena, I tell her to tell him to back up to get back on the pavement, NO......we're gonna peddle to the metal and dig up that grass as we like, so I show them to the easiest parking spot (ha-ha), ends up parked on the interior grass beyond the driveway and takes up both spaces in that area.

Other guests arrive during this time who had stated their flight arrived at 8 pm.

Oh Big Mouth made the statement "Oh Good, THEY found the gate code", and I play parking attendant to the last open spot where their car won't get smashed in by Mr Race Car Driver backing up.

Original guest stays out in her car sorting through junk like they're moving in, so I go in with other guests who were a 3 night stay and have usage to different stuff like beach towels, etc., so the verbiage would have been different anyway.

I wrote review on how frustrating it is for us hosts to open our homes to be treated with the disrespect of not reading house rules (she stated she didn't read her email, had to write the gate code in her notebook, asked to use my refrigerator, when it's stated each room has their own to use), and inconsideration for us hosts who work so hard to prepare our accommodations for our guests, as well as attempt to live our own lives in the process.

Oh course, she writes response what a liar I am; I made them move from the where the other guests parked (NOT), and plays the discrimination card.

That's going to fly like a dead bat, as airbnb will see the vast majority of my guests are from the same country who leave wonderful reviews.

Her's was 4 star and stating "House was beautiful and easy to find."

Then, as usual, pissed off when she didn't receive a glowing review, and make up their own story.

In the old group, discussion was to be specific with our reviews to help other hosts know what our gripe was.

Everytime I do this, it sure comes back to bite me in the ass; except it's on their page, not mine.

I don't think that matters much either, as any potential host could see I typically recommend other hosts to gladly accept any reservation requests the guests may have during their future travels.

Again, ATF, when I write a truthful, but not so pleasant review, I watch for their response.

Another review had popped up from Oahu simply stating "OK".

So I dig deeper, she stated the host told them they couldn't check-in until midnight, they couldn't wait, booked another room and is awaiting her money back for the first night.

She didn't care for waiting, when Oahu is hopping 24/7; but had no problem making me wait when she was already on island, no late flight, a Saturday one night stand, and was apparently planning on arriving for me to provide her dinner.


Earlier in the week I had another one night stand from host/guest with glowing reviews.
Stated his flight arrived at 8 pm.
Good deal! It's coffee season, I bust ass to prepare room and get on my farmer john clothes to beat the rain.

1 pm car drives up, I had the gates open, thought hummm, other guests must have switched rental cars.
NOT....

"Hi! I'm a Jackass and I know check-in is after 4 pm, but we want to drop our stuff off."
I reply 'it's your lucky day, I've got your room ready, but not the final house cleaning as you stated your flight was 8 pm, and I'm trying to beat the rain with my work."

"Well, we had a dolphin snorkel this morning." OH?

Well, here's your room, blah, blah, blah, I'm trying to beat the rain, got your $11.40 tax?

NO, I have no cash, we're going to Green Sand beach.

So I inform him there's plenty of places to stop along the way to get it.

They arrive back 7 pm, immediately go to shower, I hang out doing kitchen work awaiting appropriate timing to ask for tax.

He states again he has no cash.

I tell him he'd better get to the store or something and get some as that's the deal.

He got the message: No Pay, No Stay (after checking in early, showering, and then planning on going straight to bed).

Dumbshit arrives back at 10 pm, and I feel like Stalker Queen, she runs into bathroom to brush teeth, he closes bedroom door.

I call out to him.

He digs in his wallet while I wait........

"I only have a $50."

Well, I've got the change.

I SO wish Hawaii would allow airbnb to collect the tax for us, as I'm sure this one wasn't going to Magically wake up in the morning with the money under his pillow and leave it prior to his early morning check-out.

Sure makes one lose faith in the human race.

I wish I could remember how Jeanette had used a 'secret word' for guests to type proving they had read the rules.

An airbnb newsletter had stated another host uses this technique also.

I'm just too flippin busy to re-do all my listings, and haven't come up with a idea how to word it to avoid this not reading the rules, not paying attention to the fact that early check-ins or late check-outs cannot be accommodated, and 'conveniently' attempting to forget the tax.

They got the reservation, done.

Or so they think.

Airbnb reminds me I have 2 pages of guests I haven't left reviews for.

Can ya guess why?

Aloha Deborah,

Thanks for allowing me to vent with my not so Quick Reply posts.

BINGO!! was the best I could come up with at the moment, but ended my email of confirmation, gate code directions, check-in time, etc., with:

• Please verify that you have read this acknowledgement with your estimated time of arrival and the statement

• Good communication makes for a Happy Host

It shall be interesting to see how this works, I think with my amount of volume and reviews, it should be easily respected.

In the past, I have grumbled to airbnb CS who stated I can cancel their reservation, since it's stated in the House Rules required to read prior to booking. It is my intention to not travel down that path, and just typically go with it and bite my tongue; but it certainly is not making for happy hosting. I can't even imagine having a jay o be away from home.

I appreciate some place to vent to think beyond the box and come up with options of improvement.

As always,
With much aloha

Hi Rhonda, if they ramble on with name calling in a public answer on their page, I'm highly amused. Killing off their chances to rebook all the better. The guideline for answers could be:
For guests: let it all out!!!
For hosts: you run a business, you write her for your Next guest.

Thanks Deborah for the review guidelines again. I'll have to set up a twiiter account to call airbnb out on it. I got a very discriminatory review and airbnb does nothing about it. The guideline seems to mean that you can't discriminate against Americans of color and other causes susceptible to be taken up by the press, but otherwise you can go ahead.
I had a superhost for one night in May, not on IB, which would be suspect, but he asked about parking his bike.
He is a local, using vouchers to sleep elsewhere and rent his place. He comes to spy on the competition and dunk them in reviews and stars. He had arrval times like Rhonda's guests, so I showed him his bed and breakfast and left him at 11pm. In the morning, I saw him in the garden, strolling through the neighbour's private spaces, which is unusual. I offered to prepare breakfast, but he told me quite rudely that he has to work and did not want company. He changed the checkout time from before 8am to later, as he had not realised that it was a public holiday and his workplace was closed.
When I returned at 9am, he told me he had searched in my room, but did not find the parrot. I was livid and told him, the parrot could fly. He had closed the kitchen outside door for that reason - that means he took the risk knowingly. No excuses but a reproach :"I told myself, if she does not wamt me to enter, she had locked the doir!" To a lady's bedroom in the morning???!
When I let Auguste out in my room and the bird came to the glass doir as usual, the sight did not merit more than a glance. Obviously the parrot was a pretext. I joined him in the kitchen then to impose my presence in my house. He asked a lot of indiscreet questions, if I own the place, if I live alone etc. I refignored them but he insisted and I refused outright to answer as of no concern to him.
We both waited 13 days to review. He mocked my Austrian accent with a fake German one, putting old words in it, which German sildiers used during the occupation in WW2. Every French friend reading it was horrified and some aay it would be enough for a criminal plaint.
The private feedback was a long long tirade of crazy ideas and insults, confirming his right to search the parrot. 2 stars on global and remarks like lack of cleanliness. (I had swiped the floor before his arrival, but he kept going in and out till 1 am, walking around in the garden, shoes inside after I told him twice to take them off. As he spied on the neighbour's building site, where they had poured concrete the whole say, with heaps of sand and cement bags outside, he brought in the whole mess)
The next host, named Juan and speaking English, got a terrible review too, which stands out on his page of nice comments.
This Jerome superhost has a place like Juan and me, rather muddled up, but Jerome takes four people, sleeping on a foldout and mattresses. With high extra persons fee, he can rent a bed for himself.
With French hosts, he appears to be full of great ideas to improve their space instead of his own, but he does not get personal. With a Spanyard and an Austrian, the raciscm shows.
And I got no answer so far from Airbnbon the matter, even after a dozen people flagged the comment.
Any ideas what to do?

I have been renovating for a month, did only fireup a computer twice in a month.

Hi Helga

What a complete miscreant you've been smacked with! HOrrible little cretin, to come harass you in your home.



Did you consider declining him, when you realized he was a local? I would consider doing that the next time around.

I don't really have any suggestions for what to do with Airbnb. People often dont' get the results they want from Airbnb and are often out to ask for help on how to get better results. Sometimes it helps just to call again and get a different customer service person -- other times it can help to post the issue on Airbnb's twitter page -- but nothing is guaranteed. You just try everything if you really want help and have the time to exhaust all avenues. If nothing else, the review gets buried soon by your other reviews.

And I hope the nasty guest gets Miss Karma to come kick his butt pretty soon...

Just an update to close my insertion into Deborah's guidelines:
I got an airbnb mail this weekend, about 7 weeks after contacting them the first time.
The review was removed, not my review of him though. That one was very short, that he spent a night and left things in order. Short and cold enough to make a normal host crosscheck, but there is nothing now to check.
Airbnb removed a review from the next host from his account and his public answer. I can't find the other host's profile anymore. I had drawn attention to my guest's review of that host too, so I would have liked to see his profile. At the time already, he had blocked all open days. It looked like he was honouring his reservations, but did not want to have any more guests of that kind.

The airbnb mail also said, that they are still investigating and further sanctions may include blocking the offender, but they won't inform me about sanctions. - Never mind, I'll check from time to time.

The 2 stars on global were also removed. I can't check for the others, but I guess so.

I'm still thinking about a thank you mail and therefore about the question, what I would do with Jerome, if it was my decision. He is a horrible guest, offending hosts and maybe even scaring them away. Clearly he should not travel. But he is a superhost and his 75 guests loved him. Should he host?

He was manipulative and trying to intimitate me, seems he did that successfully with other female hosts (if I read correctly between the lines of public answers to his reviews). Maybe he bullies his guests into 5 star reviews too. I'd love to see the statistics how many of his guests travel again.
What would you do?

Alohas,
I don't remember this prior to today:

Email reminder to write a review for Sam.

Sam cancelled his reservation one hour prior to official check-in time, knowing he wasn't actually arriving quite late after a nighttime activity.  All was good.

He rings me up, informs me he 'has problems at work, and has to cancel.'

It was a 3 night stay.

I replied 'thanks for the update, you'll have to notify airbnb yourself, as hosts cannot do this for guests.'

Knowing all along, he's out $300, but never inquired about refund.

Then I get the airbnb email to leave a review, go to their link posted in the email, and here's the news of my day:

"Can I leave a review for a canceled reservation?



Yes, if the trip is canceled on or after the day of check-in. If it's canceled before then, you can’t leave a review.



If a host cancels before the day of check-in, an automatic review will be added to their listing to indicate that they canceled the reservation. These reviews are one of the penalties for host cancellations and can’t be removed."

So here we go, Host can leave review 'sam' cancelled his reservation one plus half hour via phone call prior to check-in."

Cancelled guest can leave all one stars because the host didn't offer a refund, offer future days, or discount.

I've had a couple removed via airbnb resolution center, as the guest cancelled, and how can you rate anyone ya never met or arrived on property?

Whatevers,
A thrill a minute in the 'Think Tank in the world of airbnb'