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I’ve been on Air for a couple of years and have been lucky enough to always get good guests. I ask guests in the rules to wash up and put away dishes and cups etc and take out the rubbish and so far everyone has done this. I am disabled and clean the place myself so always appreciate guests who save me the extra effort. I also try and accommodate guests requests for late check out or early check in provided I have a couple of hours for the changeover. If guests forget to take out the rubbish or leave a sneaky cup on the floor somewhere I don’t mark them down in the review either.
So. I had a couple stay for three days. They seem very nice. Didn’t get a chance to meet them except at arrival (I live upstairs) but communicated well through text messages. She asked for a late checkout and initially I couldn’t manage but later gave them a midday checkout as could just about manage the cleaning before next guests. All in all what I would consider to be great guests and looking for a five star review.
But when I went down to clean it was like the Marie Celeste. Full coffee cups left out, tv left on, unwashed dishes and the bin hadn’t been emptied. To add insult to injury the House Manual was left open on the page on The Rules where it says “Before you leave: wash up and put away plates, cups etc, tidy up the space and put rubbish in the bins”.
So I did what I have never done and left them a negative public review. They weren’t newbies, she had 7 reviews, all very good. I was expecting maybe a text message saying: “sorry but we had to leave in a hurry” but one that just said: “loved your place, thanks!”. In the review I mentioned that up until they left they were great guests.
So how come I feel bad? Haven’t seen their review of me yet. Hope it is a good one
Some people are surprisingly inconsiderate. I just had a guest stay who works as a cleaner while going to uni. I thought that might mean she would be more respectful but no… plates left unwashed, wool blanket crumpled bed sheets rolled into a ball, electric blanket left on. This happened on all three days of her stay.
I’m also unhappy about this, though I will probably leave a moderate review.
We’ve all been conditioned to always be nice, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” However, in order for people to change, grow and improve they need to hear the truth. The important thing about the review is to be factual and leave feelings out of it. If your rules say put rubbish in the bin and they didn’t, don’t feel bad because you told other Airbnb hosts about it. You did right by us.
Don’t ever, EVER feel bad about leaving an honest review. Let’s face it, you probably had no worries about hosting these people because of their other reviews and those hosts who wrote the good reviews let you down, in a way. So please don’t do the same for other hosts.
You have no responsibility or reason to be nice to guests in your review because after all, you don’t want to host them again so be honest. This is the best way for Airbnb to truly work well for hosts.
Remember too that some hosts have different rules too. For example, if I saw a review saying that the guests hadn’t emptied the bin then I’d know to point out where the dumpsters are and make sure that they had plenty of bin bags.
Our respective reviews are up. Here is what mine said:
“Up until they left I would have said Jade and her partner were great guests. Good on communication, didn’t make much noise and were friendly when I met them briefly. But unlike every other guest I’ve hosted they made no effort on leaving to clean up dishes and cups, turn off the tv, tidy up or take out the rubbish. They did strip the bed as requested. It couldn’t have been due to time as I extended their checkout till midday even though my next guest was coming in early. Jade is not a newbie either where sometimes people forget to read the rules or think they are in a hotel. They even left the house manual open on the page where it says: “Before leaving: clean up dishes, tidy up and take out rubbish”, as though to say they knew it was expected but didn’t care.”
Having read a few discussion streams on here about giving negative reviews I tried to be positive where it warranted and give an honest description of the issue. To be fair they didn’t leave the place looking like a dumpster. But a full cup of tea left out and no attempt to clean or tidy up with unwashed dishes in the sink. If it had been just one of those things I would have overlooked it as I do.
Her review of me:
“James was a lovely and attentive host. He lives upstairs so is on hand to answer questions. I didn’t realize this on booking and was hoping to have the front yard to ourselves out of view, but the front yard is not private. The downstairs is though. Having said that that water view is spekky, so lovely to wake up to and we enjoyed a few picnics out on the grass. Lovely place and would definitely recommend.”
Spekky = Oz speak for spectacular I won’t go on about it. They were a lesbian couple and I advertise my place as “LGBT gay friendly”. I am a gay man myself but make a point of not mentioning it, or asking them about their relationship status, not my business, as want people to just feel they can be themselves. Their desire for privacy was understandable and I can’t actually see into the front yard from where I live upstairs and leave by a separate entrance. I am guessing from my status they gave me a 4 or 3 star review.
Anyway everyone else I have had stay over our busy Oz summer has been great. Mustn’t grumble, except what else is this forum for
Thanks! I’ve now had over a hundred guests and while everyone isn’t “perfect” all the others made a decent effort to clean up after themselves. Or at least not leave their full tea cup on the coffee table next to the open house manual asking them to clean up when they leave. What’s with that? If there was some crisis they had to leave suddenly to deal with I would have understood but just got a text message:“loved your place, thanks”
It occurs to me that maybe the way Air has feedback could be improved. Before guests arrive make each of the rules a bullet point they need to tick on to show they have seen it. Afterwards if hosts are saying the didn’t follow the rules then list each one they didn’t. But what are the chances of that
I won’t go on about it. They were a lesbian couple and I advertise my place as “LGBT gay friendly”. I am a gay man myself but make a point of not mentioning it, or asking them about their relationship status, not my business, as want people to just feel they can be themselves. Their desire for privacy was understandable and I can’t actually see into the front yard from where I live upstairs and leave by a separate entrance. I am guessing from my status they gave me a 4 or 3 star review.
