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Just got the call from Air. They won’t remove the review and told me a lot of Bla Bla Bla. This Super Host program is a joke, I wonder why other hosts say they have priority or anything because that’s not the case when I call Air Taiwan number. For US only?
I don’t reply to any review,i have 2 listings but this listing has 41 reviews. I am thinking I should reply the review with the key points explaining what type of guest she is and why she says ‘this is her worse living experience’ etc and why she ‘wilk never ever be back’.
I saw the number of views in this listing is increasing but no bookings. At this period, after summer vacations have finished, I should be able to get mostly Chinese guests. Her review is on the top if the guest uses Chinese interface and the reviews in English follow after the Chinese ones regardless of date. Are they being turned off by her review?
Waiting on you guys advice before I make any review response too emotional
Vera one thing: what you want to accomplish with this type of review is:
Make light of it, to convey the idea her opinion is really not that important.
Dismiss the guest, by making the guest look like a fluke; using words like odd or unusual as to behavior conveys the point that this guest is indeed an oddity, in every respect.
The above facilitate future readers to put things in proper perspective, which should be the only objective.
We did have fun with this whole affair yesterday, everything does have a funny side in life.
There is one guest here today and he told me he saw the review because he entered our profile today and he found it very odd how come only she had this terrible opinion. I guess there is still hope?
It would be best, I think, to not reply. All of your other reviews will speak for you.
However, I would be tempted to say
"Guest is correct, we did limit her movement as we did not want her in our private bedroom staring at us while we were in bed. We did repeatedly request she leave the room and stop looking through our luggage. As to the house being dirty, had we known of the guests issue we would have fixed it immediately. (guest name) please contact me and tell me what you found dirty so I may correct this.
How are you doing, @Vera? I hope you are beginning to heal physically as well as emotionally.
When we have traveled in China, my very-white, blonde, grey-eyed child is constantly asked to pose for a photo. She tired of it quickly and we would say ‘no’, but I would offer to let them take my photo, which they did, and I always took their photo in response. Even today here as a host Asian families often want to take a photo of our family (which is part Chinese now anyway). However, I’ve also seen them take photos of airport departure boards so I don’t take it to seriously.
Off topic - we were at Forbidden City and this family with a girl my daughter’s age wanted her photo with their daughter. Their daughter did NOT want to do it. My daughter did NOT want to do it. Both parents thought it would be so cute. The other parents made their daughter share her fancy head piece with my daughter. Now here is the photo of them both smiling so happily, but in reality, they were not happy. Now I’m a bit ashamed that I let this go on, but I was wanting to be obliging and friendly. Duh.
But anyway, yes, @Yana and @Vera, what horrible behavour - and @Garden1Gnome - that’s totally cra cra.
But Chinese people are exhibitionist at heart, I think. My Chinese son always wants to play guitar or piano for our guests, and he’s not even that good. Also a friend who lived with us, also Chinese, would call on my kids to play piano for guests like it was the most natural thing in the world (she taught them). Many Chinese people that have been in my home, at the slightest suggestion, will sing or play piano boldly and joyfully. My daughter who is Chinese is much more reticent but she’s been here since being young, and she’s reticent to do anything, lol!
OK that was really rambling as many memories were provoked. and said son needs help with his math. Hope I didn’t bore anyone. Also I don’t normally post photos online of my kid, but thought this may amuse some, knowing the back-story.
My point exactly, the odd bird will always stick out for what they really are, unless we foolishly give them a level of importance. IF I was to do a review of this ‘fruitcake’ I would simple say something along the lines that -
“Considering your odd and inconsiderate behavior, obviously my place was not well suited for you”.
I am no fan of plunging into details (aka minutiae) since oftentimes it detracts from the principal message.
Wow @dcmooney they look lovely and so happy! Hard to think they were not willing for the picture.
Up until this day I still get asked to take pictures with the locals and my child too, and I am not even blond. It is worse for you blondes here.
The exhibitionist oart, at least in Taiwan, in more about bragging. Say, I can do this or that, but not easily will they show. But yes, I had guests from China performing for me guitar, flute, etc, even as it was clearly out of place at the time. I guess it is more from mainland China.
I found many times we do things or accept things to be done in certain way because of peer pressure even though we don’t want to admit it as adults. It takes a lot to say no especially when you want to be friendly.
Everything in China is about “face” and how things look to other people.
There are white people in China who make a living off this. Companies hire them to dress up in a suit and sit in on an important meeting with another company. They don’t even have to talk or know anything about business. It’s to give the illusion that the company is “important” because they have foreign connections.
There are houses in China that have been made to look like they have 3 stories from the front, when in fact they only have two.
It’s rare to see a dirty or beat up old car in China. But the same people who own the shiny new cars live in tiny, run down apartments. Other people don’t see the inside of your apartment but they do see and judge your car.
I had colleagues who were expats in China.
They came back earlier than planned, because they didn’t feel their baby was save.
When having a walk in the park. On several occasions their little blond child was grabbed from the stroller to take pictures, without asking.
People were even offended if took they the child back from them. After a few times they wife was scared to go outside without the husband, so they decided to come back early.
My son just spend 5 years in China, married to a Chinese woman, they just came to visit for a month. To hear him speak Chinese (both versions) is a wonderment. As long as she stays away from the kitchen and doesn’t do the cooking, we will always get along famously.
My son is a college student… And a Japanese Studies major. He taught himself Japanese while in high school, not realizing he would study it in college, (and thanks to his cruel “nonfather,” who told him he wasn’t good enough to get into college,) well he proved him wrong…he spent all of last year in Tokyo studying and is now in Kyoto studying for the year, on a prestigious Japanese government scholarship only granted to those with advanced language competency. It’s fabulous to hear your Hawaii-born child speak so fluently. Mom is soooooo proud.
wow, that’s nuts. What part of China? Just curious - I found the ‘photo thing’ happened in Beijing and Guangzhou, but not in the town of Nanning (close to Vietnam border) or Guilin. This surprised be as I would have thought the people in those other towns a bit more sophisticated and familiar with foreigners.
@Vera I’m sorry you were traumatized by these guests, not once but twice. Nevertheless you have shown great resiliency and your sense of humor has served you well. I confess that I got great amusement from reading it. I look forward to the day when you too will be able to laugh at it all. I have a feeling “bonsai tree” is going to be code language that we see again on the forum. May your next guests make up for it.
O yeah, that too.
But in Europe its the same thing. You know in Germany they will kick you out of sauna if you have clothes on. So, i saw something long forgoten from my childhood, when women did not shave at all, anywhere.I even forgot how much hair we naturally have.
In that Korean sauna when i was taking shower one woman was just sitting there and starred at my butt. She had a grim expression on her face. I was wondering what that meant hoping that that was jealousy.
