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So as many of you know, I accept all comers I do not require a guest has positive reviews or anything else. Heads in beds I say.
So I woke up to an IB from a guest with only 3 stars. There were only 2 reviews the first one was very good, the second one just had ________. no words at all. Clearly the first one was a five star and number two a one star.
So I took a look at the host who could not bother to write anything, thanks for nothing Hector… He had 669 reviews! yet only 4.6? I would guess it took more than a few bad reviews to drag down his average. I read through a couple pages and it became clear to me that Hector the host was more likely the problem than my new guest.
The guest had messaged me that he looked forward to coming with his GF for valentines day, I messaged him this:
Great, we look forward to hosting you. Not sure what happened in the tiny home in San Diego, it looks like the host Hector left you a 1 star review. I read a handful of the reviews of Hector and have concluded he may well have been part of the problem. Either way I am not too bothered by it just leave the place clean and be a good guest and we are good.
He emailed back thanking me and told me he arrived to a dirty/not turned over place and the host was defensive and basically an ass about it.
I am sure he will be a good guest and I will take the time to write more than I usually do to help him overcome that bad review.
Did you by any chance cross-reference to see whether Hector leaves “______” as reviews for other guests, or how he reviews? I’ve found that to be rather enlightening when trying to figure out if the host or the guest were the issue.
I did not, I was unimpressed with his non-review of my guest though. Just a line -------- No words at all. Lazy host, and that comes from me who almost always recycles the same review (for good guests, so 99%).
Maybe the host thinks sending reviews helps his search rankings.
Sometimes when I am worried that the guest might get the review removed, or try to retaliate in another way, I will say neutral language like “Victoria stayed at my studio for three nights”. And then give her lower stars.
But otherwise, I have a few lines in a text file and copy paste the applicable lines (90% of the guests cause no issues, and the standard review lines work for them.)
The underscore approach might have some more strategy behind it that I don’t understand.
I wouldn’t worry about that. If the reviews are removed then they violate some review standard. You’ll learn and get better. It won’t count against you and/or reviews will help other Hosts and, I think the guests too benefit.
Well, that I don’t know about. Hopefully if the review is fair and balanced, and recites the conduct in a factual way any anger the guest might feel will fade away over time.
I would defiantly infer there was an issue with Trish.
But what if she was a good guest, and just did not burn the place down? Or maybe she played with matches, or brought candles. If only the host JUST TOLD ME
And yet I thought I was as clear as anyone could be about Mike. I’ve never seen a review where the host has counted the seconds until the guest left but I think it would give me pause.
haha, I am lazy-lite. I have about 6 reviews saved, and I cycle through them. I keep saving good review wording when I read it, so I’m trying to expand my collection that way.
you could tell that guest he could probably have that review removed as it’s unhelpful. It might help bounce back to a more accurate score.
When asked why the trumpet solo he played in concert was identical to the one he played the night before (by a fan who assumed that it was supposed to be spontaneous), Louis Armstrong replied “well, it was spontaneous once, and I enjoyed it so much that I figured my audience would as well.”
If a review hits all the marks, why not save it and use it where appropriate?
The thing is, most guests would never have occasion to read the reviews we’ve left for other guests, so while we might feel we’re being redundant and lazy, guests don’t know we’ve left the same review over and over.
As a homeshare host, I am a bit more personal in my reviews, after all, I’ve spent time with most of the guests, so might have more to say than entire place hosts. But there’s only so much you can say about guests that other hosts would want to know, which is the main purpose in reviewing guests.
I’m a one fingered typist and I write new reviews. Each. Time. I guess we don’t have enough bookings!
If I see a bad review>>> I just ask.
“I see you were given a poor review by another host. Please share your side of the situation there. We can’t handle anything disrespectful at our hideaway”
It’s amazing that they did not thank you profusely for this. It’s sad because just as kind behavior often motivates others to ‘pay it forward’ ingratitude also sometimes motivates others to be less generous
But loaning your car to guests – while generous – might have some uncertain financial and other consequences. You’d have to research your policy and state law to know for sure. Don’t do it. Here’s why.
If the guest got into an accident and damaged your car you might not be covered under your policy if the guest is not a covered driver or if coverage is denied in certain circumstances (e.g., if the driver is drunk or under the influence, or doesn’t have a valid drivers license [these were motorcyclists: what if they didn’t have a license to drive a car?]).
Even if you have coverage the accident will count against you with the insurer, so your premiums could increase.
If the guest was speeding or ran a red light and it was caught by one of those cameras capturing the license plate, you’d get the ticket. You might be able to defend that you were not the driver but I don’t know.
If there were an accident, even if the guest were a covered driver under your policy, there might be a question of whether the loan was implicitly part of a commercial transaction. Even though you didn’t charge the guest or even ask money for gas [which from this view is good that you didn’t] there might be a presumption that when you ‘give’ something to a customer that it is implicitly part of the transaction. Your personal car insurance policy likely doesn’t include business or ‘rent for hire’ use. [An attorney might ask, "Did you think by lending the car it was more or less likely that the guest would give you a good review? To come back? These are business benefits for which the use of the car was likely not insured.]
If the car is used in a crime, you’ll certainly be asked about it. Sometimes property used in a crime can be confiscated by the police, though this is rare. If there’s evidence that you knew or should have known that, for example, the guest did not have a drivers license, the guest was tipsy or ‘on something’ or otherwise a risky driver it’s possible that you could have liability. You’ll certainly experience . . . inconvenience, maybe more.
→ I’d advise strongly against loaning your vehicle to a guest. If you want to be generous, drive them to the rental car place.
I understand and I will try to craft some words next time. I was thinking more of the guests and the possibility that they were on the spectrum and did not have the social skills or understanding to respond appropriately to the situations.
I checked with my insurance agent before loaning them the car and they said to just make sure I checked their licenses and under no circumstance to charge them. But, you are right, I should have just driven them to a rental car place. Thanks for the advice.
You have 14 days to compose a review. Seems like you could have overcome your speechlessness in that amount of time and written a review that said pretty much exactly what you’ve conveyed here- guests were generally disrespectful and had an entitled attitude.
