A case study for honesty in reviews of guests

KKC is right that the booker is responsible for other guests but it can be problematic sometimes. Several times I’ve been in the position where one of a couple, or one of the friends/siblings, were nice but the other one was horrible. Often they travel together so I don’t want to spoil the nice one’s record but I do want to warn about the companion. I’m actually in that position right now and avoiding a review until the last minute.

I’m probably over-thinking this, aren’t I? But it’s hard to actually say "She was really nice but her husband is a *x!**.

2 Likes

Neither. Write an honest review.

It’s not a case of ‘poor’ or ‘bad’.

2 Likes

She said she had left the house already when her friend did the damage. The friend actually contacted me and took full blame for it. Thanks for all your input. I have about 12 more hours to decide what exactly to say.

Were there only the two guests? If so, it sounds unlikely that just the friend could have dragged the sofa to the garage on her own. It sounds like a 2 person job.

The guest who gave me a list of what she demanded yesterday had 38 prior 5 stars. The guest who repeatedly sexually harassed and groped me had 60. Most of his priors were third rate listings, or, single, pretty hosts.

No one is perfect. But high giving bullies is perhaps understandable. More than anything, we just want them out of our house. And you pay a heavy price. Metrically I am still smarting from the last one.

It has become a game of picking your battles.

I rewash dishes and utensils, and polish glassware. I limit the number of guests to 4 but have 4 complete everything plus serving dishes and utensils. I am surprised when dishes are unwashed, in the sink. Occasionally I find a dirty dish, but it is something that requires a good set of eyes to notice (the next guest) and not everyone has my standards of inspection with eyes and braille!

1 Like

My inclination would have been the same as your guest’s, and that is to use something that that is (apparently) inappropriate. Unless there are specific instructions, this is not the kind of furniture I would leave with a guest. So is this in fact the stuff of a negative review? Obviously they tried to fix it.

That is exactly why I always include the first name of all guests (and their pets) in my reviews. I could say Sue was a great guest but her friend, Jane, damages a brand new couch after Sue left. I recommend Sue but not her friend, Jane.

I had a guest apply to stay with me with a bad review where the friend had smoked and thrown butts all over the yard. It would be an ABSOLUTE NO for me but the guest explained the situation and it jive with the honest review that blamed the friend. I was able to have the discussion about a qualified acceptance and she turned out to be a super great and friendly guest who I would have back any time. We are both glad that the previous host was so honest about exactly what happened. And now her latest review indicates all positive for the guest by herself.

Be careful, if the name of the guest you mention in the review is not somewhere else in the booking process then the review can be removed because of “privacy issues”, that’s Airbnb’s term, not mine.

I gave a guest and her husband a pretty poor review, she did everything she could to get it removed as they were travelling round Europe using Airbnb. The CS agent told me it’d be removed as I had mentioned her husband by name - fortunately, the guest had booked by using her and her husbands name in the request. That was only reason I managed to get review kept up.

JF

I have in my House Rules that I must be given the first and last names of all guests so this is not an issue for me. Good warning for those hosts that don’t.

1 Like

I have had a number of requests from guests who claim to have been part of a larger party or the partner of someone, but there is no way of verifying this without a name list. So you care doing everyone a favour.

1 Like

I have a lot of couples stay here who I’m pretty sure are only in temporary relationships. Sometimes, I’m fairly certain that they are married but to other people. I’ve had guests who, although perfectly friendly, have avoided telling me their names. (Not the booker, obviously but the other half of the couple).

If couples are coming here for some extra marital rumpy pumpy then there’s no way they want me to mention the second person’s name in the review. So I don’t. Same with the relationships of a temporary nature - in two years time when Jenny books accommodation with boyfriend Sam, she doesn’t want reviews that refer to her previous trips with boyfriend Tom, boyfriend Dick and boyfriend Harry.

3 Likes

Jaquo that is spot on! HAHA your way with words<><>
I don’t like to miss the s/o of guests name, so I can introduce them to my DH, but I do not leave their name in a review, either.

1 Like

I had a woman stay here with another woman. Her Airbnb account is with her mother but she wasn’t clear about that when she booked and said she was coming to town to visit her partner. Anyway they arrive and I figure out who is who. Then come time to review and she asks me not to mention her partner as the account is with her mother and it would be confusing. But I’d already written my review, submitted and couldn’t edit. Luckily I’d only said “partner,” not a partner’s name because I’d already noticed there were no reviews mentioning the woman who stayed here and was represented as the partner. But there were a variety of other names on the reviews. Being an international flight attendant who has visited 55 countries in her 32 years probably give her a lot of interesting opportunities. Since she was so frank about being her with her partner I felt that using that term was appropriate. However, companion is a good term that I use often. I only use the partner’s name when it’s on the profile the booking was made under or if there are multiple reviews with that name.

3 Likes

That is the intent. It was also why I had started a thread earlier asking about having each guest registered officially and just not named, so the review would actually show up on their profile. Although since I list each name it would be verifiable. Most hosts don’t, regardless, and so a problem guest could lie and get away with it.

1 Like

Understandable but then they should avoid my listing or specifically request their guest not be mentioned in the review. If they requested that I would likely tell them I would consider it only if they were perfect guests who took proper care of everything, followed house rules and communicated well.

Worse are my reviews as a guest that mention my husband Joe…I am not married and have not been in almost two decades…and never to Joe.

2 Likes

I use whatever title the booking guest uses. I have had colleague, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, partner, fiancé, fiancée, friend, mother, father, son, sister, daughter, aunt, uncle, niece and nephew.

Never thought of the partner complication! And going forward, finding out that you and Boo were at such and such a place on such and such a date…WHOA!

2 Likes

Just found out that a certain person was being cyberstalked on Air, etc. and it opens a whole new world of paranoia and horror.

Suspicious spouses (s/o’s) could definately see ( with snooping of course) where their wanderers were and the name of their mistress or mister if we put that name in a review.

Personally I feel sorry for both parties that are in relationships where jealousy and mistrust are rampant like that. What a waste of time and energy.

On another subject, my instinct is that it’s way uncool to “out” a couple in my review, even if they are married, are on their anniversary or something? Btw I could care less and have had the most delightful guests of all kinds already. . Some of our recent guests intentionally outed themselves in their reviews of us:)

1 Like