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I know I’ve been on here a bit lately, but yesterday I received a request to stay and the potential guest told me his reason for staying and then asked “can you confirm all the reviews are authentic?”.
(I do have 13 5 star reviews)
I can be a bit skeptical of people anyway, but this sent me a little red flag. I ended up confirming the reviews are indeed authentic, but declining his request to stay because I won’t be able to prepare the home after he leaves for the (already booked) following guest as I will be traveling.
Is this the type of question anyone has had before or was I right in thinking it’s odd line of questioning?
He’s probably a newbie, first time using Airbnb. There was some You Tube video saying the some of that reviews are fake and that hosts are able to get rid of the negative reviews (as if it was that easy). He most likely saw that video. I really wouldn’t worry about it. I would just tell the potential guest to call Airbnb to confirm that the reviews are authentic.
Vrbo used to allow anyone to submit a review (although that stopped several years ago). And even though it’s against the T&C’s, I highly suspect there are “planted” reviews (your friend/coworker books at a low price, then leaves a glowing review without staying there). The guest may have been burned before, or heard/read the horror stories. So no, not a red flag to me.
On a different note, @Airbnb_mama- if you are going to be traveling and can’t prepare the room between guests, you need to block dates you don’t want guests to stay, rather than decline requests.
Was this an Inquiry, or a Request? If you get an Inquiry message from a guest, all that requires is a response within 24 hrs- you do not need to click on either pre-approve or decline.
As for the guest’s question- not a red flag- the guest may have had a bad experience with a place that was well-reviewed, but turned out to be a dive.
No, all reviews are not authentic. There’s some guy in Paris, for example, who has multiple reviews from his buddy, who also has listings. And vice versa. They basically run flop houses/hostels which get some horrible reviews. Everytime they get a bad review, they write a good one for each other to counter it.
It’s easy- you make a booking for some ridiculously low price so the service feesand taxes are low, don’t stay, write a glowing review, and your buddy pays you back for the booking.
Also anyone can say anything about anyplace on Trip Advisor. For instance, if you look at reviews for my town of Sayulita, Mexico, you see reviews from tourists saying everyone in their group got sick here, as if the entire town is a health hazard. They’ll blame it in the ocean water, even though some of them never even went in the ocean, or the drinking water. Yet every tourist season, Norovirus makes the rounds here and it never seems to occur to the tourists that they were already infected when they flew down, or contracted it in the airports or on the plane. Or they got food poisoning at some restaurant, which can happen anywhere.
I did come to the realization that I should’ve blocked the dates after replying to his message.
We often travel spur of the moment, but this one was planned. I appreciate the feedback.
And yes, it was a request.
If you only have five star reviews then some may ask the question about the authenticity of the reviews.
It’s important to have a review that is not five stars and that has some criticism. It makes the other reviews more credible.
I occasionally get reviews less than five stars and since I have so many reviews now, I don’t mind it. Earlier I used to get upset.
If I was in your place I would request a guest to leave you a four star review unless you get one organically.
I think once you get around the 50 reviews mark you will not get this question because it’s really hard to fake 50 reviews.
I do a lot of one night stays in the orphaned dates on my calendar so I can get my review numbers up. I know not everyone can do that because of their listing is set up.
Questions like this , and the guest who asks if the bed will hurt their back or what the sheets’ thread count is, are the red flags that we have grown to immediately spot.
It wouldn’t be a red flag for me. One reason is that it’s estimated that 42% of Amazon’s reviews are fake.
This is easy to spot sometimes. For example when you are looking at reviews for a frying pan, let’s say, and you come to a review that says ‘fits perfectly’ or ‘I bought this for my 12 year old sister and she loves wearing it’.
The person asking if reviews are real might have read this page.
P.S. A handy browser extension for when you’re shopping at Amazon is ReviewMeta. It analyses reviews and shows how many are dodgy.
And let’s not forget all the host posts saying they just had horrible guests who had a bunch of 5* reviews. So wondering whether reviews are authentic goes both ways.
I see your point of view and appreciate your reply, but I think I’d rather come by a 4 star review organically.
I work my tail off to make sure everything in my Airbnb (that had just been finished being totally remodeled when I listed it) is nearly perfect. I pride myself in the 5 star reviews and know that some day, some one won’t agree, but until then I’d rather ride the wave of feeling like I’m doing an incredible job.
Honestly, this is what I was looking for. Seems like nitpicking type of person who’d be better off staying at the Waldorf.
My husband has a business and has been burned by ALOT of people from the specific area/city this gentleman was from and it was another red flag for me. I’d rather he just go elsewhere.
I don’t know if I’m elated or crushed. I am a huge reviews person, so to (possibly naively) find out Amazon reviews are fake, I’m surprised. I have seen a few of the reviews that don’t match the product, but just figured the person selected the wrong thing or it got misplaced. I appreciate your comment and will check out Review Meta. Thanks
I’ve only been hosting since March 2023 and not too familiar on what is “normal” for guests. I feel validated in my choice to decline his request. Although, another comment suggested I block the dates I would be away & I think that’s the route I should’ve taken. I appreciate your reply.
This is just an anecdote, but there was a host in my neighborhood that did this with their backyard cottage. I believe their friends and family members really stayed, at a discount, but were plant reviews. I’m not sure how common this is.
