Do you review guests all the time?

Yes please. It’s always good to know more about members here.

It’s good to know you’re not a spammer too - we do sometimes get people who think it’s a good idea for some reason. :slight_smile:

1 Like

Never thought to do this and I will try this. My worse reviewer asked to bring her dog to my pet free place— which I agreed to being a newbee and wanting some reviews—then gave me a 4 for location despite knowing ahead of time that my place is located in a rural, eclectic downtown. She also sent me a personal list of things she thought I needed to change.I was gracious in my responses but a little annoyed.

I always used to review guests after they checked out and I had time to assess the condition of the home but so many didn’t review me. So now I review good guests only if they leave me a review. I always review the not so great guests but I do wait the 14 days.

Please, please, please review all guests!

I hope that potential guests don’t read this thread and think that they can get away with anything because of hosts who don’t write reviews.

Writing reviews is part of the job. It’s pretty selfish not to. It only takes a few seconds to do.

3 Likes

I hope it’s not too generic.

I just looked at a listing where the host has 206 reviews. Then I looked to see what kind of reviews she leaves for guests. Every single review she leaves says “XX was a nice guest. I highly recommend him to other hosts.” Only occasionally did she vary it, “XX had good communication and was a nice guest. I highly recommend her to other hosts”, and those were from older reviews- all the reviews she left in the past year were all the first one I quoted.

Reviews like this tell me nothing- they are entirely useless. In fact, when I see reviews like that, I look to see how the host reviews his other guests, and if they are all the same like that, I completely discount them, because to me, it means the host likely never even met the guests, although that may not be the case with you.

Non-IB hosts can’t see star ratings of guests. The only thing we have to go on is the written reviews. One of the most aggravating things is when hosts say they gave the guest really low star ratings, yet left a non-committal written review. That is a slap in the face to non-IB hosts, not to mention hypocritical.

3 Likes

I’m guilty of having a template that I use; it gets modified

  • Add Names
  • Delete, add, or emphasize certain things.

There’s only so much one can say while still respecting the guests privacy.

Communication
House Rules
Cleanliness

Someone who read the reviews I’ve given to guests might note variances:
XX left the guest house exceptionally clean, very clean, clean or no mention of being clean.

The review of my mediocre guest who I posted about and rated a 4

XX and YY are a friendly couple who provided good communication and complied with house rules

XX left the house very clean/clean/ is great. That tells me something.

But why in the second example, with the guests who dripped picante sauce on the upholstered cushions and left the place quite messy, did you leave off that part? PLEASE make mention of things like that- if you wouldn’t welcome them back because of their messiness, as you said, why would you make it sound like they were great guests? Not fair to other hosts. As a non-IB host, I would have no idea that you rated them 4*s. Now another host gets to try to get the picante sauce out of the cushion covers.

Hosts seem to insist on thinking of reviews as “good” or “bad”. We need to think of them as honest, instead. There’s usually something good you can find to say about a guest, mentioning that along with any issues. That is, and comes across, as fair.

So for that last review, I would have liked to see “XX and YY are a friendly couple who provided good communication and complied with house rules. More attention to cleaning up after themselves would have been appreciated.”

2 Likes

I bow to you @muddy; you managed to find the right words that still sound professional and not nit-picky.

5 Likes

Mudders old girl, I didn’t get past the above.

Paragraphs!

Please.

JF

I did use paragraphs. I just didn’t separate them with a space. But I fixed it for you- happy now?

Are you on a smartphone? I’ve wondered if they format the posts differently than computers.

No. That would be a true disaster :slight_smile: Those phone keyboards are way too small for my working gal’s fingers.

2 Likes

I am. Thank you.

It’s an age and eyes issue, which being a sprightly young thing yourself you’ll never have experienced.

:rofl:

JF

1 Like

I learned about making “I” statements in parenting classes when my kids were teenagers, and also from friends who were counselors. They come in handy when writing reviews, especially if you have to mention something negative.

Saying “It makes me feel so overwhelmed and disappointed when I come home after a big shopping trip to find that none of the chores have been done” solicits a way different response than “Why didn’t you do the dishes, like I asked you to? What have you been doing all afternoon, texting with your friends? You’re so selfish and lazy. You can’t be depended on at all.”

Saying how something made you feel always works better than attacking the other person.

3 Likes

It’s a bit odd- I’ve been nearsighted since I was a kid, they put glasses on me when I was 10. But even though I’m way beyond a spring chicken, and everyone my age I know needs reading glasses, I have always been able to see well up close. I take my far-distance glasses off to sew or read. The only time I need reading glasses is when I have my contact lenses in.

I agree about the value in reviewing all guests honestly. The majority of guests are going to treat your place well and deserve the review. Those that don’t deserve the bad review. This is common sense and important to the system working for both guests and hosts.

I may have missed it in this post but there is a strategic time to not review guests.

Nothing is going to motivate a guest to leave you a review better than the message that Airbnb sends “xhost has reviewed you, review them to see what they said.” It is rare but in a case where I think that a guest is likely to not leave a 5 star review I prefer to let the 14 day window run out vs. automatically prompting/ reminding them to review. 95% of the time I just automatically leave my honest review because I know that we will be getting a good review from the guest. But in those cases where there is a chance for a 3/4 star review because of some aspect of their trip they didn’t like, I prefer to give the guest every opportunity to NOT review. It’s pretty wild how often these guests who had an OK not great time just don’t review and let the 14 days run out when you don’t review. Just my 2c speaking from the business owners perspective.

1 Like

There is an even more strategic thing you can do that has been widely and repeatedly advocated on this forum.

Wait until the last minute on the 14th day. You submit the review and by the time they get the reminder, time has run out. This is exceedingly important. If you are letting poor guests get a pass on their deserved bad review because you are afraid of getting a bad review as well then you are doing all future hosts who might host them a terrible disservice.

3 Likes

Sorry for missing it! I completely agree

1 Like

I am new here but I also have been letting review periods expire, but because I am an off-site host/owner and often is just my word against theirs (I found it like this when we arrived!).

When I know for certain I can knock points off (ex. Our cleaner provides photos of something out of the norm or stained linens), I do leave a review, and as others mention, it’s on behalf of other hosts! If the guest goes ahead and lets me know of any accidental damaged furniture or linens ahead of time I usually do not mention, though.

Yes. I always review guests. Every. Single. Time. Other hosts need to know what I know, whether good or bad.

1 Like