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I guess I wasn’t clear - I do strive to review all guests - the exception being when I can’t know for sure if they’re responsible, previous guests or (in rare cases) the cleaner.
In my case it was a wet wipe that caused us a cancelled booking and $1000 to have an emergency septic service clear our pipe. The guest only claimed issues the night after (including a long list of other issues, which if they were to be true would have expected they’d let me know sooner). They claimed they found a wet wipe in the toilet when they arrived. We state clearly in our rules and our listing that only toilet paper can be flushed.
However things were complicated by using a new backup cleaner for this guests; who turned out to be not trustworthy, and may have flushed a wet wipe to cause us issues on purpose. (Whole other story)
We refunded the guests as their other reviews from hosts were good, and we decided it was more likely the bad cleaner…but we don’t know 100% for sure!
But does your co-host reiterate this during the house tour? People don’t read. And no-one wants to be treated like a child and have to read rules and regulations.
It sounds to me that your co-host was partly to blame here. If he or she had inspected the property before the guests arrived, you’d know for sure whether there was something unflushable in the loo.
Me too. I am a host that is happy to report the last 5 guests have been so awesome that my reviews do sound boring and the same, but they are accurate! My most recent guests stayed a week , left the place neat as a pin, and even made the beds before they left! They may have even washed the linens, but I had to pull everything off and wash it anyway. I actually felt a little guilty.(Its a Catholic thing.) The rental gods are smiling down on me right now…
Just had my first guest in my new STR. I was a little worried about her, firstly joined Air in 2017 and had zero reviews. Then, she shows up and I heard her story of her husband dying from Covid in Jan. after they attended a New Years celebration. She came here to look for a house. Thought we had a good exchange in listening to her story on the porch, but other than that she didn’t respond to messages including yesterday asking if all was ok. However, upon departure she left me a lengthy list of what I needed to change, blackout curtains, personal soaps and shampoo, TV, the kind of toilet paper I should use. And, it wasn’t written in a particularly nice way including because she couldn’t find utensils she equated it to being in prison.
She said she wasn’t going to review me online because she wanted me to be successful but not so sure I trust that. I think perhaps she is someone that is used to motels and the standard way they do things.
I emailed back to respond to some of her suggestions and criticism in a civil manner.
Just want to know what to say in a review or should I just forget it.
She is unhappy and trying to make things right in her head.
I once had a guest who gave me unsolicited advice including removing a bench from my kitchen- my response was … thank you, but after reviewing your comments- where do I put the microwave?
People will often want to show you that they know better… review your experience and starting with
Would you have her back?
Would I have her back? No, she seemed too unpredictable. Over the years I’ve had a few comments about changing this or that, but this was a bit over the top. Thank you for your insight.
OT, but I’ve seen it mentioned that you’re in Australia. Was in Queensland a bunch of years ago for almost 2 months and just loved it. I’m an outdoor nut, so the snorkeling and the birds had me hooked.
Grew up in Queensland, my family have been in the hospitality business for 3 generations. One of our resorts was Daydream Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Spent a lot of time underwater there.
Did you know we have the noisiest birds in the world?
I loved your birds and spent a lot of time around Cairns and up on the Tablelands looking for everyone I could find. With the help of a fellow birder, I was able to see tree kangaroos and saw several platypus. We went out several times on the Reef and the first time I stuck my head in the water, I was so blown away I almost sucked in a snorkel full of water. It’s a place I only wish I could come back to.
Please honestly and unemotionally review all guests.
Remember, this is the only way you have to help your fellow hosts. Also, I’d wait the full two weeks unless she does go ahead and review you. If you review her right away she will get prompted by Airbnb to review you back and you don’t want that. If she doesn’t have reviews she either hasn’t stayed in an airbnb or all hosts decided not to review her.
I would mention the lack of communication through the platform and that she left a long list of suggestions. This can be mentioned in a positive way if you prefer (“I just reopened after 3 years away and she gave me tips on how to improve”) but I’d probably be more direct. I would also flatly state “would not host again.” Sometimes I also mention what star ratings I gave them since fellow hosts only see averages.
I really don’t understand this attitude. It seems incredibly childish. If you leave one first, the guest may very well follow suit. They may be of the same attitude as you- “Well if the host couldn’t be bothered to leave me a review when I was a really respectful guest, screw him, he’s not getting a review from me.”
It only takes a few minutes to leave a review. I consider it part of my job as a host.
Good guests deserve a review as well, whether they bothered to leave one for you or not. They put money in your pocket. And fellow hosts want to see good reviews, not just ones that warn them of a bad guest.
There’s a host in England who posts on another forum who travels a lot as a guest. He says he always checks to see if hosts he’s considering booking with leave reviews for their guests. He passes on listings where he sees a host is a serial non-reviewer.
Thank you for the tips. I do plan to wait till the 14th day to do a review. I will mention she didn’t communicate and all the tips and will not host again.
In the past I had so few guests that were negative and I might mention in a review that they were noisy, but this was a different kind of guest.
I recently had an experience where the host did not leave a review for me. I was so disappointed. We left a good review for him, but mentioned in the private notes that the propane tank was empty. I wish I would have known that he was not going to review because I would have made a point to notify him another way. I feel guilty, because he may not have known the tank was empty and the next guests would not have any propane either. I later checked his profile and found out he reviews no one.
I review about 95% of my guests right away, I don’t wait for any reason. But only 80% used to review me. I don’t know if that’s even a metric I can check anymore.
