Yikes. I hurt for you. What horrible, horrible people.
I’m sorry - but- what is a bedsit?
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This is what I wrote for my guests:
X and Y…
I didn’t leave private feedback. Honestly, these guests have such conviction in their own views that I very much doubt that anything I wrote would be received with an: “oh, I see my mistake - how embarrassing, to have come across so poorly”. It is long, and detailed, however I felt that leaving this sort of a review might be better, as it’s reasonably unemotional, doesn’t really make judgements about my guests, and just states the facts for interpretation.
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@isobelll It is so disappointing and maddening to come into conflict with the mean-spirited, such people are impossible to predict and be truly prepared for. Just plain bad luck and none of us are immuned. A hug your way lady.
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I’m trying to reply to their review quite quickly, so that it doesn’t impact me as much as it otherwise might. You’ve all been wonderful, and I’m sorry to ask again, but how does this come across?
I’m terribly sorry that you had such a disappointing experience, X. I imagine that, had you read our listing description carefully prior to booking, you might have been able to find accommodation more appropriate to your needs. A bedsit, by definition, is an open plan living space with a shared bathroom, which I gather from your extensive private feedback, you were not aware of. As it is, we emphasise this repeatedly throughout our description, and every mention of the bathroom includes the word ‘shared’. There is also a floor plan in our photos. I do have to emphasise that this is our home, which we live in, and not a space that is divided up and listed on Airbnb. There are also only two guest spaces, not three as suggested; the bathroom is shared between them, alone. I understand that the purpose of your trip was to visit your son, who has just purchased a home in our neighbourhood. It’s therefore a little perplexing to see the location being characterised as ‘bad’, as it seemed quite convenient for you and Y (and, of course, not so terrible that your son wouldn’t buy a home here). As we write in our listing description, we are only a 10 to 15 minute walk away from a number of delightful cafes and restaurants, and a neighbourhood guide is provided for those unfamiliar with the area. I gather that, had you read either, it might have improved your experience. While, yes, we are in a ‘suburban’ are, we are only a 10 minute drive, or 10 to 15 minute bus ride, away from downtown and (tourist destination).
Anything to take out or add?
These guests were visiting family in our neighbourhood, which wasn’t really stated. Most of our guests are tourists, who might be put off by the way our location has been characterised. Should I leave in what is written in bold as further clarification (maybe rephrase)?
A bedsit is a little like a studio, but with a shared bathroom.
The dictionary definition is: a one-roomed unit of accommodation typically consisting of combined bedroom and sitting room with cooking facilities.
Wikipedia says that:
A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of rented accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. […] Bedsits arose from the subdivision of larger dwellings into low-cost accommodation at low conversion cost.
In case potential guests are unfamiliar with the term, we do emphasise what the accommodation is in the listing description.
I’m so sorry you had these terrible, arrogant, and self-righteous guests. I know it’s very hard but please try to emotionally disengage with their awful energy. My worst guests made me feel like i wanted to quit hosting altogether.
Your reply to their review ought to be a few lines long, at most. Prospective guests will not read a long response before just moving on to the next listing. Prioritize the most important issue that needs correction - you only have a few lines to gracefully make your point. Others here are great writers and will be sure to make suggestions. Big hug to you.
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Why should you be sorry, they are the ones that got out of their way to ruin your day.
Remember, only respond to what they said publicly, not anything included in their private diatribe, which you should ignore.
“It would have been so helpful had you read our listing more carefully. We find it odd your didn’t appreciate our exceptional location, which all our guests thus far have been delighted with, because it is a tranquil suburban setting, yet only a few minutes drive from city downtown.”
Something to that effect. The criticism of ogres are always easy to disarm. The quicker you put these characters in your rear-view mirror, the better.
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isobell, was her name Gillian? 
seriously, this sounds just like the kind of feedback left by my second worst guests ever, who also used the words flog and disappointing stay. Did they steal your shampoo and make you take your wind chimes down? 
As hard as it is, please do NOT reply to anything she wrote. She is a kook. For one thing it will auto expand so the whole thing will be visible in all its bloody vulgarity until it scrolls off the page. It’s really difficult to answer these without sounding hurt and defensive. You should only reply to correct something that is clearly incorrect. Such a bad review says more about the writer than the subject.
isobell, deep breaths,.its not YOU… It’s HER.
Easier said than done.,but PLEASE don’t let these trashy nit pickers mess with your head. Some people wouldn’t be happy at the Ritz. How dare they do this for a one night stay. But the good news is, with the review you left, no host but the most desperate would want to host them.
Watch for a notification. I would like you to share their profile privately on our bad guest lounge so the rest of us can avoid having them darken our doors.
Sympathies…we have ALL been there.
@isobelll As the others have said, I am so sorry! What a$$holes! When I had a somewhat negative review (not as bad as this tripe), I responded by saying, “Goes to show that you can’t please everyone. Please read my other reviews.” The difference is that I had at least another fifty extremely positive reviews, plus I did not know that a response makes for an auto-expand. It wouldn’t hurt to try to get the review redacted by contacting Air (and posting on Air’s Facebook page). Wishing you must better guests in the future …
Oh gosh. So, my guests replied to my review, saying that I only left them a negative review after I read their negative review. The double blind review system prevents this. Their reply is even in caps. According to my guests, we waited 12 days to write a negative review, which demonstrates that everything we wrote was done in retaliation to the review they had written, which we could not even see.
I actually called Airbnb an hour ago, before I saw their response to my review. Even though the person I spoke with agreed that the review is ridiculous, as it doesn’t violate any of the review guidelines, it wouldn’t be removed. I don’t know whether their reply will change this situation, but I’m going to try calling again.
I’ve been trying to write my response for hours but it’s so ridiculous that I don’t even know how to address it concisely, pointing out the errors and the ridiculousness of what has been written.
EDIT:
Here is gem from their reply to my review - apparently, it’s impossible that they could have stained my coffee table, because we only provided them with “cheap” tea and coffee.
Please… EXACTLY…don’t waste another bit of your precious energy on these clods. It’s like engaging a bully in middle school. It gets you nowhere.
Remember that sometimes NO answer is the best answer.
I know it’s hard but try not to let it get to you!! We’ve all been there and in time you will be able to laugh at these nasty jerks…
I definitely won’t!
The person I just spoke with over the telephone at Airbnb has escalated this for review. I don’t know whether it will lead to anything, but they noticed very quickly that my guest was criticising my private room without a private bathroom for being as advertised, and stated that they shouldn’t have done so. I’m sure that the private feedback just serves to highlight how unreasonable my guests were.
These guests are experienced hosts (a point they like to open with), who have been on Airbnb for 5 years. I’m certain they know that there is a double blind review system, and replied quickly and without too much thought to my review, because they wanted to invalidate what I said.
I hope Airbnb is reasonable in this situation and doesn’t let there limited guidelines dictate whether this is acceptable.
Thank you for your support (everyone!)
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Please keep pushing for them to remove it, and they should at the least remove their response to your review.
These are hosts and they KNOW the review system is blind. PLease point out to Air that their bold face lie (saying you read their review first) just goes to show how they were out to get you.
I almost think these hosts purposely stayed to sabotage you in a review. I wonder if their son will be opening an Airbnb in his new location.
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As crazy as that may sound, it is the most rational explanation for the whole sequence of events with these guests. Nothing else makes sense.
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I agree with everyone’s sentiment that you should ignore them and watch for their son’s listing near you to appear soon. The faster you can get reviews to push this one’s first few lines down the page the better. So I’d focus my energy forward, not backward. Maybe cut a few dollars from the price, tweak the listing, and welcome your new guests soon.
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Writing that nonsense about how you wrote yours as retaliation is meant to scare off newbies who don’t know how the review system works.
I hope Air will consider removing it as it really went way too far.
Wow, I just read all this. Don’t respond to their review, and as much as it stinks to say this, I wouldn’t even push to have their review removed. Because if their review is removed, yours will probably be as well as a “compromise”. You want to keep their review on to warn future hosts, and as only hosts will see it they will all know about the double blind system and will easily be able to read between the lines. Their comment on your review will clearly warn future hosts to stay away!
As much as their review hurts, their wordiness, poor grammar and spelling, and clear back-up of what you offer (shared bathroom etc) will disappear soon into the many future glowing reviews you will receive. The best thing you can do is look to the future and do as @KKC suggested and drop your price a few dollars to get some new guests in who will gush about the great value.
And I learned something new, bedsit. Makes me think of those tiny studio apartments in big and older cities. Makes me think of Call the Midwife and the tiny apartments meant to squish a lot of people in with limited expense. It’s something different than most people are used to. And the review will make people re-read your listing and make sure that it’s not a deal-breaker for them which may give you better guests. You are offering something unique that is really awesome and these people are more suited to a hotel than home-sharing! You offer a place much more unique than just the private bedroom/shared bath that most listings provide!
I just thought I would post an update regarding the review removal.
Airbnb has removed any suggestions that I left a retaliatory review in my guest’s reply. (Hooray!) However, they will not be taking my guest’s review down because it does not violate any of their guidelines. (The expected outcome.)
The CX agent I have been writing to says the only thing that Airbnb would be able to do is change the number of spaces my guest has suggested I have listed from 3 to 2, because this is untrue.
I attempted to argue that my guest has also written:
“The (insert listing name here) IS A HOUSE divided up into rooms to sell on airbnb”
when it is actually a private room listing, WITHIN A HOUSE where one other space is listed.
Based on what Airbnb has said, they will modify untrue information. However, the CX agent says that both statements mean exactly the same thing, and that everyone in their office agrees. I don’t, but I’m not Airbnb so my opinion is irrelevant. (It was worth a shot, though!)
Sadly, despite cutting prices down dramatically, I’ve received no new bookings, and my calendar is empty for an entire month. Nothing will really overcome those low star ratings.
My sincerest thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. It helped tremendously to have people to share this with.
Beware of connecting the wrong dots, easiest to do when emotions are high; the lack of bookings may be due to the time of year, not because of one odd review. All things pass, and soon these ogres will be in the rear-view mirror and out of mind.
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Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately, I think it is the review. This is the busiest time of the year for us, normally. It’s unusual not to have a single booking, and we haven’t received any enquires for the coming months, either. Meanwhile our other room, which is certainly not as nice as our bedsit, is getting new bookings every other day. And the prices are about the same! 