This forum is dedicated to connecting hosts with other hosts. Sign up to get the latest updates and news just for AirBnb hosts! Note that we are not affiliated with Airbnb - we are just passionate hosts!
Not sure if its coincidence or there is some trend but i’ve noticed for a few of our less than 5 star guests that they have left us a 4 star review, and I wonder if they do it to “pre-empt” a bad review of them?
We had a guest the other day who left horse poo marks all over our rugs, and pulled a door off its roller and a few other things- and subsequently gave us a 4 star review picking on the most minor things- a globe in our chandelier (one of 6 ) was blown, one of the doors was hard to open etc.
Have NOT noticed a trend. Don’t see how it would work, as you cannot see their review; nor they see your review until both are written and posted.
I’m sure you gave them a factual, impersonal less-than-stellar review: "Cannot recommend Guest. They tracked manure all over the rugs and pulled a door off its roller hinges, and left without saying a word about it.
Then 1 star in Cleanliness and 1 star in Communication.
It certainly goes both ways. I had one guest who brought a girlfriend in overnight although he had only paid for one person. I charged him the next day and he paid it right away but gave me attitude about it. I figured he would take it out on me in the review so my review was anticipatory in that regard and I wasn’t mistaken.
Honestly, yes. I think this is an issue. I think Air’s review system is pretty good, but it has its flaws. It would be really nice if they didn’t even tell people when a review was written until either both were done or the 2-week time limit had passed. I think this would result in more honest reviews, when people aren’t reviewing just in response to what they think someone else said about them.
I had a guest who left a horrible mess in my house, and I charged them through the resolution center. I knew they were angry about it, but they had already said they weren’t going to leave me a review. Knowing that they probably would change their mind if they saw a review from me (even without reading it, because they knew it would be bad), I had to wait until the last possible second to review them. And guess what? I was right. As soon as she read my review, she wrote this long and scathing response to it (which of course only shows on her page, not mine- haha!) saying that karma is a bitch and now she’ll give me what I deserve. I’m sure she furious when she went to write a nasty review about me and found out that she was too late. And because I had to wait 2 weeks to review her, she would have had the opportunity to stay at another AirBnB and leave a mess for that host. (Mine was her first AirBnB stay.)
Yes, I think this happens sometimes. Over time I’ve found that bad reviews are mutual more often than not, although I’m still occasionally blindsided by the guest who said everything was wonderful, hugged me on leaving and then left a less than great review.
Obviously I can’t know for sure whether it was pre-emptive or not, but one example immediately springs to mind. I sometimes co-host an entire apartment that is very nice and generally gets excellent 5* reviews on all platforms. During a busy season I had to clean it myself and, stupidly, left the bathroom until last. I will never make that mistake again. I did glance in there briefly to check for any obvious damage but it looked ok. I didn’t think anything of the fact that the toilet seat had been left down…
I won’t go into details but I have honestly never seen anything like it in my life. I am not easily phased and have a strong stomach but this was seriously disgusting. They hadn’t even bothered to flush .
I had checked them in personally and they seemed pleased with the place and all was well during their stay.
Anyway, they left a one-line review along the lines of “It was ok” but gave low scores, particularly for cleanliness. The owner was very upset because it had never happened before. The only thing I could think of was that they realised how bad they’d left the toilet and had a ‘reverse psychology’ moment. That’s only one small example of course and not conclusive in any way but I do think that when guests know they have behaved badly or damaged things, there is a strong propensity to justify themselves by exaggerating the flaws of the property.
It happens in all kinds of situations, like when I ask my son why he didn’t take the bins/trash out as agreed, he’ll say ‘yeah well, you didn’t wash my favourite jeans when you said you would that time two years ago’. lol
[yes, for anyone interested, I am sneaking back on here after my flounce a few months back Promise to be on best behaviour]
It was more of a feck yous all, falling out the door and staggering onto the street hoping for a taxi. I’m only back now, contrite, because I left my keys behind
.
Promise to be on best behaviour]
