Hello All
I recently had a difficult clean up after very dirty guests so I am waiting until the last minute to send my negative review, partly because a front door key which they took hasn’t yet been sent back so I will add that to my list of transgressions if not received by 14 days
On my messages the count down of days is correct but after asking the help centre to clarify the exact time, ostensibly to record whether or not the key was sent back (but really because I have a feeling they will send me a negative review because they know very well what a state the house was in) they stated it was the day before so I’m confused
After the guests left they sent a message that they could smell bleach on a duvet cover so they were forced to launder it - I could so easily have come up and changed it or told them where in the house to find a replacement. Also that they saw 6 woodlice. We are near to open countryside and we have a woodpile for guests to use in a chimenea so it’s hard to keep them out of our Edwardian house. I’m hesitating to send my review as I feel it will prompt them to claim the house was crawling with bugs or stank of chemicals or some other nonsense
Anyway, I remember seeing a countdown in the past in days then hours ending exactly at the time of the first message from Airbnb to review, and have read previous discussions on this site.
My bad guests left Tuesday 18th July at 11, the first prompt was 18th July at 15:15, plus 14 days should be 1st August at 15:15 shouldn’t it? Why would the help centre say 31st July?
Thank in advance for your thoughts
I can’t read the mind of Airbnb help.
But to see the due date and time, just go to your inbox where you see “Awaiting Review”, click it and you’ll see the countdown, first by day, but as you get closer by hour and minute.
Just make sure to reload the page so you’re looking at the current countdown.
Thanks…part of the problem is I’ll be away and I absolutely don’t want to miss smacking down hard on the “would you host again?” button…
- Keep a close eye on your inbox for the email requesting a review. Once you receive it, mark the date and time - for instance, if you received the email on July 14th at 1:11 pm.
- Take note that the review period precisely lasts 14 days from the moment you received the email. Therefore, the deadline for your review submission will be on July 28th at 1:11 pm.
- Watch the countdown timer carefully as it displays the minutes and even seconds ticking away until the review period concludes. This way, you won’t miss the submission deadline.
- To ensure timely delivery of your review, set an alarm a few minutes before the expiration time (July 28th, 1:11 pm). This will act as a reminder for you to complete the review process.
- Just before the deadline expires, quickly copy and paste your prepared review. By submitting your review a few seconds before the cutoff, you’ll ensure that it is successfully uploaded and leave no opportunity for guests to submit their review.
I had a similar issue and I recall getting a notification from Airbnb that I had 24 hours to review guest. I reviewed my awful guests that night before going to bed. I figured they would get a notification that I reviewed them and hoped they were already asleep. By the time they checked their messages in the morning, they probably had missed their opportunity to review me.
They too lost my house keys and never returned them. They also “accidentally” took 6 of my beach towels. They promised to mail them back, which they never did.
You’ll need more than a few seconds (maybe I’m being too literal).
Now the review process asks you to fill out several screens first-- they go fast, but still – until you get to the screen asking for the review.
I would think five minutes would give the OP plenty of time, but I would give myself more time . . . just in case.
I didn’t know that. Thank you.
I wonder what the OP will say in the review.
I don’t know if you’ll be in a different time zone, but I hope you’re not like me and get confused on which time zone it is and miss the deadline.
A smart lock is the answer.
I’m afraid of the smart lock because with hurricanes and storms we lose electricity and Wifi for a few hours and I’m concern folks will be locked out.
There are smart locks that run on batteries and don’t need WiFi.
I didn’t know that. Thank you so much, I’ll for for one on Amazon.
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Charge the guest through the resolution center for re-keying all the doors and replacing guest keys. Yes, they’ll give you a bad review, but it’s mutual and theirs will get buried quickly or removed if they violate the review process.
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Do you go to your rental in between guests yourself or do you have a cleaner and a co-host and you need a wi-fi enabled smart lock so you can change passcodes? If you go to the rental yourself; here’s the lock I use. I use the last 4 digits of the guests’ cell phone as their code. Then delete it in person the morning they leave. It’s in my HR that the code doesn’t work after 11am without prior agreement.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001COBTBC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
- Change the battery when you change your clocks. OR set a calendar reminder to change it every 3 months to be on the safe side.
Good luck.
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate the link. I’ll order one right now. Thanks again.
The one we use is a ResortLock (company is RemoteLock). I can’t say if it is good or not. I haven’t heard of problems with is, but we have staff at our place so our guests almost never need to let themselves in.
I’m a fan of smart locks as well, however, lots of people have door set ups that don’t lend themselves to certain kinds of locks. For example, I have a metal security door that’s it’s not possible to put a smart lock on:
I don’t lock this door, don’t give the guest the key and as you can see I removed the locking knob to prevent a guest from mindlessly locking this outside door and locking themselves out. However, if I wanted to change it back I would definitely use Kwikset Smart Key. With this you can rekey the lock yourself in minutes using any Kwikset key.
https://www.kwikset.com/support/answers/how-to-re-key-your-smartkey-security-locks
So you could have a traditional lock and two Kwikset keys and switch back and forth on the rare occasions someone walks off with your keys. I’d still charge the guest a re-keying fee even if they did send the keys back because they can make a copy, obviously. This could also be for any shady guest that a host suspects would be the make a copy of the key type.
I use the same system. They allow your airbnb checkins and checkouts to load unique codes to the locks directly. We never have to ‘change code’.
How outrageous! Makes my blood boil…6 towels!
Thanks for info, considering…
Thanks for the advice, yes I do go to the house every time myself and work along my cleaning team. I’ll consider this
Here’s an update…just coming up to the review cut off I got ready to edit mine - key still not arrived so made sure that was included - to see that the guests had just reviewed. The wording of it was lovely, just 1 minor quibble that all 14 of them couldn’t fit on the 2 and 3 seater sofas to watch tv together…accurately described on my gallery including the room plans which give all dimensions but hey ho
The scores however were terrible…
3 for value - they would have paid more to stay at our local youth hostel, we are firmly at the budget end of places for large groups in our town, there were 13 of them plus a dog, I don’t charge extra
4 each for cleanliness (it was spotless) accuracy and location (which is described in detail on the listing, just 1 street from a beautiful beachfront)…no indication from her what the problems were except for the possible bleach smell and the 6 woodlice
I have a real issue with the “location” rating…I don’t understand why Airbnb allow guests to score on anything other than “accuracy of location”
Looking at her guests profile she still has 5 stars from 2 reviews, one of which is mine, My star rating of her would take her nearer to 4…does the platform take a while to catch up?
She sent a furious message on Airbnb about my “harsh” review - I was absolutely factual. In her view my “sizable cleaning fee” which is £50 entitled her to leave both fridges absolutely filthy, as well as the oven and 1 microwave, a mountain of dirty dishes plus more in bedrooms, mixed landfill, food and recyclables I had to sort by hand - it’s one of my few rules to put everything in the right bin, a few breakages not reported. …Now regretting not taking one of my cleaners recommendation to give her 1 star for clean up
Thanks for the opportunity to rant, I feel better now! My husband is resolutely against any negativity and just WILL NOT discuss bad guests