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So someone left you a bad review. Do you write a response? What do you write?
We got a tepid review recently and this article is really helping us to decide how/if to respond.
Quote: "Your review response is NOT for the past guests who left a bad review.
It’s for the future guests, so they can make an informed decision about staying with you. Your review response is not about “calling out” the reviewers. …Your potential guests do not care about that. They want to know if the reviewer has a valid point and, if they do, that you have done something to fix it."
From
I have only had one bad review and it was uncalled for because none of it was true. I just responded with the truth. It was about location and the potential guests can see I’m not located where this person said I wasn’t.
I responded nicely, didn’t go on a mental one. Haha
I liked the article. I do pay attention to host’s responses to wonky reviews. If the express regret that the guest wasn’t satisfied, and/or say they are paying attention to what might need to be fixed, they win big points with me.
I don’t even bother with that. Replying only makes the original review stand out and every time I’ve seen a host’s response to a poor review its the host who seems to come out of the whole thing badly. People aren’t daft (even guests ) and when there’s just one mediocre review among a load of good ones, they’ve got the sense to read between the lines.
I think you’re right. After our first bad review ever, we were so shocked we went mental & wrote a reply that corrected the bad review while trying to still come off sounding positive. It was stupid, but fortunately we were saved by the system - it simply refused to print our reply no matter how much we fiddled around with it. Any reply at all would have just given undue attention to the original bad review.
Guest said our place is 15 minutes walk from the station. Maybe he got lost, because it’s 8-10 minutes, max. I am so tempted to just clarify that one thing… but @jaquo does have a point about making it “stand out” since we don’t really respond most of the time.
I wouldn’t reply at all. Just let the bad review disappear among the dozens of good reviews. A replied review sticks out like a sore thumb. If I see a dozen raving reviews on a listing and one complaint, I think the complaining person is just crazy.
Then again, I haven’t had a bad review yet. I suspect I have one sitting in my recent reviews, but I am waiting to review the guest on the last day to wait as long as possible before it shows up on my page.
I have had a few reviews with factual inaccuracies but I just ignored them, since the correct facts are in my listing, and were all along.
When I book an airbnb, I always read the reviews AND the responses from the hosts. I feel like I get a better sense of the host before I book with them. As a host, I always respond to all reviews. I have only been hosting a year and have all 5 star reviews thus far but I am sure I will get a negative one some day and I will respond to that in a tactful way.
When I book a hotel, I also read the manager’s responses to reviews. I think the fact that they have staff that monitors social media shows they care.
I’ve never seen a response from a host that would make me want to book there but I’ve seen responses that made me not want to book there. I can’t stand a whiney, defensive host. I don’t respond to reviews because I get mostly one night guest and have well over 300 reviews. I don’t need anything to making the review section longer than it is. If I ever got a negative review I would respond.
We received a negative(?) review regarding bed size. Guests complained that both queen size beds seemed like full size beds. We actually measured them to make sure we were not losing our minds! We contacted Airbnb and suggested they remove the review because it was not accurate in that the guest was actually giving misleading information. Airbnb responded by saying they would rather the guest have the option of sharing about the experience they had. We responded to the review and said we were sorry they did not have a good experience in our place but that we had measured the beds and confirmed that they were the correct size. It was a learning experience, to say the least. They gave us a 4/5 stars for accuracy. You might think if we had lied about the bed size they would give us a 1/5 for accuracy (which is what I wanted to post in the review!).
I’m not sure if you intended to link to your profile/listing but the listing I just saw…holy cow man. Am I missing something? You have got to raise your price.
I think the article makes some good points. I have read responses to reviews that make the host sound hostile and crazy. Not good qualities. A lot of times we as hosts have additional information that the guest was high maintenance and a pain in the butt that the reader of the review does not know. I agree with others that it may be best to just let some marginal bad reviews go because responding to them makes them stand out.
Really? And thank you so much for your feedback. This is a tough area. We’re trying to get our rates up and still attract guests. We think our area must really be saturated or that perhaps the area we’re in is not appealing enough for people who are coming to Portland. We’ll go back to the drawing board and try to figure out why the rates in this area seem so depressed. From what we can see there are other listings that are low as well.
Of course I don’t know your competition or your neighborhood but when I can get a two bed place with kitchen and outdoor space in the summer in Portland, $100 seemed low. I see there are additional charges for more people and a small cleaning fee. I also see you seem pretty well booked every weekend until late June so I think you are attracting the looks and the books. Why haven’t you opened the rest of your summer calendar?
) and when there’s just one mediocre review among a load of good ones, they’ve got the sense to read between the lines.