I just got a 3 star review “they thought my surroundings and little town had nothing to do” so 4 for value and 3 for “bland” surroundings… even though all my 5 star reviews are from guests who can’t believe they are on the ocean next to a lighthouse! I didn’t review them only because I wasn’t sure how to… I noticed my 10 lb door stopper was missing when I went to clean as I use it to keep the fresh air coming in from back door to air out the house. When I emailed them if they knew where it was- they quickly said it was in the bathroom “cause my doors squeak at night!!!” then a few minutes later the daughter said her mother thought it was hers and took it? (you travel with a door stopper on a vacation?)… luckily she left her dress on back of door and were in the area and returned it a few days later- saying it was an accident. I didn’t really believe that but wasn’t 100% sure so thought I wouldn’t be petty and accuse them of being thieves- for a door stopper- though even though not an expensive item- I looked hard to find one that suited my purposes and the fact they took something that wasn’t theres. Secondly - I noticed they had the heat pump set at 86 during the summer?!! Seemed a bit much. They left the furniture moved around and not put back in the place. And lastly emailed me for an additional set of towels which I didn’t mind - but with no “please” attached to it- kinda like I was their servant. (they also proceeded to run down my fridge and stove- which are completely adequate)- they got an entire houses for 150 a night… I don’t have brand new appliances but they are clean and adequate. Should I reply to the review and mention the missing item and heat set at 86 during the summer and say I wouldn’t recommend? I don’t trust myself to write a reply 'til I cool down… Anyone have any advice on how to write this reply if at all?
I’m sorry about this,
Could you:
- Tell us how many reviews you have and your average (maybe this one review is an outlier and doesn’t matter much),
- Could you copy and paste the actual review?
This is not the time to mention the things about the heat pump and the door stopper.
I’ll use the rhetorical device of apophasis to not mention that you broke a cardinal guideline if not rule of Airhostsforum by not reviewing this guest. If it was a challenge, let us help!
Word of the day: Apophasis
I’ve read on this forum many times that it’s best not to reply. Try calling Airbnb and see if you can have that review removed because it mentions that there is nothing to do in town. It sounds like they’re reviewing the town and not the property. That might give you the right to have it removed. Doesn’t hurt to try.
Whether it is reasonable to have the heat on is dependent on the outside and inside temperatures, not the season, as in “during summer”. I am on the west coast of Canada right now and even though it is officially summer, the temperature last week on a couple of rainy days was around 50F. As I am staying with friends, I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to ask them to turn the heat on, but if it was my house, I would turn it on.
That said, 86 degrees is ridiculous. 70-72 degrees is supposedly the temperature at which most humans feel comfortable.
Always respond as though you are speaking to a stranger…this after you’ve written your responding rant- then threw it away or burned it in effigy.
When a guest states X- how does that compare to what your listing states, what your conversation regarding X was (explaining why X is that state of affairs with your home and why X will not change)
And how you accommodated for the guest’s inconvenience to X.
While that may not cause the guest to remove or alter the 3-star review it does show others who read your reviews to understand that the guest was off base regarding the X issue.
You seem not to understand the difference between a review of the guest and a response to a guest’s review.
When you write a review, it appears on the guest’s profile and is written to let other hosts know how the guests behaved in your home. That is where you need to mention things like the heat turned up to 86 and that you would or wouldn’t recommend a guest.
A response appears on your review page, next to the guest’s review of you- responses are written for the benefit of future guests, to clarify misinformation, or indicate that a legitimate issue a guest mentioned in their review has been dealt with. Other hosts don’t read your responses to your guests’ reviews of you- it is not the place to review a guest’s behavior- future guests reading your responses have no interest in how your past guests behaved.
This makes great sense. Thank you.
I may have to reread this a few times to comprehend… lol… yes burning my original rant- great idea, lol… A friend told me to write - “Thank you for returning the item your mother accidentally took.” as a reply to their review… They wouldn’t be able to really respond to this without opening up a can of worms… and it would give others who read my reviews an idea that these people could be shifty and therefore not worth giving creedance to…
Did you even read or comprehend what I said responses are for and who reads them? Future prospective guests are the people who will read your responses, not other hosts- why would they need to know and why would they care if some previous guest was “shifty”?
Your responses should not be addressed to the guest who wrote the review. If a guest writes something untrue in a review, just correct the misinformation for future guests’ benefit.
If the guest says “There weren’t any big cooking pots” and there are, an appropriate response would be, “Unfortunately it seems this guest did not look in all the kitchen cabinets, as we have 2 large cooking pots. And we are always available to answer questions if guests have a hard time locating things.”
Yes Muddy I’m not sure if you are following or comprehending my
questioning. I am concerned with future guests reading my airbnb
reviews. I would like them to understand that my bad review came from
a shifty guest.
If a guest writes a review that is blatant nonsense, then potential guests have the gumption to realise it.
If there are actual, provable lies, Airbnb can remove it.
Worrying about reviews and responses isn’t going to lead to a happy, stress-free host. And often, a response tells me more about the host than the guest and not to the host’s advantage.
Host responses make a review more noticeable. It’s better to leave well alone.
Potential guests aren’t idiots. If you have glowing reviews and then one weird one, potential guests will realise that they are reading the review of a nutjob - they don’t need a response from the host to tell them that.
Remember too that guests don’t read. We all know that they only skim listings and they only skim reviews too. Any less-than-perfect review will soon be buried in newer ones.
The guests you describe certainly weren’t the best and sound a little weird, but there wasn’t anything to get upset about. Guests move furniture, things disappear, they set unrealistic temperatures, they don’t say ‘please’ … none of those things are abnormal.
Please try not to expect your guests to be perfect.
Do make sure though that your listing is accurate. Underpromise and overdeliver.
Well, I don’t think most future guests would glean that it was a shifty guest by thanking them for returning an “accidentally” taken item. I wouldn’t take it that way, because some guests do indeed accidentally take something and return it.
I had a guest do exactly that. I don’t normally provide beach towels to guests, but gave him one to use, as he didn’t bring one. I didn’t see it when I cleaned his room and bathroom, so messaged him- I knew he was staying in town at another Airbnb (he couldn’t book mine for longer, as I already had a booking). He said he’d just run across it mixed in with his stuff and brought it back.
As Jaquo said, don’t fret about a less than perfect review if you have plenty of good ones. If there’s misinformation that needs to be corrected, it’s okay to respond, but if it’s just some minor criticism, it’s no big deal. Every guest doesn’t have to praise us effusively and some guests really don’t understand they aren’t supposed to be rating anything other than the accommodation itself and the hosting. A guest who says there’s “nothing to do” just shows themselves to be someone who expects to be entertained, rather than create their own good times. There is always “something to do” pretty much anywhere.
Well said.
2020202020
I think Ritz3 has the best answer. Please try to call Airbnb and have the review removed. They reviewed the place/location they chose by themselves. It’s an irrelevant review about your place/host. You should have a big chance to have it removed. Good luck!
This is a translation from French to English- have no idea what she’s talking 'bout with the washcloth unless she didn’t see the PLUG 2 feet away on the sink, or why cooking was arduous? this guest seems to liken themself to a travel writer by the lengthy list… however they gave me 5 on everything except a 3 on surroundings and 4 for value- which gave me a “3”… And I only have 12 reviews…
Beautiful little antique house on the shoreline of the heat bay. Beautiful view that would benefit from being cleared to see the water on the full width of the balcony. Chairs on the balcony and kitchen equipment would need to be renewed. If you plan on cooking, that’s a bit arduous. For the baths, the too full is really low, so you will have to hold a washcloth to prevent the bath from emptying. Beautiful location near the lighthouse and a beach as well as a cheap Seaside restaurant/canteen at all! However, there is nothing to do in the town of Dalhousie, it’s rather quiet. There is an independent loblaws grocery store 3 minutes away by car which is convenient.
Nope. Airbnb said they reviewed my case and will not remove it. I received a 5 from them on everything except a 3 for location which they then gave a 4 for value. so the review averaged to a 3… They wrote what I need to work on “bland surroundings.”
Not sure what you mean by that- reviews don’t average. Your rating for an individual category averages- maybe that’s what you mean? So if a guest leaves a “3” for Value, and all the rest of your 11 value ratings were “5”, it would average to 4.83 for Value. But that doesn’t affect any other rating, or your “Overall” rating.
What is the overall rating you’ve got from that guest? As Muddy said, if you only have a 1 3-star out of 12 on location, then the average value would not be 3. But anyway, keep calling Airbnb, don’t give up.
the overall rating turned out to be a 3… they gave me 3 for location and 4 for value while everything else was a 5… so the overall somehow turned out to be a 3. “things I need to work on” - they commented “bland surroundings”… I live next to a friggin lighthouse… I have now talked to 2 people… on airbnb and they keep sending me form letters /answers "airbnb allows guests to comment on surroundings for things like “safety” yada yada yada… they didn’t bother to read I guess… what I wrote. but maybe you are right… I will keep pestering them… And while I agree with another answer- life is too short to allow these people under your skin- its the fact I guess they stole an item from my house and had the nerve to turn around and give me a bad review - more to be perverse, it feels like. lesson learned. I don’t accept these things as “small”… thievery. I think hosts need to assert their rights more and not say its part of the business- accepting bad treatment. on the other hand- rotten guests… aren’t worth too much time living rent free in my brain…either. so I will shrug this one off.
“Everything else” wasn’t marked 5. The Overall rating is a separate rating guests give- it isn’t an average of any other ratings. The guests gave you 3 on the Overall rating.
But if you had all 5 stars on Overall for the other 11 reviews, the rating on your listing, which is an average of your past “Overall” ratings, should now be 4.83. Is it?