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We traveled through I think 74 Air or VRBO locations in 2019, mostly in Europe. We try to be considerate guests, but I am sure there are a few of them where we remained incommunicado all the way through. And I am sure there are a few we did not review either. I receive 200+ emails every day for my regular job, and there are times when I am on vacation when I absolutely don’t want to deal w any electronic communications that I don’t have to do.
I would be quite unhappy if someone dinged me for not sending optional communications. You are not pleased, OK, and possibly neither would we, but I think it is not worth 3 stars or even 2. “Live and let live :-)”
@JohnnyLounge21 I have to say I don’t understand being really ticked off with a guest to the point that you give them 2*s for communication, and then say you would host them again.
You got lots of answers, and I’m pretty sure none of them suggested this. It doesn’t feel like you’re actually asking— more like you just want to tell us why you’re right.
The guest also gets to rate hosts on “location” but most hosts don’t think that’s a fair measure.
I see the rating as rating the quality, not the quantity of the communication that was had. If there was a specific question I needed answered and the guest didn’t communicate via the app then I would try texting or calling the phone number listed on the reservation.
The only situation in which I’d give one or two stars would be if they were insulting in some way.
That’s one of our jobs but assessing the “manners” of guests isn’t unless it’s a home share situation.
I second this.
Your guest was appalled and every comment here disagrees with you.
I’m cool with 5-stars on a non-communicator, really. Which is good because the likelihood of a guest returning is WAY higher if you give them top marks. Of the guests I’ve dinged because they didn’t communicate with me, I’m sure they won’t return (even though I told them that they are welcome to).
I defended my original position because I felt it was my job to tell other hosts that guests were rude by not communicating. I also mis-defined “Communication.” Turns out, not communicating is still good “Communication.” And I’m totally fine with that.
Leaving a bad review is hard, telling a guest that all was great is much, much easier.
I happened to not agree with the consensus, but I want to do what’s right by the guest and for the hosts after me. So to hell with what I think/thought
And it turns out that the right thing to do is also the easy thing, bonus! I really appreciate the recommendations!
You seem to think that it’s one or the other, black or white. Reviews aren’t necessarily “good” or “bad”- they are supposed to be honest and balanced.
There’s nothing wrong with posting an honest review that mentions the positives about a guest along with things that could be improved. “Guests were fine, left the place clean and tidy, followed house rules. We would have appreciated them at least acknowleging to our few brief messages aimed at making sure they they were comfortable and had received check-info, etc.”
And if your take away from all the responses here is
Hmmm…feels like something was lost in translation.
It’s the “right thing” to communicate (oh the irony) your expectations, especially if it isn’t the norm (as it seems it’s not).
And, seriously, I do appreciate hosts who look out for each other. I get your intent. Just saying maybe there’s a better way to do right by you, the guest and future hosts AND not lose a repeat customer whom you liked otherwise.
I guess I use good/bad (black/white) as my nomenclature because as a host, the moment a guest says that anything wasn’t perfect, we feel that it was a “bad” review. I know that this standard is ridiculous, but that’s just the way we speak with regard to reviews on the platform and the expectations we give to ourselves (my wife and I).
So I guess somewhere in the middle can be struck, that’s correct.
Still - the consensus above might not exactly be “Turns out, not communicating is still good “Communication.”” but the consensus above certainly says “Not communicating is no big deal and you shouldn’t leave a bad review for it.” I guess I called that “good communication” since it won’t result in a bad review (as were the recommendations).
Saying things like is not cool. You shouldn’t do that.
You are still thinking in terms of bad and good reviews. If you find a guest leaving a review that doesn’t say everything was “perfect” to mean it’s a bad review, I suggest you get over yourself.
Hosts who aren’t willing to consider that they could possibly improve in some area and think that they are perfect and deserve perfect reviews from all guests, are more likely to get “not perfect” reviews, because they aren’t open to guest input and don’t act on suggestions.
And telling me what I “should” or shouldn’t say is way outside your purview.
We mods have been asked by the forum owners to make more of an effort to remind everyone to be nice. Although I try to read every post, I don’t always succeed but I see this one and I see the direction its going so I’ve closed it. The OP’s question has been answered, whether he likes the answers or not doesn’t need to be debated.
Bottom line, is the best strategy is to scroll past posts you don’t like and to think twice, comment once.
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