Oh dear. Example of a host giving too much information in a response to a review. IMHO

Hello host family.
My usual response to hosts asking here if they should respond to an unfortunate review from a guest is to suggest it be ignored.
Recently I received a review complaining I’d not compensated a guest for the water being murky for an hour from a pipe damaged during road repairs.
I immediately came here asking for help with a response. I certainly didn’t want to take my own advice and just ignore the review. Interesting to learn my attitude was very different when it was I who was, in my opinion, unjustly chastised :blush: I showed you what I planned to write – far too wordy and probably a tad defensive as well.

Dear dpfromva stepped in and suggested the perfect response for me to make. I copied it, almost verbatim, and I’m very grateful for that kind and thoughtful help :slight_smile:

Today I was looking for an airbnb to book and found an example of how we hosts can make matters worse by trying to defend ourselves. The accommodation looked quite what I was looking for, but after reading the details of the host’s response to a mild rebuke in a guest’s review I felt a bit squeamish and chose another nest.

Guest’s Review:
Location is great. The night we stayed there were 5 dogs, 3 of which were very loud. XXX was pleasant but we felt that the bathroom could have been cleaner.

Response from XXX:
Thanks for your feedback. We take cleanliness very seriously and I was not aware of the fecal stain as I carefully clean the toilet after every stay. The shower is old and does look a bit dull but rest assured it was cleaned prior to your arrival as well. We have not had an issue like this regarding our bathroom. Our profile does indicate we have dogs an and it is too bad that you felt you had some allergies. I did note upon arrival if the door is open the dogs will come in. Our Dogs do bark when guests arrive however they are quite throughout the evening and almost always very well behaved.

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One of the many good reasons to come here is when one has a bad guest to get it all off your chest in a “safe space” and some helpful advice on writing (or not) something short and to the point. Early on I wrote a couple of responses which addressed issues raised privately and a friend who read them said it made me look a bit crazy so next time I went looking for advice from other hosts and… here I am.

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Yes, I agree. Glad you’re here Jam!

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Why thank you.

Sometimes I am not quite sure where I am when I post things :japanese_goblin:

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Ha! I have just posted exactly this. Got an outrageous and full on lie filled review, my first bad one ever actually, and was about to post my first ever rebuttal. But I have posted it here first to get you lot’s advice!

Helps to refer to the guest in the third person, keeps the tone neutral and avoids the accusatory YOU statements.

I wrote a rebuttal once to a bug complainer, along the lines of

These small harmless bugs can get into the home, especially if the doors are not tightly shut. This issue was seasonal and highly unusual for our area. They have since disappeared. As this is a tropical location, sometimes unwanted visitors get in, so please let us know and we will make every effort to remove them immediately. This guest was compensated for her inconvenience.

Even though the little b*tch went on and on and outright LIED… plus she was a terrible guest and left trash and leftover food everywhere. She got a bad review from me, before I even read hers.

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