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What are some of the ridiculous reasons you’ve seen guests give for a negative review?
I was looking at some hosts feedback and i noticed that one guest gave a host a poor review because the surge protection on a plug cable has an orange light. The light allegedly prevented the guest from getting a ‘good night sleep’.
What?
Add on…
The main bed mattress was too hard for them…I pointed .
out that there were 2 other beds if they found that one uncomfortable
And
I put some breakfast things in the fridge, I had supplied standard full cream milk…they would have preferred light!
The GPS directions were wrong! Hmm OK
Maybe it was user error?
I’m only 617 reviews in but I haven’t yet gotten one or seen one first hand. I only see them here on the forum. That’s one of the great things about reading and participating here; one gets a variety of viewpoints and avoids the hazard of thinking their way is the only way or that their Airbnb experience is the norm.
I have a handful of 4 star reviews out of 160ish total, the rest are 5’s
Without fail every 4 star is from a guest who I said no to.
No you cannot cancel outside my policy.
No you cannot bring a dog.
No you cannot have an extra guest.
I have come to expect it when I say no but I will not let that stop me. Still 4.97 overall.
RR
We got docked on our location because the guest didn’t like backing out of a driveway (it’s straight as an arrow and wide, super easy 
)
While snooping the competition I noticed a review ranting (it was long & ugly) about dust on the top of the thermostat but praising the cleanliness of the rest of the rental.
Let me say it again: Rant for dust on the thermostat. I guess the top of the refrigerator was clean…
One of my reviews said the pillows in the master were like bricks & uncomfortable.
I have 8 pillows available for 2 people ranging from dense shredded memory foam to soft cushy down alternative.
I got a 3-star early in my hosting career, so early that I thought it was reasonable that the guest had rated the place “good”. I thought the 5s I was getting were a bit much for such rusticity.
Anyway.
The review said, “My girlfriend didn’t fit.”
She was very tall, and it is a tiny space, clearly shown in description and photos.
Not sure if it was me being rated or her.
I’m so glad I just cleaned the top of the fridge!!
So do I!! I’ve had verbal complaints on checkout (not in reviews, thank goodness) so now I point out the alarming plethora of pillows in the closet and ask them to choose.
My daughter travelled in Nepal for 4 months when she was 19, with a friend who was quite tall and large-boned. They were hiking the Himalayas, and got invited into the homes of the village Nepalese. One place was really tiny, with low ceilings and my daughter went in, but her friend stayed outside. When she and the family urged her to come in, she said “I can’t- I’m too big, I’ll knock things over”.
We had something very similar, but ours gave a 4 for overall experience, which was a bummer:
“Maybe warn people that the driveway is narrow”
It’s meant for one car or truck and then opens up to a very large, several car parking area.
Is it just me, or can you hear the attitude?
Maybe warn people that if they can’t manuever their vehicle down a normal single car driveway they shouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car 
" We arrived early, and the hosts were still eating lunch". Two hours early.
“The country roads were too narrow”. Same person, an absolute cow!
My Victorian red brick duplex, built 1875…
it’s too old!
My only 3* came from a guest who was mad at her husband for booking an Airbnb and not a hotel room. When I asked her about it, on the message thread, she told me to suck it up, that I had enough 5* reviews that it wouldn’t hurt me. Knocked me so far down in the listings it took a couple of months to get back up there.
I’m so very lucky in that I’ve never had a negative review (either that or I’ve deleted it from my brain cells successfully) but I have had some weird comments in private feedback.
“It would have been good if there had been a coffee machine”. There is. It’s pointed out during the house tour. It’s shown on every photo of the listing’s kitchen.
“There were roadworks on the road to the beach” Mea bloody culpa, indeed.
Then a couple of good in-person ones like the lady who (rather snottily) asked me to show her how to turn the light off the microwave. It had been on all night. Now admittedly English wasn’t her first language but the button to switch it off had a light bulb symbol on it.
And my favourite - the guest who texted me from the beach to tell me that the ocean wasn’t blue enough. True.
Me neither. Had the odd red unsmiley face comment on BDC, but they’re usually counter balanced by decent green smiley faced comments. Never had, in four years of business, what folks might describe as “negative” review.
Is it luck? Is it feck.
JF
Oddly enough, I’ve covered the router light(s) for that very reason. We sleep otherwise in pitch black conditions here.