I understand. Thanks for being a great SH! I don’t agree with the agents who bend the rules that far. I don’t know how to see reviews prior to publicly posting of them nor do I care I believe the blind system works and is good protection for both parties to honestly give feedback but again it’s my opinion and not all agents are the same. It’s very interesting that it is possible though; I’m going to explore today with that knowledge.
You are the 1 host in 500,000 that has an airtight setup (listing is not shared, nor is it far away … separate entrance if I understand correctly) so you can nip close to 100% of potential problems in the bud by being able to supervise things AND not have them within your own domicile.
So superb and consistent reviews are going to be legit in your instance, IMO.
(Honestly your setup is the only one I truly consider viable under AirBNB … as I said in a recent interview, EVERY off-site investor host will eventually get their property destroyed by someone, and EVERY homesharing host will run into some untenable situation from crazies under their roof … but your separate-ish unit is the best of all worlds.)
Is a guest who thinks “too good to be true” going to think this way? Seriously I’m really sitting in the catbird seat. I’m booked almost 100% of the time I want anyway. Still, it’s slightly distressing to think anyone would skip me because they think I’m padded with fake reviews.
There are millions of listings. Yes there are hundreds of horror stories but as a percentage? Think about stores who write off x% for theft. They are still viable. I think you are underestimating Airbnb, I think we all have at some point. I guess we will know much more when they go public.
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You never considered that some folks just run a really tight ship and as a result get good feedback?
Ok you, I’ll rip yours to shreds and you can do the same with mine 
then we’ll be validated…
JF
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Fret not, fret not. Yours I’m sure look and feel 1000% legit. I am mainly attempting to point out that for the REST of us, with bad reviews, it is not the end of the world.
Point being, if 6% of reservations per time period (say 1 year) result in some kind of conflict and note on your AirBNB file, and eventual termination, it’s a numbers game that catches up to long-term hosts – interestingly enough, usually around the five-year mark …
By year 2, you have a 12% chance of something kooky happening … by year 5, 30%… one in three … and so on.
My exact point is that yes, every, single, non-fake review host barring a handful of those with fairly airtight setups WILL get bad reviews despite running a tight ship. You can count on it. Law of averages.
A tight ship does nothing whatsoever to deter a bad review from a member of the general public with a few screws loose.
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Added thought –
My observation is that every day and every year, the AirBNB guest population gets more and more … unpredictable and difficult.
I said in a recent interview, “AirBNB started being cool travelers, and now is much bigger and catering to the general public. And you do NOT want the general public in your property.”
So bad reviews, here they come.
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You actually believe those stats you just made up? They are just so wrong, so misleading and full of limited perspective assumptions it beggars belief that you actually posted them.
JF
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Sorry folks coming in kind of late here. I’m going to switch gears back to OP and the original topic for a second because I think I have something that could help.
Read your guest’s reviews of other hosts before accepting the reservation. I did that for a guest and quickly realized she was going to write me a bad review because I could see what kinds of reviews she was writing. She was the kind of person who complains every time and even has to add something negative when there is nothing legitimate to complain about. I just messaged the guest and let her know that my place wasn’t up to her standards and she cancelled the request. Problem solved. We’re both happy.
If you could, follow up and let us know how the guest reviews other hosts for curiosity sake.
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Sorry, should have attributed that figure, which is not mine, to our AirBNBInsider’s thread, where he had the 6% figure. Whatever the figure is, 1%, 6%, 10%, it would compound over time.
The real point is this: Review results to me involve a four-point matrix:
GOOD REVIEWS come from:
- Tight-ship host and tight-ship guest
BAD REVIEWS come from:
2. Slipshod host and tight-ship guest
3. Tight-ship host and slipshod guest
4. Slipshod host and slipshod guest
If I understand you correctly, you feel that situation #3, tight-ship host, does NOT result in a bad review even if the guest is slipshod. Am I understanding you here?
Whereas my observation is (based on every Air host forum out there) that wacko guests torpedo tight-ship hosts day in and day out.
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I’m in a special niche with my two person guest room. I’ve hosted the original way with guests down the hall using the bathroom across the hall and now with my separate from me, private entry ensuite. I’ve hosted over 600 guests and they review at about 80% and I’ve decided that the key difference is that I rarely host tourists, I have travellers. I don’t think I’m anything superhost like, I’m just lucky with the kind of people who book.
I agree with this. I wonder if that’s what Airbnb is experiencing. For example did they used to have 4% problems now they have 6%?
No, that’s not true. Some of us earn consistent good reviews.
RR
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This matches what I’ve heard on the Facebook hosting group I’m in.
This is why I haven’t called to “test” what I’ve heard about CS agents telling hosts what to expect in a review. If I have any doubt about getting a good review, I review on the last day of the review window anyways. But then, I have a few new good reviews to show up over the bad one.
Did you ever get your payment?
I know you’re being playful here, but if I were the guest, I wouldn’t question a listing with 400 positive reviews, and I wouldn’t scroll back for years to find the one bad one!
I look forward to hearing what you find out.
Did your case get press coverage? I’m behind on reading your thread.
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Actually, twice over. His payment failed, I called CS and they covered him. Then his payment came through a few days later.
That guy was such a jerk. One saving grace was that I have a twin air mattress kit for $30 (total, not per night) but that price goes to $50 “when given less than 24h notice”. It’s a way to deal with unregistered guests. I never would have approved 6 people to stay in my 4-person place, but at least I received some kind of payment for it.
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I’m surprised but glad AirBnB let you keep your double payment.
Actually, @TheInsider did not state that 6% of reservations end up “in conflict”, as you phrased it, what he said was
Your claim, and your subsequent extrapolation, is nonsense. If they were correct, there would probably be more hosts getting “ghosted” than fresh hosts joining!
There will always be bad guests, it’s a simple fact of life. The mark of a good host is how they deal with bad guests, and do it in such a way as to not affect their feedback.
JF
wait…my 6% of call/write in with any issue related to Airbnb is nonsense? Now I’m confused as I’m fairly certain I see the volume of calls, trained on how to handle them, know that millions of successful reservations occur each day without a single issue that is brought to our attention happens, and honestly I’m here to help. I’m here as an insider, not a host or guest. My feedback on this forum should always be taken as mostly facts based on policy, what actually happens regardless of policy, or my opinion which I always try to state as such. Sometimes I jump offline for a bit and have several messages to respond to so I do miss stating “my opinion” as a disclaimer. The 6% isn’t made up nor may it be a dead accurate %, but rather something that is openly discussed to new agents during training because new agents always think Airbnb is nothing but problems based on the calls they address each day so the 6% helps them understand the amazingly large number of actual reservations that occur daily.
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No, but for another poster to quote you out of context, and then take that figure and suggest that the 6% is completely made up of reservations with conflict that could ultimately lead to a host being binned is!
JF
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Thanks for clarifying, I was definitely confused for a minute!
That’ll be the effects of the whisky flavoured popcorn then 
JF
That was last week John, damn it. Just up on coffee now lmao.