I am struggling with whether to even write it but I have to. My last guest was horrible! I know she will retaliate with a bad review if she sees what I have written so I want to wait until the last possible second to write my review.
She can’t retaliate with a bad review. She won’t be able to see your review until she submits one of your own. That is a feature AirBnB has in place to promote honest reviews and avoid retaliation.
If she was a nightmare guest, then chances are she is already slamming you in her review anyway no matter what you do. The best recourse in that case is to leave a public response that is professional and positive, but only if she says something that is factually incorrect. Otherwise let it go, because the public responses make negative reviews stand out (unless you respond publicly to all of them as a matter of course, which i do).
By all means…just leave a an honest and factual review about what made the guest undesirable as other hosts need to have a heads up. Many folks on this forum don’t believe in writing negative reviews, but I do. As a host, i want to know if a guests was bad and why. If we let them get away with being horrible guests and not calling them out in a review then other hosts will suffer the same fate. There are ways of pointing out the facts (e.g., didn’t follow the rules, was noisy, did not leave the space clean, etc.) while using a positive and professional tone.
Again, she cannot retaliate, because she won’t see your review until she’s already submitted hers. She could leave a public response to your review, but if she gets all petty and childish when your review was written professionally and thoughtfully then she will just look even more negative to other hosts. And, most other guests viewing your listing will most likely never see her response unless they happen to read all the reviews on all the profiles of all your past guests…highly unlikely. And, if anyone is that obsessive, it’s probably not a guest you would want to host anyway!
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Thank you for your reply!
I am sure she knows if I write I review it will be a bad one. I already emailed her asking her why she left the suite in the state she did. At first I was hesitant to leave a negative review, but then I thought it is not fair for other hosts not to be notified of her behaviour. And if guests don’t book with me because of it then I figure I dont want those type of guests anyways!
I would not write one until the VERY last second. If she has already done it, you can fire away. If not, wait until 11:58 or 11:59pm on the last day of the review period, Pacific Standard Time, then let it fly. They literally won’t have the time to write something back (if they have not already written it. If so, then don’t wait.)
For my Worst Guest Ever, I composed a scathing smackdown in advance, so I had it ready. You are limited to 500 words, and I used up every one!
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Take Kona’s advice. Don’t initiate it so that she has time to think about it. Just make sure your computer is not slow and let if fly. Don’t miss the deadline.
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so… if a guest has already written a review, then timing of your review is not important? That your review cannot be replied to? Or wait till the very last minute fro your review, after the guest has already submitted his, since the CAN reply?
I’m on it. Review written. I contacted Air bnb and they said the deadline is 2 weeks after their check out day and time. Our check out is 11am so my deadline would be the 27th at 11am PST. Can someone please confirm this? I do not want to miss this deadline!
Thank you all for your support.
Hosts Unite
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Kona?? Please supply the details. Just make sure your computer doesn’t get hung up. I haven’t done this but Kona is the expert. Sounds like a great idea to me.
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VG…No! That is incorrect. Stop the presses! Has nothing to do with your check out time! It is midnight… on the last day of the review period!
So wait until 11:59PM on the last day (evening) of the review period! You should be getting updates about when that would be. For instance if it were this Friday, you would want to initiate your review at 11:57 or 58 PM, just before midnight, California time… paste, hit submit right at 11:59PM PST!
Remember to accommodate time differences…Here in Hawaii that means it’s 8:58 HST! Because we are three hours behind PST.
I might add… it’s a damned satisfying feeling knowing the guest will get smacked and won’t have a second to answer!
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An Air BnB CSR actually suggested that to me when I was hesitant to leave a review for the Worst Guest Ever. 
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Bob, if they have already done it, then my trick is moot. Just write a review at any time after they have left theirs.
The point of waiting is that the guest might think neither party is intending to review the other and forgets about it. Writing yours could prompt them to write theirs, even though they can’t read it.
It’s a sneak attack.
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I can’t wait for the feeling;)
Well so glad I conferred with you all. The air bnb rep emailed me today saying it was at their check out time. Wrong!
Wow! She was so wrong!
Get your timing right and email the rep. back to confirm why you can no longer leave a review since it is past check out time. See what the reply is - I would love to hear it…lol.
Me too! I wonder if they changed that! I have had it work, right before midnight! I was specifically told by the rep that was the time… So if they changed it, we need to know!
Lol this forum is the funniest!
“Sneak attack”. LOL
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:):):):):
Jackalaus… it’s worth noting that while they cannot see the review, just the action of you writing one could prompt them into doing one… and if the experience was a bad one, the chances are it would not be good for you. That’s why I use my midnight trick on bad guests… but at the moment we are getting conflicting info about whether it is midnight or whether it is check out time.
I’ve always been able to do it right before midnight on the last day of the review period… unless they have changed it…
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I love this forum because most are not politically correct - Political correctness is so old!
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So…I just contacted AirBNB again and did live chat. The agent confirmed it is midnight 2 weeks after the checkout date. So if my guest checked out on September 12th then it is september 26th at midnight right? I do not want to miss this window!
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