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I’ve almost always leave a response - just “Thank you, John, for your kind words, it was lovely to meet (or host) you and Jane, and your sweet dog, Trigger.” Or as above with “… so glad your little girl/boy had fun with the Legos.” Where apt I include some detail, even if only the guest’s name, so it will read as personal rather than boiler-plate.
It never occurred to me that it would be seen as unprofessional or nuts. The opposite in fact, I think it shows that you don’t see your guests as mere ships passing in the night who only represent $$$ to you - few people like that. Plus verifies the guest’s assessment of you for future guests as being warm and/or welcoming. Also, people who bring pets don’t often mention that fact in their review, so I make sure to mention the pet so potential guest readers with pets will feel confident in booking my place - ditto the toys if that is the case but not mentioned in the review. That is, for sure, a little bit of self-promotion but, I think, subtle enough not to be percieved as that.
If you don’t have that Chrome plug-in program, you just have to click on each individual host’s picture and scroll through their reviews until you find the one from that guest.
@Emily makes some good points on not replying to reviews here:
(She was replying to me, thinking I was the OP of the topic–so talks about the OP’s listing, but her comments still stand)
I think she’s right, so I don’t leave public responses any more. Potential guests are looking for info from guests, not my replies, when looking at reviews. I save my personal touches for when the guest stays, leaving personal notes etc. I leave them a nice “private response” when I leave them their review as well. Just food for thought, there are different ways to look at it.
But I like your point about pets, if they didn’t mention in their review…
I totally disagree. If I’m a guest looking at reviews, I absolutely want to see that personal touch so that I know there is a real person behind the computer screen, not just some big, hands-off property management company or something.
I do use Airbnb as a guest and I determine who is running it by looking at the listing. Plenty of property management companies reply to reviews. If the the reply seems defensive, controlling, wierd, or like the host has a chip on their shoulder, especially if the public review is nice, I eliminate that listing from contention. If it’s short, sweet and friendly, it’s not a problem. I don’t mind replies at all as I think they have saved me from booking with some hosts who would be a poor match for my personality.
I totally see your point @jkamm, but I kinda realized that guests have to do a lot of extra scrolling/clicking through the review section to get past my comments and to actual reviews. As an in-home host, the reviews I get from guests are totally personal, and mention all sorts of nice things about me and my space, so I think they speak for themselves. However, it sounds like you may be renting a whole house? If so maybe your guest interaction is minimal so you like to comment on each review. Which makes sense to me as well. Whatever works for you! I’m sure there is no right or wrong way!
Did you get it to work in the end? Sorry, I’m not very techie minded so not sure what to advise. If I remember rightly, you don’t actually download it - it’s an “extension” so you just add it? Maybe check your chrome extensions tab and make sure the AirReview one is activated?
@GentleHart and @jkamm, I had loads of trouble getting this to work. After much perseverance it finally started working. There is another thread on this. Loads of people having trouble and then it just started working after re-boots and patience!
No good deed goes unpunished - will I ever learn? Am tempted to respond to guest, but probably won’t - at issue: They asked for a military discount and when 5% was not enough, I gave a 15% discount. They had 4 small children - I generally don’t allow any children. Don’t know exactly why I said ok. They pulled the curtain down in one of the bedrooms by accident - I forgave and did not mention in the review as it is an easy fix. …then the bad PERSONAL review and rating of location -not convenient enough - fully documented it is in a suburban neighborhood, 1 block to bus service - 5 mins to metro train system… and the cleanliness issue, which comes up every time there is nothing else to complain about - have professional cleaners in, still get complaints - It is an small old house and the weekend weather was heavy rain, damp and on the chilly side. I did their laundry - baby diapers and all, gave deep military discount and gave special exception for babies in the house - still received a poor rating - of course, none of this was mentioned in the public or private review. Just can’t win sometimes. Thanks for listening
[Insert curse words and politically incorrect thoughts here]
It’s easy to get suckered into offering a discount for military but when they don’t show respect in return, it’s infuriating. I’d also like to suggest that if someone has 4 small children, subsidizing that famiy’s budget isn’t your problem.
Anyway, I wouldn’t respond unless you feel they put something inaccurate in the review.
Always review honestly regardless of other factors. Pulling a curtain is just a fact and since the vast majority of guests don’t pull anything down or off the wall then maybe when they do it’s worth mentioning?
Don’t beat yourself up. Posting here probably helps to reinforce and review the lesson so you’ll learn faster.
Thanks, to both of you for your response. Appreciate - yes, lessons learned - no more discounts and no more exceptions. I’m going to let it go - just needed to vent. I’m glad for this forum - it takes the edge off. ((:>)
Cheers!