Call for more attention to composing guest reviews!!!

[Huaai0]

Hi all,

Although I have seen posts providing tips about composing and evaluating guest reviews here and there on the forum, I still would like to start a thread to call for more attention to composing guest reviews!

The reason is because I have seen too many positive guest reviews, some of which may not truthfully reflect the guest's personlaity, lifestyle, manners and behaviours. General and vague reviews may mislead other hosts, let alone inaccurate reviews.

- Everyone has an issue in some sense. Instead of saying he or she is a joy to host, you should identify what strikes you most about this guest's personality, lifestyle, manners and behaviours. For example, if this guest is super friendly, clean and tidy, but tends to take over your kitchen by cooking too much, this can be a non- issue to some hosts, but can be an issue to some others. So, it would be great if you could state it in your review for the sake of other hosts. 

- If the guest is not terrible and not wonderful either, it is more important to be as descriptive as possible, because we want to know who is going to enter our open house! Many guests I guess would fall into this category and we gotta be more careful about what we put in the review. 

- Be specific in your review so we can determine if we can handle this guest's issue or not. For example, I see that one of my guests' revious review indicates this group is "diasppointing." How? In what areas? As a matter of fact, when I'm hosting him, he IS disappointing! I only regret 1) that I did not track his previous reviews further 2) did not ask the previous host to elaborate what about his guest disappointed him. 

Truly important.

[Huaai0]

@Momi0

Lol. This is a younger guy around 20 who wanted to get laid even during an Airbnb stay. No way. I have sent him a message there are lots os motels in the area but they cost over $110/night. 

[Huaai0]

@Momi0@Huma0

About cheap guests, I think that it is all a matter of money. 

My low rates have drawn a lot of guests with a very very tight budget. So they would not apologize for anything that had ruined or broken, but appear defensive or evasive. Like the one who ruin my bathtowel with hair dye, he had a lot to say, just for fear of being charged for damage. I imagine what if I ruined a host's towel--I would just leave a 20 dolloar bill with a note, "Sorry but I ruined your towel unintentionally. Is this enough to buy a new one?" So what? With that 20 bucks gone I would not be a lot poorer, but my dignity and image are more important. 

Regretfully, none of these guests has had the kind of gesture I would have. 

Yesterday another guest broke one of my beautiful Japanese plates, and asked me what to do. I just said no big deal. At least she was not self-defending or hiding! 

Cheap guests remind me of one of my friends. She and I went to a big buffet restaurant in Las Vegas with our coupons worth $17 each. So basically that lunch was totally free. All the waiters were Latin American, very attentive and hard-working. Upon leaving, I said, well, in the U.S. usually people should tip at least 20% of the cost of the meal, and because this meal is free, I wanna tip more than 20%. My friend became restless and argumentative, saying, "No way! Because this meal costs zero dollars, zero x 20%=zero, so I would tip nothing!" I did not want to fight over the table in public, so I said, fine, I will tip my share, you do whatever you want.

Guess what? Karma came immediately. She found that she lost her wallet (a little porch with $1,000 in it) gone when we left the hotel where we had the buffet! We went back to the restaurant and talked to the manager, who asked her what the little porch looked like. When she verified it was hers, she told us that the waitress had picked it up and brought it to the manager! Another validaiton of karma--I tipped well and the waitress did a good thing. 

A friend of mine here once served as Keanu Reeve's Mandarin tutor when he was shooting a movie here in Van. She said Keanu was an extremely generous gentleman, not just to all crew members, but also to her. Eventually Keanu paid her much more than she had aksed for. Some people argue that Keanu was that generous only because he was a big star, rich and famous. But some people who know him well said that is not true; before he became famous and rich, he had always been generous.

This echos the Buddha's teaching--generosity draws money; cheap people will always struggle with money 🙂

[Momi0]

@Huaai0   Perhaps maybe you should consider raising your rates.  I can tell you that a lot changed for me for the better when I raised my rates of $69 a night in 2015 to $89 a night in 2016.  I got a completely different guests booking with me.  

 I am forever grateful to the Manager at Airbnb who suggested that I do that.  He said I was not charging enough for all that I offered. He also said, "Stop giving everything away for free Momi!",  I laughed bc my husband was saying the same thing.

The only 4 star review I got was in 2015 at the start of my hosting journey, and I got 2 of them, but I was providing the same very clean bedroom and Private bathroom,  yummy big breakfasts, along with free equipment for the beach, free concierge service, free rides to the beach, hike and airport.  Since changing things and raising my prices in 2016, I have only gotten 5 Star reviews and just received my #79 5 Star review this week.  I now charge for the airport, beaches, hikes, the use of my car, (rent it through car rental app), charge for extra breakfast, charge for early checkin....seems people appreciate it more when they pay instead of EXPECTING it all for free.  However, I still do A LOT for free, (sometimes too much my husband says), but the guests who shows appreciation for me during their stay finds themselves enjoying my  "Momi's Marvelous Mango Margaritas " for free along with a cheese and fruit plate. This is how I show my appreciation to them for being such great guests. 

I dont' know if its a good idea to tell the guests that breaking a special Japanese plate is "No big deal" because then she will think its no big deal when she breaks my things or other hosts things.  Perhaps a better response would have been....."I know you didn't do it intentionally, accidents can happen.  Perhaps you can consider to go online and find a replacement since I do love those plates very much."  IF a guests tries, then that says alot about their character.  What means a lot to me, as their host , is if they say, "Absolutely I will try to do that. Again, i am so sorry."

And yes, I have had a few things broken, coffee mug, wine glass, special Hawaiian plate, and now the most current, A TOILET SEAT!!! 

By the way, thank you for tipping the waitress.   You are a good man.  And yes, Karma played a role in her life that day.  Did the waitress perhaps keep a 20% portion of her money for the tip?  (LOL....I am justing kidding!) 

Speaking of good men, I'm not surprised at all that Keanu Reeves did that because he was raised by great parents  (Father was Hawaiian born in Hawaii) - they taught him about respect, appreciation and kindness for those who do a great job.  His relatives in Hawai'i are some of the nicest people you could live next door to.  Hawaiian culture is all about respect, appreciation and kindness.   If you don't know, Keanu is a Hawaiian name and it means:  "a cool breeze".  He's definitely that to everyone he meets and works with.  🙂

If you haven't seen his latest movie, "JOHN HICK", you should. 

[Huaai0]

@Momi0

Wow Momi,

You are a woman of wisdom! First of all, you are so right. If breaking a plate is no big deal, then she will continue to break a toilet seat, a bowl, a vase... I have copied and pasted your words in a message to her--

Dear xxx,

Regarding the broken Japanese plate, my mother was very upset because the whole set was a house warming gift from her. I have searched online but cannot find a replacement. I know you didn't do it intentionally, accidents can happen. Perhaps you can consider to go online and find a replacement since I do love those plates very much.

Let me know.

Thanks.

H.

As for tips, MOST of my friends in the US are generous, or at least try to be; it is their culture. I once tipped a shuttle bus driver 50% of the bus fare because he kept my hands off my luggage from the airport to the hotel. My friend only tipped him 1 dollar. Oh dear, what can you buy with 1 dollar these days?

As for Keanu Reeves, he is 1/4 Chinese from his father's side. Many Chinese fans are proud of his Chinese heritage. 

[Momi0]

@Huaai0   Thank you for your kind words and compliments.  I would like to think I have great wisdom from my wise Chinese Grandfather who helped raised me.  Yep, that's correct, I am 1/4 Chinese too.  haha.  Perhaps you missed my earlier post today where I wrote saying that I had a strict Chinese father who expected only Straight A's and hard work.  I still watch American Football bc of my Chinese grandfather.  He was obsessed. haha

Its good that you recognize what I am saying about the "No big Deal" comment.  And I especially appreciated that you found my wisdow to be helpful enough to guide you to contact her about this plate.  I would like to add that if you are going to ask her to locate this replacement plate, that perhaps you can give her the name of the plate manufacturer AND send her a photo of the plate from the set so she can feel confident that she has found the correct one. Try to make it easier on the guests because you don't want her buying something that doesn't match , right?   I also noticed that you told her you searched yourself and couldn't find it, which might lead her to not even try.  Something to think about should you need to communicate to another guests about a broken item.  For your sake I hope she does find it.  But in the meantime, maybe you could buy a "cheaper" set of plates for guests to use ONLY.  That's what I now do after my Hawaiian plate was broken.  I have it on the shelf next to the guests fridge and they know its the only plates they are allowed to use as I explain all this during my house tour.  I provide plates because sometimes the guests will bring back dinner in a TO-GO box and that's not fun for anyone to eat out of.  So I provide plates, utensils, npakins and wine glasses on a shelf for them to use. 

Many guests have appreciated this option because this way they can split the food and share with their spouse or loved one. 

I treat my guests the way I would like to be treated as an Airbnb guests.  And I hate eating out of Styrofoam To Go Boxes.  haha

As a matter of fact, I wish they would get rid of those god awful things bc they are horrible for our planet.  Thankfully, our Hawaii legislative is proposing a ban on those food boxes that litter our landfils just like they have with the plastic bags.  FINALLY!!!

[Huaai0]

@Momi0

Yes I have only searched the Home Sense website. I have no time to search elsewhere. I do find that after I said "no big deal" the guest seems to not care about it, because as a paying guest they may think breaking a plate at a host's house is like breaking a cup at a 5 star hotel! Also, I bet some hosts may ignore it just to make sure the guest will leave a great review? And if they ask the guest to compensate then it will be unlikely that the guest will leave a great review.

i'm tired of this guest review hostage!! **Bleep** that!

[Huaai0]

@Momi0

By the way, one of my best friends/soulsisters/mentors lives in Honolulu. She said many times before that she would try to get me there maybe to give a lecture or a talk or something but nothing has happened lol.

Her name is Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak, the first non-Chinese who performs Peking Opera/Beijing Opera. If you would I can give you her email. Hopefully her theatre will bring you more business from China. 

Here is her profile--

Professor of Theatre | Director of Theatre | Director of the Asian Theatre Program | Asian Theatre: China Focus, Jingju Performance, Acting, Directing, Makeup

Wichmann-Walczak earned BA degrees in Theatre and Chinese from the University of Iowa, and MA and PhD degrees in Performance and Asian Theatre respectively from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She acted professionally with the Iowa Repertory Theatre, the Hawai‘i Theatre Festival, and the General Assistance Center of the Pacific; was a board member, director, and actor for Kumu Kahua Theatre during the first 10 years of its existence; taught improvisational and “work-shopped” (now “devised”) theatre at the Hawai‘i State Prison; and taught acting and dance at Windward Community College, before undertaking the field work for her doctoral dissertation on the aural performance of jingju (Beijing/Peking “opera”) in PR China, 1979-1981. While carrying out that research, Wichmann-Walczak was accepted as the personal student of Master Mei Lanfang’s disciple Madam Shen Xiaomei, and performed the title role in an iconic Mei play in Nanjing & nationally via film & television, becoming the first non-Chinese to perform jingju in the People’s Republic of China. Since joining the UHM faculty in 1981, she has worked with Madam Shen to produce an intensive jingju training program every 4 years, each culminating in public performances of a major play in English which she has translated & directed, the most recent being Lady Mu and the Yang Family Generals and The White Snake. To date Wichmann-Walczak and Shen have produced one modern, three “newly-written historical,” and four classical jingju plays at UHM; at Chinese invitation, 3 classical plays have undertaken performance tours of PR China.

Wichmann-Walczak’s current research concerns issues of creative authority in jingju, especially as they relate to the 1950s national reform of xiqu (Chinese “opera”) in China, and has received the support of the Fulbright Foundation; previous research support has been provided by the Asian Cultural Council, the U.S. Committee for Scholarly Communication with the People’s Republic of China, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the Freeman Foundation. Her most recent English-language publications include the book chapters: “Re-acting an Actor’s Reaction to the Occupation: the Beijing Jingju Company’s Mei Lanfang,” in Sino-Japanese Transculturation: From the Late Nineteenth Century to the End of the Pacific War; and “Actors and Role Types, Sex and Gender, and Creative Interpretation in Jingju,” in On Stage: The Art of Beijing Opera; and “Remembering the Past in the Shanghai Jingju Company’s King Lear,” in Shakespeare in Hollywood, Asia, and Cyberspace.

Major awards: China’s National Xiqu Music Association’s Kong Sanchuan Award for excellence in research, creation, and performance; China’s National Festival of Jingju’s Golden Chrysanthemum Award for outstanding achievements in promoting and developing jingju; commendations from the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives and Senate. University recognition: UH System’s Fujio Matsuda Fellowship.

http://manoa.hawaii.edu/liveonstage/staff-members/elizabeth-wichmann-walczak/

[Huaai0]

@Huma0

About ther penalty for rejecting a guest, is it part of Airbnb's campaign for fighting racial profiling?

check this--

Does Airbnb Enable Racism?

By KRISTEN CLARKEAUG. 23, 2016

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CreditPablo Delcan

Washington — While planning a trip to Buenos Aires two years ago, I decided to give Airbnb a try. The idea of renting a private apartment through the online service instead of paying for a generic hotel room was intriguing. Though August marks the off-season for tourism in Buenos Aires, I was rejected by the first three hosts I contacted. One host listed the days in question as available but nonetheless claimed my request overlapped with another reservation; another declined without explanation; and a third got back to me after a long delay, claiming to have missed my request.

While my fourth request was accepted, the overall experience was a sour one. I am African-American, and because Airbnb strongly recommends display of a profile picture (which I provided) and requires its users to display an actual name, it was hard to believe that race didn’t come into play.

That stay marked my last booking through Airbnb.

My experience is hardly unique. This year, the issue of Airbnb discrimination has received considerable attention, especially after African-American users of the service began sharing stories similar to mine on social media using the hashtag AirbnbWhileBlack. A recent study by Harvard Business School researchers found that requests from Airbnb guests with distinctively African-American names were 16 percent less likely to be accepted than those with white-sounding names.

How can the problem be addressed? Although many of our nation’s federal civil rights statutes were adopted before lawmakers could envision an online-based sharing economy, these laws were clearly intended to prohibit the kind of racial discrimination now experienced by many on Airbnb. At the same time, whether such companies are subject to public accommodations laws and fair housing requirements is not a straightforward matter.

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Huaai0 it is possible, but I think more likely it is their way of weeding out the hosts with listings that aren't really available or very rarely available. Of course, those hosts could simply block the unavailable dates, but there are circumstances where you're not 100% sure. For example, I'm currently waiting on confirmation of a work trip taking place in a couple of months time, but the person organising it is on a long holiday so I'm having to wait a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm getting lots of requests for those exact dates.

I don't to block them because it's only a short trip and I could lose longer bookings. I'm okay with leaving guests longer term guests here with my housemate, but I can't do check in on those dates.

[Momi0]

@Melanie189  The host is NOT penalized for declining so I am not sure why you think we are.  However, if a host gets 6 booking requests over the period of 90 days (evaluation period by ABB), and they decline 4 of those 6, then that's a problem and they would find their listing moving further away from the visible listings.  Not sure why someone would decline 4 out of 6 requests, but there are hosts who do and that's why ABB has to address it the way they do.  Make sense? 

By the way, if a guests sends a booking request and they have NO profile, then the best thing to do is to communicate to that guests that you are willing to entertain their request once they have completed their profile, describing themselves as suggested by ABB.

I always suggest they read mine to give them an idea of what I am looking for when I say in House Rule #1 that I want a complete profile and not just what school they attended.  If their photo is of them jumping in the air wearing sunglasses, my House Rules are very clear what I need as a clear front visible pic.  And I will not accept or Pre Approve their request, until my House Rules have been complied with.  A lot of hosts complain about this, but these are the same hosts who don't' have clear specific House Rules which can be established for booking requests like mine does.  Part of it is a test to see if they are willing to be respectful prior to check in by following 2 House Rules before I even take their booking. 

[Kenneth12]

The rule is 10 in a row. You will be penalized in display/ranking if you decline 10 in a row. You will be warned beforehand. I've had situations where I've declined 6 same-day requests from partiers in a row in Nashville, within 2 weeks.

[Momi0]

@Kenneth12  Awww they changed it?!  Thanks for letting me know.  I am going to look that up because the last time I looked at the article on DECLINES, it was probably a year ago.  

What a bummer you keep getting requests from Partiers....perhaps you should make that your FIRST RULE.  "Not at all interested in my Airbnb listing being used as a party home."   

[Daniel833]

Please I need help from anyone, am having problem with my listings. It's not showing on airbnb

[David126]

@Momi0

I think AirBnB should pay you to podcasts for new Hosts, I see a lot of people listing without much clue what they are getting into.

[Momi0]

@David126   WOW...thank you!  Just a week ago, my awesome couple from Austria spent 45 mins during breakfast trying to convince me to either do a Podcast or a You-Tube Channel on Airbnb ( they said they would be my first subscribers).  They weren't the first guests to bring that up.  

EDITED TO ADD:  You are right about other Hosts listings.....my jaw is dropped every time I do a search for my next ABB stay just in Hawaii alone.  

Perhaps now that my young daughter has gone back to start high school as a Freshman (homeschooled for 2 years), I can find the time to do that.  

This past July, someone from headquarters called to thank me for something I was doing for free for hundreds of hosts worldwide and asked me what could he do for me.  I said..."How about some new Airbnb coffee mugs since one of them was recently broken by my guests."  He said..."You got it."

Still waiting for them to arrive.  haha

I do appreciate the compliment, will you be my 2nd subscriber?  🙂