The Struggle is Real: leave negative feedback for guest or protect your ratings?

[Cristina728]

Hello Airbnb Hosts! 

First, thanks to you all for all you do and for sharing your feedback. I'm new to hosting, on month 4 with over 20 stays, mostly incredibly clean and thoughtful guests, and have run into my first very messy guests. 

I spent a good week debating on whether I should leave negative feedback for my last guests who were incredibly messy and careless, going back and forth on what was good for me vs. what was good for my fellow Airbnb hosts and chose in the end to leave the public negative feedback, going so far as to not recommend them.

Have any of you had experience with this? I greatly appreciate that we're part of a community that relies on feedback from each other, but we're also small business owners who rely on good feedback for our livelihoods.  

I'm also a property owner who hates to see my beloved little place literally shat on (dog feces on floor) and dumped on (food on everything, dirty dishes everywhere, furniture moved, mud and dirt all over), and feel personally injured when a guest show such little regard or care for a place I let them stay in, regardless of fees.  

Your thoughts? Again, thanks in advance for reading this and sharing your experiences and input.

Cristina and Tim

Clover Cabin, Pittsboro, NC

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Cristina728  Morning - first think to remember is that you are letting our your home - years of memories etc. Guests, no matter how understading will walk across thses buy in the main that's ok.

When it comes to physical damage - yoiu are a newbie and  you will find that guests come at att ends of the  spectrum. I would probably give an average rating on cleanliness but give a thumbs down for other hosts to see.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Cristina728

yes, eternal dilemma , to rate or not to rate.. I find this thread very helpfull

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/looking-for-short-effective-statements-for-quot-delicate...

[Cristina728]

Here's a follow up question on this:

Do you think that raising the nightly rate and adding a security deposit successfully weeds out most bad guests from booking?

[Gillian19]

@Cristina728 Not sure from your heading your potential concern about leaving negative feedback or protecting your ratings. A guest won't see your review until they leave one or after 14 days. If you are concerned that leaving one will prompt them to leave one, don't write it until day 14. Gives them less time to respond.