Low rating star

[Pat347]

I recently have 1 star rating first time and now I'm feel so down. I have prepare to get low star rating, but once I get it, I could not get this out of my head. I'm looking suggestion from senior hosting or any one who have same low star experience.

I have couple check in for 1 night. They leave the room for dinner sometime in the evening and she call me 3 time at 1 am.- 1.45 am. I woke up and open the door for her. She apologize and straight up to bedroom. Everything seem fine until rating. she give me 1 star and 3 star due to..

1. Host not pick up the phone at 1-2 a.m. in the morning
2. She cannot get in the house due to she put the wrong code in lock box.

3. She did not know that she need to use the key in lockbox to unlock the door. She though it's automatic door for some reason.

4. She complain that the house located to far. The map and picture in my list mention already that my house is not in downtown. It more closer to the airport area.

5. She complain that there is no public transportation or bus at 1-2 a.m. in the morning which I explain to her already that Canada have no bus service after mid-night 😞

I have call Airbnb and there is nothing they can do. I know I should let this go, but the rating from 4.9 down to 4.1 is really hurt as i'm a new hosting too.

[Lawrene0 · Accepted solution]

Hi, @Pat347 . Things like this happen, and, I agree, it's hard to take, especially when you are new. 

I do have some advice about the response. It's public. Take a look. You have put your lockbox code out there for all to see, and that will be an excellent reason to ask Airbnb to take it down. 

You will absolutely want Airbnb to take it down for another reason: because the review says only nice things, but you have written a bitter response, which gets posted to your own page and reflects badly on you, not on the guest.

I would call Airbnb right away if I were you.

All the best. As you know, most guests are lovely, reasonable people. Hope you get lots more!

[Pat347]

@Lawrene0 you are right. I will call them right away 😞 Thank you so much

[Linda108]

I agree with @Lawrene0 .  The primary problem with the review is not the rating but with your response.  I doubt you will be able to have your response removed, but it is worth while trying.  You can change your door code so that won't be an issue in the future.  The lesson is not that you have a bad reaction as almost any host would have, but that given your negative state, you need to wait a few days before responding to the POSTED review.  Never respond to unpublished messages as this is confusing to potential guests.

[Pat347]

Hi Linda, Thank you for your suggestion. I have call Airbnb to remove the comment now. I will make sure I will not respond negative to public again too. I am counting 1-100 right now. Will start fresh soon 🙂 Thank you.

[Sarah977]

@Pat347  There's nothing wrong with leaving a response to a review which is untrue or tries to put blame on the host for something that was due to the guest's inattention or confusion.

Just wait until you take a breather and calm down so that the response isn't emotional. Make it as brief and professional and impersonal as possible, as it will be read by prospective guests. Something along the lines of "It's unfortunate that this guest failed to note the lockbox code, the bus schedule and the location information, all of which was provided to her. Had she paid attention to this information, none of the issues she mentions would have occurred."

If a guest complains in their review about something that could be seen to be your fault, like that they found pet hair in the unit, don't leave a defensive response, say something like "I'm so sorry there was a cleanliness issue. Had you notified me right away, I would have come over and dealt with it. We have had a word with our cleaner and are confident this won't be an issue in the future."

[Pat347]

@Sarah977 thank you for your comment Sarah. The more I read, I realized there is more professional way to put the word out. My comment was too personal and emotion. Thank you so much for your suggest.