Reviews connected to the host

[Juniyarsi0]

Hi, I just want to share my frustration about the fact that Airbnb links reviews to the host instead to the property involved. A few years ago a villa we managed was sold and we had to cancel 3 bookings. As result we received guest complaints regarding the cancelations. A few years later these bad reviews are still attached to the host. Result is that from all properties we host these days it doesn't matter of they score high or not. People who have the intention to book one of our villas look at the host review first and than decide NOT to continue. Only recently a potential guest told us and mentioned that these reviews were the reason for him NOT to book the villa. Almost 80% of our bookings come from Booking.com and only a few through Airbnb. I never understood the reason but now I know. Airbnb is not able to change this policy and therefore advised us to cancel the account and start a new account under a different name. It's like having a criminal record which will haunt you for the rest of your life. Why not simply link a review (good or bad) to a villa and not to a host is my topic. Looking forward to any comments on this post. Ayuk

[Sarah977]

@Juniyarsi0  Because guests' reviews are based on the way the host interacts with the guests and cares for the property. You could have a stunning property, but if the host isn't attentive to the guests, doesn't communicate well with them, fails to send crucial info on time, doesn't make sure the place is clean and stocked, cancels reservations, and doesn't attend to guest's needs during the stay, the fact that the property itself is awesome doesn't matter.

Conversely, you could have a very modest, no frills property, but if the host is great and makes their guests feel at home and cared for, that listing may have all 5* reviews.

When guests review, they are reviewing their entire experience, not just the property itself, that's why the reviews are on the profile of the host.

If a homeowner uses a property manager to deal with all aspects of their Airbnb, why should the homeowner get bad reviews if the manager falls down on the job? That's not the homeowner's fault.

[Sarah977]

@Juniyarsi0  And those cancellations you had to make because the property was sold? When the property was listed for sale, it should also have been taken off the site. It's really unfair to guests to keep taking bookings until the property actually sells. I'm not surprised the guests complained. But I also don't understand how they were able to leave reviews if their bookings were cancelled before they ever arrived? I don't see any reviews from cancelled guests on your profile. What I see are 2 notices of cancellations. That's not because the guest complained- that's what Airbnb does when you cancel a reservation. 

So at this point, you have 4 things on your review page- 2 cancellations, one very brief positive review, and one pretty bad review from a guest who found several things not working properly and had $6000 worth of stuff stolen because the window, that was closed when they arrived, and that they never opened, was left unlocked.

Yes, you should start over- you're not likely to get many bookings with that kind of review page.

[Emilia42]

@Juniyarsi0 I'm confused because you have 2 automatic cancellations on your profile. One from May 2018 which could be "a few years ago" but the other is from July 2019. So to prospective guests it does look like you are known to cancel. It doesn't matter which listing it is for; the host is the one doing the canceling.

[Juniyarsi0]

Hi Sarah and Emilia, I looked deeper in the matter and would like to add the following. Only now I realized that the "bad" cancellation reviews were automatically generated by Airbnb itself. To me that sounds strange and dissapointing because towards for example the May 2018 Villa La Blanca guests we explained the reason of the cancelation and they accepted our appoligies. This cancellation was done 75 days before arrival. Still Airbnb add this fact to our "criminal" record. This villa belonged to somebody else and we managed this villa. Out of nothing there came a bid of 3 million USD which the owner accepted. We had no choice than to cancel the booking. I also see the Airbnb error header which says that the guest "Stayed at Villa La Blanca in Jimbaran".

The cancellation regarding Villa Juni in July 2019 had to do with the fact that the synchronization with Booking.com went wrong. Manual blocking of calendar dates in Booking.com were not synchronized. This happened because of the Booking.com extranet settings regarding synchronizing manual blockings. Unfortunately the harm was already done and we had to deal with a double booking. We offered this guest a far more expensive villa without any additional costs. Also this cancellation was automatically added to our "criminal record" by Airbnb.

The Russian guests in September 2019 was a strange case. Our staff never opened any window however the guest insisted that it must have been our staff who left a window unlocked. We went together to the police station to make a report. Somehow afterwards we were in the opinion that it was the guest to do for the insurance money. This was also the opinion of the police. 

This all has nothing to do with a host not being friendly or helpful or a malfunctioning villa. Actually our Villa Limon is doing great and we have an average rating (Booking.com) of 9,0 Around 80% of our bookings come from Booking.com  In my opinion is our Airbnb review record like a blacklist created by Airbnb and will follow us (the host) till the end of days. One guest even admitted that he didn't want to book because of our bad reviews.

I also believe that having great villa attendants can have more effect than a friendly host. 

Villa Limon in Seminyak is doing great on Booking.com with a almost 90% total occupancy over 2019

Indirectly because of the Airbnb policy, Airbnb cuts in my opinion in its own fingers. 

From our total turnover regarding Villa Limon only 2,4% is coming from Airbnb

What I want to say is that we had a top year in Villa Limon but Airbnb's part is only 2,4% only because of the Airbnb policy to nail bad automated cancellation reviews to the host. The remaining bad review from the Russians who or forget to check the windows before they left or simply went for the insurance money did the rest.

If the cancellation reviews and the Russian review only were related to Villa La Blanca and Villa Juni and not to the host, Villa Limon would have performed much better on Airbnb which indirectly would bring a lot more profit for Airbnb. I am stating this because I actually much more would prefer Airbnb to bring in guests than Booking.com  We pay 18% commission for Booking.com guests. As you understand we would have made more profit also 

It's a long story but I'm happy to at least let you know what my thoughts are regarding this matter.

[Alexandra316]

@Juniyarsi0 If you had called Airbnb regarding the cancellations, you wouldn't have those automatic cancellation messages. You can cancel instant bookings penalty free if the dates should have been blocked but weren't. My advice to you if you plan to continue to host with Airbnb is to take the time to review and understand Airbnb's policies and procedures so you don't get penalized for things that you shouldn't.

[Juniyarsi0]

At that time I actually called Airbnb and asked their advice regarding what to do. I even mentioned that I acccepted full responsibility and was ready to pay any fine. I actually understand the Airbnb policies very well with exeption for the review policy which is directly related to the host and not to the property involved.

I realize now that Airbnb is not for a host such as me hosting 8 villas in Bali. Not all our properties are on Airbnb. Besides villas we own ourselves we also manage villas from which owners trust us to take care of their property and ask us to find short term renters for them. In all villas we have good well educated staff and villa managers available who very well are capable of taking care of the guests. No need for me as the host to drive around, show my smiling face and start interacting with the guests. Our staff is very well capable of doing this.

I come around to welcome the guests and if anything goes wrong which is difficult for the staff to handle such as for example no water because of a failing pump or no electricity because of a short cut in the electrical power. 

Airbnb is in my opinion more suitable for a one to one property situation. One property, one host and the guests. More like the idea of a guesthouse with the host as father and mother at the same time.  

Our policy is to manage (and own) as many villas as financially possible and provide the best staff and services per individual villa. 

I know Airbnb is a large company and we are small however I stick to my point that the Airbnb policy regarding reviews is wrong and old fashioned. The policy is still based on the Airbnb origin of an owner making his own home available to receive guests. Like staying with a family and the owner is there as a mother or father for you and takes care of you. Like a mother duck sitting on her ducklings.

[Todd491]

Question:  My property is managed by a property manager who is listed as host.  I have very good reviews which have taken awhile to accrue.  If my property manager quits managing the property and I hire another company, will those reviews still be linked and appear for my property?  Thanks!