Bad Reviews kill business " How does it all really work?"

Denis66
Level 2
Durban, South Africa

Bad Reviews kill business " How does it all really work?"

Hi Everyone,

 

Very New to AIRBNB I am certainly amused at how a bad guest can get away with fake content-defammatory remarks and of course false statements in the reviews and get away with it. What protects a Host/Superhost from Guests from Hell ?

 

A Guest member since 2013 ( without any reviews ) checked in an hour before check in time -found one hair in the bath and demanded her money back so I gave it back in cash - the FULL amount - I cannot cancel her booking as that would affect my superhost status - guest then proceeded to cancel the booking and try retrieve the money again, hence seeking double payment. And on top of it all the guest  leaves me a terrible review based on fake/hateful content. 

Guests review.

  1. It was a terrible experience. When we arrived we could see we were in trouble from the state of the property to the cleanliness of the room. I called the host over and showed him that the room has not been cleaned. The bath was full of hair from the previous guests, the two cakes of soap used by previous guests were still there for us to use. The bathroom glass still had water in from the previous guests. The small table used as coffee station had a layer of dirt on. No apology from the host. He said do you want a refund to which we said yes definitely we are not staying. He demanded his keys back and then disappeared. We waited in our car unable to get out the gates. I walked around the property looking for the host asking the very noisy construction guys where he was.... He came driving in and handed us R550. I said we paid R600 and his reply was ask AIRBNB for the rest. We had absolutely no apology for the inconvenience.

  2. User Profile -Response from Denis:
    Unfortunately this is the only guest to date that we have experienced as totally unreasonable. Our objective is always to solve any minor dissatisfactions with guests. This was not possible with this guest. Our reviews (specifically in the OSTRICH Room) speak for themselves. This guest has no reviews since 2013 which should have been a concern for me in advance and for other AIRBNB hosts.

 Second Bad review comes from a guests paying R400 0r 30$ a night for two people in a modern refurbished room in our beautiful Cape Dutch home ( with use of common ammenities) and assumes that they have paid for 5 double en suite bedroorooms with King size Beds - Cable TV - Private accesses - Lounge - Dining room - Modern Kitchen - Two lock up garages - Pool - 24 hr security - plus panoramic views of Durban. Thinking thats this is all theirs for 30 American Dollars a night without a deposit etc. They even asked me if I stay on the property. Guest then proceeds to complain about my friendly dogs saying she is allergic to them. Our listings are very accurate and clearly indicate that there are two friendly dogs on the property. To pass defammatory remarks about lying is very uncalled for especially when AIRBNB business is all about trust and honesty and to complain about dogs when our listing is very clear just puts the icing on the cake. The guest also proceeds to use me by name which as I am aware is not allowed when writing reviews. 

 

Guests review.

 

We were very disappointed when we arrived at Denis' house as we had only one bedroom and not the entire house as indicated in his announce when we booked. We really didn't appreciate his reply to us on that point: 1- He knew that he was lying as he told us that other guests were also disappointed as us by the past on that point 2- According to him, the price should make us understand that it is only one bedroom! Also according to him, a house should be rent for more than what we payed. We were very frustrated by our stay as we were on honeymoon and if the announce was true we would never rent that place. Another point to consider, there were dogs on the permise which was not indicated when we booked. The place is in a good and safe area. Denis was very kind as he bought us a spray against cockroachs the day after we've seen one. The views of Durban from the garden are lovely. I would recommend that pace if you want a backpacker ambiance.

 

Response from Denis:

The guest paid R410 shared /private room for a night for Two people ( in a King size Bed ) with full use of entire Modern House and it's shared amenities - which in fact was utilised extensively. There are definitely no 5 bedroom en suite houses with Spa baths available in the Durban North vicinity with panoramic sea views available for R410 per night. Pricing would ordinarily be R2200 at a minimum and in season a lot more. Guest/Guests should be realistic? The listing is detailed and accurate. Dogs (which are friendly) are highlighted prominently on the listing as this is essential given strong guest preferences in this area. Regrettably one fly in cockroach may be unavoidable in the summer months in Durban and contingency spray, beyond regular fumigation, may be needed occasionally. To avoid disappointment we would certainly encourage all guests to read the listing thoroughly and most importantly ask for clarity via the message system if in doubt on any aspects of the listing. We value our foreign guests immensely and strive as best we can to overcome any communication breakdowns linked to challenges in this area.

 

I hope this message finds you well and reaches out to all AIRBNB hosts that do their best to maintain a healthy - clean and accurately listed enviroment for their guests - its seems that guests can do and say what they please on this site and make a host loose business by exploiting false/bad reviews based on their fabricated personal experiences  - I would recommend that all comments go through a strict filtration system before being posted on a live public domain. Perhaps if you reach Superhosts Status this should be a priority. I guess it all boils down to business and at the end of the day - if AIRBNB administrators do not remove these False/Fabricated reviews with immediate effect then we have no choice but to terminate our account with AIRBNB. 
Kind regards
Denis
11 Replies 11
Marit-Anne0
Level 10
Bergen, Norway

Did the guest actually stay at your place ? If they did not, they may not leave a review.  If they cancelled, the review option should not even be prompted.  

Did the guest actually stay at your place ?

Definitely not - they left after 5 minutes with a full cash refund and cancelled their booking later that day hoping to get refund from airbnb too. 

 

@Denis66

If they did not stay, they may not leave a review, so you can contact airbnb and have it removed.  In the meantime, leave a public reply that states that the guests did not stay so that other potential guests are aware of facts.

It may be that their intention was to scam you out of some cash.

How do you contact airbnb? telephone - twitter - email - fax - facebook - community forum - report user - flags at the end of comments  or reviews- help centre - Ive seen community members/airbnb hosts/guests try it all.. perhaps an administrator will pass by this thread  and select all and delete. thanks for the prompt response Marit Anne. Greetings from Sunny South Africa.

@Denis66

Personally, I use twitter.  The first post in community help you will find the communtiy help guides with the different methods of contacting airbnb. Telephone if urgent.

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

Well, I think the proper way for cancelling would be that guest cancel and ask a refund through Airbnb. They would get money back according of your cancellation policy. You will be asked if you would like to give them more and you can agree to refund them all if you want. But, they will lose airbnb service fee.

 

Giving them back cash before they cancelled means that they can still cancel after and ask a refund so they will get double (ok they said that you give them money in cash so they will not be able to get it again) and they can write you a bad review as they did. And if they don't cancel you will have your dates blocked and not be able to rebook those days through Airbnb.

 

 

But, yes, Airbnb does not protect hosts, we have to find the way to protect our properties by ourselves.

 

 

 

 

Maria-Lurdes0
Level 10
Union City, NJ

Hi @Denis66  you have a bunch of great reviews on top of that iffy one - so I would just grumble internally, and let it go.   We all know that guests don't read too much, so the likelihood of someone actually reading ALL the reviews is small, and if they do read the bad review and your response and still don't book - well, too bad.  You're doing a good job, you have happy guests, and this one guest was bad.

 

BTW, I personally am not a fan of replying to reviews.  Some hosts are very good at this, but I think it draws more attention to the actual bad review, so unless it's a one-liner like "this guest booked a studio apartment so there is no second bedroom", I personally don't reply.  It's easy for me to say this because I've been doing it for a long time and my skin is a bit thicker now.   I take what bad feedback that I get, I try to be very rational and objective about it and see if there's anything I can fix or learn, then I swear under my breath (and sometimes scream into a pillow), then let it go.  

 

 

@Maria-Lurdes0 I would agree with her route. You will always get weird situations, hopefully not too many, but you have 4 listings and seem busy so you increase the odds..

 

If you are going to leave a review, keep it to one line, you do not want to make it even bigger.

 

If they want a refund they have to go through the system, never give them cash.

 

The review system is wide open to abuse, if they are totally over the top hopefully they would be removed, certainly ways to post which are highly negative but probably AirBnB would not remove.

 

 

David

Hi Maria,

 

You must agree that these reviews need to go with regards to the rules and regulations of airbnb not because they make me upset.

 

Bad review 1 :Guest didn't even stay on the property and was awarded a full cash refund - guest also cancelled through airbnb later that day - guest leaves a terrible and false review when airbnb rules clearly state that if a guest cancels their reservation reviews from this guest may not be allowed - guest did not stay in the room at all. 

 

Bad review 2 :Guest uses my name and calls me a liar - this is clearly a defamatory statement made directly to the Host (using my personal name)  which undermines airbnb policies and regulations when making a review.  

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

Denis

 

@Denis66

There is no use coming to the forum and moan about these issues - please take the advise given and contact airbnb to have the reviews removed.  You need to take action, they will not go away by discussing them on the host forum.  

great and helpful post,i am in that postion just yesterday,the guest was a nice fellow his to teenage kids were from hell.all his reviews are positive i have a feeling he was under stress from traveling with 2 spoiled teens.your idea about not giving him a review.  is spot on!