Yeah. I know they won’t. But from all the complaints, as ludicrous as they were, I’m pretty sure they will leave a poor one no matter. We will leave an honest one, but might wait to the last minute.
If you leave a very polite (non accusatory) response to their bad review, that will make any potential guests be at ease with a negative review they leave, especially with 300 positives. "I'm very sorry that XYZ wasn't operational during your stay." While it is not listed as provided accommodation, we will look into either removing or repairing it for future guests. I understand you weren't satisfied with the cleanliness of the property. Our staff is usually very thorough when cleaning between guests, however it seems you feel that it was inadequate for your stay. I wish you would have brought this to our attention earlier so I could have corrected this for you immediately. Going forward, I will personally inspect the property between guests frequently to be sure that our staff is continuing to do their job appropriately."
This basically tells future guests that you hear them, you're approachable, and you dont get crappy with guests even if they are Karens. It shows your professionalism. You could also mention how sorry you are for some of the more petty things she mentioned during her stay, like the plant that didnt bloom, so that future guests are aware that this was a high maintenance guest and become more skeptical of the validity of her review.
\*\*\*it seems like these people have their hands full, and I'd bet they actually don't leave a review. Their life is chaos. they don't have time to leave reviews on VRBO about past stays. I'd bet they don't leave a review. \*\*
But if they do,I'd mention up front that despite the fact that the tub isn't in the listing, you gave the guest a refund to try and make them happy, and that they nevertheless woerent. add all the insane requests as an asterisk at the end of the note. and explain how the guest left it. I think it is possible to be both professional, and communicate how insane these guests were. Future potential guests will get the picture.
Send your form note that they were great guests and you’ll leave them a 5 star and would love to host again etc.
Then take a huge dump on them, and apologize because your form response shouldn’t have gone out. We’ve done this a handful of times and it works every single time.
They probably could. I’ve never honestly thought about it. I’m mostly trying to fade a bad review from them, and get a five star review. Once my bad guest leave, I don’t really care for them anymore.
And if they leave a bad review, so what? Reply to them with everything you told us. Most of us are smart enough to see one bad review out of hundreds is a bad guest, not a bad host/accommodation. Who cares about a streak? They trashed your space. Warn potential future hosts
That’s what I hear is best bc when they see a review was made, they go make a bad review to retaliate even if they can’t read the other review until they post
As a guest, I can say that I would 100% dismiss/ignore the one review on your property that was an outlier. You owe it to your fellow hosts to review honestly. Finally, you absolutely should bill them for the cleaning fee and to replace the items they destroyed.
yeah, as guests we do that too. If a host has dozens of 5 stars, but one bad one, we can see it's either an outlier experience or just a horrendous guest.
Did your cleaners happen to take pictures of the destruction this couple did? If this happens again in the future, have them take many pictures to document the proof for your records. Always try to cover your ass when possible as there are way too many unscrupulous, entitled people in this world.
Yes, they took a lot. We ask them to take them before and after every cleaning. Early on we had a bad guest (one of the few) who made some dishonest complaints about cleanliness. (Their review was removed for trying to extort a full refund). From that day forward we have them take photos. They have always been thorough and good. We just needed to have insurance against the thankfully very rare bad guest.
to add to this, I personally am suspicious whenever I see all five star reviews for anything including business, hotel, etc. And if you have the opportunity to respond to a review, then people can get both sides of the story anyway.
Look up other complaints on here of similar guests, hosts use ChatGPT positively to help them word it. Keep it truthful and to the facts. Guests see through bad guest-given reviews. It’s more about your response if any.
I had a very high maintenance group of guests stay extra days and needed far more attention from the guest contact than is normal. They wouldn’t plunge a toilet (that they clogged) and left it clogged for 48 hours, when the host was checking on something else they asked for she was informed that someone needed to come plunge the toilet because they didn’t know how.
They left after nine days and the house was filthy. Stains on the ceilings and walls of both bathrooms. Gum or some sticky candy had been trailed across the wood floors, there was cooking oil on every surface on the main floor, and red stains from something on every sofa in the house. It was the weirdest thing. I ended up getting charged 3x as much for cleaning and then they left a 3-star review because the house was too small…. even though square footage is in listing and photos are not altered in any way to distort the size. I sent the property manager my “preferred response”, which was very colorful and later edited it to get the same point across but in a more polite way. Then blocked them from ever booking again. I fixate over the one bad review often.
I’d submit a claim ABB for the extra cleaning costs surcharge and include the bill from the cleaners. This would be separate from the fact that you refunded the original cleaning costs. I’d be interested to know if you were aware of the filth they had created before you offered no cleaning fee? To me one crumb is maybe $10 or max $25 refund. Also, did you keep all communication within the ABB messaging system? I would have already asked for “help” with the reservation and made sure Customer Service was in the loop and aware of all the nonsense messages.
They won't see your review until they post theirs, they can't see it. If you have more than 300 reviews this should be already obvious to you, you can’t see guests reviews until you post yours. They deserve a bad review, leave one.
When any side leaves a review, it prompts a reminder to the other party to leave a review. Oftentimes, I find myself not wanting to remind a bad guest that I know will leave a bad review.
The fear is if a horrible guest has any self awareness, they know what review they are likely to get and will see our review was completed and it will prompt them to leave a bad one, even if they can't see the contents.
When I read ABNB reviews, I *expect* a couple of bad ones. I know people are weird, and complain about stupid stuff. If all the reviews are really good, it feels off, like they are being manipulated.
I've waited to leave a review, scared that as soon as they see I've left one, they would leave a bad one. In my case this did not happen. This particular guest extended their stay without payment and left the house very dirty. They left me 5 stars. I've filed aircover claims against guests well within the 14 days. They've responded to the aircover request and did not leave a review at all. Moving forward I've decided to just leave a review after viewing the house no matter what.
As for the extra cleaning fee you incurred and the items that need replacing, you should definitely file an aircover claim.
If they do end up leaving you a bad review, look at it to see if it includes the ofuro tubs are mentioned. If they are try to have the review removed since this would not have been in the ad for the property.
I agree with you to wait 5 minutes before the deadline, but have in mind that Airbnb will have reminded them by then :( chances are they will leave a review anyway. The good thing is that your record is perfect, so you can use that to remove the review, and also proving some of her complaints are out of your control will help
I'm not sure about removing the review, but I agree with waiting. Reviewing too fast can send a signal that you left a bad review. In this situation, we usually remain polite and amocable, even thanking them for their stay, but not going as far as to tell them they were a good guest. It can help buy time while the clock runs down.
I've never heard of any state protecting ESAs for the legal category of hotels though (under which ABB falls - I forget the exact legal terminology for it) - only housing (FHA), which would be rentals from a landlord or co-ops or housing developments and such. Can you share any government websites which list this for those states?????? I'm legitimately very curious
Interesting, I'm from NY and lived in CA for a few years (and my brother has been there since 2008) and was under the impression that ESAs are not protected in hotels in either state - the more I know!!!! Thank you for that link.
Obviously. But in most jurisdictions, ABBs fall under a similar or same legal category as hotels, not rentals, which was why I figured the laws on that would apply here.
Don’t let these people get away with that! Have a backbone!
And curious, besides the ofuro tubs, what could they possibly complain about? Hard water stains and a crumb? Nobody buys that
The thing is..they didn’t list the tubs as an amenity and it was not in any pictures. So until they got there they were unaware they existed. With a note on them saying out of order..how could she complain she was “looking forward to using them” when they weren’t a known thing prior to being there…
Please, please leave a review so I don’t allow these people to stay at my place! You might want to post the review you’re thinking of leaving them here first for feedback to make sure they can’t get it removed on some grounds. Hosts here are great at catching things that could get your review taken down
They deserve a bad review so that others can be made aware. Other people not doing the right thing is probably what got you into this situation. It will cost you very little and maybe nothing at all and will help other hosts in the future.
yeah, we are going to leave a review, just trying to figure out the best way to word it so it's fair and also illustrates how miserable they were as guests.
How does one woman create 120 of gallons herself in 2 days? What was she doing? This is wild. I’m so sorry your cleaner had to deal with that kind of mess.
Why does waiting until the last minute make a difference? I’m genuinely curious. I thought that reviews don’t get posted until the deadline or until both have submitted one (whichever happens to be first) for exactly this type of scenario - to avoid a retaliatory malicious review not based on the actual experience. I would have assumed, based on the constant and inconsequential complaints already made by the guest, that they would leave a 💩 review regardless of when or if the host does. Have I missed a loophole or something?
Can you see any of the reviews they’ve left about previous stays at other properties? I’m honestly not trying to be rude or condescending, I’m actually wondering why many here have recommended waiting until the last minute. Either way, you should 100% leave an honest review. Your track record obviously shows you have integrity.
We will leave a review.
No loophole. Sometimes difficult guests don't leave reviews. We won't post a review until they have posted one OR at the last minute. If they post one, we post immediately. If they don't, we wait till the last day. It's silly perhaps, but by posting the last day when they haven't posted, sometimes they don't have the time to post. So, we don't have a bad review from a bad guest. It cuts down on getting bad reviews from bad guests.
For this property (attached to our house), we've only had 3 💩 guests (well, 4 now). Two were obvious scams. They wrote with a series of silly complaints and then demanded a full refund on the last day of their stay or they were going to leave a bad review. Both times we didn't respond to them and immediately sent the extortion message to airbnb and airbnb removed the review. The third 💩 guest probably knew we were going to leave them a bad review, so they didn't post one, maybe waiting for the last minute. They were truly 💩 guests, the worst we've ever had. We weren't going to let that go without writing them a review, so we waited to literally the last minute and left them a very honest 1 star review. They actually complained they had no time to leave a review, but it was honest and no problems, so it remains.
That is the right strategy!
Could you update us on how it goes? What you write to them, if they respond, and whether you ask for some compensation from airbnb for the excessive cleaning!
Yes, if you have the time or desire you can click on a person you are hosting or hosted and see reviews they’ve received. You then can click on the host listing that wrote the review for them and search for the review they left that host (match the month and year of stay to narrow your search). I’m not a 100% sure if this also works with potential guests.
I backtracked on a guest who attempted to go off the APP and made false allegations regarding our ABB. I wanted to see if he had tried the same scam before. He had lots of stays and very few reviews. I decided hosts might have been afraid to review him. I left an honest non inflammatory review documenting his allegations, the fact that he stayed 5 nights and then MESSAGED me ON MY PHONE!! I checked a year later and he hadn’t used that account since my review.
Leave a review and make sure you don’t say anything that the guest can use to get it removed. That’s probably what they’ve done in the past, thus the 5 star history.
That's what I'm thinking. We are going to avoid saying anything about the emotional support dog. Obviously she didn't need to tell us she was bringing it as per Airbnb's policy and just as obviously it's an untrained dog (not even potty trained), but I'm sure if we mention it in the review she'll take it as a reason to have it deleted.
No, and in our state they are not considered service animals and ‘no pet’ policies apply to them. We have a no pet policy and they did not inform us of the pet. We saw it the second day and the ‘gift’ it left us. We wrote the review but didn’t mention the dog though we have good reason to.
You don't need to include that it was untrained, as it might be trained but had an accident, but I would include that they left faeces behind on the tub. As animal owners, if our dogs are with us, we will clean up the faeces.
I wouldn't even put that it was from the dog. Just that it was left behind and not cleaned up. Any host that reads that will not want them after that.
I wonder if a previous host had left an accurate review if it would have saved you from this mess. You should probably do the right thing and leave an honest review.
I would charge for the extra cleaning only because it is a lot of money. But to do that I hope you took pictures of the mess. I would also do a review to let other host know. Fuck them.
I’m a frequent Airbnb user and only stay at places rated 4.94 or higher, with a cleanliness rating of 4.9 or higher. I usually see one off reviews like that and think the guest was unreasonable, not the host.
I agree, wait until 5m before the deadline and post your truthful review. I’d also address the lack of cleanliness claims since that would be a worrisome point for some (me haha).
You shouldn't be worried about one bad review after your perfect record..why did you refund her before you viewed the property .?? I'd give a bad review by just telling the truth .
Why not give these assholes an honest review? If this couple leaves you a bad review, it will stick out, and you can address this for anyone looking at your place in the future. All you'd be doing by not being honest, is fucking over whoever else this couple rents from next time.
We call these people professional complainers, they book your listing with intent to get it for free. This is why a 5 star rating is like a brand new truck, it’s so beautiful to have but you’re too afraid of scratching it to drive it. Leave a last minute review and bill them. I had a similar experience and ended up with proof they smoked so I had them over a barrel. I knocked their $700 fine down to $200 and left her a nasty review calling her what she is, a professional complainer. That’s the only way they learn. And by the way the “service animal” thing is utter bullshit. They are just pets and everyone knows it.
Yep. We’ve had two of those. Both made lots of random small complaints the last morning or after they left and then demanded a full refund or they’d leave a bad review. Both times airbnb removed the review for trying to extort a refund out of us.
I live the analogy of the car. It’s how it feels.
I understand your dilemma. It’s tough to balance honesty with the fear of getting a bad review in return. Given their behavior, it's important to warn future hosts.
Maybe wait until the last minute to leave your review. Have you considered how to word it to be fair but honest?
With all she complained about Op I would steel myself for a bad review—be honest and factual in yours with no emotional nuances. Do this for you and future hosts. Good luck I know it sucks. We had an older guest who I guess loved potatoe chips. We found them in all crevices possible. We were in between cleaners (we are very rural) and cleaned ourselves and it took 6-7 hours to deep clean the entire home. And we went back the next day to double check and then we made it look all pretty airbnb style. Man they were hard guests. Turned the AC off because they were cold. It was 86 in the house accordingly to the thermostat and they left the doors and windows open. Everyone. We had to clean up gnats and flies as we are in the South it was summer
Agree with the other posters, leave an honest review. Don't use subjective words like "horrible" to describe them, just be scrupulously factual. "Guests complained about nature sounds in a nature setting. Guests called 12 times in 3 hours wanting access to unlisted features. Our cleaners charged twice the usual fee after guests left due to urine, high volume of trash, and excessive mess throughout house." That kind of review. People reading the review will get a clear picture of their personalities.
The review process is so that you can warn other hosts (us) about problematic customers. It’s not about the customer themselves and what’s fair to them. It’s about what’s fair to the rest of us.
Also, you need to tack on an additional cleaning charge if you have proper documentation. That should recoup your losses somewhat. Next time don’t give a late refund like that.
I would definitely leave a review. Whenever we have a high maintenance guest that I think they will complain. We generally start with saying .
“I do not believe our property was a good fit for the guest and list all the items the complained about.. wild add something stating we will be reconsidering to allow and rentals under a week since we were charged by our cleaners an extra charge for only a 2 night stay.”
As a host we are super grateful when people leave reviews that let us know what things did it make the best a good fit for their property.
Wait until the latest moment to leave your review so they do not get notified to leave you one. This way, you can hope they do not leave you a review since you suspect it will be negative. Leave an honest review of them, that is the purpose of the review system. It helps out your fellow hosts and dissuades negative behaviors. Good luck
Sounds like an absolute nightmare of a guest. For the sake of all the hosts they stay with in the future, please for the love of God leave us some warning
I will never understand why hosts break their own policies for guests, give refunds just to shut people up, avoid giving bad reviews, and let guests abuse them /their properties.
You shouldn't have let them book 1 night at the start. Shouldn't have given them a refund. Leave the review! If you don't, it's the ABnB equivalent of a teacher passing the problem student so that the NEXT teacher also has to deal with it. Wouldn't you have appreciated honest reviews of these people so you could've avoided the mess? Do other hosts a favor.
If you are such a coward that you won’t leave an honest review to protect other hosts, you deserve this shitty guest and the bad review she leaves you. If you can’t even leave an honest review, you are the problem.
What exactly is kind about pretending a guest was a good guest when you know for a fact that they left 4 full 30 gallon garbage bags of trash strewn about and the cleaning crew needs to charge you double and they pee a bed, and leave feces on the balcony? What is nice about pretending they were great so that the next host also ends up getting treated this way?
You are confusing kindness with cowardice. You wrote for advice and you whine about the advice, and claim to be kinder than the people who took the time to help you gird up your courage to do the right thing.
If you approach other aspects of your life this way, you cause yourself and others needless suffering. This is not kind.
Your question is really “ is it ok to lie, if the truth is uncomfortable” and the answer is, no. Be truthful. Don’t pretend lies are kind. You should be capable of an honest review without embellishment or judgment.
* bed was wet and smelled like urine.
* feces on the Balcony.
* cleaning crew is reliable and they charged you double due to the level of cleaning required to restore the premises to clean for the next guest.
* they complained about the stairs even though they were aware the unit had stairs.
* you would not consider them for future guests.
Copy and paste your honest review in the last 3 or 4 minutes before the review period expires. I've done this a few times with these kind of guests. We have over 350 reviews most of them good. 4.9 average. Some guests you just have to do what you need to do.
Just for people considering it. We have had over 300 (close to 400) bookings in this unit. I could honestly say 4 were difficult guests. The rest were either just fine or amazing (one couple from Denmark has become friends we see regularly).
We have a LTR in another city (our former home). That has had a horrible tenant. (4 separate tenants over 6 yrs). They caused us months of pain and stress. In the end refused to leave (and law in their side because tenant laws), two months of not paying rent. We finally moved my husband in (it was in the agreement that we could move into the downstairs if needed and use public space. He made their lives uncomfortable and finally left.
Both types of renting has its issues. LTR tenants can be long term disasters whereas short term guests are usually short term pains usually.
you wrote a review above. put that in the yelp or whatever you use. it's nice to see 'early 40s couple' called to task for a change. the last two weeks, it's been all boomers. there are a lot of assholes of all ages.
Oh yes there are. Of our 4 horrible guests (in a sea of wonderful ones), 2 were 20s or 30s (the ones trying to scam a refund), 1 was probably 50s. And this one.
Charge for the extra cleaning. Leave a bad review, detailing their behavior.
You don’t deserve to lose money on pigs.
Heaven help that child, growing up with such parents!
The least you can do is keep the next host from dealing with them.
Light 'em up. Be calm, cold, and factual. And thorough, but don't mention the broken tub unless they do, and then discuss it in your response.
They are going to leave a shitty review anyway.
Leave an honest, factual review. Don't state any opinions about them, just list what they did: complained about services not offered in the listing, complained about stairs that were clearly shown in photos. Left dog feces on the lanai. Cleaners reported X, Y, Z, and had to charge double the normal fees to put the property back into rentable condition.
In the future, ask the cleaners to send you photos of every room and outdoor areas after every guest leaves.
>that one of the 5 orchid plants wasn’t blooming
I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it sounds like a nightmare. But I seriously almost peed myself on the "one non-blooming orchid" part. How dare you have the audacity to not arrange for that fifth flower to be in full bloom on that particular day.
Yeah. I laughed out loud when I read the comment. They are surrounded by orchids and they are bothered by one not blooming? Hilarious. But I am pretty sure they were angling for a refund so they were finding anything they could.
We usually replace non-blooming orchids in the unit with ones that have started blooming in our garden. Sometimes there aren’t any, so we leave the greenery until there is.
I always look at the one star reviews first. If the people leaving the one star reviews seem nutty - it gives me even more confident it will be a great experience than the five star reviews.
In a way, the more insane guest can end up being your best advertisement because responding to them with class makes me hit the button to book a place.
I would leave them a bad review. They suck! And I would also put there hiw bad they left the property, hiw they asked for refund and thet they r probably going to give u a bad review bc of the review u r leaving on them.
Our listing pricing is done by beyond pricing, is a bit lower than surrounding listings (and better quality), and is 80% or more booked even in low season, has many repeat guests and has all 5 stars.
Yeah, I don't think that's it.
Sometimes there are just bad guests.
Just because it’s lower than surrounding areas doesn’t mean that guests don’t think it’s overpriced.
When Airbnb’s are what I consider overpriced, I avoid them entirely and I’m a host myself.
I’m not paying it either.
You’re the one with the negative reviews and this is why Airbnb is losing more and more guests.
Greed.
Definitely a woman by the absurdity and response. Utilize some logic and reason, it will help you 1985.
Don’t get your panties in a twist. Actually don’t have a single negative review as yet after a few hundred. But as I can see, reading comprehension isn’t your strong point.
This may have been a 3rd party booking... This happens sometimes when they book the property for family or friends or a baby shower and they didn't let you know. It's obvious they didn't read the listing.
Don't leave a review unless the leave one.
They won't see your review until they write their own. Always leave an honest review, based on your experience.
Yeah. I know they won’t. But from all the complaints, as ludicrous as they were, I’m pretty sure they will leave a poor one no matter. We will leave an honest one, but might wait to the last minute.
All the more reason to leave an honest review. They are going to leave a shit one no matter what, you might as well be honest.
Just wait until the last minute
If you leave a very polite (non accusatory) response to their bad review, that will make any potential guests be at ease with a negative review they leave, especially with 300 positives. "I'm very sorry that XYZ wasn't operational during your stay." While it is not listed as provided accommodation, we will look into either removing or repairing it for future guests. I understand you weren't satisfied with the cleanliness of the property. Our staff is usually very thorough when cleaning between guests, however it seems you feel that it was inadequate for your stay. I wish you would have brought this to our attention earlier so I could have corrected this for you immediately. Going forward, I will personally inspect the property between guests frequently to be sure that our staff is continuing to do their job appropriately." This basically tells future guests that you hear them, you're approachable, and you dont get crappy with guests even if they are Karens. It shows your professionalism. You could also mention how sorry you are for some of the more petty things she mentioned during her stay, like the plant that didnt bloom, so that future guests are aware that this was a high maintenance guest and become more skeptical of the validity of her review.
\*\*\*it seems like these people have their hands full, and I'd bet they actually don't leave a review. Their life is chaos. they don't have time to leave reviews on VRBO about past stays. I'd bet they don't leave a review. \*\* But if they do,I'd mention up front that despite the fact that the tub isn't in the listing, you gave the guest a refund to try and make them happy, and that they nevertheless woerent. add all the insane requests as an asterisk at the end of the note. and explain how the guest left it. I think it is possible to be both professional, and communicate how insane these guests were. Future potential guests will get the picture.
Send your form note that they were great guests and you’ll leave them a 5 star and would love to host again etc. Then take a huge dump on them, and apologize because your form response shouldn’t have gone out. We’ve done this a handful of times and it works every single time.
Do you worry that they could use that message and convince a poorly trained support agent to remove your review of them?
They probably could. I’ve never honestly thought about it. I’m mostly trying to fade a bad review from them, and get a five star review. Once my bad guest leave, I don’t really care for them anymore.
I put a calendar reminder in my phone to leave one in the last day.
And it’s pictures if you can.
And if they leave a bad review, so what? Reply to them with everything you told us. Most of us are smart enough to see one bad review out of hundreds is a bad guest, not a bad host/accommodation. Who cares about a streak? They trashed your space. Warn potential future hosts
You should review them now. If you wait it looks like you only made a review to retaliate
That’s what I hear is best bc when they see a review was made, they go make a bad review to retaliate even if they can’t read the other review until they post
As a guest, I can say that I would 100% dismiss/ignore the one review on your property that was an outlier. You owe it to your fellow hosts to review honestly. Finally, you absolutely should bill them for the cleaning fee and to replace the items they destroyed.
yeah, as guests we do that too. If a host has dozens of 5 stars, but one bad one, we can see it's either an outlier experience or just a horrendous guest.
[удалено]
Drain flies and cockroaches as well of a pungent smell… are all indicative of a moisture/mold issue. That’s NOT good.
Did your cleaners happen to take pictures of the destruction this couple did? If this happens again in the future, have them take many pictures to document the proof for your records. Always try to cover your ass when possible as there are way too many unscrupulous, entitled people in this world.
Yes, they took a lot. We ask them to take them before and after every cleaning. Early on we had a bad guest (one of the few) who made some dishonest complaints about cleanliness. (Their review was removed for trying to extort a full refund). From that day forward we have them take photos. They have always been thorough and good. We just needed to have insurance against the thankfully very rare bad guest.
to add to this, I personally am suspicious whenever I see all five star reviews for anything including business, hotel, etc. And if you have the opportunity to respond to a review, then people can get both sides of the story anyway.
Happy cake day
Why would you hesitate for even a moment to leave a review that will help us hosts?
EXACTLY
With these kind you wait until the last minute and drop it on them.
we will, we are just trying to figure out the best timing and wording.
Look up other complaints on here of similar guests, hosts use ChatGPT positively to help them word it. Keep it truthful and to the facts. Guests see through bad guest-given reviews. It’s more about your response if any.
I had a very high maintenance group of guests stay extra days and needed far more attention from the guest contact than is normal. They wouldn’t plunge a toilet (that they clogged) and left it clogged for 48 hours, when the host was checking on something else they asked for she was informed that someone needed to come plunge the toilet because they didn’t know how. They left after nine days and the house was filthy. Stains on the ceilings and walls of both bathrooms. Gum or some sticky candy had been trailed across the wood floors, there was cooking oil on every surface on the main floor, and red stains from something on every sofa in the house. It was the weirdest thing. I ended up getting charged 3x as much for cleaning and then they left a 3-star review because the house was too small…. even though square footage is in listing and photos are not altered in any way to distort the size. I sent the property manager my “preferred response”, which was very colorful and later edited it to get the same point across but in a more polite way. Then blocked them from ever booking again. I fixate over the one bad review often.
I’d submit a claim ABB for the extra cleaning costs surcharge and include the bill from the cleaners. This would be separate from the fact that you refunded the original cleaning costs. I’d be interested to know if you were aware of the filth they had created before you offered no cleaning fee? To me one crumb is maybe $10 or max $25 refund. Also, did you keep all communication within the ABB messaging system? I would have already asked for “help” with the reservation and made sure Customer Service was in the loop and aware of all the nonsense messages.
Yes, and we now can do that (submit a claim) after 14 days which means we don’t spook the creeps.
Definitely review, that’s horrible!
They won't see your review until they post theirs, they can't see it. If you have more than 300 reviews this should be already obvious to you, you can’t see guests reviews until you post yours. They deserve a bad review, leave one.
Why then so many people speak about negative retaliative reviews? I am confused!
It’s a preemptive strike, always. So don’t spook them and slide it in day 13.75
Have it ready to go and slide it in 13.97
I always drop my review as soon as I can. I like to think it encourages the guest to assume it's a good one, as a bad one takes longer to write.
What does waiting do if they can’t see before they leave theirs?
When any side leaves a review, it prompts a reminder to the other party to leave a review. Oftentimes, I find myself not wanting to remind a bad guest that I know will leave a bad review. The fear is if a horrible guest has any self awareness, they know what review they are likely to get and will see our review was completed and it will prompt them to leave a bad one, even if they can't see the contents.
They immediately get notifications from Airbnb saying the other party has written a review so…best to wait as then they may miss the deadline
They're going to leave a poor review regardless. You should leave an honest, objective review for the benefit of other hosts.
When I read ABNB reviews, I *expect* a couple of bad ones. I know people are weird, and complain about stupid stuff. If all the reviews are really good, it feels off, like they are being manipulated.
Please please please leave a bad review. If you’ll wait until the last minute, set a reminder so you don’t forget!!
I've waited to leave a review, scared that as soon as they see I've left one, they would leave a bad one. In my case this did not happen. This particular guest extended their stay without payment and left the house very dirty. They left me 5 stars. I've filed aircover claims against guests well within the 14 days. They've responded to the aircover request and did not leave a review at all. Moving forward I've decided to just leave a review after viewing the house no matter what. As for the extra cleaning fee you incurred and the items that need replacing, you should definitely file an aircover claim. If they do end up leaving you a bad review, look at it to see if it includes the ofuro tubs are mentioned. If they are try to have the review removed since this would not have been in the ad for the property.
I agree with you to wait 5 minutes before the deadline, but have in mind that Airbnb will have reminded them by then :( chances are they will leave a review anyway. The good thing is that your record is perfect, so you can use that to remove the review, and also proving some of her complaints are out of your control will help
I'm not sure about removing the review, but I agree with waiting. Reviewing too fast can send a signal that you left a bad review. In this situation, we usually remain polite and amocable, even thanking them for their stay, but not going as far as to tell them they were a good guest. It can help buy time while the clock runs down.
You need to inform airbnb that their dog isn't a real service animal so they aren't allowed to do this to others.
OP might be in a state that protects ESAs
I've never heard of any state protecting ESAs for the legal category of hotels though (under which ABB falls - I forget the exact legal terminology for it) - only housing (FHA), which would be rentals from a landlord or co-ops or housing developments and such. Can you share any government websites which list this for those states?????? I'm legitimately very curious
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869 Airbnb itself lists NY and CA
Interesting, I'm from NY and lived in CA for a few years (and my brother has been there since 2008) and was under the impression that ESAs are not protected in hotels in either state - the more I know!!!! Thank you for that link.
They aren’t in hotels… they are in airbnbs.
Obviously. But in most jurisdictions, ABBs fall under a similar or same legal category as hotels, not rentals, which was why I figured the laws on that would apply here.
New York
Don’t let these people get away with that! Have a backbone! And curious, besides the ofuro tubs, what could they possibly complain about? Hard water stains and a crumb? Nobody buys that
The thing is..they didn’t list the tubs as an amenity and it was not in any pictures. So until they got there they were unaware they existed. With a note on them saying out of order..how could she complain she was “looking forward to using them” when they weren’t a known thing prior to being there…
Don’t forget the sad orchid 😂
Please, please leave a review so I don’t allow these people to stay at my place! You might want to post the review you’re thinking of leaving them here first for feedback to make sure they can’t get it removed on some grounds. Hosts here are great at catching things that could get your review taken down
They deserve a bad review so that others can be made aware. Other people not doing the right thing is probably what got you into this situation. It will cost you very little and maybe nothing at all and will help other hosts in the future.
yeah, we are going to leave a review, just trying to figure out the best way to word it so it's fair and also illustrates how miserable they were as guests.
I'd copy and paste your reddit post. Seems fair and honest to me. Fuck those people
How does one woman create 120 of gallons herself in 2 days? What was she doing? This is wild. I’m so sorry your cleaner had to deal with that kind of mess.
Why does waiting until the last minute make a difference? I’m genuinely curious. I thought that reviews don’t get posted until the deadline or until both have submitted one (whichever happens to be first) for exactly this type of scenario - to avoid a retaliatory malicious review not based on the actual experience. I would have assumed, based on the constant and inconsequential complaints already made by the guest, that they would leave a 💩 review regardless of when or if the host does. Have I missed a loophole or something? Can you see any of the reviews they’ve left about previous stays at other properties? I’m honestly not trying to be rude or condescending, I’m actually wondering why many here have recommended waiting until the last minute. Either way, you should 100% leave an honest review. Your track record obviously shows you have integrity.
We will leave a review. No loophole. Sometimes difficult guests don't leave reviews. We won't post a review until they have posted one OR at the last minute. If they post one, we post immediately. If they don't, we wait till the last day. It's silly perhaps, but by posting the last day when they haven't posted, sometimes they don't have the time to post. So, we don't have a bad review from a bad guest. It cuts down on getting bad reviews from bad guests. For this property (attached to our house), we've only had 3 💩 guests (well, 4 now). Two were obvious scams. They wrote with a series of silly complaints and then demanded a full refund on the last day of their stay or they were going to leave a bad review. Both times we didn't respond to them and immediately sent the extortion message to airbnb and airbnb removed the review. The third 💩 guest probably knew we were going to leave them a bad review, so they didn't post one, maybe waiting for the last minute. They were truly 💩 guests, the worst we've ever had. We weren't going to let that go without writing them a review, so we waited to literally the last minute and left them a very honest 1 star review. They actually complained they had no time to leave a review, but it was honest and no problems, so it remains.
That is the right strategy! Could you update us on how it goes? What you write to them, if they respond, and whether you ask for some compensation from airbnb for the excessive cleaning!
I will update!
Yes, if you have the time or desire you can click on a person you are hosting or hosted and see reviews they’ve received. You then can click on the host listing that wrote the review for them and search for the review they left that host (match the month and year of stay to narrow your search). I’m not a 100% sure if this also works with potential guests. I backtracked on a guest who attempted to go off the APP and made false allegations regarding our ABB. I wanted to see if he had tried the same scam before. He had lots of stays and very few reviews. I decided hosts might have been afraid to review him. I left an honest non inflammatory review documenting his allegations, the fact that he stayed 5 nights and then MESSAGED me ON MY PHONE!! I checked a year later and he hadn’t used that account since my review.
You can rest assured their review will reveal they are insane. Yours should be factual and professional, the not-crazy-person.
Leave a review and make sure you don’t say anything that the guest can use to get it removed. That’s probably what they’ve done in the past, thus the 5 star history.
That's what I'm thinking. We are going to avoid saying anything about the emotional support dog. Obviously she didn't need to tell us she was bringing it as per Airbnb's policy and just as obviously it's an untrained dog (not even potty trained), but I'm sure if we mention it in the review she'll take it as a reason to have it deleted.
“They stayed. Probably would not want to host them again.” Then vote with the stars.
ESAs don’t need any training.
No, and in our state they are not considered service animals and ‘no pet’ policies apply to them. We have a no pet policy and they did not inform us of the pet. We saw it the second day and the ‘gift’ it left us. We wrote the review but didn’t mention the dog though we have good reason to.
You don't need to include that it was untrained, as it might be trained but had an accident, but I would include that they left faeces behind on the tub. As animal owners, if our dogs are with us, we will clean up the faeces. I wouldn't even put that it was from the dog. Just that it was left behind and not cleaned up. Any host that reads that will not want them after that.
If you submit a claim through Aircover before they leave a review you can claim that their review is retaliatory and get it removed
This is the way.
You better leave a review.
Leave a review a few hours before the 14 day window. Definitely leave a review for future hosts
I’d leave a factual review and call it a day
I wonder if a previous host had left an accurate review if it would have saved you from this mess. You should probably do the right thing and leave an honest review.
Please rate the guests honestly! I don't need them coming to my place with their 5 star reviews and trashing it. We all need to rate responsibly.
high maintenance people...ugh...by all means give them a bad review if for no other reason than to spare others
“It doesn’t seem like my home was a good fit for these guests.” Then leave 1 star review.
I would charge for the extra cleaning only because it is a lot of money. But to do that I hope you took pictures of the mess. I would also do a review to let other host know. Fuck them.
I’m a frequent Airbnb user and only stay at places rated 4.94 or higher, with a cleanliness rating of 4.9 or higher. I usually see one off reviews like that and think the guest was unreasonable, not the host. I agree, wait until 5m before the deadline and post your truthful review. I’d also address the lack of cleanliness claims since that would be a worrisome point for some (me haha).
Write the review and submit when they're is 2 mins left on the review process. They absolutely deserve a 2 star for all this.
If that's a 2 star, what's a 1 star? "This is my last review as the guests burned the house down" - 1 star!
Tbh, yes. It would be actual property damage.
Yeah I also reserve 1 star reviews for significant property damage.
I submitted an honest review after having a guest like this and it was removed for being retaliation.
How can a review be a retaliation? Sometimes Airbnb really pisses me off. You can be a great host, but the guest will always be right.
I really can't understand people who think an AirBnB is supposed to be perfect like a hotel. It's someone else's home
You shouldn't be worried about one bad review after your perfect record..why did you refund her before you viewed the property .?? I'd give a bad review by just telling the truth .
Why not give these assholes an honest review? If this couple leaves you a bad review, it will stick out, and you can address this for anyone looking at your place in the future. All you'd be doing by not being honest, is fucking over whoever else this couple rents from next time.
You can open a case for the extra cleaning if it is documented.
We call these people professional complainers, they book your listing with intent to get it for free. This is why a 5 star rating is like a brand new truck, it’s so beautiful to have but you’re too afraid of scratching it to drive it. Leave a last minute review and bill them. I had a similar experience and ended up with proof they smoked so I had them over a barrel. I knocked their $700 fine down to $200 and left her a nasty review calling her what she is, a professional complainer. That’s the only way they learn. And by the way the “service animal” thing is utter bullshit. They are just pets and everyone knows it.
Yep. We’ve had two of those. Both made lots of random small complaints the last morning or after they left and then demanded a full refund or they’d leave a bad review. Both times airbnb removed the review for trying to extort a refund out of us. I live the analogy of the car. It’s how it feels.
I understand your dilemma. It’s tough to balance honesty with the fear of getting a bad review in return. Given their behavior, it's important to warn future hosts. Maybe wait until the last minute to leave your review. Have you considered how to word it to be fair but honest?
With all she complained about Op I would steel myself for a bad review—be honest and factual in yours with no emotional nuances. Do this for you and future hosts. Good luck I know it sucks. We had an older guest who I guess loved potatoe chips. We found them in all crevices possible. We were in between cleaners (we are very rural) and cleaned ourselves and it took 6-7 hours to deep clean the entire home. And we went back the next day to double check and then we made it look all pretty airbnb style. Man they were hard guests. Turned the AC off because they were cold. It was 86 in the house accordingly to the thermostat and they left the doors and windows open. Everyone. We had to clean up gnats and flies as we are in the South it was summer
Agree with the other posters, leave an honest review. Don't use subjective words like "horrible" to describe them, just be scrupulously factual. "Guests complained about nature sounds in a nature setting. Guests called 12 times in 3 hours wanting access to unlisted features. Our cleaners charged twice the usual fee after guests left due to urine, high volume of trash, and excessive mess throughout house." That kind of review. People reading the review will get a clear picture of their personalities.
The review process is so that you can warn other hosts (us) about problematic customers. It’s not about the customer themselves and what’s fair to them. It’s about what’s fair to the rest of us. Also, you need to tack on an additional cleaning charge if you have proper documentation. That should recoup your losses somewhat. Next time don’t give a late refund like that.
I would definitely leave a review. Whenever we have a high maintenance guest that I think they will complain. We generally start with saying . “I do not believe our property was a good fit for the guest and list all the items the complained about.. wild add something stating we will be reconsidering to allow and rentals under a week since we were charged by our cleaners an extra charge for only a 2 night stay.” As a host we are super grateful when people leave reviews that let us know what things did it make the best a good fit for their property.
Always leave an honest review so other hosts are aware.
Wait until the latest moment to leave your review so they do not get notified to leave you one. This way, you can hope they do not leave you a review since you suspect it will be negative. Leave an honest review of them, that is the purpose of the review system. It helps out your fellow hosts and dissuades negative behaviors. Good luck
Aircover. Get compensated for everything. I hope you took pictures. This is NOT OK according to Airbnb policy.
Sounds like an absolute nightmare of a guest. For the sake of all the hosts they stay with in the future, please for the love of God leave us some warning
I will never understand why hosts break their own policies for guests, give refunds just to shut people up, avoid giving bad reviews, and let guests abuse them /their properties. You shouldn't have let them book 1 night at the start. Shouldn't have given them a refund. Leave the review! If you don't, it's the ABnB equivalent of a teacher passing the problem student so that the NEXT teacher also has to deal with it. Wouldn't you have appreciated honest reviews of these people so you could've avoided the mess? Do other hosts a favor.
If you are such a coward that you won’t leave an honest review to protect other hosts, you deserve this shitty guest and the bad review she leaves you. If you can’t even leave an honest review, you are the problem.
Yeah, comments like this help me understand why there are idiot guests and hosts. Not every human can be kind I suppose.
What exactly is kind about pretending a guest was a good guest when you know for a fact that they left 4 full 30 gallon garbage bags of trash strewn about and the cleaning crew needs to charge you double and they pee a bed, and leave feces on the balcony? What is nice about pretending they were great so that the next host also ends up getting treated this way? You are confusing kindness with cowardice. You wrote for advice and you whine about the advice, and claim to be kinder than the people who took the time to help you gird up your courage to do the right thing. If you approach other aspects of your life this way, you cause yourself and others needless suffering. This is not kind. Your question is really “ is it ok to lie, if the truth is uncomfortable” and the answer is, no. Be truthful. Don’t pretend lies are kind. You should be capable of an honest review without embellishment or judgment. * bed was wet and smelled like urine. * feces on the Balcony. * cleaning crew is reliable and they charged you double due to the level of cleaning required to restore the premises to clean for the next guest. * they complained about the stairs even though they were aware the unit had stairs. * you would not consider them for future guests.
Why are you shocked they have so many 5 star reviews? People who are too chicken to leave a bad review, LIKE YOU, are responsible for that.
Woof.
I’m not sure why you’re not conflicted about this, either!
Copy and paste your honest review in the last 3 or 4 minutes before the review period expires. I've done this a few times with these kind of guests. We have over 350 reviews most of them good. 4.9 average. Some guests you just have to do what you need to do.
Be honest... as host in the area I think you are in because of your wording I would like to know to avoid them. Sorry this happened to you.
I never want to be a Airbnb host. This all sounds horrible. I’ll take a LTR in my house any day.
Just for people considering it. We have had over 300 (close to 400) bookings in this unit. I could honestly say 4 were difficult guests. The rest were either just fine or amazing (one couple from Denmark has become friends we see regularly). We have a LTR in another city (our former home). That has had a horrible tenant. (4 separate tenants over 6 yrs). They caused us months of pain and stress. In the end refused to leave (and law in their side because tenant laws), two months of not paying rent. We finally moved my husband in (it was in the agreement that we could move into the downstairs if needed and use public space. He made their lives uncomfortable and finally left. Both types of renting has its issues. LTR tenants can be long term disasters whereas short term guests are usually short term pains usually.
you wrote a review above. put that in the yelp or whatever you use. it's nice to see 'early 40s couple' called to task for a change. the last two weeks, it's been all boomers. there are a lot of assholes of all ages.
Oh yes there are. Of our 4 horrible guests (in a sea of wonderful ones), 2 were 20s or 30s (the ones trying to scam a refund), 1 was probably 50s. And this one.
Charge for the extra cleaning. Leave a bad review, detailing their behavior. You don’t deserve to lose money on pigs. Heaven help that child, growing up with such parents! The least you can do is keep the next host from dealing with them.
You have to be honest that’s so disgusting. What awful people
Light 'em up. Be calm, cold, and factual. And thorough, but don't mention the broken tub unless they do, and then discuss it in your response. They are going to leave a shitty review anyway.
Leave an honest, factual review. Don't state any opinions about them, just list what they did: complained about services not offered in the listing, complained about stairs that were clearly shown in photos. Left dog feces on the lanai. Cleaners reported X, Y, Z, and had to charge double the normal fees to put the property back into rentable condition. In the future, ask the cleaners to send you photos of every room and outdoor areas after every guest leaves.
This sounds like some serious mental illness. I’m concerned for that baby.
Set a timer and do the review at the last minute.
Your listing sounds awesome. share a link???
>that one of the 5 orchid plants wasn’t blooming I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, it sounds like a nightmare. But I seriously almost peed myself on the "one non-blooming orchid" part. How dare you have the audacity to not arrange for that fifth flower to be in full bloom on that particular day.
Yeah. I laughed out loud when I read the comment. They are surrounded by orchids and they are bothered by one not blooming? Hilarious. But I am pretty sure they were angling for a refund so they were finding anything they could. We usually replace non-blooming orchids in the unit with ones that have started blooming in our garden. Sometimes there aren’t any, so we leave the greenery until there is.
Give them 1 star and say everything
Write it!
I always look at the one star reviews first. If the people leaving the one star reviews seem nutty - it gives me even more confident it will be a great experience than the five star reviews. In a way, the more insane guest can end up being your best advertisement because responding to them with class makes me hit the button to book a place.
I would leave them a bad review. They suck! And I would also put there hiw bad they left the property, hiw they asked for refund and thet they r probably going to give u a bad review bc of the review u r leaving on them.
They just wanted some money off the price so they know if they complain enough they will get it
What the fuck is wrong with you? Of course you leave a bad review. People like you were the reason this person only had five star reviews
Most likely a listing that’s way overpriced… people are going to be tougher on you because when the price is high, the expectations are high!
Our listing pricing is done by beyond pricing, is a bit lower than surrounding listings (and better quality), and is 80% or more booked even in low season, has many repeat guests and has all 5 stars. Yeah, I don't think that's it. Sometimes there are just bad guests.
Just because it’s lower than surrounding areas doesn’t mean that guests don’t think it’s overpriced. When Airbnb’s are what I consider overpriced, I avoid them entirely and I’m a host myself. I’m not paying it either.
Yeah, I love that for you
You’re the one with the negative reviews and this is why Airbnb is losing more and more guests. Greed. Definitely a woman by the absurdity and response. Utilize some logic and reason, it will help you 1985.
Don’t get your panties in a twist. Actually don’t have a single negative review as yet after a few hundred. But as I can see, reading comprehension isn’t your strong point.
why on earth wouldn't you leave an honest review??
Wouldn’t it have been nice if any of the 14 previous hosts had left an honest review?
This may have been a 3rd party booking... This happens sometimes when they book the property for family or friends or a baby shower and they didn't let you know. It's obvious they didn't read the listing. Don't leave a review unless the leave one.
No, they booked it directly. We talked to them back and forth several times before booking and after.
No I'm sure they did book it... But who and how many stayed? She may have booked it to stay with family members that were visiting.
No. 2 stayed, husband and wife with 9 month. Exactly the people we talked to and exactly the profile.
So stop complaining and leave a damn bad review . Is it that hard????