Airbnb hosts are no strangers to negative reviews. Like any service provider, there’s always a risk you’ll receive a less-than-stellar consideration for reasons that have nothing to do with your performance or service. You may have had unexpected houseguests, dealt with cancellations or bad weather, or simply had an awful neighbor. Whatever the event may be, it’s essential to handle these situations with authority. In this episode, we’ll walk you through exactly what you can and should do when you receive a negative review so that you maintain the integrity of your business and reputation on Airbnb.
Don’t Take it Personally
When someone leaves a negative review, the most important thing you have to remember is that putting your home on Airbnb doesn’t automatically make you a great host. Improving as a host takes time and focus, and some reviews are constructive while others might not. An honest review and an opportunity to improve your hosting technique are worth more than a 5-star review any day.
Calm Down and don’t Act Impulsively
We know the first thing you want to do when you read a bad review is roll up your sleeves, make a defensive argument, and type out your rage. It doesn’t take much to know this will make things worse. Let’s say you think a review is ridiculous. You put a lot of effort into making those guests feel at home, maybe even spending money perfecting the house.
Perhaps, the bad review has taken you completely by surprise. Perhaps the reviewer was having a bad day. And who knows, they may be coming to you with a complaint about something unrelated. And regardless of what that guest says in the review, it could simply be that they are calling about something else entirely but having forgotten to mention it during their stay and therefore taking it out on TripAdvisor. You never know and need to prepare yourself for anything.
Talk it Out
It may not be too late to salvage the situation when you receive a bad review. Though your job is to fix errors, that doesn’t mean you can’t be nice while doing it. Since many bad reviews result from miscommunication or a simple misunderstanding, call the guest and calmly discuss what went wrong. Tell them that you take their feedback seriously and thank them for their input. Then use these critiques for future training and modify your business practices accordingly.
Apologize – No Matter What
Getting negative reviews is something that no business person wants or likes, but you cannot please everyone, just like everything else. But guess what? You can still do a little something to make your future clients happy and reward them for taking the time to give you some feedback. A simple thanks note to the client who left a review about you positively affects them and will surely impress other people who read it. This way, you can respond to the complaint professionally and minimize the damage from negative reviews.
