[Closed] Challenging an air bnb review after 14 days

Maybe you're a total clart?

Could be the wake up call you need to change your ways before those two mental ladies off the telly have to come round and clean your house for you with a flamethrower>

although one night I slept in the spare room as I was feeling a bit ropey.

And you are surprised the owner thinks that more people stayed there 🤔

Move on, it doesn't matter.

I guess they were pissed of with the mess you left and the fact that they had more bedlinen to clean etc, when it wasn't specified that you would need to use that room.

Not on AirBnB but on trip advisor I left a review for a really dreadful hotel on the West Coast of Scotland - and all they did was get a load of next "reviewers" to give me shit. Never again.

And you are surprised the owner thinks that more people stayed there 

He's not surprised. He's annoyed. Completely different.

If the owner felt that annoyed he gave you a bad review then you obviously didn’t look after the place. My wife runs an Air BnB and most people are great, some are messy. We have yet to leave a bad review of a guest.

You must be a horrendous guest. If you ever try to book our place you will be rejected. Can’t be doing with folk who create a lot of work and have no respect for peoples property.

Using the spare bed is obviously why the host has suspected you had an extra guest stay - in our Airbnb the extra bedding would be an extra expense of around £20 in costs. Hosts get peeved about this all the time on the Airbnb forums I'm on.

Personally if a guest has paid for multiple beds then it has to be expected that they all will be slept in.

Regards cleaning, it's some ones property, not a hotel - this is often forgotten by guests. Some hosts charge for cleaning some don't - it's how the pricing works. Again the cleaning fee should imo reflect the size of the property. We charge £10, it takes less than an hour and is essentially two small rooms. For £50 I'd expect it to take 4hrs plus, so a sizable house.

Just contest the review with Airbnb and they'll prob remove it.

As above we've also yet to leave a bad review, but we've an easy to clean place and only issues we've had are with guests who haven't booked using airbnb - however some hosts are much less forgiving.

in our Airbnb the extra bedding would be an extra expense of around £20 in costs. 

Why not just wash them instead of buying new?

Why not just wash them instead of buying new?

We have them laundered as it saves us time and is a fixed cost -  Covid means each set needs a seperate wash and then iron. It's run like a buisness, and we fix the overheads like cleaning and laundry costs.

Also the duvet sets alone are £90 and we've 5 of them - budgeting to replace them every 4 too 5 years at the moment.

Surely if you are renting the property you rent out the whole property? It’s certainly not unusual for couples to sleep in separate beds. In my book the whole house should be costed for cleaning and if a guest doesn’t use a bed then that’s a bonus.

As for cleaning up - as long as it doesn’t look like you’ve thrown a massive party then again - you rent a place for a break not to break out the feather duster and pledge before you leave! 😀

If you don’t want to be in the hospitality business perhaps AirBNB’s aren’t for you.

Covid means each set needs a seperate wash

Goodness. That is rough. Must be hard to turn a profit with that sort of overhead. Bit of an eye-opener for me.

Ta

Why not just wash them instead of buying new?

Haha has sir tried to buy anything you'd actually want to sleep in as a guest for 20 quid.....

Mean while back in the real world. There's time taken to remove -then have laundered and then refit.

All costs to the business - 20 quid could easily be swallowed up. - a quick Google shows you'd be 17.70 just to have a double bed sheet/bedspread and 2 pillow cases laundered....

Surely if you are renting the property you rent out the whole property?

You can charge for additional guests or bedrooms on Airbnb - will depend on how the host has the listing set up. Yes your renting the entire property, but no necessarily every bed.

We now charge for pets as 90% of our guests have a dog and getting the sofa and every cushion cleaned regularly was a bigger expense and hassle than we initially thought. - they all stank of dog last time we did it at Christmas. Airbnb only introduced this as an automated fee this year, same for additional guests charge. Previously you had to arrange it with the guests and ask for additional payment.

We rent what is essentially a single room with ensuite

airbnb.com/h/thecabinmiserden

So it's easy to do fixed costs  - larger properties are more difficult to manage.

Covid means each set needs a separate wash

says who?  Sounds like utter tosh

Move on , life's too short.

says who? Sounds like utter tosh

It's what our laundry guy was asked to do over the last two years by local council - pretty sure it won't apply ow though.

If you want to read the complete enhanced Airbnb cleaning guide it's on their web site. The initial Covid cleaning doubled the time it took to clean the place. An hour of cleaning an then and hour of sanatising and we have a tiny property.

Pretty poor form from the host that.

We got rid of a cleaning fee. All it does is make people think they don't have to look after the place. The house needs cleaning top to bottom regardless of slight differences in how people leave it. Just up the nightly rate and absorb it.

We have had some right dirty sods, I think the worst was teenagers eating snacks in bed, little drifts of crisp crumbs everywhere.

I rent the whole house and expect all beds to be used even if they only booked for 2. It isn't like you stand on the doorstep counting people in.

I moan like **** about it and then give them a good review anyway. After all they have spent good money to stay. I don't want people to feel bad about their holiday. If you don't like them you can secretly say you wouldn't host them again.

Surely if you are renting the property you rent out the whole property?

Absolutely, if you've rented me a 2 bedroom place, then both those bedrooms are available for my use.
If you lock one off, fine, but now you're only renting me a 1 bedroom place and the price would reflect that change.
Which/how many beds the OP chooses to sleep in is none of the hosts concern.

As I said above - extra guests rooms/beds can be charged on Airbnb. It all depends on how the host has set up the listing.

Just up the nightly rate and absorb it.

For a larger house with regular 4night+ lets I agree - an extra £5 or £10 a night won't make a difference. We usually have 2 night stays and are at the cheaper end where a £5 increase could .push the property into different search results.

It isn’t like you stand on the doorstep counting people in.

Again, depends on the property - for example we only have parking for one guest car, multiple occupants and parking could affect our other buisness and neighbors.

If you don’t like them you can secretly say you wouldn’t host them again.

100% this...

Was it aberdeenlune’s gaff you stayed in?

Which/how many beds the OP chooses to sleep in is none of the hosts concern

Absolutely..if I’d rocked up with my mate and we’d stayed we would have been in separate beds. I hired a lodge, and said 2 people were coming. we didn’t stipulate if we were a couple or not

You must be a horrendous guest

And you sound like a bit of a judgemental prick. Don’t worry I doubt your wife’s hovel of a bnb is going to be high up on my holiday destination list tbf

For context Here are the only 2 reviews I’ve ever had on air bnb..

‘not the tidiest guests in truth and although he booked for only 2 guests, there was more than 2 staying‘

And

‘It was a pleasure to host Tim. I hope they enjoyed their stay in the cabin and the surrounding area. Tim will always be welcome and I hope to see him again sometime in the future.‘

I can hand on heart say both places were left in very similar conditions. Sounds like the guy has taken issue with me using up an extra bed sheet and decided to bad mouth me

My OH cleans a place to within an inch of its life, I will tidy up but not leave a place spotless when you pay for cleaning generally anyway. I would expect the same level of cleaning to take place regardless of how the place has been left, you can't assume something is clean just because it looks that way.

Reading these comments, it's pretty clear who's never used an AirBnB. Usually the posts that start "surely..."

Sometimes you hire a full property. Sometimes it's little more than a spare room in someone's home, sometimes whilst they're at home themselves.

When you book, you're prompted to say a bit about yourselves. So they should know the make-up of your party and it would perhaps follow for an owner to expect that "my wife and I are staying" would only require one bedroom whereas "me and my mate" would require separate beds / bedrooms. It's a false assumption of course, I know at least one couple who have separate rooms because one is a chronic snorer, but that might be their thinking.

Some places levy a cleaning fee. I personally feel this is a bit cheeky, it's artificially lowering the advertised room rate a bit like baggage fees on budget airlines, but then I've only stayed in them alone so maybe more guests = more cleaning so that's why they separate it out?

Twenty quid to wash a bedding set though? You'd be better off closing the BnB and opening a laundrette. 😁

The cleaning fee makes it easier to price a short stay a bit higher per night without fiddling about with the nightly rates or discounts for longer stays. But I don't like the concept as a guest or a host.

I agree with some of the smaller pods in gardens and rooms in houses a bit of background might be appropriate. But for renting a whole house it shouldn't be necessary really. If you use other booking sites you don't have all that. I find it a bit cringey when people go overboard with telling me about what they are staying for. It doesn't really make any difference to me. Just pay me the agreed price, live there for a bit, don't trash it, have a nice time and leave at the correct time. Job done.

Having said that I would like to be able to filter out people with fake tan.

Some places levy a cleaning fee. I

50 quid in this case … for a 2 bedroom lodge. I was in there for 2 nights

To clarify, we said 2 people were going. I never mentioned the relationship between the 2 of us and they never bothered to ask so not sure how they can possibly be put out if the guests don’t stay in the same bedroom

Noted for future however given I’ve regularly gone away with a mate for a weekends riding and stayed in rented accommodation .. not through air bnb however

FYI I’d say uk cottage rental is not uncommon to be asked the composition of the party with names for each person. This is outside Airbnb

To me it seems harsh to say that there were more than 2 guests. To say that a couple used two rooms would be closer to the truth and more transparent

tpbiker your names noted. Can’t look after someone’s house and calls people nasty names. Says it all really. Not a nice person at all.

Using the spare bed is obviously why the host has suspected you had an extra guest stay – in our Airbnb the extra bedding would be an extra expense of around £20 in costs. Hosts get peeved about this all the time on the Airbnb forums I’m on.

Seriously? You leave bedsheets unlaundered from one set of guests to the next? Clarty gets!

I’d expect the bed linen on all the beds of a cottage I booked to be fresh linens. In exactly the same way as I’d expect all the towels to be fresh.

If I’m hiring a two bedroom cottage, the cost of said cottage should factor in the cost of cleaning a two bed cottage. Not cut corners like a manky git to save a few quid.

And you brag on an Internet forum about it too? Ffs!

You leave bedsheets unlaundered from one set of guests to the next? Clarty gets!

I don't - if you read my posts you'll know I have a one bed property! Lol

Also my next sentence was:

Personally if a guest has paid for multiple beds then it has to be expected that they all will be slept in.

So thanks for miss quoting me!

But, I know from the Airbnb forums that many many other hosts do - you'll be surprised how many multi room Airbnb hosts have issues with this,  it's about as regular as a what tyre thread.

TPbiker, sorry for my first post - was just taking the mick, didn't expect this to be such a bad-tempered thread! To be honest, the host is probably in the wrong here IMO.

I've got an AirBnB
I occasionally leave a guest a bad review if the place is totally minging after (like leaving old food in the bed [not on the bed, under the covers]) or if my neighbours tell me they've had a party. On good terms with neighbours so they let me know if the guests are making too much noise or something then I can get in touch and remind them of the house rules they agreed to.

Some guests leave the place immaculate, some leave it a messy. I view that as par for the course. There is a limit though!

I don't charge a cleaning fee as when you look at the booking process on AirBnB, there are extra charges left, right and centre - and yeah, it's like RyanAir or something. So I just factor it in to the room price.

I do have it set up with a rate for 2 guests and then a little more per extra person per night. Mostly so that smaller parties can get it at a cheaper rate. Not fussed how many rooms they use, though we ask them if they want both bedrooms made up. Again, it's just the cost of doing business.

I did have to get a new thermostat set up though, one I can lock a maximum temperature in to. Because 32c all day and night is ridiculous!

Twenty quid to wash remove ,transport, wash , dry , press ,transport and refit.

a bedding set though? You’d be better off closing the BnB and opening a laundrette. 😁

It's a bit like.being shocked at the wages IT workers get for turning the machine on and off again...

Regards cleaning, it’s some ones property, not a hotel – this is often forgotten by guests.

No, it is effectively a hotel - this is often forgotten by the hosts. I've stayed in so many B&Bs where the attitude from the owners is that they're somehow doing you a favour letting you sleep in their house.

Some places levy a cleaning fee. I personally feel this is a bit cheeky, it’s artificially lowering the advertised room rate a bit like baggage fees on budget airlines

It's not like a baggage fee, because you could fly without baggage. It's like the taxes and charges fee that they used to whack on the basic flight cost to keep the advertised fee low, but now cannot because it's not an optional cost. A separate cleaning fee is an absolute jip.

aberdeenlune
Free Member
tpbiker your names noted.

You started that,I am sure he will be gutted you have blacklisted him. Just a wee problem though...do you think tpbiker is his real name?

100% what IHN said.

And the added not-optional charges are a pain, just list it at the price you want!

tpbiker your names noted.

You're never going to host a Tim again?

Bigot.

tpbiker your names noted.

Man says nasty things about someone on internet, then get all offended when the target responds with something unpleasant🤔

What happens when my name gets noted btw? Do tell, as I need to know how gutted I should be…?

😂

I really don’t understand why a customer buying a service from a business needs to be reviewed by that business. Whole system is stupid. If the hotel/bnb/spare room letter doesn’t want to have that customer again they don’t have to. If every customer they have causes the same problem they need to either change how they run their business, charge customers etc or find another way to earn a living.

AirBnB turning to crap by bad hosts. Nothing nicer than a decent hotel these days.

You charge a cleaning fee, clean the damn place. You rent out the whole place, don’t get upset when people use it. You’re running a damn business, not doing the world a favour renting out your 2nd, 3rd and fourth properties while driving up the cost of living.

First few years and original hosts were amazing. Spying crybaby IT project managers getting annoyed when renting out hiking / biking places in Scotland in the winter not so great. They should be made to do a month in a busy restaurant kitchen, then a totally average hotel before moving into the leisure industry.

To be fair, still many amazing hosts and I appreciate it challenge of scaling for AirBnB.

I really don’t understand why a customer buying a service from a business needs to be reviewed by that business.

I don't object to that, I'm sure if you trash a Holliday Inn then they'd blacklist you from all their hotels. It's just giving you a level playing field. And it made sense, especially in the early days when it was actually "hosts" and "spare rooms".

These days though .... The last one I stayed in for work* it was the landlord appeared to have bought up a large proportion of the affordable housing stock on a new build estate. Somewhere allong the way it's lost the point and just inflates property prices.

*One of the few upsides of COVID was clients changing their hotel policy to allow appartments/short term rentals to avoid having to eat out every night.

I'll explain why some Airbnbs charge a cleaning fee - myself included.

We charge around £85 a night. Our BnB is very small & takes an hour to clean if you stay 2 nights (minimum)/ a week or a month so we charge a £20 cleaning fee - costs to us actually include £10 to clean (directly subbed out), and around £30 total in laundry per stay, + cleaning products etc but that's by the by.

The majority of our stays over the year are for 2 nights over a weekend but we obviously encourage longer stays by including discounted pricing for 5+ nights. A two night stay is actually 4days on my calendar as I auto block off the day before and after so we have an allowance for handover, cleaning etc. A five night stay is 7 days etc.

If I increase my nightly pricing by say £10 to cover the cleaning fee for my average stay I then discourage longer stays by also increasing their fees significantly. A 3 night stay would incur a 50% increase in cleaning fees to the guest a 4night 100% etc.

So a cleaning fee is a way of justifying our increased costs  for a minimum 2night stay, and encouraging cheaper longer stays for the guests.

Huge generalisation. What a pointless contribution.

Edit: talking about now removed offensive post by poah

Well, wow. Stay classy there. I assume the lack of the Report link on your post means someone else already has. Enjoy the banhammer.

Well, wow. Stay classy there. I assume the lack of the Report link on your post means someone else already has. Enjoy the banhammer.

What did I miss!!?

When you book, you’re prompted to say a bit about yourselves.

One of the "B"s definitely stands for bullshit.

I really dislike the exchange of reviews thing too though as half a middleaged couple who always sweeps up and wipes round etc and makes an effort to be nice (it can be an effort) ours really ought to glow. But it means everyone tends to pull punches. Place we stayed last summer in the french pyrennees - absolutely lovely on paper and in pics in every way, and in the brief AirBnB reviews also. But it turned out that the little lane it was on got early morning traffic including lorries to a small quarry. Meant we changed the room that we slept in after night one (covid meant none of our adult kids joined), and it did make a difference to our stay.

How much to mention this in the review when you know you're going to be reviewed too? Also picturing the nice owner being pissed off. Obviously we did, but why did no one else?

This is why I'd generally get the same place on booking.com when they're listed on both, and wonder why some properties use AirBnB not listing on both?

We haven't listed our property on booking.com as the fees are much higher for us as hosts, we'd have to increase the per night stay to cover it and didn't want a different price per site.

However I may this year - even if it's to stop fake/copycat listings of our property.

On air bnb you can’t read the review someone has left you until you leave your own. I get the rational for that given it stops ‘tit for tat’ reviews. In my case however I didn’t leave a review as I was just fairly ambivalent to the place.

It was advertised as ‘an entire chalet’ yet it was pretty much a glorified static caravan with building works next to it. It wasn’t unpleasant, but no way was it worth the 300 quid I was charged. But rather than point this out in a review I just left it as I didn’t want to affect his future business. And because of that I can’t challenge the untrue feedback he has left me. Seems a bit unfair.

I possibly was a bit harsh in my post. I pictured tpbiker as Spud from Trainspotting staying at his girlfriends parents house.

For me it would take a lot to get a bad review on Air BnB. Can’t imagine anyone would worry about an extra bed being used.

However tpbikers nasty response wasn’t classy at all.

@tpbiker id just respond to the review, pointing out the issues and leave it at that.tbh I don't think you can do much more unless it violates the airbnb review policy.

As a host I only ever look at previous reviews of guests if I suspect something or want to clarify - most of the time we have instant booking turned on.

The review thing is interesting. I think that they are about as useful as an Amazon review - i.e. not very useful at all. We stayed at a place in Berlin in 2019. The reviews looked good and the pictures were OK. When we got there there was a real cloak and dagger feel to the instructions for getting entry to what turned out to be a Soviet era apartment block, and the flat was just about OK - but had some of the most dangerous looking electrics that I've ever seen. When I went back with the benefit of hindsight and looked at the reviews again I noticed how they all emphasised the location (which was good) and didn't say a lot about the apartment beyond 'clean' and 'well equipped'.

That holiday is now referred to in our family as 'that time we stayed in the crack den in Berlin'. I'm getting better at reading between the lines now.

Think I'll stick with Sykes for my holiday cottages! 🙂

What happens when my name gets noted btw? Do tell, as I need to know how gutted I should be…?

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I possibly was a bit harsh in my post. I pictured tpbiker as Spud from Trainspotting staying at his girlfriends parents house.

For me it would take a lot to get a bad review on Air BnB. Can’t imagine anyone would worry about an extra bed being used.

However tpbikers nasty response wasn’t classy at all.

The only person who has been called out on this thread for being unclassy is you. You complain about me saying something unpleasant about you but 4 posts in you barged in accusing me of being a terrible guest who doesn’t respect other peoples property, when in reality you didn’t see the state I left the place, nor do you know me. Then when I call you out on being judgemental you start bleating about how ‘my name has been noted’. 😂

I’m assuming you were the one who subsequently got a post removed for a further childish comment? ( I didn’t read it before it was removed)

I’m assuming you were the one who subsequently got a post removed for a further childish comment?

It wasn't him, and, to be honest, the pair of you need to wind your necks in a little.

It seems inevitable that every thread on stw turns in to some sort of abuse at the moment..... The general feeling of negativity is increasing, as has been pointed out on other threads.

Don't like airbnb.

Last time I booked an apartment I found it on airbnb and used Google to find the owners. Called them directly and got the place at a cheaper rate than booking via airbnb.

I'm going off Airbnb tbh, I stayed in a place in the Cotswolds which was nice enough and very secluded and no real traffic, but there was another flat attached which had thin walls and people getting up before 6 every morning. Should I add to the review about the noise when it wasn't really the fault of the host but did affect my enjoyment.

The prices do seem to be creeping up especially for what are often essentially some glammed up sheds. For me, adding some complementary breakfast doesn't make up for an otherwise average product. I blame glamping.

It wasn’t him, and, to be honest, the pair of you need to wind your necks in a little

Ok well then I apologise then to Aberdeen, I assumed wrong. Sorry about that.

Intigued as to what was posted that was so bad as to be removed!

It seems inevitable that every thread on stw turns in to some sort of abuse at the moment…..The general feeling of negativity is increasing, as has been pointed out on other threads.

Is that an official review, and how long does Mark have to reply?

The prices do seem to be creeping up especially for what are often essentially some glammed up sheds.

Nobody forcing you to rent a cabin. Rent a house instead. There are glamping tents (not on Airbnb incidentally) a mile or so up the coast from us, cost way more than a cottage, always fully booked. People obviously love them.