• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

It's really hard to leave a negative review online (Airbnb)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Roi

Member
So I just came back from traveling, I had a great trip but I visited a bad Airbnb place. It just wasn't like it was described, missing items that should be there, a garbage can wasn't cleaned, no kitchen when there should be one. And the building was extremely old and in a bad state.

And I still gave this place 3 out of 5 stars. Leaving a review mentioning all the good things about the apartment first and then one or two small negative things. Why? I don't know, it just really hard to be negative online with your real name attached. I don't want people searching my name and finding negative messages, and what if the owner will leave a negative review about me? If I see a 1 star review somewhere I always assume that person must be extremely bitter and that he/she probably is a annoying person.

I always thought reviews are really helpful with finding a good restaurant/apartment/service, but if I can't leave a honest review myself how can I trust that other people will?
 
I always tend to give 5 stars too, atleast with Uber. Even when my driver got hit in the back of the car, I just had to give a 5 despite being late to my destination.
 

Bsigg12

Member
I've been ok with 1-2 star AirBNB reviews when the place isn't as described. Inform those coming in after you.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
Seems pretty stupid to me OP that you don't actually use the review system to warn future guests. What happens if it was a cult murder house? "5 stars, was an amazing experience despite stained bloody sheets."
 

Dabanton

Member
You can still cover the negative points as then the owner may make an effort for the next people if those points have been brought up.
 

Jonnax

Member
Nah mate. I went to Oslo and got charged an extra 150 NOK for 2 Pizzas because the guy at the counter did some fuckery with a calculator when I wanted to pay part by cash and the rest by card. And I just went along with it.

1 Star and explaining the shit they pulled and warning people to watch out for it.
 

jwk94

Member
Seems pretty stupid to me OP that you don't actually use the review system to warn future guests. What happens if it was a cult murder house? "5 stars, was an amazing experience despite stained bloody sheets."

Some people call that culture.
 

dpunk3

Member
It is pretty easily, actually.

Give it 1 star. Or even 2. Maybe 3.

Then hit OK.

Seems like you're being a bit spineless. Being honest shouldn't make you fear repercussion.
 

Tangeroo

Member
So I just came back from traveling, I had a great trip but I visited a bad Airbnb place. It just wasn't like it was described, missing items that should be there, a garbage can wasn't cleaned, no kitchen when there should be one. And the building was extremely old and in a bad state.

And I still gave this place 3 out of 5 stars. Leaving a review mentioning all the good things about the apartment first and then one or two small negative things. Why? I don't know, it just really hard to be negative online with your real name attached. I don't want people searching my name and finding negative messages, and what if the owner will leave a negative review about me? If I see a 1 star review somewhere I always assume that person must be extremely bitter and that he/she probably is a annoying person.

I always thought reviews are really helpful with finding a good restaurant/apartment/service, but if I can't leave a honest review myself how can I trust that other people will?

I get what you're saying but it's not something I've ever had an issue with. I think if you are going to make an effort of leaving a reviews, it's best to leave a review for a large range of products/services, regardless of whether the experience was good or not. Many people treat reviews like YouTube thumbs up/down and only put in the time & effort when they feel one extreme or another.

By habitually leaving reviews, you are also leaving a history of your tastes which shows whether or not your reviews are trustworthy or not. If the place legitimately deserved a 1 star review, you should give it one. You are only doing a disservice to others by sugarcoating your review.
 
So I just came back from traveling, I had a great trip but I visited a bad Airbnb place. It just wasn't like it was described, missing items that should be there, a garbage can wasn't cleaned, no kitchen when there should be one. And the building was extremely old and in a bad state.

And I still gave this place 3 out of 5 stars. Leaving a review mentioning all the good things about the apartment first and then one or two small negative things. Why? I don't know, it just really hard to be negative online with your real name attached. I don't want people searching my name and finding negative messages, and what if the owner will leave a negative review about me? If I see a 1 star review somewhere I always assume that person must be extremely bitter and that he/she probably is a annoying person.

I always thought reviews are really helpful with finding a good restaurant/apartment/service, but if I can't leave a honest review myself how can I trust that other people will?

They can't see your review before they post theirs.. at least this was what happened when I stayed at an airbnb (couldn't see the review of us as tenants before leaving a review)

Seems like you were pretty fair.

The problem with most online reviews is that generally people only leave them if they have extremely bad service or are assholes (and very rarely when they have extremely good service) See: every yelp review of anything. Airbnb seems a bit better and sites that encourage everyone to review by default seem to have better results.
 

dc3k

Member
I always leave shit reviews for shit taxi drivers (Lyft/Uber) so I don't get matched with them again. There are no repercussions that I'm aware of.

I don't want people searching my name and finding negative messages, and what if the owner will leave a negative review about me?
The owner can't see your review until he reviews you himself
 

Lkr

Member
So I just came back from traveling, I had a great trip but I visited a bad Airbnb place. It just wasn't like it was described, missing items that should be there, a garbage can wasn't cleaned, no kitchen when there should be one. And the building was extremely old and in a bad state.

And I still gave this place 3 out of 5 stars. Leaving a review mentioning all the good things about the apartment first and then one or two small negative things. Why? I don't know, it just really hard to be negative online with your real name attached. I don't want people searching my name and finding negative messages, and what if the owner will leave a negative review about me? If I see a 1 star review somewhere I always assume that person must be extremely bitter and that he/she probably is a annoying person.

I always thought reviews are really helpful with finding a good restaurant/apartment/service, but if I can't leave a honest review myself how can I trust that other people will?

what??? they probably had a subpar experience and are leaving an honest review. you're right, someone that leaves a 1 star review probably had a poor experience, hence why they left that review. you're fucking over someone that could stay at that place in the future by giving a better score than it deserves
 
The host does not see your review until after they leave thier own review or the review period is over. So there is no risk of them seeing your review first before they leave their own.

Airbnb should go with the Netflix route of thumbs up and thumbs down system, though.
 

red731

Member
, but if I can't leave a honest review myself how can I trust that other people will?

BptVE1JIEAAA3dT.jpg

I always leave reviews based on how I liked stuff, not like....you and people who aren't honest because of....paranoid repercussions?
 
I remember how long it took for me to leave a bad review, after the countless times of receiving bad service or a bad uber ride.

Finally I broke that mold and I left 1 star

now I stay snitchin


do something in front of me I dare you. I'll give your facebook 1 star.
 
I came to this OP expecting to experience a text that would speak to my intellect in curious yet comedic ways that revealed a deeper truth about the apparent normalcy of our quotidian lives. In truth that was not what i was left with at the end of the day.

Here are the good things. The OP is written in english, which is a language i know and understand. It has a structure that elicits interest and propels you to accompany the writer as he expresses his inner life to us through his text. The OP also has a funny tag, which serves as a good accompaniment to the more shy, non combative and judgmental personality that is evidenced in his story.

That said it is very short in words and development, which leaves me wondering as to the specifics of his character's motivations. There is a conflict at hand, but no stronger context to understand the life experiences that have led him to this situation. And, worse still, this man seems to have trouble complaining about things in the internet.

In summation my review of this OP is:
★★★★☆
 
I thought it would be the other way around for people. I only think about leaving a review most of the time when the experience is bad. I have to put in a conscious effort to make sure I review some positive experiences too.
 
If it's a situation where the owner was really nice but there was problem with the room I usually PM them the issue so they can resolve it, at minimum.

I get what the OP means about not wanting to leave bad reviews. I have a hard time doing it unless the owner was rude.
 

HowZatOZ

Banned
I should add that I understand where you are coming from OP, there are social pressures on leaving feedback in itself, negative or positive. People have trouble with it because there's a stigma that doing so will hurt the person receiving the feedback. eBay is a big example, yet I'll use negative reviews as a way to get future customer attention that this seller is shit and be wary.

But in saying that, fuck em. If no one reported shit service we'd be filled with crap like United Airlines or that racist BnB person recently.
 
It is probably a hell of a lot easier for something like lodging than, say, an Uber ride to fine-tune a review between 1-5 stars based on how your stay was. Just be honest so that future renters don't get put into the same situation that you didn't like.

With ridesharing it boils down to: did I get there without dying? 5 stars. I think the only time I've given less than that is when the driver was obviously sick and coughing the entire ride.
 
If it's a situation where the owner was really nice but there was problem with the room I usually PM them the issue so they can resolve it, at minimum.

I get what the OP means about not wanting to leave bad reviews. I have a hard time doing it unless the owner was rude.

Yeah, this exactly. I'm an Airbnb host and I try my best but sometimes, things don't always go according to plan. For instance, my couch's leg broke as I was cleaning the apartment and get it ready for the next guest. I tried to fix it but my guests are coming in a couple hours. I settled for cinder blocks at that particular moment and explained to the guests about the situation, etc.
 

Shanlei91

Sonic handles my blue balls
I came to this OP expecting to experience a text that would speak to my intellect in curious yet comedic ways that revealed a deeper truth about the apparent normalcy of our quotidian lives. In truth that was not what i was left with at the end of the day.

Here are the good things. The OP is written in english, which is a language i know and understand. It has a structure that elicits interest and propels you to accompany the writer as he expresses his inner life to us through his text. The OP also has a funny tag, which serves as a good accompaniment to the more shy, non combative and judgmental personality that is evidenced in his story.

That said it is very short in words and development, which leaves me wondering as to the specifics of his character's motivations. There is a conflict at hand, but no stronger context to understand the life experiences that have led him to this situation. And, worse still, this man seems to have trouble complaining about things in the internet.

In summation my review of this OP is:
★★★★☆

3/5 post - would read again
 

mike6467

Member
Hotel/AirBnB/Accomodations? I have no problem nuking those. You're reviewing the people directly responsible for your experience.

On a tangent though, the review process for Uber, and a lot of the service industry seems flawed based on the consequences they carry. I'm reminded of a survey I just got from BMW following up on my service appointment last week. I've had several friends who worked at various dealerships tell me that anything less then 5 stars across the board (too many times) and they get screwed on their review/pay at the end of the year.

So...if I have anything to complain about (they were 10 minutes late bringing my car out this time), I end up conflicted. 4/5 stars seems like a pretty reasonable review given my experience. Knowing how their system works though, I ended up leaving 5/5. Shit happens and ultimately my service adviser likely wasn't responsible for the 10 minute delay. I don't know how you fix it, but as it stands it's worse then the videogame review scale where anything less then seven is horrible.
 

Aaron

Member
If it's a situation where the owner was really nice but there was problem with the room I usually PM them the issue so they can resolve it, at minimum.

I get what the OP means about not wanting to leave bad reviews. I have a hard time doing it unless the owner was rude.
Why? I don't understand the mentality. All you're doing is helping an asshole screw over innocent people. You should be more determined to leave a bad review after a bad experience.
 

Gin-Shiio

Member
As a previous poster said, you are leaving a dishonest review for future renters to be as disappointed as you. Doing that makes you an accomplice from my point of view.
If a place is not as advertised in a bad way, have that reflect in your review. And in extreme cases, contact AirBnB so they can find you a replacement.

The other side of the coin is places with honest descriptions that you still found lacking. Be honest, so that the owners of the place have a chance to better the place for future renters and themself.
 
As long as you're not a petty dick with your comments, I don't see any problem with leaving an honest, negative review with your real name.
 

Morrigan Stark

Arrogant Smirk
The owner can't see your review until he reviews you himself
They can't see your review before they post theirs.. at least this was what happened when I stayed at an airbnb (couldn't see the review of us as tenants before leaving a review)
Couldn't he just log out and read the reviews as a normal user? Or does the tenant review simply not show up at all until the renter also leaves a review to that tenant? Only used AirBnB once two years ago, I forgot how it works.
 

Roi

Member
The owner didn't see my review before he reviewed me, Airbnb mentions this so you know that. The owner left a great review mentioning how great it was meeting us, we never saw him because he was 'out of town' (this has happened multiple times now on Airbnb).

I guess my mistake is that I believe in the good in people, I think that perhaps it's a one time mistake or something unforeseen happened and the owner did his best. The truth is a lot of people are just rude and/or money hungry.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom