No matter how much a top-notch your Airbnb rental is or how many amenities you provide, you would never avoid one trouble-making guest who will keep nit-picking on everything and would eventually give you an Airbnb negative review. This Airbnb negative review can make you agitated and frustrated. You have all the reasons to feel so because these negative reviews can harm your credibility and reputation in the market and the eyes of potential guests.
If any host gets too many Airbnb negative reviews, they’ll probably lose their bookings and, eventually, their name in the market. There is no fool proof method of avoiding Airbnb negative reviews as even super-hosts have to deal with it from time to time.
If you have an Airbnb negative review, don’t freak out just yet as it may not provide as much of harm you think. In fact, in many cases, you can use these negative reviews to your advantage. The key is to think strategically and deal with them
1. How Can You Deal With Airbnb's Negative Reviews?
Airbnb negative reviews can be frustrating but remember to your stance professional when dealing with it regardless of what the Airbnb negative review says. You can use the following tactics to turn the negative review in your favor.
2. Ask your guest to change your rating.
While this is one the most straightforward way of changing an Airbnb review, if your guest’s stay didn’t go as planned or on a good note, this direct approach wouldn’t work.
The key is to use words wisely. If you see any hope of getting your ratings changed, don’t wait much; word your request as nicely as your can. Explain to your guest how crucial Airbnb reviews are for your rental business and how a single Airbnb negative review can impact your bookings. While the content on the negative review might not change, high ratings help you stay in good standing
3. Request removal of Airbnb negative review
If the negative review goes against the Airbnb content policy, then you can always contact Airbnb to remove that.
However, make sure you have adequate proof to claim it against the Airbnb content policy, so you must do your homework before contacting Airbnb. Some common causes of removal of content or Airbnb negative reviews from the review section include incentivized reviews, extortion, spam, and reviews that differ from the author’s personal experience.
Also, make sure you properly abide by Airbnb TOS so that you won’t be questioned about your behavior and the guest review.
4. Delay giving a guest review
Guests usually have 14 days to leave their reviews about their stay. If you think that your guests are not satisfied with their stay at your rental and might leave an Airbnb negative review, don’t give your review immediately after they check out.
This will probably help your guests to cool down and give a less fierce review. Also, when you give your review, Airbnb usually prompts the guests to leave them, so by not sharing your review Airbnb won’t budge guests to leave theirs.
5. Leave a response to every review.
Do you want to portray yourself as a gracious and involved host? Simply respond to every review, good or bad, that you receive on the Airbnb platform. Make sure to keep your response professional and polite, even if it’s a bad review. Your gracious and professional replies give an impression to your potential guests that you are an experienced host to deal with.
It also gives an idea to your guests that you are open to any criticism and are keen to resolve complaints by your guests. Again, make sure to respond to both Airbnb negative reviews and good reviews if you want this tactic to be effective
How Can You Use Airbnb Negative Reviews To Your Advantage?
Now that we have discussed how you can professionally deal with a negative review let’s talk about another strategy: turning a bad review in your favor. You will be surprised to know that it is possible.
1. Focus on positive aspects of guest's stay
Your guests would probably rant about every little and ignorable detail or shortcomings of your rental place in their negative reviews, but you will have to counter their words with a calm tone.
Firstly, acknowledge your mistakes carefully and then try to turn around things by mentioning as many good points or moments as possible from your experience with that guest.
2. Leave long responses
Positivity kills negativity; use that tactic to turn that Airbnb negative review in your favor. Write long responses focusing only on positive aspects of the guest’s stay, which will efficiently hide the negative aspects of the guest review. The more you type about the negative incident, the more your reply will give an impression that you’re willing to make every effort to rectify your shortcomings and that the guest can be more accommodating.
Finally, the more details your review will contain, the more effective it will be compared to the guest’s review
3. Share that you plan to do better
While some guests are just overly picky, others leave negative reviews so that the hosts could do better than that. Show your potential guests that you are more than serious about resolving any issue that guests point out. Also, mention that the stated issue has been resolved.
Don’t forget to mention other perks or amenities that you’ve added other than the complained issue. This gives an impression to your guests that every feedback is important to you.
Conclusion-Airbnb Negative Review
Airbnb negative reviews do not necessarily damage your reputation if you are willing to rectify or acknowledge your shortcomings. Also, if you plan to recover from them, they are an excellent opportunity to show guests how serious you are when it comes to providing top-notch services.
You can improve your Airbnb ratings by offering discounts and short stays so that you’re listing will attract more potential guests in a short period than your average booking rate.
Also read my Article – Airbnb rental arbitrage – How to make a killing without owning a property?
