All products, services, or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used and/or recommend. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Yes, sometimes guests give less than a 5 star review. If you haven’t had one yet, brace yourself – because it WILL happen. Once you get past the initial disappointment, compose yourself and craft an appropriate (non-emotional) response. In this post, we’ll talk about the “dos and don’ts” for how to respond to a bad review.
If you’re listed on an OTA (Online Travel Agency – like VRBO/AirBnb/TripAdvisor), you’ve probably noticed that more and more guests are getting “wise” to the idea of holding you hostage with a bad review. The guest may threaten a bad review unless you issue them an unfounded refund. Of course, the OTA owners feel compelled to oblige the “blackmail” in order to stay in good graces with the OTA.
The fear of losing your OTA listing rank overrides the common sense of standing your ground with the rules included in your rental agreement. A guest may leave a big mess, break occupancy limits, smoke inside, etc. and then demand a refund because they say they found a hair in the bathtub. Then they threaten a bad review if you don’t agree to refund their entire stay. I’m really not joking.
The bad part is, many times owners will agree to a full or partial refund, but the guest leaves a bad review anyway.
You may need to involve your OTA. My post on How To Contact VRBO gives you more options than just a phone call.
Your rental agreement is useless if you aren’t holding your guests accountable. Yep, you might as well unattach it from your listing and make it a free-for-all, because that’s what it is when you cave to these unfounded claims for refunds.
Your vacation rental is a business, so treat it as one! Ok, I’ll get off my soapbox.
I’m sure you’ve looked through other vacation rental home reviews, or reviews on Amazon, wherever. You can pick out the ones that are ridiculous, right? So when basically every other review is 5 stars, do you let that “crazy” 1 star review keep you from booking or buying the product? Probably not.
You may not agree with this – some people are anal about getting ALL 5 star reviews. But I value a 4 star review for it’s honesty and usually some constructive criticism.
Yes, I wish they would have contacted me about the small detail that caused 4 stars. However, it makes your listing real. It builds trust.
Hear me out. If someone has 100 5 star reviews and they all say something similar to “great property”, “excellent views”, “great location”, etc., it seems crafted – almost fake – maybe fake. But if there is some context to the reviews and a 4 star thrown in there with some easily fixable issue, bring it!
I’ll share a 3 star review we received a few years ago and I’ll also share my response.
What I wanted to say was, “clearly you AREN’T very observant since you missed the part about the City pool in my listing and since you couldn’t see the sidewalk along the road to the Parkway”. But I refrained and laughed it off.
This is one of those reviews where I think guests could read through the 3 stars and not be deterred from booking. Yes? And no, she didn’t ask for a refund. Apparently she just likes to point out the flaws. So be it.
First, how you respond to a bad review says a lot about your credibility as a vacation rental host. It’s easy to let your emotions take over and respond in the heat of the moment. Don’t do it.
The worst thing you can do its emotionally respond to a bad review. It will make you look worse than the reviewer!
Look at your less than stellar review with open eyes. There may be something in that review that is very truthful, even if the truth hurts.
As an example, if a couple people say your bed is uncomfortable, it may be time for a mattress replacement. Or maybe you’re getting bad cleaning reviews. You may need to have a chat with your cleaners. Own it and fix it.
Second, don’t badmouth the reviewer or be a “tell-all” for what a terrible guest they were.
Remember, you are a business owner. Be professional with your response.
Your response should be a response to future guests who are reading the review, not a response to the reviewer.
Make your response as brief as possible. The response to the issues in the guest’s less than 5 star review should be turned into an informative/educational opportunity for future guests. Craft your response as if you are speaking to the next guest, not the one who left the review.
Again, don’t make this an emotional response. Stick to the facts relating to the items mentioned in the review. Obviously, your response should not be retaliatory.
It’s fine to mention any remedies or attempts to remedy the issues during the reviewer’s stay. This reinforces your commitment to customer service for future guests who are reading the review.
Be informative and educational without being salesy. There is no need to go on and on with how great your property is. In other words, don’t make your response a sales ad, or it will seem like you’re unconcerned.
Ultimately, we all hope to have the perfect vacation rental. In reality, none of us do.
When it comes down to it, there is just no way to please everyone. Someone, sometime, will feel obligated “to save the world from your awful vacation rental” and they will plaster a big ole 1 star on your listing.
Hopefully you have learned a few tips for how to respond to a bad review when it happens to you. You can PIN this post in the social media links below to refer to it later.
There are some perpetually unhappy folks out there. So when the bad review rolls in, deal with it, then shrug it off. Life goes on and so will the bookings.
In the meantime, let’s just be happy there isn’t a ZERO star review! LOL!
Most importantly, send a personalized Thank You for all the great reviews you receive. This guest took the time to write you a steller review, so the least you could do is to send them a Thank You!
My post, Guest Hospitality – Thank You Cards, has some ideas for other opportunities to say thank you to your guests.
Message me or comment below about your funny review. We all need a good laugh!
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All products, services or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
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6 Comments
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