Online reviews can make or break a business. One bad review can be the end of your short-stay rental income.
On the Telegraph UK, one couple had an Airbnb rental in Italy. They renovated it and paid for its management and upkeep, including cleaning after each stay.
Most reviews were very positive, so bookings kept coming. Then one bad review ended it, and now no one wants to stay. The 'renter' is Chinese, the property is in Italy, and the owner is in the UK. The owner wanted to know how easy it was to use defamation to get the review removed.
Not good, says the UK lawyer, due to the complexity around the geolocation of all of the above.
The only action is to appeal to the site owner to get the review removed. This in itself is not an easy task, and if the site owner agrees, it could still take months to happen.
I was thinking one option is to get your friends to stay and leave positive reviews, which would eventually push the negative review down.
Great in theory only - the websites can sort the reviews as they see fit. Additionally, guests checking out the reviews can sort by highest, lowest, or most recent.
It's mindblowing how much power a 'guest' has and how vulnerable hosts are to their guests' reviews.
If you're thinking about getting a rental for short-term income, remember you could lose it with just one bad review. Have another strategy for the rental - i.e., ensure it can also be rented for long-term stays too.
regards,
Donna
On the Telegraph UK, one couple had an Airbnb rental in Italy. They renovated it and paid for its management and upkeep, including cleaning after each stay.
Most reviews were very positive, so bookings kept coming. Then one bad review ended it, and now no one wants to stay. The 'renter' is Chinese, the property is in Italy, and the owner is in the UK. The owner wanted to know how easy it was to use defamation to get the review removed.
Not good, says the UK lawyer, due to the complexity around the geolocation of all of the above.
The only action is to appeal to the site owner to get the review removed. This in itself is not an easy task, and if the site owner agrees, it could still take months to happen.
I was thinking one option is to get your friends to stay and leave positive reviews, which would eventually push the negative review down.
Great in theory only - the websites can sort the reviews as they see fit. Additionally, guests checking out the reviews can sort by highest, lowest, or most recent.
It's mindblowing how much power a 'guest' has and how vulnerable hosts are to their guests' reviews.
If you're thinking about getting a rental for short-term income, remember you could lose it with just one bad review. Have another strategy for the rental - i.e., ensure it can also be rented for long-term stays too.
regards,
Donna