Can a bad review from a host come back to bite you?

Treat any ride-share or property rental as if it's your own car or home and you shouldn't run afoul of your driver or host.

Guest reviews go both ways in a sharing economy, and that’s especially true in travel. If you hail an Uber, your driver can rate you. If you stay in an Airbnb, your host can review you. 

But what you might not know is that more guests are trying to game the system to ensure they’re five-star customers. The reasons are complex, ranging from concern for their image to the hope that it will give them an edge when they’re booking through a sharing company. 

A host is less likely to say no to a highly rated customer in some circumstances. But a negative rating can affect your ability to hire a car or rent a home, as I reported back in 2018.

Getting positive reviews for your ride or stay isn’t easy. You can ask for a rating or even suggest you’ll leave a positive review for them if they do likewise. It may not even work, but that isn’t stopping people from trying.

What to do about your negative ride-share reviews

Earlier this year, Uber announced it would allow passengers to see their online grades. “We’re showing you the good (and the bad) ratings you received,” Uber wrote in a blog post.

Finding your rating is anything but easy. You have to access the Privacy Center on your Uber app and then find the “would you like to see a summary of how you use Uber” tile. Under “browse your data,” you can see it by clicking “View my ratings.”