Copyright dailyrecord
An Airbnb owner lost the five-star rating on her luxury farm lodge after a guest left a 'ridiculous' review moaning about 'noisy' sheep. Holly Thomson was 'gutted' when the five-star streak for The Barn at Summerhill Farm Stays in Castle Douglas, Scotland, came to an end thanks to the miffed visitor. The Barn, located in the middle of a lambing field containing 100 sheep, is advertised as 'offering a taste of farm life'. But the grumpy guest claimed earplugs 'didn't quite block' the bleating out and bemoaned the clean and modern interior as 'a bit lacking in character'. The Barn racked up multiple five-star reviews and was classed as 'one of the most loved homes on Airbnb', but the three-star review dragged down the overall rating to 4.89. The 36-year-old fears the 'ridiculous' review will put off potential customers and says when she complained to Airbnb they refused to remove it. The Airbnb owner shared footage to TikTok captioned 'when you get your first three-star review because the guest didn't like that the sheep made sheep noises' which has since gone viral with more than 744,600 views. The mum hopes future guests will realise the review was a 'one-off' and wants to spread awareness about how damaging negative reviews can be to businesses. Holly, who lives in Castle Douglas, Scotland, said: "It is ridiculous. We found it quite funny as well. What are you expecting? You can't stop animals being animals. "It's very much you come because you want to experience country life. We're very remote and that's a selling point and is why we wanted to do it. It's great for people who want to get away from it all. "What we've quickly learned is how important reviews are for our business. As we're new to it we read every single review we get. We're not going to get it right straight away. "I checked my emails and had a notification from Airbnb that I had my first three-star review. This girl had written a review saying that the sheep were too loud and she wore ear plugs and that didn't stop the noise at night. "It's in the name of our business so I'm not really sure what she was expecting. That's part of the experience that you see sheep. If you look where we are you would see we're in a rural part of the country. "They can lodge a complaint and I had a notification that a complaint was made due to 'unexpected noise'. I was gutted. "We've poured our heart and soul into these holiday lodges and it's been a big risk for us as youngish farmers diversifying. "She's brought my overall rating down which means we don't rank as high on Airbnb which means we potentially lose out on customers. "It's a very unfair complaint. You can't please everyone and maybe country life isn't for everyone. "People don't really understand how hard farming is I think and being able to see it firsthand it blows my mind that she would then criticise the poor sheep." The three-star review reads: "The location brought a real sense of peace and serenity - at least when the nearby sheep weren't being too noisy (even earplugs didn't quite block them out at night). "That said, the shower lacked water pressure, and the interior, while clean and modern, felt a bit lacking in character. "It would've been ideal to have a BBQ area for outdoor cooking, and there wasn't much to do in the nearby surroundings. "Overall it was a pleasant getaway - peaceful, well-equipped." The mum-of-two complained to Airbnb about the review, which dragged down her overall rating. Holly said: "I said it was an unfair review because we quite clearly advertised it as a farm stay. "The other elements she complained about I don't think were fair because we're very clear with what we offer. "My point to them was her review wasn't on her experience and it's just about her personal preference. "You don't book somewhere rural if you don't like being somewhere that's rural and you don't like animals. "They said they wouldn't take it down because they're saying it's still her experience. I didn't think they would remove it but it's completely out of my hands. "I was disappointed they responded like that. Fair enough if they had no hot water or we were terrible hosts but we try to go above and beyond for our guests. "It's always really nerve-wracking when you get a review because you have poured your heart and soul into it. "You obviously don't want it to fail. If we lose business because of reviews that's obviously really bad. "I don't think people realise how important reviews are and how it does affect that. Hopefully people will read that review and see that it's a one-off." Many TikTok users replied to the viral vid in support of Holly. One wrote: "It's not fair you get marked down for something that is clearly stated in the property listing." Another commented: "As an Airbnb owner this is extra super-duper hilarious." One wrote: "I would book for the sheep noises." Airbnb said they have a strict reviews policy to help ensure feedback is authentic, trustworthy and useful to the community. The platform said reviews are only removed in limited circumstances where users are found to have violated the reviews policy, however users can respond publicly to a review - including if they disagree with it. Following an internal review, Airbnb said the guest's review didn't violate their policies and was based on personal experience, which included both positive feedback and areas for improvement for the host.
