Review

[Paul11121]

We had a guest leave a 1* review about ever aspect of our listing he basically turned up late then treated the place like crap and left human waste for us to clean up and also left 2.5 hours late. We have complained to air Bnb. To take the review down but they said he hasn’t broken there policy’s wtaf.  We have 73 reviews now 72 are 5* and now this lie one also any ideas on what to do as air bnb basically fo not support you in my opinion. They are just in it for the cash and that’s it.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paul11121 Whilst I have some sympathy for your situation it is somewhat reduced by the fact that you didn't bother to review this guest. Why would you not protect your fellow hosts from this character? 

Your only option now is to add a reply to his review - Something along the lines of 'Please read my other 72 reviews and hopefully you will realise that this review is 100% false.'

[Paul11121]

I really wanted to review him but we were concerned with what he would do he knows where we live and had made threats to me via a phone call.

[Silvina120]

Hey Paul, I am very sorry, it’s so unfair and frustrating, but it’s part of every business…As other hosts said I DO recommend to answer to the hateful review, keeping a respectful tone but mentioning that as potential guests can read, you earned to be a Superhost and the other over 99% of reviews are 5 stars, also I recommend to write  what the guest did to your place and the costs of the extra cleaning and that Airbnb has been informed of their actions. Here in America, we would definitely file a police report with the threats, and you should already have his info and the security cameras in place should record any future actions of this bully/criminal against you or your private property. God Bless, keep it up. All your good reviews showed you’ve done a great job.

[Djunda0]

As a new host I really hope that host will leave honest reviews on guest.   It will be a shame to read that this guest has done this to someone else.  You have all good reviews from others and I would not worry about this one.  

[Shelley159]

Hi @Paul11121 

I have taken a look at your reviews and in my opinion, you don't need to worry at all. The single bad review is already buried under newer, perfect reviews. Even if someone scrolls down to read it, it's so obviously and blatantly different from every other review that it won't be taken seriously. I can understand that you are upset because you are used to perfect reviews, but as an independent person looking at your listing, I would not be bothered by it at all. Bad reviews are going to happen - once every 73 guests is not a bad rate. It doesn't look like there is something that you can learn from this one and that you can change, so I would just put it behind me if I were you.

[Zheng49]

Wondering if we're getting the entire angle of this story? Was there actually animal waste or is it just a complete lie?

If it is a big lie, I would dispute it for sure. Although yea, I guess it's his word vs yours but you do have a very good track record imo. 

[Marcin65]

Hello Pawel. If it is grossly unfair, do not give up. The support department is just to help you. This situation cannot happen! Describe everything again in the next message to the support department. I had a similar situation with the guests who wrote a retaliation review and I managed to convince Airbnb to remove it.

Best

[Mary1523]

Hi @Paul11121 

Lovely place you have. Sorry you had a bad experience.

1. Take a deep breath. As all the other great advice said, you will have a bad apple sporadically. We all learn from these bookings. And make great dinner stories one day! (I had one where guests thought it would be great to pee in my bird bath and it took me a week to figure out why/were was I smelling urine around the place!)

2. Did you have any interactions with him when he was leaving? Did he actually make phone call threats? Or were you afraid that he would? Please be specific. If he made threats, you should be going straight to the police, then Airbnb would have to handover all information to them about that person. IF you were just afraid that you though he might make threats, I can understand the feeling, but honestly, us hosts would appreciate it if you did accurately review your experience with this guest. Now if its too late as the 14 day period has expired, I'm not sure if you could at least post a public review saying ''Violated x number of house rules including checkout late, etc...'. Everyone will understand it sounds like a revenge review. Also, if a guest refuses to leave, you can call the local police and at least lodge a police report. Even if by the time they come, your guest has gone, at least you should have the police details for Airbnb to strengthen your case.

3. What was the guest rating before he booked? Was there any warning signs? You can report a user you know. 

4. You said he left the place awful. What is your definition of 'crap'? My cleaner thinks anything left that isn't quite the way she left it, is "crap" when a few things are left out and a bit untidy and floor a bit dirty. If it was that bad, I presume you took photos and you sent them to airbnb? 

5. Regardless, you don't deserve a 1 star review. I would argue with airbnb further.  Ask the guest for photos of the main issue that they publicly stated (the photo will have meta data indicating when they took it) and say you will be lodging a formal complaint for them to be removed from airbnb. Assuming you get no reply (if it was true, they would have photos), then argue with airbnb that the guest provided no evidence so why the 1 star rating? It then becomes a question of how long do you want to fight the good fight? It looks like your super host rating won't be affected (unless it is in the next review period). If you get that scenario, I fought for near 4 months to get a bad review removed because it tipped me over into losing super host (first time in 7 years). Eventually Airbnb saw the light, removed my bad review (although in my case guest said, had a wonderful time and gave me 1 stars!) and my super host status was restored.

5. House rules. I think you need a few more just in case for future scenarios. You need to state the expectations you have of guests when it comes to cleanliness. Do you want them to vaccuum/clean, or just leave it tidy, but you will clean? Do you want them to strip beds? Empty dishwasher, put things away? Wipe down kitchen counter tops? It's a fine line, and sometimes I have to let things go, like I had a guest who treated the place ok, but the floor was full of walked in mud/leaves (it was quite filthy, it clearly didnt bother the guest). My house rules didn't say, "leave the floor clean/please vacuum and mop", so no house rule broken, so I had to review the guest with 5 star review. It's something I let go. I do have a house rule saying "leave in a generally tidy condition", "wipe down kitchen" but guest interpretation can vary so I have to be flexible to expectations.

Hope this helps, sounds like you've had great experiences so far and lots of bookings! 

Kind regs

Mary

[Marcin65]

Thanks to @Mary1523  for such an exhaustive opinion. Is very helpful!