Our listing is being removed! Can we speak to anyone at AirBNB?

[Hal5449]

Hi,

Has anyone ever dealt with anyone higher than customer services at AirBnB? How do you get hold of them?

We are being chucked off the platform for some rather irritating reviews. Which includes a 'loud noise' being in a 'bland neighbourhood' (Central Leith voted consistently one of the best places to live in the world. ) a lock that 100% works perfectly and a slow filling toilet. . .

In the appeal box I was given to appeal I said I wanted to speak to someone and now been messaged saying they are going to up hold it and remove the listing!

We have 4.5 * with 100+ reviews. Usually have 75%+ occupancy.

Our last 6 reviews are a mix of 4 and 5 *'s it seems absurd that a few reviews that reflect the guests more than the accommodation and have such dire consequences and the normal customer services are powerless and say it's up to a different team who you cannot interact with...

TIA

[Pete28]

The removal algorithm is based on a rolling 3 month evaluation - get three 3* or lower reviews and you get suspended for a week, then a month, then permanent with each additional. Bookings and avg score have sadly no impact. You can appeal by writing out how you will fix the issues. Personally given how hard it can be to control reviews, I switched to long term rental after being blocked for 6 weeks by Airbnb.

[Hal5449]

That is crazy! 

We've fixed the issues we could. Can't help someone not liking an area that is generally seen as cool. 

Where did you get the information? Not sure how they cancel and re book people too? It's impossible in Edinburgh during the fringe. 

Madness and ironic you can't communicate with the powers at Airbnb. Our appeal process is closed. 

[Pete28]

Yes, they don’t document this process anywhere, but if you do a search on here you will find others have also been shut down after getting several bad reviews within a few months. 

[Hal5449]

Are there any mod's or Airbnb staff on this? Is there a way to communicate with them? Our guests are all getting in touch now saying they are devastated they have had their accommodation cancelled. 

This goes against all the things they are trying to enforce. 

This should really be transparent and documented!

[Zheng49]

The problem is that you chalk these reviews as being irritating when every single negative review should actually be taken seriously, and actions taken if appropriate.

The mindset is very different when you operate long term vs short term like Airbnb. A higher level of service is expected if you're running Airbnb, and 4.5/5.0 is basically bottom 10 percentile for Airbnb listings. 

It may actually be a good idea to convert this listing into long term like Pete28 did if you don't want to take the time to address the issues raised by guests or if it's not conceivable (for various reasons). Long term guests are more tolerant and not fussy about the small things, since they're saving on rent compared to short term rental (and also don't have a platform to complain on).

Take 'Slow Filling Toilet' for one, I got this complaint recently, and took it very seriously. Spent time on the same day (of receiving the message) to work on it, and then kept following up with the guest (to check satisfaction), followed by a partial refund (in this case, we timed it to after checkout). 

[Helen3]

I am sorry to hear this but Airbnb sees ratings of 4.6 or below as low.  @Hal5449 

If you have a rating of 4.5 over 100 reviews it's likely you had more than 6 recent reviews that were low.

did Airbnb not contact you asking you to address issues relating to your low ratings before suspending your profile completely ? 

[Hal5449]

Sorry I was down playing our reviews. We have 4.7 over 180 ish reviews. It's more the lack of communication opportunities with 'them'. How to explain that we're going to replace the double glazing bathroom and kitchen in Autumn rather than peak summer didn't seem to go down well. 

Also it seems their communication with our guests they have now cancelled bookings for is shocking . 

They have cancelled bookings for people during the fringe festival. Which will be impossible for people to rebook. We've had messages from our lost bookings today in disbelief and frustration. It's ironic really in a very sad way. 

We'd just like to speak or be able to message someone. 

[Zheng49]

Is it being removed or just suspended?

I was under the impression it worked like what @Pete28  said as well, with 1 week suspension first, followed by a longer suspension after that, then permanent?

Which stage are you at? Seems to me like if you're at the suspension stage, then you could also just wait it out and/or convert to long term for awhile. You can always switch back to short term after all the issues are ironed out. 

[Pete28]

The problem is that you get suspended, but then if more 3* or less reviews show up from previous guests lead to it escalating further from one week, to a month, to permanent without hosting anyone. It’s all poorly thought out by Airbnb unless their purpose is to eliminate hosts….