Your listing will be removed Oct 26

[Howard103]

Dear Community

We've been hosting for nine years. We have a beach house on top of the water in Western Puerto Rico. This listing is six years old, has 425 reviews, and a cumulative rating of 4.65. I recently received a 1-star rating because the electricity was down. The electricity grid in Puerto Rico is notoriously unstable. I also received a 3-star review for a false a/c connector being loose after Hurricane Ernesto, which was resolved instantly after they checked out.  We are very passionate AirBNB hosts.  We have hundreds of 5-star reviews for every low-rated review. Our house next door is also a guest favorite, with a 4.9 rating and 113 reviews. Over every 1-star review, we have hundreds of 5-star reviews. And we just invested in a new generator for the house. I think it's unfair to focus on a few recent data points vs the total body of 6 years' worth of work. This listing for the last 365 days has 4.7 stars, meaning mostly  5-star reviews. I hope someone here or the powers at be at Airbnb can show us some compassion and empathy and help with the situation. 

[Howard103]

We just received this today on our appeal. "After a full review of your appeal, we’ve determined that the information available to us does not qualify your listing to have the violation(s) removed. Your appeal has been denied, and we will uphold the original outcome to remove your listing for not following our ground rules for Hosts."

[Howard103]

We have quite a few bookings from November to January. What am I supposed to tell them? Am I still expected to host them?

[James321]

Absolutely absurd. If you are unlucky enough to get a few bad guests in a span of a few months and those bad guests

leave you bad reviews, you will get your listing suspended or removed. It makes literally no sense at all. We too have been hosts for about as long as you. It’s really sad to see what Airbnb has become. 4.64 is not a horrible rating. 1 vengeful and retaliatory 1 star review even if untrue will knock you down several points. And of course Airbnb won’t help remove any retaliatory reviews even though they are supposed to. It’s a shame that we are losing good properties and good hosts to bad guests and Airbnb is okay with it. I wish you luck my friend, but based on how low Airbnb has gone downhill in the last 3-4 years, Im not holding my breath. 

[Howard103]

Thanks @James321,  I thought I was alone on a deserted island here.  I couldn't agree with you more.  Airbnb's new policies: guest = good and host = bad. It used never to be this way. A guest has zero reviews, while I have 1450.  I can read the fear in hosts' minds in this community as we have all made big investments in our STR businesses and their fixed costs. And one guest, one bad actor with no reviews, can file a bogus claim to shut down your business.   I'm already starting to sense guests trying to gamify the system by going to Airbnb support before talking to the host for a resolution. Without good, hard-working, loyal hosts, what does Airbnb have?     

[Howard103]

Congradulations your overall quality was up 2% last 363 days

[Howard103]

Over the last 365 days, 81.1% of reviews have been 5-star reviews, with a rating of 4.72. "Great Job; your overall quality rating is up 2% over the last 365 days."

[Howard103]

[Howard103]

[Howard103]

[Howard103]

Cella gave us a 3-star review that sealed our death because Hurricane Ernesto had shaken loose the AC connector. The AC was intermittent. She was staying for a weekend. A/C technicians don't work Sundays in Puerto Rico. I submitted a receipt to the appeal for the fix two days after her checkout. But nope, it is not sufficient for my appeal to Airbnb. 

[Howard103]

I submitted this as evidence in my appeal: Ciella's 3-star rating. The timestamp is precisely two days after her checkout. The problem was instantly addressed, but not to Airbnb's standards.

[Howard103]

[Howard103]

I got a 1-star review from Gabriella because the electric grid in Puerto Rico is a disgrace. The grid was in a low voltage mode, and the auto transfer switch for the generator didn't want to switch on. I offered her 100% for that night, which I also offered to 3 other guests staying with us, and everyone accepted except for Gabriella, who wanted a refund for the whole weekend. I said the electricity would be back shortly, which it was. But that wasn't sufficient for her. She was rude with her sense of entitlement and left. Everyone took one night's credit. The electricity was out for 3 hours, and she left me a star review.  Hosts are now liable for utility grid failures. 

[Howard103]

" This foreigner is one of the problems Puerto Rico has, and I will not be supporting another one.