1 star review because ask for damage $$

[Patricia1795]

I have a 1 star review and their verbiage says "renters beware" 

The only reason i received the 1 star was because during their stay a mirror was broken and i had to request the $100 from them. They declined and wrote a lying review. All messages show it was a lie. What can i get airbnb to remove it? 

[John5097]

@Patricia1795  In retrospect it obviously wasn't worth it, but still unfair to the host as you followed the claim protocol and didn't deserve one star review.  

You could keep trying another CS rep to try and have it removed, as it really isn't a good business model to tank a listing over a minor claim. 

[Anonymous]

@John5097   The listing in question has over a dozen very positive reviews, its calendar is completely full for this month and much of September, and the host has two other successful listings with mostly positive reviews (though there is a notable trend of lashing out at the guests and accusing them of lying when she receives critical remarks). Point is, it doesn't seem accurate to say that the listing has been "tanked," as it seems to be chugging along just fine. Prospective renters have a valid interest in knowing how the host handles damage issues, as well as the kind of attitude she shows when there's a disagreement. This relevant information would be lost if the guest was censored, and one could reasonably question whether the remaining reviews were truly representative.

I've argued many times that Airbnb could resolve much of the drama over reviews by suspending ratings but allowing text reviews when there's a dispute or damage claim involved with a stay. But even so - I can't tell whether you have any experience as an Airbnb guest (your reviews are only for hosting) but I can imagine that if you got a shocking bill after your stay for damage that you didn't feel was your fault, you'd probably be pretty miffed if you were blocked from commenting on that and warning other renters. And if you were forced to pay it, I doubt you'd consider renting on the platform again. So a business model that shields hosts from the reputational consequences of making questionable claims doesn't seem like a good one to me.

[Patricia1795]

If it were a questionable claim then why did airbnb make payment? 

I have been a guest in airbnb but only 1 member in a party gets the credit. 

While i agree with some of what you said. There still is a problem with "renters beware" verbiage which does not go with airbnb standards. 

His review star ratings doesn't match a 1 star and frankly it was a total vent on the resolution process not a review on his stay.

[Anonymous]

@Patricia1795   We can go around and around in circles on this, but at the end of the day, it's pretty normal that even a perfect stay will be ruined if the guest is unhappy with the way that it ends. I can see how you took offense to the statement "renters beware," but this is not the kind of extreme statement that would justify the extraordinary step of censorship - he provided enough relevant context that your prospective renters can decide for themselves whether it's a warning worth heeding.  

As far as the star ratings go, Airbnb doesn't litigate the question of whether they were deserved; the guest found the conclusion of his stay so unsatisfactory that in hindsight it reduced the entire stay to a 1-star experience. If you'd asked for advice before lodging your claim, most veteran hosts would have easily predicted that this would be the result. Since you asked earlier what I would have done, personally I don't think a mere $100 breakage that was almost certainly accidental would have been worth the stress and ill will that a claim would entail - I'd let it go, be thankful that nobody was harmed, and re-furnish the room with less costly and more durable goods.

But what's done is done, so what can you do? Ask the kids in your life what Elsa would say. 

[John5097]

@Patricia1795 

I just got around to reading your review of the guest and want to thank you for leaving an accurate account of what happened in the review. 

BTW I just had another host contact me in the message center asking for advice on leaving a review for a guest she claimed broke 6 of 9 house rules, ruined 12 towels that would need to be replaced, as well as other linens, for total of $300 in damages. I informed her that towels and linens usually aren't covered in the host guarantee, and that any claim like this can trigger a retaliatory review, but encouraged her to leave an honest review, as this isn't just  a single violation, according to her, and not just an accident. The guest had also left a review so in this situation the host could also leave an honest review and submit a claim before another guest checks in, and that reviews can't be edited after both host and guest submit a review. I also encouraged her to adjust rules to be more specific. 

As it turns out the guest left a positive review, host didn't leave any review, and host didn't bother to say thank you for the time it took me to reply to her message. 

In this situation I would just submit the review you did, and click the wouldn't host again. These are just opinions of other host so have no influence on specific situations or decisions of customer support.   

[John5097]

@Anonymous 

This just happened so probably won't impact existing reservations but as I said, a one star review is defiantly not worth it in retrospect. 

The reason I think its not an ideal business model is that the Host Guarantee creates too much risk for the host making any claim. 

"you'd probably be pretty miffed if you were blocked from commenting on that and warning other renters. And if you were forced to pay it"

The guest can't be forced to pay for any damages. I never said anything about blocking the guest reviews. I just didn't think a one star review was justified for this situation so best to avoid. 

My suggestion was to keep trying CS as one of them might also think "Guest Beware" part of it violates the existing review process. 

  

[John5097]

It also does't really matter what other host think of your listing or your opinions here. You have to read between the lines and each situation is different. 

If you want to be really popular on the forums doesn't necessarely translate into hosing a successful Airbnb. 

I thought there was good info here just too harsh, and host will keep being disillusioned by the Host Guarantee. 

In the end where will all these host go? Probably where the an accident that's questionable doesn't tank their ratings and still covered by insurance. Hence my opinion of poor business model. 

[Anonymous]

@John5097   A few months back, one host had the interesting insight that perhaps the so-called "Host Guarantee" is actually an obstacle to individual hosts' success.  It's a very clever marketing tool in that it lures new hosts into the fold with the idea that renting their homes to strangers is a low-risk proposition, so it's useful to Airbnb in building up inventory. 

But it obscures the fact that Airbnb offers no real security, no deposit, and no real "guarantee" that hosts can recoup their losses when a stay goes horribly wrong. Not to say that it's the case here (a broken mirror does not a horror guest make) but we see every day new posts from aggrieved hosts who are in disbelief that Airbnb didn't have a working safety net when their homes were trashed by parties, when very expensive and delicate furnishings were damaged, when unregistered guests turned up, etc.  In many of these situations, I have to ask - if it hadn't been for the hosts' faith in the Host Guarantee, would they have made different choices? Vetted their guests more carefully? Kept the homes monitored for parties? Chosen more "guest-proof" furnishings and amenities? More assertively enforced their rules? Or listed on a platform that offers a real deposit instead of Airbnb?

As you say, each situation is different. But if someone comes away from an encounter with the Host Guarantee feeling disillusioned with it, that can only help them level up their hosting strategy. 

Shorter version:  For best results, assume the Host Guarantee doesn't exist and act accordingly.

[John5097]

@Anonymous 

I totally agree with your last post. Most people including me would aspire to phrase something that well, and the overall point we are all trying to make. Although, I can identify with the urge to be upset when guest ruin or break something. 

This could have been an accident, or one of the guest was kicking a ball in hallway, who knows? I think everyone is also seeing a trend toward guest disregard for rules, bringing pets to no pet listings, treating it like a cheap hotel, etc. 

So its a situation that could go either way for host or guest. 

The most important thing is for host to include an honest review of the guest if host thinks guest broke something and isn't being fully honest. Host should say what the guest did right then, "There was some damage and broken furnishings so for this reason I wouldn't want to host them again." 

[BenkaandKeith0]

PERFECTLY SAID @Anonymous !

That is exactly what we see in the picture recently. Only down part of it that some of us, old inventory people still remember being treated fairly by Airbnb years ago, having a support team on our side, being able to trust the relay on them. Those times are gone and adjusting is everything else but fun. Actually made us go from feeling that was the best company in the world to be sick in our stomachs every time we see this red logo...

[Anonymous]

@BenkaandKeith0   Some people feel a little nauseated when they see the red logo for completely different reasons....it's said to resemble, well, some other things.