1 star review left from a Guest that never arrived or checked in

[Amalia133]

I would love to hear from everyone on how to handle this situation.  I will try to make a long story short.  A guest booked last minute which I was able to accommodate.  The next day there was a knock on the door and a girl was at the door who I believed to be the guest. I addressed her by the first name, Christina. And she told me that she is not Christina but rather the makeup artist.  I told her Christina had not arrived. She asked if she could wait in the apartment and I told her she could not until the actually booked guest arrived.  Ten minutes later another knock on the door with another 2 people.  Both were not Christina.  They requested to wait in the apartment and again I explained I could not until the registered guest arrived.  

At this point, I called Airbnb Europe and was guided by the Call Centre attendant on what to do.

There were 2 more knocks on the door with a total of another 7 people.  All models, photographers and makeup artists.

They all asked for entry to the apartment and I explained that the property rules and insurance are like that of a hotel.  The registered guest must register and arrive for check-in otherwise I can not let them enter.

Christina never called or contacted me in any way and never checked in.

The Call Centre Jose recommended that to Airbnb that the payment was due as it was a no show.  All the while I was following his instructions and that of Airbnb.

Christina left a review giving me 1 star for everything, including location, cleanliness, communication etc.  And this review has been allowed to stay by Airbnb Call Centre when I called to dispute.  How can someone give me 1 star when in her own words she never gained access to the apartment. How can the foot of the Acropolis get 1 star when it is what is described in the listing. In her review, she says that I screamed at her but I have never met her and in her words, she admits to never telling me that her stay was for commercial usage and not a traditional guest experience.

And yet Airbnb will not remove part or any of this review.  This is extremely unfair given that I have all 5-star reviews. And it is extremely disappointing that they allow a lack of some fairness.  If in the review the guest says she never saw the property then how can she be allowed to rate it?

I would love to hear from more seasoned Hosts.  

"We never managed to get into the house because the hostess didn’t let us. We wanted the house so our models (2) could change so we can have a streetstyle photoshooting in Plaka. Our mistake was that we didn’t exactly told her the use of the property but we never ever experienced something like that before. The previous day we booked another apartment in the center of Athens for the same use and the host was very kind and helpful. On the other hand this hostess was shouting at us and told us to leave even though we told her that if the cost was more we were happy to pay. She kept shouting and we left and never received a refund."

[Colleen253]

@Amalia133 Why were you prevented from reviewing the guest? There is no reason you should have been. Anyway, be sure to leave a response to her review, as the review will still show up on your profile, even if you delete the listing and start over. Keep your response brief, factual and professional, and future guests who may still see it will be reassured to book with you. 

And while you’re wrapping this crummy experience up, report the guest.

[Amalia133]

Here was my reply Colleen:

"You never showed up to the home and never spoke to me. All 7 people who knocked at the door were asked to wait until you arrive. You never arrived and I notified Airbnb directly. Your comments are false and this situation should be a warning to other Owners looking to Host you."

[Anonymous]

@Amalia133   Your review of Chris appears on her profile:

"Chris never showed up to the apartment and therefore never stayed."

A host who is screening guests carefully can cross-check your profile to see the review this person gave you as well (this stays on your profile even if you delete the listing).

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Emilia42   I am sure it would. And all hosts should do that until Airbnb doesn't change this absurd practice

[Anthony608]

@Anonymous- You had mentioned "No show guests".  its always been my understanding that a guest cannot leave a review if they don't actually arrive and enter the house. 

I would also think if someone arrived at the home, who was not the person who made the listing, a host is fully within their rights not to let them in.  I mean, as far as I know, they are a stranger at the door.  With my listing, if they didn't know the door code I would question who they were and not let them in. 

PS, in all of my hosting, cases like this have only happened has twice.  Once a pair of men who I am certain someone else booked the room for but didn't know know where the house was or had any of the check-in information and didn't want to show any proof of identification.  Another, a man showing up on a female's booking knocking on the door not knowing the door code.  He was some type of scam, as when he realized I lived in the house, turned around and quickly left.

[Anonymous]

@Anthony608   If a booking is not cancelled before the check-in date, it's automatically eligible for a review. Airbnb doesn't make a distinction about whether the guest enters the house or not.

Hosts are well within their rights to refuse entry to someone who is not the booked guest or who is violating their rules, but that has nothing to do with reviews.

[Anthony608]

@Anonymous- Wow, that is insane.  I remember clearly there used to be a specific line item about people not being allowed to leave reviews when they didn't actually stay on the property.  I just went through the review guidelines on the AirBNB Help page and saw that the language has now changed where people can cancel bookings, never actually visit the home, yet still a review.

The potential for that is absurd.  Someone who never even saw or set foot in the residence could now leave a scathing one star review.  They could even lie and say the place was filthy and full of rats.  I have to assume, at the very least, there is some mechanism for identifying if the person didn't actually even check-in, and thus if they left a review as if they were in the house, it could be removed.  There was something on the help page about that as well.

Example

"We never actually stayed there, we had to cancel our trip and didn't make it"

Location:1
Cleanliness:1

Value:1

Communication:1

Checkin:1

Overall:1

I would have a huge problem if I received a review like that.

[Dale711]

Hi @Amalia133 

Welcome to the community 😊

So sorry to hear about your bad experience with the guest.

This is an untrue, unfair, and revenge review from the guest.

You’re right, and you have done very well. Never administration the unregistered guest to enter the premises.

To prevent these happen again, I would like to suggest you request every guest's full name for reference before you provide the check-In procedure. The term is necessary to clarify the house rules and communicate with the guest via Airbnb message during the booking request.

Minimize the number of the guest in the listing, and ask, ask and ask what bring the guest to your neighborhood? Travel leisure or work trip? Screen the guest before you approve the booking.

In addition, if anyone wishes to use my place for photo shooting and commercial purposes, they should pay a minimum of triple the rate. In my personal opinion, I do not recommend providing my site for commercial use through the Airbnb platform because of the Airbnb Host Guarantee issues.

Nevertheless, I will request a ‘real’ deposit by off-platform and booking through my social media for my insurance protection. I believe the client has a high budget for commercial use.

Refer to the review. It out of your hand!

Airbnb review systems don't make sense.

Airbnb's default position is not to delete, censor, or edit reviews. By that means, Airbnb may remove a review only if it violates Airbnb Review guidelines.

You can always respond to the untrue review in public.

As the link below, host update review party ban. It is always a place for improvement. 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Catherine-s-Host-Update-reviews-party-ban-policy-...

[Amalia133]

Thank you. I will follow more diligently your suggestions.  I do ask questions but I just couldn't imagine this scenario.  When people know they are doing something wrong they twist the truth.

[Anthony608]

As I said in another part of this thread, this policy about no show guests seems to be a huge liability for hosts, in that we can now receive retaliatory reviews from people who don't arrive, cancel the reservation, without ever having set foot in the residence. 

They way I read it, if Person A had a check-in time of 3PM for a week reservation, never arrived and cancelled on the 2nd day, they could still leave a full review as if they had been in the house to include ratings on cleanliness.  Even worse, since the person would not get a full refund, they then could "request money" from the host to make up for the lost money, and if they didn't get it leave a 1 star review. Unless they specifically said they were going to leave a low review unless they got a full refund, AirBNB would probably say it does not violation the extortion clause of terms of service.

I get the original intention here was to allow AirBNB guests, who had to flee in the middle of the night due to filthy or unsafe conditions, should be allowed to leave a review if they were forced to cancel.  But people who never show up at all?  Why should they be allowed to harm a host's rating average when they never actually saw the property?