1 star review left from a Guest that never checked in

[Bertrand213]

I'm an experience a host. I'm asking Airbnb support department to delete a review and ratings from a guest who cancelled his reservation, who did not check-in my apartment in Provence-France but was able to post a review and ratings about cleanliness, value or accuracy.

Just before check-in, I had a huge security concern with the persons that wanted to check-in my apartment: the guest who made the reservation was not there, the other persons were more than expected (the reservation was done for 2 and they were 5, and they were expecting additional friends to stay), they were very young and were clearly planning to organise a party in my apartment. 

I contacted Airbnb support 3 times. The 3 agents I had on the phone clearly understood the situation. They all agreed on the fact that this review and ratings were not compliant with Airbnb policies and should be removed, however they are still there and the dedicated department does not seems to understand the situation.

I sent a message Catherine Powell, head of Hosting at Airbnb, but got no answer yet.

I had a closer look at Airbnb Review Policy and especially “Moderating for cancelled reservations” https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews#canceled

As it is clearly mentioned: “Airbnb allows you to post reviews for any reservation cancelled after 12.00am on the day of check-in”. This reservation has been cancelled at 5:31pm on the day of check-in and this cancellation happened before check-in. Therefore, the guest review is in breach with this Airbnb Policy.

In addition, the same policy https://www.airbnb.ie/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews states that “If you decide to leave a review for a cancelled reservation, we do ask that you keep your feedback relevant to what you have personally experienced. In cases where Airbnb can confirm that a review was left for a cancelled reservation, and the review contains information irrelevant to our community (for example, frustrations about a flight cancellation, etc.), the review may be removed.”. The Guest, was not there in person for the check-in process. Therefore, his review is in breach with this Airbnb Policy.

Regarding the comment itself, I cannot accept being called "racist and Avoid like the plague or COVID" in a comment. It's very easy for someone to mention that someone else is a racist without proof. Additionally, this notice is public, so this comment falls under online defamation laws. This review does violate the Airbnb Content Policy.

As this reservation was cancelled before check-in, how can Airbnb justify that the guest was able to review cleanliness, value or accuracy (that evaluate how close to reality my property is described !), and give a 1-star rating? This review has a huge impact on my rating of Superhost evaluation and is a clear violation of Airbnb Policy.

I’m a victim for the second time with this review. The guest friends were extremely aggressive to the point that I almost called the police. The guest confirmed in his messages that he did not respect Airbnb policies or my own house rules about third-party booking, number of guests that will stay in my apartment or organization of parties and events.

Where is the support of Airbnb regarding all these issues ? Should I have waited until my apartment was destroyed ?

I’m asking Airbnb to strictly follow and apply Airbnb policies and remove this irrelevant review and ratings. 

[Laura2592]

@Bertrand213 keep calling until you get someone who understands the issue and will help. 

I had a glitch that allowed guests to book a blocked day and it literally took me hours of arguing (patiently, logically) with the CSR to get ABB to cancel the reservation. We were having major plumbing work completed and the day was blocked for ages. It was not my fault the guest was somehow able to book. I could show screen shots of the date being blocked and the email from the plumber scheduling saying we would have no water. Yet ABB still wanted to penalize me if I canceled. Keep calling until you get someone who understands the rules. I am sorry this happened.

[Anna10440]

I am honestly going to say that it does matter who you talk to whether your issue gets resolved. One group of CSRs tells you that they will get back to you.. that’s it and  it was taking multiple days for them to do so and they would send you a robot message.. not helpful. If you repeatedly call, someone will eventually take pity in you and resolve the issue right away. 

[Colleen253]

@Bertrand213 There is a lot of policy that's been violated in what you describe. I agree with @Laura2592 that you need to be persistent, and patient. Airbnb's outsourced call center CS Ambassadors are rarely familiar with policy, will give out misinformation, or just nod, smile and agree with you until you're off the phone, as happened with you. Then you're forgotten about and they move on to the next in line.  If I were you, I would open a chat instead of calling. That way, you can compose a clear point form outline of all the violations the guest made, and link to the relevant policies/sections. 

[Anna10440]

I was also surprised to find that Airbnb asked myself and my guest to write a review for a stay that was canceled. 

[Bertrand213]

Finally ! After 10 days of efforts, almost daily reminders, Airbnb has just deleted the comment and the rating that had been left by a Guest that never checked in.
Finally, because to get there, I had to send 8 messages to Airbnb support, 9 phone calls to France support, 2 phone calls to USA support, 1 message to Airbnb via Twitter, 3 private messages via the Facebook page of Airbnb by threatening to publicize this affair, 1 post on the Community Center, sending an email to Emmanuel Marill (the director of Europe, Middle East and Africa of Airbnb - who did not answered), sending an email to Catherine Powell (the Global Head of Hosting of Airbnb - who did not respond), sending an email to the Head of the Airbnb Community in France (who answered and who arranged for my case to be reassessed)!
I remind you that I was not asking for a favor, but just that Airbnb's policies be applied.
It's mind boggling the energy and time it took to get there.
The lesson to be learned: don't give up with Airbnb if you think you are within your rights.

[Laura2592]

@Bertrand213 good for you! I know this lesson well. Took me 6 months to get a missing payout due to an unexplained "glitch." Dozens of calls, more hours. But I finally did. Sad that this is the way the business is run.  Happy you finally prevailed.