Abuse reviews, here we go again!

[Robin4]

Airbnb have stated they are going to take affirmative action against abuse reviews in relation to their party ban policy!

Well there you go, a bit more 'froth and bubble'! Why on earth did they stop there?

The reason they stopped there is because it addresses the only review abuse option that could impact on Airbnb itself, it does nothing to address review abuse options which could affect nearly all of us hosts on a day to day basis. 

1/......The guest stay has commenced, the guest cancels and wants a full refund which the host does not want to grant......Bingo, a 1 star revenge review!

2/.....The host lodges a damage claim which the guest disputes.......Bingo, a 1 star revenge review!

3/.....The host requests the guest leave due to house rules violations......Bingo, a 1 star revenge review!

4/.....The guest tries to blackmail the host over some misconception which the host won't accept.......Bingo, a 1 star revenge review!

We have to fight every one of those scenarios and in most instances we will be told the review must stand. The only scenario that Airbnb are now prepared to take action is the revenge review that is subject to a party booking! Once again they are protecting themselves from outside scrutiny while throwing their hosts out to dry!

Every host has to deal with a revenge review at some point in their hosting career. Most hosts like me will never have to deal with a party issue because our listings do not attract party bookings so, we are never going to have to address that issue.

If Airbnb are going to act on 'abuse' reviews, for Chr*st sake act on them for the benefit of the hosting community, not just single out the one thing that will make Airbnb look as though they are doing something positive when in actual fact they are still leaving hosts at the mercy of rogue guests!

Cheers........Rob

[Pat271]

Glad to see you personally haven’t gotten any of these types of reviews, Robin! This post scared me so I had to go look...

[Robin4]

@Pat271 

Try as I might to avoid one Pat, it's just a matter of time, and now as I approach 6 years and 400 reviews here, the law of averages says it will possibly be sooner rather than later. 

I would really like to see Airbnb put forward a mechanism that would automatically put on hold any reviews that were subject to a hosting dispute. They have algorithms for all sorts of things, should not be hard to do to set trigger points. 

When the dispute has been adjudicated and settled one way or another, reviews would be accepted and both assessed.  If a review was obviously written out of spite,  it would not be published.

You are not going to pick up all problematic reviews but you will certainly get the most blatant of them.

You are right Pat, I haven't suffered but I feel terribly for all those hosts who have and I would love to see a proper solution put in place rather than this silly bit of window dressing!

Cheers........Rob

[Robin925]

I had a guy harassing me after he left due to breach of the house rules. He was making rude suggestive comments and talking too much to the neighbors. I dealt with it so politely with so much respect; changed the reservation so he could leave without issue, refund for th days he he was not here and Airbnb knew of the problem well in advance of any major concern. The guy tried to IM me after he left, with a threatening note to say he had given Airbnb security an "earful".  He just had to have the last word to the point he was pursuing me. Airbnb still let him review me. In my understanding it could be seen as retalitaiton for complaining about sexual harassment.

[Robin4]

@Robin925 

Robin,  If this guest invaded your personal space, I am so sorry for you being subjected to this sort of behaviour, There are some males on this earth who fail to respect the rights of women and sadly that reflects on all of us men, it puts doubts in your mind.

In all probability you will never strike and issue like this again, it does crop up here but not frequently. If I can say to you, don't compromise your great hosting style because of one bad experience, your guests both male and female love you and you are a Superhost, you are what makes Airbnb great.

It has been my experience being here over the past 6 years that if this behaviour is going to happen, it will be targeted because the perpetrator is of the impression he is dealing with a female who hosts alone! If this is the case with you, in your listing description give the impression that there is a partner somewhere in the wings. Just use a few throw away lines like....

"If you have an issue either I or my partner will be on hand to help you"!

"We are looking forward to your stay"

In your communication get across that you are part of a personal outfit and any thoughts of availability are out of the question. This will discourage rogue minded individuals and they will bypass your listing, or at least take any thoughts of availability off the table.

And if by chance one should slip through just say firmly......."I would be happy to have a coffee and a chat with you but, my partner and I have a great relationship and that is the way it is going to stay, sorry I am not available, no offense but please respect my privacy"!

Once again, so sorry this has happened to you Rob but don't let it cruel who you are, just set a few visible boundaries and it will never happen again!

Cheers.........Rob

[Robin925]

@Robin4  Thankyou for your ideas on this issue. I have been hosting for two years and even during the pandemic had lots of great guests. One thing that stands out as different is that in the past few months (since December) there have been at least two who had an off idea of the hosts personal responsibilities. I won't go into it, but for the first time the boundary of host -guest as professional relationship was put in  with guests asking, requesting personal relationship. I have been shocked to see that here with Aribnb. In one instance the guest was politely required to go since he had broken house rules and wanted to stay but it was decided it would be best for him to leave. I gave one warning and he said he could not follow the rules and left. His review tells the tale that in fact he did not "know the house rules". I was surprised Airbnb let this review go up. Even more surprised that after the guest wrote me threatening note after his stay that Airbnbn did not immediacy flag the situation as potentially dangerous. A stalker or threatening guest should have no place on Airbnb and no ability to review hosts. 

   I am aware in shifts in demographics since several markers in Airbnb's history; 1. The company just went public and I imagine it has more incentive to generate revenue despite situations that could be serious. 2. The United States just went through a major political shift and events, New Mexico is on the souther border and homeless and migratory trends through Albuquerque is an issue that could detract typical Airbnb guests. 3. Our economy in New Mexico is very damaged due to lockdowns. 4. Many people after the pandemic and lockdowns are dealing with personal and mental health issues after isolation and those who do not have family to be close to may hope they could choose Airbnb with hosts who live on site as sourogate. IT is not the time to risk safety, so I am indeed taking steps to limit all contact with guests for the foreseeable future. My plan to keep it all in the IM and App and possibly to install cameras on the property hopefully will work to my advantage. Also I will have keypad entry with a video preview of property and notices sent to me when guests leave, so cleaning can take place without any possiblity any checked out guest could be present. I also reconfigured the listing to be a fully private suite with no multiple listings in the same space. The days of really laid back hosting may be over. Safety first, and well to tell the truth, for as long as I have been hosting, it really is a less is more philosophy to hosting and reviews that seems to work the best here. The less I see them,  if I never greet them, and never review them first, I always get either a great review or no review and that matters. Additionally I'm taking some steps to help the local economy. I wanted to do a local treasure hunt at antiques shops and design to bring a better quality of guest. Changed the listing to reflect this option and well, good news, I have two bookings in May with couples at a higher price per night for a private suite instead of single guys renting just one room. I'm very happy with the changes so far, so keep your fingers crossed here that I can weather the issues present.. . Thanks again and All the best, Robin

[Nikky0]

MY RESPONSE TO A PROBLEM GUEST:

 I have contacted AirBnB on your behalf & asked them to give you a refund despite trying very hard to find out your intentions straight after you booked. I phoned you twice to ask you to be honest with me & sent you very clear messages with regards to your intentions, advising you of AirBnB’s terms & conditions & our house rules . You still thought that you would be able to bring unregistered guests onto the property. It is not easy to survive today. As explained, when the property has more than capacity of liquored up guests, we have had terrible experiences. You ignored all this, knowing full well that you intended to do exactly what I had clearly told you was not allowed. I lost the chance to rebook my accommodation & spent hours waiting for you.
Despite giving you clear instructions on how to cancel with a full refund, more than once in the message thread & in our conversation. You still cancelled via the App. I have spent hours & hours on your booking & contacted AirBnB on your behalf to ensure you get a refund that you don’t deserve. I hope that you do not do this to future hosts. Life is hard enough & every cent counts to survive!
I have been extremely kind to you, but this situation should not happen again. You need to be up front & honest when someone makes such an effort to ensure that your reservation is suitable for your intentions. AirBnB & other platforms have a wide variety of options. It is not necessary to book a property that is not suitable for your intentions.

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

Although not perfect I do think it's a step in the right direction for Airbnb. I have never had issues myself with "revenge reviews" but have seen many posts where hosts prove they were threatened with a "revenge review" through messaging and Airbnb has removed it. I have also seen many posts from hosts who are just too finicky with unrealistic expectations on guests demanding the review be removed. I don't think Airbnb is perfect at all and they have much work to do in this area but they must also balance the business to keep guests coming. As hosts without the guest, we do not have a business. I think as hosts we forget that sometimes.

[Colleen253]

"....they must also balance the business to keep guests coming. As hosts without the guest, we do not have a business." 

 @Angelica-Y-Jorge0 , Airbnb is not doing a fair job of it. The balance weighs far too heavily in their favor. They are breeding bad guests like rabbits, with the lack of an actual damage deposit for hosts to be able to claim on when needed and other issues that leave no accountability at the foot of the guest. Hosts need guests for business, but the type the platform is grooming these days only pads Airbnb's pockets, they are not good for a host's business, and not the kind we need. 

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

I agree they have a lot of work to do and I'm not saying they are perfect at all but how do you keep guests coming without losing them to the competition who don't charge security deposits? I know from the past working for large corporations talk is easy but to implement large changes like this is hard and quickly erodes the customer base. If they implemented security deposits and lost a large percentage of their base it is bad for hosts and Airbnb. I'm positive they have done these studies and decided not to collect security deposits. 

I think Airbnb should offer an optional insurance option to guests for an additional fee to cover any damage or cancellation issues. Like the car rental or airlines do. This could be another revenue source for Airbnb and make host payouts easier when there is an issue. Even something like this would take a long time to build out and implement.

I would also love Airbnb to be more transparent with hosts on the why behind their decisions. I think this would go a long way in creating understanding and educating us all on why they make the decisions they do.

[Roxanne77]

I read that AirBnB is going to start offering travel insurance to renters. I may have filled out a survey about it, too. I think that's great. I put in my house rules to purchase travel insurance because refunds are not longer granted for pandemics, natural disasters, family emergencies, etc.

[Angelica-Y-Jorge0]

@Roxanne77 This would be amazing, I hope they start to offer insurance. It would help alleviate so many issues for guests and hosts making the experience so much better on both sides.

[Robin4]

@Angelica-Y-Jorge0  @Roxanne77 

If Airbnb state they are going to offer renters travel insurance  it will need to be thoroughly scrutinized before being given any thought to or being a part of!

We have seen Airbnb's attempts at protection in the past and all of them appear to be totally inadequate.

Insurance means by law the insurer, for a specified premium, accepts a defined risk and the premium is based on an actuarial basis according to that risk.

This is simply not Airbnb's style, they will have no problem whatsoever collecting the premium but, I can imaging the exclusions to a claim being larger than the old testament!

@Robin925  , Airbnb could fix this tomorrow, what constitutes an abuse/revenge review is patently obvious. 

It's like a vehicle driver gets into a road rage incident, the other party climbs out of his vehicle with a baseball bat and smashes his window, all on dashcam, irrefutably a revenge incident, but with Airbnb's thinking, the law would says...'No he was entitled to do that'!

The reason Airbnb are dragging their feet......They do not want to upset guests, simple as that!

Cheers........Rob

[Robin925]

Never again will I have personal interaction or any kind of contact with the guest outside of the messaging system. The days of warm and generous hosting are over. I think back on so many kind and amazing people that Ive met , but one instance of abuse too much. 

As long as anyone could rate or review based on personality or if your personally available (when your listing states otherwise), as long ad Airbnb let's men disparage the quality of kindness of a woman, as long as they could ever stalk or harass a person, complain about how they feel entitled to talk to neighbors, I will never  alliw any personal interaction ever. I will not greet them, never see them, never enter a common space with them, never even say hello if any such abuse of revenge or retaliatory reviews could be optional. 

[Sarah977]

@Robin4 "This is simply not Airbnb's style, they will have no problem whatsoever collecting the premium but, I can imaging the exclusions to a claim being larger than the old testament!"

Yes, I can just imagine Airbnb travel insurance. There will be a clause stating that the guest needs to first pressure the host into issuing a refund, and only after that will they consider the insurance claim. Then they'll create some new stat where hosts get marked down for refusing to refund if the insurance has to cover it.

And they'll pay out the insurance claims in travel credits that expire in 30 days 🙂