Advise please - Airbnb will not remove untrue review

[Jane8]

My latest review says that:

I threw the guest out on the street after letting estate agent/realtors into the studio exposing her to Covid...

She also gave me all 1 star ratings.

It was the guest’s first ever Airbnb visit. She changed her arrival date by 3 days shortly before arrival. This then clashed with a 5 minute prearranged estate agent/realtor visit in full PPE to my house, without entering the Airbnb studio.

I very apologetically wrote to her prior to arrival to ask permission for the realtor visit to go ahead, with a full refund for that day. She refused permission.

I of course cancelled the arranged Estate Agent/Realtor visit. End of story. 

Airbnb then rang me 5 hours later to say the guest had accused me of harassment and bullying and said she had decided to check herself out of my studio.

I have been a Superhost for 5 years and was completely baffled by her accusation and behaviour.

I contacted Airbnb to request that her review be removed as:

1. Airbnb know the guest checked out. I did not throw her out.

2. The guest told them she did not allow anyone to enter the studio (even though that was not ever a request).

Under Airbnb guidelines I believe the review is then a provable lie -  ‘not relevant’ as per the guidelines and should be removed.

I have queried this 3 times and each time get a template email stating the review meets Airbnb guidelines.

Please could I have some advice from the community?

[Colleen253]

"I very apologetically wrote to her prior to arrival to ask permission for the realtor visit to go ahead, with a full refund for that day. She refused permission. I of course cancelled the arranged Estate Agent/Realtor visit. End of story." 

@Jane8 Why would you apologize, offer a full nights refund for 5 minutes of inconvenience that isn't your fault, and then rearrange your schedule to suit the guest, who refused to be pleasant and understanding, like a normal person would? Her attitude threw up red flags, and you didn't help things along by acting like a rug she could walk all over. If this had been my guest, I would have simply said, 'unfortunately that's not possible, OR, yes that's fine, but please know that we have prearranged a realtor visit at such and such time and your date change will require you to work around that'. But why was it an issue in the first place, if the realtor didn't even need to enter the Airbnb suite?

As far as the review, if it truly doesn't violate the review policy, unfortunately Airbnb won't do anything about it, regardless of lies. 

[Jane8]

Hi Colleen

Thank you for the feedback.

Prior to arrival my email stated the that there would be 5 minutes inconvenience. After arrival as she did not reply, plus behaved very oddly, e.g. would not answer her door when I went down to the studio to welcome her on arrival while staring at me through the window, I sensed trouble ahead.. It was at that point I wrote to offer the refund and apologise. I was just desperate to get my house sold to be honest and I realised after check-in that she had issues.

Anyway, more to the point, Airbnb can clearly see she checked-out therefore I did not throw her out so surely the review is ‘not relevant’ which would meet the criteria in the guidelines for removal?

Thanks

jane

[Elena87]

@Jane8 

In the terms of service, Airbnb chirp on about ''Airbnb doesn’t mediate disputes concerning the truth of reviews''.

It's pushing it to pass off the review as 'not relevant'.

As infuriating as this stonewall policy is, I see you've responded with a tidy clear headed reply, which is about as much as you can hope for.

Best put it down as an occupational hazard when dealing with the general public, let the experience fade out but look forward to it's revival as a future fireside anecdote.

Good wishes on the house sales front.

[Sarah977]

@Jane8  I see you left a response to the review, good. Now don't stress out about it anymore. She's a crazy liar and no one will be put off booking by her review. She is gone, good riddance. Don't let her and her review take up residence in your head.

Colleen has given you some good advice to keep in mind for the future. If you have other things scheduled for a day guests want to alter their dates to, just tell them that you'll see if you can change it if possible, but no guarantees.

And don't throw money at guests for tiny inconveniences. Life isn't perfect- people have to be slightly adaptable. If the hot water tank goes on the blink for an entire day, that would warrant a partial refund, if it only goes off for an hour and the problem gets solved, an apology and maybe dropping off a box of bakery goodies is plenty good enough. 

Bad guests leave bad reviews no matter what you do, so don't kowtow to them.

[Dale711]

Hi @Jane8 

‘Bury the bud union, plant and grow the Roses.'
It would help if you fixed this; you had enough rep.
You don't want to bother the review queue the lie story, and you have a response to the public, and you've done well!
You're essentially learning from experience.

The untrue, unfair, and revenge review is out of your hands; leave the past behind.
Set a goal for yourself, focus on the future guest.

Happy Hosting ✌️  

[Ute42]

.

@Jane8 

Unfortenately, a guest lying in a review is no reason to get the review removed according to the review guidelines.

[Jane8]

Thank you all of you who took the time to respond.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Jane8  I can imagine the stress you had with your guest, she is really a psycho. It's good that she's gone! Imagine if she stayed the entire month? OMG

I just don't understand why you asked her anything at all? I mean, if you are selling the entire property which includes the house and the garden and the studio, couldn't you show your buyer everything but the inside of the studio?

Or I misunderstood something?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I think @Jane8 did as you suggested. There are inconsistencies between the CC post and the reviews left I am afraid.