AirBnB Contact Issues

[Maria730]

Hello Fellow Hosts!

I have been trying for a week now to reach someone in the "Review Department" at AirBnB regarding an unjustified review.

We had a guest who "cooked" in our fireplace with the flue closed, sounding the smoke alarm and alerting the alarm company,

the fire department, and our entire family at 3am and again at 10:30am. The guest blamed the "shower steam", but our

cleaner found evidence of marshmallows and burned food residue in the fireplace. 

This guest posted a review, describing us as "paranoid and unwelcoming", I suspect in anticipation of a bad review from us.

We didn't leave a review, as I rarely leave negative feedback, unless there is a monetary consideration, or complete and utter

rule violation.

I spoke to an AirBnB representative last week who referred our situation to the "Review Department" and sent an email, to

which we could respond to. I sent photos, the phone logs, including the record of calls from the security company & fire

department. 

No one has responded. Today, my repeated calls are on hold for 25 minutes, and then disconnected.

Is AirBnB going out of business???

They are not responding to emails, and now, the phone calls are disconnected.

Very suspicious!

[Helen350]

Hi @Maria730 

FYI Airbnb have very recently laid off 25% of their workforce = 1900 employees. Yet I imagine the demand on services is greater than ever, with so many hosts & guests contacting over Covid refund issues..... You are not alone, SO many folk have been saying here that they can't get through, or CS don't phone back..... 😞 

Can I encourage you to reply to the bad review? Be  quick, & you may already be too late, as I think you only get 1 month to reply in?

You don't have to be nasty, just put your version of events, calmly & politely...

It's unlikely Airbnb will remove the review, they rarely do, they just say "It was the guest's experience."

Thankfully, future guests who review will probably see it for what it is... - & fully understand it was natural for you to panic if you thought the house was on fire! Who wouldn't?! - I don't think the review reflects  badly on you; more on the person who wrote it!

[Maria730]

Thank you Helen,

I was able to reply to their review on our listing page, explaining the middle of the night calls from the fire department, burnt food residue in the fireplace, and the guests leaving all the doors wide open and their belongings in the home, more than 90 minutes after checkout. 

I have never had a bad review, and did not know that you could reply, so your advice was very helpful.

Maria

[Sarah977]

@Maria730  Please do not refrain from writing honest reviews for your guests in the future. By choosing not to review, you are doing a great disservice to other hosts, not warning them about guests like this. Not only could they have burned your house down, they lied to you about it. Do you think other hosts want to get stuck with guests like this? Do you want to get stuck with bad guests because their previous hosts shied away from leaving an honest review of their behavior?

[Maria730]

Sarah,

Although I typically consider, the less said the better, I do see your point. It seems there is a level of vulnerability in being a host, subject to guest's negative reviews,  potential damage, complaints, etc.

If the platform is going to work well, honesty and transparency are essential. I will consider your advice in the future, and write the review. 

Maria

[Sarah977]

@Maria730  There is truth to the value of saying less. But that doesn't mean saying nothing. If a guest leaves a big mess behind them, it isn't necessary to list all the gritty details. A simple "Extensive cleaning time far above normal was required after these guests' departure" gets the point across to any hosts considering such a guest's booking request."

It doesn't mean we have to document a guest's every little annoying behavior. None of us are perfect. I had a guest who was a terrible dish washer- all the dishes she washed had bits of food and grease all over them. But she was otherwise a lovely guest, and did always clean up after herself in the shared kitchen, she was just an inattentive dishwasher. I didn't feel the need to mention it in the review, but did mention it to her gently, with a bit of light humor, and privately. By the kind of person she is, I'm sure she'll be more careful in the future when she's sharing a kitchen. There was no need IMO to call it out in a public review.