Airbnb removes our review of a horrendous guest!

[Cherie71]

We had a guest who booked for her and her 'partner' last summer. Instead, the guest housed a homeless person in our apartment and she never stayed at all.  The guy smoked; burnt holes in the leather furniture; smoked pot in the apartment; ruined towels; left the place a mess; smoked on the outside deck (against the house rules to smoke on the property) leaving cigarette butts in the potted plants; and so much more.

The person who did the booking paid the $500 penalty for smoking but did not pay for the damages.  

I wrote a candid review of her stay. Today, months after the review was submitted and accepted by Airbnb, this guest asked Airbnb to remove the review. Airbnb rep calls and I tell her the problems with this person, how she not only broke our house rules but she broke Airbnb rules by reserving for someone else.  The rep says she'll talk to someone in her team and get back to us. She did write back saying our review was not helpful to other guests/hosts and she was removing it!

Seriously wrong, wrong, wrong!  If another host had been able to write an honest review of this woman, we wouldn't have rented to her in the first place. Instead, we had to deal with these issues and, in the light of the pandemic, have had a hell of a time finding someone to repair the leather furniture.  How could an honest, straightforward recounting of the guest's behavior not be helpful to other hosts?  

Frankly, I don't believe the majority of reviews I read about potential guests. Now, with this latest experience, my assessment seems to be accurate.  

I asked for this case to be bumped to someone higher.  Instead, I get a message that this same person will be out of the office for 48 hours.  So much for host support.  

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Cherie71 can you remember what you wrote? If it met the policy then it should not have been deleted.

[Colleen253]

@Cherie71 As mentioned, if the review did not violate review policy, it should not have been removed. Below is the policy, which is helpful to refer to when composing difficult reviews. Adhering to the guidelines helps craft a review that will 'stick'.

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2673/airbnbs-review-policy

[Huma0]

@Cherie71 

You mention that the guy staying smoked pot in the apartment. If you also mentioned that in the review, that's grounds for removal, so I am guessing that's what happened. For some reason, if you 'accuse' someone of taking drugs (regardless of whether you have proof or not), Airbnb can remove a review for that reason.

Weird though that the rep told you it was because the review was not helpful. As a host, I would find it extremely helpful to know that a guest had made a third party booking, that the person who stayed broke the house rules by smoking and caused damage.

As third party bookings are against Airbnb policy, and this usually means they will not be covered by Airbnb insurance, you were lucky to get the $500. I never accept third party bookings. You are not covered for damages. 

In future, try to look for red flags when someone books or requests to book. If there are none and some random person turns up, report it to Airbnb and ask them to tell the guest this person must leave. According to Airbnb policy, the guest who books must also stay, even if bringing additional guests.

Unfortunately, a lot of CS reps are poorly trained and don't understand Airbnb policy. You need to quote it back to them:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/427/booking-for-friends-and-family