Beside myself w lack of response and lack of host support!

[Brook19]

I’m a 5 Star Super Host who takes great pride in customer service and comfort. No issues except one guy left used condoms under his pillow for me to clean up. Abnb insists on honest reviews so that’s what he got. Don’t even know what the ISSUE OR INCIDENT IS but Abnb case manager emails at 2 am saying they r reviewing an incident and to respond quickly w details or I will be cancelled from Abnb. I call three times. I email three times. Nothing. They suspended my account and blocked all open days without telling me WHY!!!!!!!????????? This is my only source of income and they r screwing me up. How can this even be allowed???? Guilty til proven innocent????? Cs reps claim they can’t help. Diff Dept that I can’t contact. I’m stuck in Abnb bull**bleep** hell. Can’t seem to be able to go ABOVE AND BEYOND the people I contacted. Any ideas? It’s totally ruined my mood and my day. Thanks

[Emiel1]

@Brook19 

Guests receiving such a bad review (i have read it on the guest profile) tend to do some revenge and probably complained about some issue at Airbnb. Which by default leads to the listing being suspended during investigation. You also mentioned "Does Abnb ever show bad reviews?" in the review, maybe they are not happy about that.....

[Brook19]

Then they shouldn’t harp on leaving honest reviews for other hosts!!! How dare they! I don’t even know if that’s the issue!

[Colleen253]

@Brook19 Yes, this forum is over run with stories of hosts who have had their accounts suspended while an 'investigation' takes place. It's completely outrageous the way Airbnb handles these things. Thankfully, the suspension doesn't usually last long. So, a guest has complained about something. Could be the guest you left the really bad review for, but Airbnb won't give you any details. They never do...

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Can-t-Trust-the-Trust-amp-Safety-Team/td-p/1232833

Yes, we need to leave negative reviews sometimes, and shouldn't shy away from it, but you can get a message across without being literal in all the gory details, thereby perhaps triggering this kind of retaliation. "Would not host again" will suffice. Getting graphic in a review or violating the review policy also opens the door for a guest to complain to Airbnb and have the review removed.

[Brook19]

Thanks for ur response. I wasn’t graphic. I did t say he was a scum. I said he there was no communication, he did t follow any rules and left a surprise in the sheets. I didn’t say what or how many or where! Then they should t bug is for true honest reviews. This guy sucked totally. But guess what? I don’t even know if he is the problem!

[Colleen253]

Actually, "left a surprise in the sheets" is too graphic, and personal. That's the kind of thing that is going to cause issues. @Brook19. If you don't want to run afoul of the guest/Airbnb, keep that in mind. 

[Brook19]

Thank u Colleen. I appreciate ur knowledge and ur feedback. V helpful. 

[Mary996]

An insightful link thanks @Colleen253 

[Sarah977]

@Brook19  Firstly, I'm sorry that this has happened to you. I would point out to Airbnb that the guest left an excellent review and it seems he manufactured some complaint to Airbnb after he read your review of him to get even.

Yes, Airbnb considers hosts guilty until proven innocent. You would think their operation is based out of some country with a dictorship as the govt. rather than a democracy.

As Colleen pointed out, there are better ways to write a review. For one thing, never say anything deragatory about Airbnb in a review. That comment was unnecessary and may be why they suspended you rather than the guest filing a complaint.

As a fellow host I don't need to know that the guest ordered a package sent, that they left a surprise under the pillow. I need to know "Guests were disrespectful, house rules were ignored, a mess was left in their wake. Not recommended."

If you are angry about the guests, don't rush to leave a review. You have 14 days- wait until you've calmed down to compose a brief, non-emotional, professional review. And try not to take everything personally- many guests who leave a mess behind them aren't really showing disrespect to you- they are just slobs and they probably live like that at home, as well. 

And I realize that the condoms were just the icing on the cake with this booking, but if you are going to host, this sort of thing is not unusual and something you need to get used to and accept as part and parcel of accepting paying guests to your home. I can assure you hotel maids deal with this all the time. And mentioning personal things like bodily fluids, used condoms or female sanitary products, in a review is not considered to be okay. That is all covered under phrases like "disrespect" or "extra cleaning required)

[Brook19]

Thanks Sarah. I appreciate ur objective supportive response. 

[Mary996]

Thanks for all this helpful info and perspective @Sarah977 

Really appreciated note re bnb. 

Re: "don't need to know that the guest ordered a package" Brook's detail on this was something I found helpful to read and to find out that others have feelings about that kind of presumption too. I am very interested to know if there has been some guidance to use generic terms instead of specifying?

[Sarah977]

@Mary996  Detailing what the guest did, is useful on this forum- as you said, it is interesting and informative to get an idea of what is and isn't acceptable to other hosts. 

If the only thing these guests did that was disrespectful was order a package sent without permission from the host, then that might be mentioned in the review. Then the next host might be alerted to make sure this guest is aware that it isn't okay to use their str address for mail without clearing that with them first.

But when there's a whole long litany of poor behavior, in other words, most would not want to host these people, writing a review which details all of it not only seems unnecessary, it can make the host look nitpicky and it can make for a long review which no one will bother to slog through. 

Seems to me that most hosts, when vetting guests, just want an idea of whether these are nice, respectful guests or whether they're likely to make you regret accepting their booking.

[Mary996]

@Sarah977 the distinction between identifying a small nuisance and a litany (which might better not be itemised - except for entertainment at this end!!) is appreciated and a very helpful guide. Thank you.

@Brook19 any more news? Am thinking that the Guest is probably feeling stuck with that review and will have been concerned about the effect on his reputation. Did you get the impression that he was hoping you might revise it? 

I'm asking this  because I agonised about giving a harsh review. What I had wondered about was the prospect of some kind of mediation whereby if, on reflection,  the Guest felt remorse, wanted to make good, and, offered adequate remuneration whether the prospect of a settlement could be arrived at? This might ensure that the guest would be more careful in the future and any revised review permitted could make reference to the fact that arbitration had been necessary ... but that the Guest settled eventually. Future Hosts could then weigh up the risks. 

Any thoughts in addition @Ann72 @Dale711 @Ute42 ? I hope you don't mind me musing here Brook.

[Sarah977]

@Mary996  Reviews can't be revised. And most hosts are quite happy that the bad guest is gone- I doubt they wish to carry on interacting with them any more than necessary if they need to charge for damages.

Guests know perfectly well when they have behaved objectionably. It was their choice to behave like that. They don't get do-overs. 

[Ann72]

@Mary996  There are 4 million hosts. A certain number take exception to reviews every day. Where are you going to get the staff for this mediation process?

The young man in @Brook19‘s case has a conscience.  Far better for his life’s prospects to learn from a bad review (and its permanence) than to engage in arbitration over it.