Dishonest Reviews

[Ashley168]

Hi all!

Recently I've had several guests leave reviews complaining about certain house rules that are made clear on the listing and booking confirmation and several other places for easy access. These unreasonable complaints are things like they wanted to use the hot tub but couldn't remember the times so they didn't or that they can't access my living area of the house... They've also been leaving negative reviews stating how things should be changed or suited to their preferences. It's bizarre to me because everything is SO clear before and during booking. 

I've been a superhost for 4 years and am extremely frustrated with Airbnb's response to these negative reviews. My efforts to seek support from the "Support" Team - as well as have the reviews that are blatantly ridiculous - removed have not been heard by the Airbnb team. They simply state their policy and that reviews would basically need to be violent or discriminatory to be taken down.

How is everyone else dealing with dishonesty? I believe that greater efforts need to be taken by Airbnb to address this and would like to form some sort of effort to have it addressed.

[Pat271]

I just looked at your listing and saw nothing but good reviews. Of course, I didn’t read all 308 reviews, but I didn’t see any recent ones that were anything but glowing. Sometimes review order is dependent on which country is viewing them, though, so perhaps you are seeing the Canadian ones first? 

Anyway, to answer your question, you are one of hundreds (probably thousands) of hosts with this exact complaint. Airbnb takes the position that the guest is entitled to voice their experiences, however warped they may be, although you can sometimes get a review removed for “relevancy”, discussions of refunds, violation of Airbnb policy, etc. If the review is not removed, the best way to deal with dishonest reviews seems to be to cordially, calmly and professionally respond to the review with the correct info, keeping in mind that future guests will be the main audience of your response.

[Matt682]

I had a dishonest “revenge review” once. Gentleman turned up with a dog he didn’t tell me about, and wasn’t happy about the house rules for pets. Never entered the property and got a full refund. 1* across the board. I couldn’t have it removed, so had to just tolerate it. Luckily Airbnb buries outliers far down the list of reviews so it’s unlikely to be seen, although when you take pride, it still sucks.

I agree with @Pat271 , and would only add that there’s no need to respond to private feedback on a public review. It’s not about who’s right or wrong or whatever, but future guests (who the review is for) never saw the private feedback, so there’s no need to expose them to it. Let future guests see all of those stellar reviews that describe your great place, with fantastic views, nothing else.

[Ashley168]

Good to know that they bury the "outlier" reviews. I should've added that a lot of the rationale for low(er than usual) reviews was left in the private feedback.

[Ashley168]

I should've noted that the public review is good, the rating is low(er than usual) but they outline WHY they did that in the private message. 

[Sarah977]

@Ashley168  I also don't see any bad reviews on your profile or your listings.

[Colleen253]

@Ashley168 All your recent reviews are great, so which ones are you talking about? Only one mentions "It is a basement suite so it’s not bright and you will hear people above moving around. Also, lack of deck access besides hot tub is a bit awkward." And this is after leaving very positive comments as well. It's not a bad review by any stretch.

You did respond, and I would recommend not using exclamation marks in a response. You are addressing future guests in your responses, and the purpose is to politely and calmly address any issues, and to reassure them that booking with you is a good idea.

Pat mentioned some reasons you could have a review removed, and the reasons you mention could certainly apply under the 'irrelevant' category. The best way to communicate with the untrained/typically unfamiliar with policy outsourced CS is by chat, so you can link to policy. It helps if they have it staring them in the face.

[Karol22]

It's easy to focus on the negative reviews but I see you have lots of great reviews as well. The lamest reviews for us are about pricing when they've clearly agreed to the price before booking. We charge a cleaning fee (because cleaners are more expensive in my area) and some random guests will complain publicly about the cleaning fee. Interesting characters. Anyways, sometimes we have to take a moment to reflect on our good reviews and move on.

[Ashley168]

I agree. "Let it go," right?

My motivation to post at all in this forum is because I've just seen a change since COVID - potentially because of more local travelers...??

My underlying sentiment/opinion is that Airbnb isn't properly marketing to the target audience. Airbnb ISN'T for everyone. Some people prefer or are more comfortable with the anonymity or amenities or service offered by a fully-staffed hotel. My intention was to spark a conversation that perhaps a task force can assist with improving the experience for hosts. i.e extra filters to better match properties to guests.

[Ulla213]

Hi Ashley,

I do have the same situations - not honest and very bad review -

I did all my best and went beyond to please my Guest even send a refund and still wrote a nasty not honest review.

thank you.

Ulla

[Sarah977]

@Ulla213  I don't see any bad, nasty review on your profile. Your reviews are great. Was it something the guest said to you in private feedback?

Going beyond to try to please demanding guests, and refunding them, thinking you'll avoid a bad review doesn't work. Those types of guests always seem to leave bad reviews. When you are dealing with people like that, it's best to just maintain a friendly but firm attitude with them and not cave in to their demands. Pushy, complaining people, oddly enough, often stop acting like that when they find that you can't be intimidated into doing their bidding.

[David2629]

i have just had a bad review after three years of totally excellent reviews 

irreverent and  discriminatory, clearly breaking air bnbs clear guide lines on  

reviews.Worrying i have no way of protecting my self from guests that will lie 

in order to get what they want.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@David2629 Who do we believe? Both parties appear entirely credible.

[Sarah977]

@David2629  What review policy do you feel was violated? Unfortunately, they don't consider lies to be inadmissable, as there is little way to prove or disprove them in many cases.

Are you saying the guest lied about you coming down to tour the unit and check doors and windows, etc? 

And I have to say the review you left for that guest isn't very helpful. "Total nightmare", full stop- what does that mean? Other hosts want to be able to  read exactly what the issues were with guests. Your review is simply a subjective statement about how you felt about this guest- it provides no facts, which is what reviews are meant to convey.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sorry you got a bad review and the guest was seemingly awful to deal with for you, but unfortunately I don't see any review policy violation you could use to ask for it to be removed.

[Pete69]

It's impossible to run a business without encountering an impossible-to-please customer. The best you can do is to scare these people off with the wording of your listing. I have a laundry list of disclaimers so that there are hopefully no surprises. Immediately after I accept their booking request, I remind them to read my details, just to make sure that the place suits their needs. Every once in a while they immediately cancel.