Does this make sense to you?

[Laura2592]

We had a terrible experience with a guest shooting things on our property. The individual no longer seems to be active on ABB. 

He left a very odd review and attendant low scores in certain areas. I had asked for the review to be removed based on the incident. I am told that the review does not violate policy and therefore it will stay up. MY review of this guest has been removed as he is no longer active on the platform. Yet this person's opinion counts. This guest who actually killed animals on our property illegally and smoked in our space, violating all kinds of house and local laws. 

We are putting our space up for sale in no small part because of this incident. TBH I don't care about the scores/reviews as much as I might as I have many others that paint a more accurate picture of what a stay is like at my cottage. But why should this person's comments get to stay on my profile? Does it make ANY sense whatsoever? 

[Normen0]

@Laura2592 It makes no **bleep** sense whatsoever!!  I agree. Had a terrible guest and I gave an honest mid-range review and she gave 1’s across the board with blatant lies. They will not remove a review full of lies even if they can see that all other guests before and after have been happy.  The only thing you can do is make a professional response. 
Mine went something like this “The one thing this guest and I can agree on is this was a terrible experience. This a revenge review as the guest was denied…” And then I relayed the facts regarding the guests behaviour in a matter of fact way. I like to believe that reasonable people can see the crazy right in front of them. I personally read a lot reviews when buying or renting anything. I want to know what’s the worst complaint more than the best review.  Most times though, the worst is really not that bad or you can read into that person’s mania.  
@Laura2592 I’m really sorry you are going through this. It’s very frustrating!! 

[Laura2592]

@Normen0 I always look for themes in reviews too and read the worst ones first. I don't think that anyone wouldn't book with me because of this one unless they also wanted to shoot things (and in that case I certainly wouldn't want them to!) It's the principle of the thing. Goes to show how hosts are always wrong even when they aren't. 

[Mark116]

@Laura2592  It's typical schizophrenic airbnb, no? The person is too bad to stay on the platform, a rarity, but the review made by the person kicked off the platform stays.  His review wasn't really bad by any means though, it was odd, but I don't know how many stars he gave, if you continued to rent it, I doubt anyone would give it a second thought, other than to hopefully feel horror that he shot animals on your property.

[Laura2592]

@Mark116 exactly what I think.  This person is not ok for the platform but his review is somehow still valuable.  What?? Why?? How??

As I say the review itself isn't the issue. It's the fact that its still up and he's not able to even book anymore. Seems like I get punished multiple times: once for even accepting this guest (which we are all but forced to), once for what he did in my space and further for allowing his scores/reviews to still matter in any way. 

Maybe this is a question for @Catherine-Powell .

[Anonymous]

@Laura2592   I've seen a lot of intact reviews from inactive accounts, so I guess the content of the review is assessed separately from the conduct of the reviewer. 

Another possibility is that the member's account has been temporarily suspended, rather than outright banned. If there's a possibility to reinstate it later, I would hope that it's done with the review you wrote still intact.

[Debra300]

@Laura2592,

There probably several reviews by inactive members that hosts still want, and their overall score would be impacted if they were removed.  Every day, we see postings by people who've had multiple stays at ABB say they will never use the platform again due to negative interactions with the company, and of their reviews remain.  If all host comments are removed ABB should display some wording next to the guest ID that the account is no longer active.   This would give some conjecture to some odd or inappropriate reviews.

[Sarah977]

@Debra300  Yes, but Airbnb is well aware if a guest's account is inactive or removed because of reported egregious behavior. A guest who gets banned or suspended should not have their review for the booking that resulted in the account deactivation allowed to stand, IMO.

[Debra300]

@Sarah977,

Only Airbnb knows what stay or actions that triggered the account deactivation.  Since hosts don't know for sure they can't request the removal of the reviews that are left behind by those accounts.  @Laura2592 said she is pretty sure that the guest's activities at her place are the reason for the guest's account closure, and she may be correct, but it's only conjecture.  It is possible that Airbnb was willing to let the animal shootings slide, but the guest did something else that negatively impacted them directly, like fraud, and that was the final straw.

[Sarah977]

@Debra300  My point is that Airbnb knows why a guest's account was deactivated, even if the host doesn't. So if a host requests that a review from a guest who was reported by them for unacceptable behavior be deleted, Airbnb can see what the cause of the account deactivation was, and if it indeed was because of that host's report, they should be willing to remove the review.

I wasn't suggesting that all past reviews left by that guest be removed.

[Debra300]

@Sarah977,

Your suggestion means that the CS reps exercise more discretion, due diligence  and critical thinking skills than they have shown during the past few years. 

[Sarah977]

@Debra300  Well, I can't argue with that. They can't even take 2 minutes to see that yes, the host has disclosed the cameras in the listing info, before suspending the listing because a guest complained about caneras. 

[Catherine-Powell]

Hi @Laura2592,

I checked in with our Support team to see what happened here, and I am confirming the guest is no longer on our platform. They have also confirmed that their review will also be removed from your listing. Apologies it took us longer than anticipated to get back to you, but we really thank you for your patience.

Warmly,

Catherine

[Laura2592]

@Catherine-Powell  thank you. I appreciate the follow up and am glad this guest is no longer on the platform. I also appreciate that his comments were removed for lack of relevance.