Guest asked for 60% off 2 days before arriving. Then gave 1 star for everything.

[Angela2638]

Good Morning,

I need all of your advise please.

We run a house that sleeps 14.  We had a guest that booked for 10 people.

2 days before his arrival he asked for 60 % off because 6 people now couldn't make it.  I explained we don't charge per person but for the whole house. 

I sent an email to airbnb and spoke to someone, because i was very worried he was going to leave a bed review even before he arrived, as he was already disgruntled.

We only have 11 reviews. We only started the business in November last year.  We had 5 stars in nearly everything and was due to get super host status in April.  we had a average of 4.92.

This guest gave us 1 star for everything, bringing our points down to 4.5.

Airbnb have refused to do anything, even though i warned them. How can they not see that 11 people thought the location was a 5 (house on road to the beach)  and the last guest gave a 1.  we did not move the house!!

We have a lock box.  He entered straight away (we have a security camera) everyone else gave a 5.  He a 1

Is there anything i can do?

Guests only see overall rating for each category.  They won't see that everyone else gave a 5 star and it is one person that bought the average down.

I am really upset that this is allowed to happen.

I would appreciate advise please.

Angela

[Kate867]

@Angela2638 ..  unfortunately his very brief written review of you does not violate any of Airbnb’s review policies, I also see that you left him a good review.  As a Host, I would like to be aware of this type of guest but you are unable to change it now.  You can, as the author, have it removed though if you wish with no explanation required.  Moving forward, if he requested the discount and you declined it on the Airbnb messages and he was clearly unhappy in them, then it could be argued that his was indeed a ‘revenge review’ particularly given all your precious good ones.  Airbnb policy states the following..

You’re not allowed to incentivise positive reviews, to use the threat of a negative review to manipulate a desired outcome, or to influence another’s review with the promise of compensation.

in your position I would escalate higher to get his review removed if you feel he at the least ‘implied’ in his messages that the bad review would be forthcoming.

[Angela2638]

Thank you so much for the advise. I am definitely going higher up the chain!

[Ross648]

Sorry that this has happened to you, it has happened to me as well...  The only way to have a revenge review removed is if the guest puts the "quid pro quo" in writing in AirBnB chat.   This happened once and I was able to have AirBnB remove the review.  But since in your case he has not done that I think you will just have to move on.     AirBnB makes these low ratings really damaging but the more reviews you have the less it will effect your overall rating.   

I'd like to say that ratings don't matter but the truth is that they do, and AirBnB knows this.    Their rating system encourages you to give substantial refunds to unhappy guests to avoid bad reviews.   I've had guests cancel AFTER checkin and then AirBnB is on the phone asking if I will give a full refund!   

[Angela2638]

Thank you for your reply.

Hoping I get someone with common sense dealing with my case.

I will let you know!

[Robin4]

@Angela2638 

Angela, sorry this has happened to you, your situation is one we all dread and probably sooner or later will experience. 

His review in itself does not contravene Airbnb's review guidelines but, provided all your contact with the guest was in the Airbnb message stream you would be able to mount a good case that the guest used the review system as a revenge mechanism against you.....and that is not allowed!

The value was fine when he booked for 10 people but wasn't when he reduced it to 4.....that was his problem, not yours but he chose to blame you for his problem.....you were still fully prepared to host his 10 person reservation, he altered the terms of it!

Your best avenue here Angela is to open a ticket via Twitter!  I am lead to understand the personnel who handle the twitter feeds are Airbnb in house personnel whereas the phone and email business is outsourced to private companies whose only qualification is, they sub contract individuals who have a computer terminal....they are paid to close tickets without having to pass them on to the company.....whether those closures were satisfactory is irrelevant, they save the company from hiring more personnel to cope with the volume of traffic!

In case you are not sure of the process Angela, to contact Airbnb via Twitter

1/...... Log into Twitter

2/...... Search for @Airbnbhelp and choose "Follow" them.

3/...... Send a Direct Message (DM) explaining your issue and wait for their response.  You will generally receive a response within about 15 minutes. Angela, they may ask for information such as your phone number and  listing details but, always provide it over DM so it is not in the public domain.

I hope this helps you out Angela, I hate to see a great competent host penalized by some turkey who didn't get his way!

Cheers........Rob

[Angela2638]

I really appreciate your help.  Getting onto twitter now.  Will let you know the result!

Thank you

Angela

[John5097]

@Angela2638 @You have gotten good advice so far, but would read over the Airbnb review policy carefully. It also states reviews need to be relevant and useful for future guest. If the guest made this request in ABB messages, it could help favor CS agent decision that the review was revengeful and not relevant to future guest. I’m afraid this is subjective. I would try to be as concise as possible and quote policy and provide links. But you would need to use your own judgment, 

[Linda108]

@Angela2638   Your lovely home is set up for large parties and the reviews reflect that previous guests appreciated the value of what they got.  While you explore your options regarding the review and the rating, perhaps you can also consider what you can take from the situation for the future.   Perhaps you can consider a pricing policy that has a base price of $XX for the first 6 guests and $X for each additional guest.  If you are able, there may be a way to reduce the number of rooms used by the guests of smaller parties, reducing some the cleaning costs and wear and tear on your listing.  Something to consider to allow flexibility in the future. Linda

[Elaine701]

There's nothing wrong with flat rate pricing. It's your policy. Either respect that or cancel. Besides, he already agreed to it. He's on the hook. 

We sleep 8 and have flat rate pricing (from April-October) but often have bookings for 4-6 in that season. Nobody asks for a discount and if they did, the answer would be no. Somebody else will happily pay full price. 

He requested the discount 2 days before arriving? That's cheeky. I would have (respectfully, tactfully) spun that conversation to a choice of stay and be happy with it, or cancel.