Guest requested refund on leaving and then left malicious review

[Ross648]

Hello All, 

I'm a superhost and have been happy with the many guests over the years.    Last month I had my first bad one.   The couple asked for a refund as they were leaving.   I would have been happy to respond any time before that but the timing I found odd -- rather like asking for a free meal after leaving a restaurant.   

And so I declined.   They left a ferocious review filled with obvious inaccuracies and a low rating in every category.     Despite obvious lies in the review, as well as a clear reference to extortion in a private email to me ("we gave you an opportunity to make things good and you refused"). 

It would be nice to be protected from this kind of behavior but my understanding is that AirBnB won't do anything.   Do other hosting platforms do a better job at protecting hosts from this?  

[Sarah977]

@Ross648  So you're saying these guests had no complaints at all while they were staying? The  entire review is a fabrication? Where did the guest get your private email address to send you an extortion threat? And why do you call what you quoted above as extortion? They just said they gave you an opportunity to make things right and you refused (are they talking about the refund or having made some complaint while in residence?)- that doesn't seem like it could be classified as extortion, unless you quoted that part out of context.

What I don't understand is why you gave these guests a good review and said you'd welcome them back. How does that help other hosts to know these guests are nasty scammers? You review would indicate they were good guests.

[Ross648]

Hello Sarah, 

My mistake about giving these guests a good review.   It's not my way to give a bad review.   I suppose if I stay with AirBnB I will have to change this habit of mine, which, as you point out, is not a good habit, since this couple may well do the same thing to another host.   My mistake.   I'm also giving everybody the benefit of the doubt these days of covid anxiety.  

As far as extortion goes, I would think that the threat of a bad review unless they have a full refund (this said in a telephone conversation after check out) qualifies, wouldn't you say?   If they had a complaint when I called them on check-in, if they had complained the next day, I would have been happy to refund, though in that case I think they should leave.   

I can go into excruciating detail if you like concerning the fabrications in their review but I'm not sure if that helps my question.    You are right, though, to point out that I shouldn't have given a good review.  

[Sarah977]

@Ross648  No, you don't have to go into excruciating detail 🙂 I believe you. This review is quite obviously an outlier and your other reviews indicate that your guests enjoy your place. 

Yes, if they told you they would leave a bad review if you didn't refund, that's clearly extortion- what I meant was that what you quoted above that they wrote isn't extortion, without the threat of leaving a bad review attached. Lesson learned- never communicate by phone with guests if there is any possibility that what you are talking about could prove contentious and need to be proven.

I'm sure no host enjoys having to give a bad review. What might help you is if you don't think of reviews as bad or good. Just think "Honest review". And you don't have to go into the gory details- you could use a code phrase if it really bothers you to mention the guest's transgressions specifically- sometimes hosts will say "Guests stayed 2 nights" or something equally non-informative, which basically says to other hosts that you had nothing good to say.

But as a fellow host, I prefer to see more specific reviews. I want to know f the guest was a good communicator, left the place clean, followed house rules, was a major complainer, etc. Being a bit specific is important, because what might be an issue for one host may not be for another. For instance, as a home-share host, I like guests who are friendly and have good social skills, because we share a kitchen and tend to have quite a bit of interaction. But a host who lists an entire home wouldn't be much affected by a guest who was aloof, or had poor social interaction, as long as they communicated things like arrival time, etc.

[Mark116]

@Ross648  This is why you keep all conversations on the airbnb platform or at least texting so there is a record, unless you recorded your call w/them you can't prove extortion.  It would seem their experience was a huge outlier since every other review is glowing, so that suggests that either they were unsuited to a rustic environment and didn't pay attention to the listing or are scammers, either way, you shouldn't have given them a positive review.  I hope you are using a humane method to trap the mice and you might want to consider some construction fixes to prevent mice so this won't be an ongoing issue.  

[Ann72]

@Ross648 I think it would be a good idea to include pictures of the sleeping and bathroom situations in your listing.  You must know by now that people don't read every word of what you write about the place but they do look at the pictures.  Even the teeny-tiny ones you've included.

Also good to have back-up sheets and comforters...

[Ross648]

Hello Ann, 

Thanks for the comment but my question was about what to do when guests, as they depart, threaten to leave a negative review if they do not receive a full refund.    And then leave one.  

My takeback from responses (thanks all) is that I must stop using the telephone (my preferred means of communication)  and use only the AirBnB platform, so that there is a written record.   My sense, though, is that even if my guests had typed "Full Refund or Hostile Review"  AirBnB wouldn't have changed anything.   I think that a guest could write that space aliens had disrupted their sleep, leave a score of 1, and AirBnB wouldn't change anything.   That's the limitations of a large, computer generated hosting program: it cannot adjudicate.  

Second, I have to consider leaving more critical guest reviews, even though that is also not my way.  I would rather not participate in the current culture of complaint, although I recognize that my comments  are potentially useful for other hosts.    I don't think I've ever read a review for upcoming guests, so my failing, again.   Happily with this one exception all of my guests have been lovely.  

We have many sets of sheets and comforters, thanks!   In a drawer under the bed.   As I said, this was a malicious review.  

[Sarah977]

@Ross648  While it's true that it's difficult to get Airbnb to remove a review that is full of lies ("It's a reflection of the guest's experience" is their line, even when it's obvious that it's all lies), they will  remove a review if there is proof in the online communications that the guest was extorting you for a good review. 

Communication with guests by phone is fine as long as you're sure that the nature of the conversation won't prove to be contentious. For instance, I pick my guests up at the local bus station, which is a 5 minute drive from my house. It's preferable to me to do that, because my place is quite difficult to find the first time. So I ask my guests to phone me when they get in, I lock the house, jump in the car and am there in about 7 minutes.

 If you do end up having a phone conversation with guests that you think might need to be documented, you can follow it up with an online message- "Hi XX, just to get clear about our phone conversation yesterday, you told me that only if I authorize a refund, that you will leave a good review?"