Guests stole from the property and posted my personal info in their review. AirBnB won't take the review down.

[William1246]

Some guests recently stole from one of our properties. This is not a matter of opinion, AirBnB actually paid us a settlement for the stolen items. She and her husband then had the nerve to yell at us about damaging their reputation online saying that "reputation is all that matters!" WHILE they were standing at our door and handing back some of the items they'd taken! It was a surreal experience. The guest was allowed to post a review which was clearly spiteful, it was a 1-star review that was clearly written out of mallice. (We have been SuperHosts for a decade and the property was good enough that the guest extended their stay by two nights, so it clearly isn't a 1-star place. We've hosted over a hundred thousand people over the last ten years at our properties, because we are honest and offer fair vlaue and GREAT service to our guests.) The review also insulted me personally, calling me desperate, it told people where we live and it also disclosed my personal financial information.

That's right, this review tells people that we are millionaires AND tells people where we live! And somehow the braintrust at AirBnB don't see this as a problem. Despite a 3-HOUR long phone call with AirBnB, they have refused to remove the review, saying that there is no violation. "It doesn't have your actual address." Well, it says that we live "right next door to Unit A." How much more exact does it need to be? 

Last year other guests opened an illegal restaurant in one of our apartments and had to be escorted from the property by police. We have video! And AirBnB let those people post a 1-star review of us as well. 

THE FINAL INSULT IS THAT THIS MORNING WE RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM AIRBNB THAT THEY WERE CONSIDERING DE-LISTING THE PROPERTY WHICH HAD BEEN STOLEN FROM FOR POOR REVIEW PERFORMANCE! What do these geniuses think is going to happen? That people who are escorted out by police are going to leave honest reviews? It's an obscenity. AirBnB doesn't care about its own rules, certainly not about protecting its hosts. The message from AirBnB here seems to be VERY clear; they DO NOT want hosts to claim for losses caused by bad guests! AirBnB clearly wants property owners to put up with anything from anyone, including theft, damage and even in the case of the illegal restaurant, potential catastrophic legal repercussions should we have been sued. A guest did something so bad in one of our properties that we could have lost the whole complex, and AirBnB STILL let them post a 1-star review about us! It's madness.

[Melodie-And-John0]

There is an awful lot packed into this posting @William1246 , I read the review and your response, it sounds almost like a bad movie, they opened a restaurant in your rental unit (didn't you notice the extra traffic?) and live in AirBnB's year round (bizarre) ?  Im curious, what other than towels did they steal?   With all the good reviews, that one "1" will disappear like it never happened in no time and technically, the CS is right, they didn't post your address.   Im  not sure what you can do except be glad your a millionaire (Ha, ha) and they are down the road.  Stay well, JR

[William1246]

We were out for the morning at the park to get some exercise, (I have Belgian Sheperd service dog for post traumatic stress who has to be exercised every day and a big dog needs space to run.) When we returned, the cars were stacked up on the street. Oh, we noticed! And we have video of them trying to steal our pots and pans as the poliice were forcing them out, including video of us declining to press charges when the officer brought our belongings back over to us and asked if we wanted to press charges. EVEN  WITH THIS AirBnB refuses to take the video down. 

And here's the thing, I'm NOT a millionaire. We've done well through some very hard work, but we were nearly bankrupted by the pandemic. We refused to lay off any of our employees even when they had no work, but at the same time we lost 8 of our properties because we couldn't pay the bills. we are only just stable now. That's what makes it even worse; the person says that we're millionaires when we're not, making us targets, anyway.

[Helen3]

I'm sorry you had this awful experience... why would you not want to have pressed charges though @William1246 ??

it seems beyond odd that in the circumstances you describe you left them a review saying you would host these guests who lied to you about who was staying, where you had to get the police to help evict them and stole from you.

[William1246]

In retrospect I wish that I had, just to see them punished. At the time I just wanted them gone and I didn't want to have to spend hours of time and drama dealing with people who had already brought drama and negativity into my life. I didn't want to have them in my life any longer, I didn't want to give them any more of my time. It NEVER occured to me that AirBnB would refuse to take down the review of someone caught on camera stealing from us!

[William1246]

To clarify further, there were two separate groups of guests. One with the illegal restaurant that needed the cops, another who posted the personal info. BOTH stole. Sorry if that wasnt' clear in my original post. 🙂

[Melodie-And-John0]

I was just joking about the Millionaire thing @William1246 , sad to say that being a millionaire isnt the same as when I was a kid anyways, they are a dime a dozen (More ha ha).   

[Peter1]

I'm sorry this happened to you, William.  How horrible!  It's not clear from what you wrote that you replied to their unfair review.  I suggest you do so.  In my experience, a Host reply that calmly and clearly lays out the facts and your side of the story goes a long way to neutralize the crazy, unfair Guest review.  Other Guests reading both their negative review and your side of the story should come to the conclusion that the Guest review was an aberration, left by disgruntled thief.  As to the response from Airbnb, it's unfortunate.  But it sounds like Airbnb did not take action.  If so, it doesn't sound like it's not worth chasing that rabbit hole.  To the extent it's possible, I would suggest looking ahead and the many happier hosting experiences in the future.

[Sarah977]

@Peter1  Certainly a host can leave a response to a review and that usually can make the situation clear to future guests.

But you are totally ignoring the fact that the host can do nothing about the 1* rating which can tank their stats. 

It's not so much of a big deal for hosts who do high turnover where one 1* rating is offset by hundreds of 5*s, but hosts who have lower turnover have had their Superhost status, sometimes that they've maintained for years, lost because of one lying review that Airbnb refuses to remove.

The response by Airbnb wasn't "unfortunate"- it was disrespectful and tone-deaf. Hosts shouldn't be subject to luck in getting appropriate CS action.

[Christine615]

I wish you had pressed charges. it would help get them banned from the platform. Tell Airbnb that if they don't remove the review you'd like arbitration. That might get them unstuck.

[Jeetender0]

Hi guys ..  m new to the platform but really shocked to see this attitude 

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Jeetender0 ,  This is not the norm for sure, unfortunately there are scammers everywhere.   

[Pamela828]

I’m so sorry this happened to you. I couldn’t agree more with your sentiments regarding Airbnb doing more for its guests than it’s hosts. I am not quite as your status but I have had my Superhost status removed because guests left 1-star reviews after I asked for compensation for damaged items. Clearly, retaliatory reviews. Airbnb has done nothing help. I absolutely hate this platform but have not found a suitable alternative. We are public servants as hosts - good luck.