My guest asked for $ to leave a good review then left a 1 star review with lies when I didn't pay

[Cherri6]

Hi all, I need some help and advice.

I’ve been hosting on AIRBNB for 7 years and I’ve been lucky, I’ve never had a problem with a guest that I couldn’t solve.
I have 4 properties in the Riviera Maya, I am a Superhost with a 100% response rate, 295 REVIEWS with an overall 4.9 Star rating. I have never gotten a bad review or a 1 – Star review ever on any platform anywhere. Until now…

I had a recent guest ask me for $600 to leave me a good review, and he did that on the AIRBNB platform! I knew he was going to leave me a bad review if I didn’t pay him, but I would never pay a guest for a good review - this is extortion or even blackmail.

Over the last 2 weeks, before and after he left the 1 star review, I spent hours on the phone with 5 different AIRBNB representatives to ask for advice and what to do.

Two of the AIRBNB representatives I spoke with took time with me and really were great and seemed to want to help. But aside from assuring me this would go thru the proper channels and try to connect me with someone else, there was not actually anything they could do. The representatives read the guest’s post asking for money for a review. They told me they would take care of it and not to worry, that I should not pay him the money he asked for, that I should not engage him in any conversation. They also advised me not to leave the guest a review.

I will be honest, there was a small issue. The electricity and internet were out for 4 hours of day 2 of his - 11 day stay. He was irate. He told me his children were ‘dying of heat’ that ‘all his food spoiled’ and that he lost time of valuable work because there was no internet that day. He told me the pool didn’t work and that a shower didn’t work. In his words he said his vacation was ‘a total disaster’ (and this was day 3). He told me he wanted to leave. I told him I understood and would refund him for all his unused nights and even help him find different accommodations. You might tell me that I was being too nice but, in my experience, when someone complains that much, that soon, I find it better to cut losses and give a refund.

Well, Once I offered to find him a different place and a refund he said he didn’t want to leave but that he would appreciate any refund I could give him for all his troubles, but then he said it didn’t matter either way, they wanted to stay.

He told me he had more family arriving the next day so to make him happy (I thought), I compensated him by giving him my guest house (an optional add-on) for free for his extra guests (valued at over $490) and I offered to pay for any spoiled groceries if he could please give me a list or amount of what spoiled.

This all happened 3 days into his stay and after my last correspondence giving him the free guest house, and offering to pay for his groceries he said “thanks”. And I never heard a word back from him again.

But then, after he checked out he wrote to me saying he thought it would be fair for me to pay him $600 and ‘then he would leave me a good review – because you deserve it.’ His words!

That’s when I called AIRBNB for help and contacted my staff on site for more information and found out the following:

The pool was crystal clear full and in perfect shape for the whole stay. The kids were in the pool all the time as well as the adults.

The guests broke off the shower handle their first night there - a Saturday, and maintenance fixed it on Monday. (for no charge to the guest)

The power was out for 4 hours

No groceries were spoiled – we recycle – my staff has been with me for over 15 years. They separate the garbage, and my housekeeper organizes and cleans the fridge daily. No food was thrown out or spoiled.

We have daily maid service, my housekeeper did many extras they requested and they didn’t leave her a dime. That’s OK she’s well paid and my guests don’t have to tip, but most do and certainly those with extra requests such as theirs.

Over the last 2 weeks, I have spent hours on the phone with 5 different AIRBNB representatives from the time the guest checked out to ask for advice and what to do about him. I knew he was going to leave me a bad review if I didn’t pay him. (I would never pay a guest for a good review this is extortion/even blackmail).

The guests waited several days after asking for $600 and checked back to ask if I would be sending it. After it was clear I would not, he left me a terrible ONE star review. The guest lied to me, my staff, and in their review about things that took place and my home. The AIRBNB reps I spoke with said I should not engage him in any conversation, nor should I leave him a review.

I followed their advice but now I have no feedback for the lies he told about me.
I was assigned a specialist yesterday, after my 5 conversations with other AIR reps.

This morning I received an email from the specialist saying and it’s a quote:

“I would like to give you a call but our timezone won't let me.

Thanks for reaching out to us about the review your Host ______ left for reservation ______.

Having carefully reviewed it, it appears to be in line with our Review Policy. Therefore, we won't be able to remove it.

So the email says thanks for reaching out about the review you HOST left you. It was the GUEST who left it, I am the host.

The specialist says the review will not be removed and that the whole thing was carefully reviewed. But if my specialist thought I was the guest, well I am not sure if real research was done and if they read the guest’s post asking me for $600 for a good review then -- How is this OK with AIRBNB’s code of ethics?

Oh and for icing on the cake I just got another email saying this from AIRBNB :

[We noticed that your listing recently received lower ratings than usual.
We know you’re putting a lot of thought and care into hosting and sometimes low reviews happen to great hosts. While 4.4 stars might seem high, this recent drop in your listing’s overall rating brings it near the bottom of Airbnb listings globally.
Listings that receive a recent guest rating of 1-3 stars are at higher risk of being suspended. If a listing is suspended, it will be removed from search for 5 days. Learn more]

I am sorry for how long it is but I wanted give you all the details and ask you, the host community, for help or advise. I would really like to know what to do!
Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Sincerely,
Cherri

[Emiel1]

@Cherri6 

Another example showing the incompetence of Airbnb CS to understand and resolve a issue in a professional manner.

A review created as a result of extorsion must be removed

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673/airbnbs-review-policy

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews

"

Quoted:

This policy prohibits:

• Guests threatening to use reviews or ratings in an attempt to force a host to provide refunds, additional compensation, or a reciprocal positive review"

[Cherri6]

Thanks Emily, I read that and I truly believed they would help me. The guest wrote it on the platform so it's not hearsay. I don't think the person assigned to me read anything I spent all that time on.

[Sarah977]

@Cherri6  The most effective way to get a successful outcome from Airbnb when you know you are in the right is to keep it simple and find the applicable policy (as Emiel posted the link to) and quote it to the Airbnb rep. Most of them are really poorly trained, give out bad advice and aren't even cognizant of Airbnb policies. 

You say they didn't even read through everything you spent so much time writing, and that is most likely true- writing long explanations detailing all of the guest's behavior, as you have done here, is not to your advantage when dealing with customer service. Just stick to what you are asking them to do, as briefly as possible. 

And the advice not to leave a review was wrong, wrong, wrong. You should always leave a review, especially if it's a bad guest you need to warn other hosts about.

Contact Airbnb again, quote them the extortion policy, and be firm and persistent about getting it removed. The guest's extortion is most definitely a violation if policy.

Poor deccisions are often overturned, but it may take some time.

[Cherri6]

Sarah,

Thank you for your clear advice. I really appreciate it. I am going to do exactly as you recommend. 

And... I KNEW it was wrong not to review him! I shouldn't have listened to the support staff  about that but I've never had to call them for help and I assumed they knew more than me. Lesson learned!

In the email from the support staff it also says:

You can publicly reply to this review to share your perspective if you like. Your response will appear directly below _______’s review.

You seem to have a good perspective, may I ask you if you think I should publicly reply to this guest's review? It won't actually be on his profile but at least I will counter his lies.

[Sarah977]

@Cherri6  Sometimes a guest's review is such a crazy rant that future guests will see through it as an outlier from a nutcase, and in thise situations, it's often better not to leave a response.

But this review reads as if there was just cause for the complaints (and in fact, you said there were some valid issues).

So yes, if you aren't successful in getting the review removed soon,  I would respond, unemotionally, acknowleging the legitimate issues, assuring future guests they have been corrected, and making it clear which complaints were bogus. I would also mention that as compensation for the issues the guest experienced, you gave him the use of the separate guest house for his visiting family at no charge. And that he tried to get you to pay him hundreds of dollars in exchange for a good review.

[Cherri6]

thank you again for the helpful information

[Laura2592]

@Cherri6you have to be VERY specific with the CS reps and keep calling back-- don't give up!

I had to cancel a stay that was instant booked and I knew I could. As a superhost it was my only cancellation in the last year, but it was less than 24 hours before the guest arrived. She left nastiness and evidence of intending to break house rules in our conversations on ABB. I just kept calling and refining what I was asking for until I got it simple enough and had a rep who understood a bit of the policy. I hate to be that person, but most of the reps are overseas and there is a bit of a language and comprehension barrier at times. So my advice is:

1. Quote the policy

2. Have a screenshot

3. Ask the rep if you can send it to them

4. Have screenshots of the conversation extorting the money

5. Ask to send that to the rep while you are speaking to them

Basically do all the legwork and make it really really simple for the CSR to understand. Be exceptionally nice and patient. Keep calling back until you get someone who will help you. Best of luck and sorry about this jerk.

[Kathy842]

I don't see the review. Did you have it removed? Did the guest have any other reviews?

[Brian2036]

@Cherri6 

I can’t imagine why they told you not to write a review. Other hosts need to know about this thief.

I also don’t believe that a power outage in Mexico is anything unusual nor was it your fault.

 I think you should refute any lies in his review briefly and concisely for the benefit of future guests.

[Sarah977]

@Brian2036 "also don’t believe that a power outage in Mexico is anything unusual nor was it your fault."

We lost the power here a couple weeks ago for 48 hours. Anyone who travels to Mexico during hurricane/ rainy season would be foolish to assume power outages aren't a normal turn of events.

[Quincy]

Hi there @Cherri6, I've passed this on to the team again.