Older couple gave unfair rating which would seem to be racially motivated

[Andrew1962]

I recently had a older couple stay which I spoke to on the phone prior to checking in. On the phone and in my messages I assured them to call with any concerns or questions.

They completed their stay of a couple days and did NOT hear from them. After they were completely checked out they called me stating that the neighboring guests of the duplex held a large party outside their unit causing alot of noise until 3am. I again reminded her I need to be notified if I am to resolve anything. Her response was that she was afraid that those type of people would retaliate and damage her car. I decided to do what I could to satisfiy her for her stay and unrequested discounted the first night.

I later spoke to the guests next door who are African American and they assured me that they did no such thing and furthermore it was raining that night and was cold... After my review of weather I was able to confirm that it was raining and cold on that night so it is highly unlikely that anything was going on outside. It would seem the old couples concerns were fabricated.

After a few days I received a review from the older couple and got a horrible overall rating (the public review was fine.. and individual scores on cleanliness ect were 4 or 5 stars).. but im just getting started and the poor rating has brought down my overall rating.

Is there anything we can do as hosts for an unfair rating which would seem to be racially motivated?

[Pat271]

It takes an act of God for Airbnb to remove a review, but if you have it in the Airbnb messages with the guest that they discussed “those types of people”, you might have a shot.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Andrew1962 If the text in the review is positive and meets the rules than I am afraid your chances of getting the star rating changed are zero.

[Anna9170]

@Andrew1962 
Delete a guest review is not possible in 99.99% . Recently my guest left me a review of 1 star, having put 5 stars for all positions, and thanked me both in a personal message and in an open review. She herself then very worried, wrote in support with a request to remove, but - nothing!
You have a beautiful house, you have nothing to worry about.
Everyone is afraid of young people, but elderly couples in my experience are some of the most difficult guests, I would make an age limit, but it would be considered discrimination. 🙄 
The most important thing you can and should do is write an answer to their feedback. Perfectly correct, but showing the future guests the real situation. There can always be some drunk person outside and singing songs until 3 am, for example, it is not your responsibility.
Please, do not be discouraged and do not be a slave to the rating.💪

[Anonymous]

@Andrew1962  The short answer is no. 

@Mike-And-Jane0  is correct - if the review doesn't violate the Content Policy, it really doesn't matter whether the correspondence suggests racial bias - there is simply no just cause to remove the review (or, in your case, the rating - obviously it's not the text of the review that you object to).

As much as Airbnb pushes the 5 star default on hosts, it'll drive you crazy if you focus on the stars. 

[Sarah977]

@Andrew1962  One thing is that you shouldn't communicate with guests off the Airbnb messaging- you need to have a written record of your exchange with guests, particularly if it's complaints or anything contentious. So if I guest calls you to complain, like this one did, simply say that you don't discuss issues over the phone and ask them to use the Airbnb messaging to state what the problem is. So if they mention "those type of people" in a written message, you have back-up at Airbnb which could be useful in getting a review removed or disputing an issue with a guest.

Secondly, you should never offer a guest a refund for something you aren't sure took place. Always check out the situation first to ascertain if they had legitimate complaints. I understand that many hosts' immediate reaction to a guest complaints is to try to calm them down right away by throwing money at them, but that's not a wise idea, unless you are at fault somehow, such as if the water heater died and the guests had no hot water.

Refunding complaining guests also isn't any guarantee of a good review. The complainers tend to leave bad ratings and reviews regardless of whether you offered them a refund or not.