Removing a Retalitory, "One-Off" Bad Review

[Paige12]

Another disappointing conclusion by Airbnb's customer service about the removal of a review that falls perfectly within Airbnb's removal policy. We hosted "Kamal" recently and after several attempts to communicate with him about him ignoring several of his checkout cleaning obligations with no response we requested a small $50 additional cleaning fee (which he agreed to within our Reservation documents prior to entry) and in retaliation he immediately posted a demand for a $1,000 reimbursement from us (over one week after his departure mind you) for what he lied and claimed was a very unclean property as well as lied about an a/c that wasn't working at peak capacity for a few hours as being "out for a full day". He also posted the worst review we have ever received in 11 years of operating.  Although his overall rating for us was 1*, he listed all of the other (except for cleanliness) ratings that should equate to the overall by themselves as far in excess of that obviously because he was upset. 4* for "Accuracy", 1* for "Cleanliness", 4* for "Location", 3* for "Value", 5* for check-in, and 5* for communication and yet Airbnb customer service denied it's removal. So in essence, other than the 1 star he listed for "Cleanliness" we are a 4.2 star average according to him except for cleanliness which if added and averaged in would me we are a 3.6 according to his own choices. But we also shared the check in receipt document (below at the bottom) with customer service proving that during the day they checked in and immediately after their own inspection and walk-through, they signed (by an authorized member of his group who arrived at the property first) a document stating that the property was received in good, clean, as advertised condition".

This besides that fact that it is obviously an outlier review, one of which was so far from 100% of our other reviews and only posted along with his fraudulent claim for the $1k. How can customer service ignore these facts and what can we do about it?!?

https://www.airbnb.com/progress/reviews/details/424557056215984254

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[Lisa723]

@Elaine701 our most recent claim was in January 2021. The guest retaliated with a counter-claim for slow wifi, which Airbnb denied.

I agree that Airbnb CS is capricious and the result of any claim is unpredictable (except for the predictable retaliatory review if you file before reviews are posted). I would never count on payment. But we don't know the actual statistics; all we have is anecdotes. Hosts whose claims are denied are likelier to publicize their experiences than hosts whose claims are paid.

[Elaine701]

@Lisa723 

Involving Airbnb is always risky and unpredictable. 

Are all claims denied? Apparently not. 

Will every guest write a retaliatory review? I'd hope not, although the risk of this is always high. .

Will every host be severely penalised for making a claim against an irresponsible guest who writes a retaliatory review? Again, I hope not. 

By relying on Airbnb to take care you, you are effectively giving away all authority, while retaining the burden of responsibility. 

So, the only practical remedy is to prevent these incidents to the best of your abilities by vetting guests extensively, and imposing a significant security deposit on the highest risk guests. 

This will free you from the risks of relying on Airbnb to do it for you. 

[Lisa723]

@Elaine701 I don’t rely on Airbnb to do it for me. I’m also not afraid to make use of Airbnb in a deliberate way when I can.

[Richard531]

We simply wouldn't go after guests for pretty much any amount less than $500.  Our bookings are too expensive and the risk is WAY too high to then receive a retaliatory review.  Anything less than 5-stars would be, quite literally, the end of the world in my mind.  So we pay for the small/medium damages that occur (all the time) and keep offering superb service over and over again anyway.  99% of guests are great.  The 1% that are super horrible you can only hope to get lucky and avoid.  And when they damage your home, there's really nothing that you can do and not expect to get slaughtered (and not backed up by Airbnb) on the review.  Airbnb really does try at times, though.  And SOMETIMES they have your back.  But until Airbnb publicly says "suspected and/or proven retaliatory reviews tied to confirmed guest's damages and/or bad behavior will be removed," it's going to put us in a massive defensive position.  The solution for now to avoid insanity: chalk it up to CODB in this occupation.  

[Paige12]

Clearly, there is regret in requesting the additional cleaning fee. But in regards to a "Retaliatory" review, does Airbnb's current review removal policy address them? 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Paige12 No the policy doesn't stop retaliatory reviews. In fact the policy is very clear that untruthful reviews are allowed (as Airbnb presumably claim they cannot differentiate between truth and lies).

[Laura2592]

@Paige12 its all here, what ABB looks for, what they will take action on, what they won't. I posted this upthread. 

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

There is no policy for "retaliatory reviews." You pulled up a 3 year old article where ABB said they were working on some tool that never came to fruition. They also said they were looking at the location rating. Do a search on "location" on this forum and see that this is still a very active issue. Nothing will be done. There is no policy. 

ABB says a lot of things to keep the host community quiet. They just as quietly disappear into the ether. Again, your best bet is to stop trying to play by your own rules and really dig into how this platform operates. Best of luck. 

[Colleen253]

@Paige12 There will never be a policy put in place to deal with revenge reviews. The revenge review is a very useful behavior modification tool for Airbnb, as it keeps hosts in a state of fear and reluctance in going after guests for damages or extra fees and such. Airbnb’s priority is making it all sunshine and roses for guests. There are more than enough hosts to supply the listings that guests will book, thereby padding Airbnb pockets with high service fees. Airbnb is not worried about keeping hosts, it seems. But it certainly wants to keep the guests happy with the platform and continuing to book, even if those guests are not desirable for hosts. 

The only way to have a review removed is if it violates the general review policy.

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

[Inna22]

@Paige12   I am with you on hosting bachelor and bachelorette parties. I host those all the time and like you said, it doesn’t mean that they’re throwing the actual party at my house. They simply arrive and use my home as a base to be together.

I also proactively offer people to buy additional cleaning package for a fee. If it is their choice to pay, it feels different from punitive collection post factum. Many take me up on it. This gives my guess the freedom to not worry about cleaning to perfection and gives me an opportunity to plan for additional cleaning time.

As for the review, your logic is that they gave one overall but the higher stars in specific categories. This is highly subjective. I might have a horrible experience at an Airbnb for reasons other than the categories listed or feel that the cumulative less than perfection makes it one star for me. The guests review of your place was very eloquent and did not violate any policy.

Any normal guest would read more than one review and be able to get a true picture for themselves. Anyone understands one off concept and it almost makes you more human and the rest of the reviews more believable.

.

[Colleen253]

@Inna22 “I also proactively offer people to buy additional cleaning package for a fee. If it is their choice to pay, it feels different from punitive collection post factum.”

That is so smart, and a perfect example of recognizing the platform limitations and finding creative solutions to come out ahead.

[Paige12]

@Colleen253Thank you Colleen for your helpful advise.

[Colleen253]

@Inna22 's advice, actually @Paige12 

[Ann72]

@Paige12  I don't think anyone has yet explained to you that the overall rating is NOT an average of the subcategories.  It's a category of its own.  So it's possible for a guest to give straight 5s in the categories but still assign a 1 for the overall stay.  That's apparently what happened here.  Did you review the guest positively?  If so, you can ask Airbnb to remove your review of that guest.  Sometimes that's our only recourse when we're blindsided by a negative or retaliatory review.   

Also, I don't quite understand having the guest sign a statement when checking in that they accept the place in as-is condition.  I mean I do understand the contract, but I don't understand the vibe or the reason behind it.  It seems to say that you've had a lot of experience with guests or renters finding less than satisfactory conditions.  So you've learned to have them sign this thing in case they find something that displeases them.  There isn't anything strictly wrong with that.  I assume it's clearly stated in your listing:

5.2 Contracting with Guests. When you accept a booking request, or receive a booking confirmation through the Airbnb Platform, you are entering into a contract directly with the Guest, and are responsible for delivering your Host Service under the terms and at the price specified in your Listing. ... Any terms, policies or conditions that you include in any supplemental contract with Guests must: (i) be consistent with these Terms, our Policies, and the information provided in your Listing, and (ii) be prominently disclosed in your Listing description.

And that the condition of the place is accurate and in line with the listing description:

6.1 Creating and Managing Your Listing. You are responsible for keeping your Listing information (including calendar availability) and content (like photos) up-to-date and accurate at all times. 

If the guest finds conditions that were not disclosed in your listing description, they can use those conditions as the basis for a demand for refund or a bad review, and the thing you have them sign won't supersede the Airbnb terms.

[Laura2592]

@Ann72 spot on. I would be very leery of a host that tried to get me to agree to some off platform paperwork stating that their place is in good condition. I would understand more if it were a long term stay as this is a common practice on a rental/landlord situation. But for a spot to vacation or hold a bachelor party? Seems fishy. 

A host can demand guests leave them a pet pony or a bag full of diamonds but its not enforceable unless its in the listing itself (and even then ABB doesn't always deign to agree.) This host has several reviews which seem problematic, and a few responses to them I would be asking to have removed. The language of the listing in general touts that you won't find a better value for the money. Given the high usage/large numbers, extra paperwork and agreements required, and position as a budget or at least bargain accommodation, its not a listing set up for the highest quality guest. Might be a good time to rebrand the whole thing. Seems like a really nice location. 

[Paige12]

@Laura2592As mentioned, the acknowledgement is after arrival and walk-through and the guest agrees to both the required walk-through and voicing all objections to the property's condition upon arrival just after their booking through our Reservation Agreement. And again, We DON'T Allow Bachelor Party's AT our property, we DO Allow Bachelor groups whom may call themselves a "Bachelor Party" to stay at our property.

In regards to your claim that we have any reviews "which seam problematic", I would suggest you go far deeper into our history of almost 100% 5* reviews with very few exceptions and all of which were recently, when a group attempted to have a party and we shut them down so they complained that they felt "Under surveillance because the owner lives on site".  And so many of our past reviews are extremely heartfelt wonderful reviews which not only acknowledge the great aspects of our property but which mentioned many wonderful things about us as operators.  In regards to you suggestion about us "rebrand the whole thing", I'd suggest to you to provide that kind of information given I was asking for marketing advise instead of the subject matter hereof.  So frankly and if you don't mind, Please stay on the subject matter.

I'm posting this to seek advise on the subject matter, not on your personal opinion as to what you would think we should do differently for matters that have nothing to do with the subject.