Removing a guests spite review- my 3 week process

[Liz528]

Hello fello hosts! I recently went through a grueling process to remove a guests 1 star review. I'm hoping this information helps someone else because when I was going through it I couldn't find much information from the Community page.

The Review:

 My guest [name removed], arrived at the house at check in. She claimed that they were there for maybe an hour, enough for her to take a shower, and the quickly left. She said that she felt unsafe because my neighbor was doing "sketchy stuff". Here's a snippet of her review:

I'd like to mention that I live DIRECTLY across the street from our Airbnb. I know my neighborhood well and I know my neighbors even better. My BLACK neighbor [name removed] frequently dog sits for me and is the kindest southern gentleman I know. I emphasized his race because I firmly believe that her "sketchy" remark later in the review has everything to do with him being black. Sure, my neighbor smokes, weed...its not my place to notify every guest of my neighbors personal lives, haha! I did not give her a refund for her same day cancellation... which led to a 1 star spite review

Contacting Support:

Over the course of 3.5 weeks I had sent dozens of messages to support, opened 4 cases, and called 6 times. I always got the same answer from the overseas help center "We will escalate this to the review department, they should message you soon." Days and weeks went by without help.

Yesterday I called again determined to talk with someone. I got a very nice gentleman and I expressed that I was done with being pushed around different departments and I wanted to be helped TODAY with a real person. So he forwarded me to a lady (based in the US) that I could easily communicate with and express my concerns. She read the first 2 sentences of the review and then deleted it right then and there, laughing the whole time... took no more than 2 minutes. I was on hold for a total of 3 hours yesterday but it was worth it. Don't give up

Summary:

The lady who helped me to review the review stated that it clearly didn't abide by the review policy. The guest can only claim something "unsafe" if it effects them inside the home. Feeling unsafe is a subjective feeling and cannot be used to write a bad review. At the end of the day she gave me a 1 star review out of anger for not returning her money. She cancelled outside of the cancellation window and thus didn't get a refund. I would have happily given her money back if it was an issue that I can control but this was clearly a women who was stereotyping my lovely neighborhood. 

** [Personal information hidden for privacy reasons–in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

[Jane64]

Yes, I also deleted some incorrect reviews. But Airbnb just does not show deleted reviews to other guests. However, they still affect the host rating (lower it).

[Lisa723]

@Jane64 not in my experience.

[Liz528]

Hi Jane. When Emily’s review was removed my rating returned to 4.96. Not sure if there are different situations though

[Ann72]

@Jane64 @Liz528 @Lisa723  I had a review removed this summer because it disclosed my location.  But the rep told me the stars would remain.  How did you get the stars removed?  (This particular review gave all 5s but a 4 for value.)

[Lisa723]

@Ann72 yeah, I don't know, when I've had reviews removed the stars went too. Maybe the rep has some discretion on that or maybe the process has changed.

[Alexandra316]

@Liz528  good for you for being persistent enough to get this removed! Ridiculous that it took that much work.

Interesting that safety can only be mentioned in a review if it pertains to the actual listing itself: I'd never heard that before. A good one to keep in the back pocket.

[Pat271]

Yes, thanks for sharing your experience.  It’s nice to know about that safety distinction, and it’s great to know that with persistence, justice can prevail.  Similar to other experiences I’ve had with Airbnb support, you sometimes just have to talk to the right person. 

[Ann3]

I had a spite review removed last summer and they DID remove the entire thing, stars and all. If it hadn't been so awful, it would have been comical. For one thing, the guest addressed the "private" remarks to future/potential guests, so the worst comments didn't appear on my listing. The only downside is that it removed my review of her, too, so there would be no warning potential hosts. 

[Liz528]

I didn't even think of the review from the Host! Wonder if that's traditional to review both. The host's review should stay for sure. 

[Sarah977]

@Liz528  Congratulations. Squeaky wheel gets the grease. The review was laughable- as if someone smoking pot next door presented a danger to her or was any of her business. If it was a bunch of meth heads, I could see cause for concern, but pot heads,  jeez. People can be so ignorant.

[Anonymous]

@Liz528  I'm happy to hear that you were successful here.  This review might not have violated the old Content Policy, but since Airbnb added the requirement that reviews have "relevancy," it most definitely qualifies for removal.

I find that when people use the term "sketchy" to describe a person or neighborhood, it usually turns out to reflect a racist or classist bias, and I think you called it out correctly as such. Unfortunately, this word all too often passes through the filters when guests deride the location of their Airbnb because they don't like the racial makeup of the neighborhood. I've brought this up many times as a reason Airbnb should remove the Location rating (I was surprised to find myself quoted by a journalist over that) but so far Airbnb has no comment on this subtle but impactful expression of racism.

[Inna22]

My entire state became sketchy last year if we go by this person’s definition of sketchy

[Kevin1322]

My entire country did 😬

[Juan63]

@Liz528 Liz I actually feel uneasy that you assume she didn't feel safe because your neighbor was BLACK. That seems to be just as inappropriate. If my neighbor smoked weed outdoors, I would think it would necessary to place that in my listing. The smell of weed is very strong and travels easily. Your assumption may cost her the ability to rent other airbnb's.