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]

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  But the guest didn't say she objected to the smell. She said it made her feel unsafe. Whether it was because she is under the impression that pot smokers are dangerous people or because of his race no one knows for sure. 

But the fact that this guest left a spiteful 1* review because she expected to be refunded because of her own perception of "safe", acting as if the host should have told her it was unsafe because the neighbor smoked pot, means to me that she should lose her ability to rent other Airbnb's. 

If she had simply said the smell really bothered her, that would be different. But portraying a place as "unsafe", not because there's loose boards with nails sticking out of them, or neighbors having loud fights or brandishing weapons,  but simply because of one's subjective ideas, and then leaving a revenge review, isn't someone I'd be sticking up for. 

How would you like it if a guest left after an hour and wrote a review saying your place was unsafe because she thinks anyone with tattoos is scary and must be dangerous?

[Juan63]

@Sarah977 She never mentioned race, so you are assuming. As unfair as it may seem, one is allowed to measure their own temperature of safety. Once again, alluding that her definition of safety is based solely on the neighbor being “BLACK” is equally inappropriate and smells of virtue signaling.

[Patrick568]

Just your use of the term virtue signaling is a joke. This woman had a legitimate complaint concerning the review. 

[Anonymous]

@Juan63  When it comes to reviews, I do think it's important to stick to the facts - report the guest's conduct, but not your feelings about what caused it. If this host had called the guest a racist in her review, that would have been inappropriate. But I don't see any indication that this is what happened.

It's surprising to me that you feel hosts are obliged to disclose in their listings what their neighbors do on their own property. It's well beyond a host's control what might be happening in someone else's backyard. If you live in the middle of a dense city, you might have dozens of neighbors whose activities can be seen, heard, or smelled by a guest; are you seriously advocating that these should be mentioned in the listing - with no regard for the neigbors'  privacy - on the off chance that one of thise activities might make a hypersensitive guest feel unsafe?

Maybe you would be comfortable hosting guests who flee after an hour and demand a refund because they're terrified of the sight of a joint next door. But I doubt most hosts would want to take this risk. No host is in any position to control what their neighbors are doing. You're obliged to provide a safe environment inside the home, but guests are responsible for their own safety outside of it. Yes, the smell of weed might travel over the fence, and so could any number of far more potentially harmful gases such as the smoke from a barbecue. Do you actually think this is something hosts should be held responsible for? 

[Juan63]

 @Anonymous Let’s not pretend that the smell of weed can’t be a problem. Many families would have an issue with this. The host knows this person smokes, and I imagine quite often. So they should disclose that. Weed may not be a problem in your neighborhood but it still is here. You are not responsible for your neighbor playing loud music but if he plays loud music all the time, and you know it, that will be a great discomfort to your guest. So you should disclose it.

[Anonymous]

@Juan63  So despite this neighbor being @Liz528 's friend and dogsitter, it's your view that she should publicly expose him as a pot smoker in her listing? This does not strike me as very good problem-solving, nor a way to be a responsible friend and neighbor. 

Now given the personal relationship between the host and her neighbor, she could request that he be a little more discreet with his pot usage when she has guests that would be bothered by it. But considering her dozens of top-notch reviews, there doesn't seem to be a pattern of guests experiencing great discomfort over what the neighbor does in his own property. I agree that if there was loud music all the time it would be appropriate to disclose it - and in fact Airbnb provides a "Potential for noise" disclaimer that you can select under the "Other things to note" tab. There is no "Potential for odor" or "potential for panic" button.

[Sarah977]

@Juan63  My response to you concerned your defense of the guest- a guest who stated in her review not that she "felt" unsafe, but that the neighbor smoked pot and so the host should have disclosed that the area was unsafe. As if smoking pot objectively creates an unsafe situation. Then she left a 1* retaliation review based on her own perceptions of a pot-smoking neighbor being somehow a safety threat to her. She didn't say she was bothered by the smell, that isn't the issue. And even if she was, if pot is legal where the listing is, anyone can stand on the sidewalk smoking a joint, it doesn't have to be the neighbor doing it for the smell to be present.

As I said, no one knows, not the host or any of us reading here, if the "unsafe" perception was because of the neighbor's race, and I wouldn't assume that myself. Only the guest knows that.

It could very well be a violation of privacy for a host to say in their listing that the neighbor smokes pot. If I had a houseful of bikers living next door, roaring back and forth on their Harleys, I would mention the noise factor in my listing. But if the neighbor sits outside on his front porch drinking beer and belching and farting all day, is that something that should be mentioned? What if the neighbor has 3 teenage daughters who sit outside putting on nail polish? That smells pretty bad- should that be mentioned? 

[Sammy35]

while the whole experience of spite is ridiculous, i personally would disclose vapors or odors of any kind (tobacco pot animals whatever).   i see assumptions going both ways.  overall, pot, is no different disclosure, if not worse, than noise and i personally consider the dead or alive skunk stench more offensive and obnoxious than noise.