Retaliatory review - Guest furious because I would not give 5-hour extension to checkout

[Colette203]

I've had my first retaliatory review - because I could not give a late checkout due to enhanced Covid cleaning measures - and Airbnb has not got back to me in a week now since I started a case file. I had to wait one hour and 16 minutes to talk to somebody and then when I did, they just passed it up the ladder to some unidentified person in an unidentified department that will look at it at some unidentified time in as yet identified future.

Since that review I have not had one inquiry on that listing. I rent the property as a one and two bedroom option. Usually the one bedroom gets four times the action, but now I'm getting couples spending $30 more a night for the two bedroom. ONE BAD REVIEW CAN SINK YOU.

The guest - Cheryl Lee from North Vancouver - came to my house with her husband in May to see a relative in a care home and loved the place so much they booked for 6 weeks later for a holiday. Five star review. During that visit, she broke my house rules by bringing guests onto the property and told me that I should stay away from the house because she wanted privacy.

But I'm broke and desperate and stupid, so I let them come back. With their dog which rarely happens. This time, once again, she send me a message telling me to stay away from the property and that she is inviting guests over. I try to dissuade her. She insists. Do I call the police? Do I tell her flat out "what about the word no don't you understand" and risk a bad review. Finally, she asks me to block off an extra day on my calendar in case they want to stay. I do so and ask if they will  let me know asap what they want to do as I would like to be able to rent the house to other guests if they don't take it. Finally at 5:30 pm the night before their check out she lets me know they aren't going to stay an extra night but would instead just like a late check out at  3pm - 5 hours after my normal time. Good way to save money for them.

Anyway, she gave herself an hour late checkout anyways and wouldn't wave good-bye or even look at me when I went by to see them off - being the better person. 

Obviously, I'm furious. Airbnb has, once again, ignored a successful, long-term host's concerns by siding with a vindictive guest. I'm feeling less and less comfortable trusting my very expensive asset - my house - with this company.  Moreover I let myself get bullied by this guest. I was afraid of a bad review so I let her do things against my house rules, against my Covid rules. The moral of this story is to stand up for yourself with ** because they are likely going to give you a poor review no matter how you try to placate them.

**[Inappropriate content removed - Community Center Guidelines]

[Sarah977]

@Colette203  Sorry you had such a jerk guest. Yes, it's quite obvious from all the posts that appear on this forum that turning a blind eye to guest bad behavior or tiptoeing around bad guests afraid to say anything, all in fear of a bad review, is a losing proposition. Bad guests almost always leave bad reviews, no matter how accommodating to their nonsense you try to be.

In my experience, not just with guests, but with people in general, the entitled, bully types tend to have more respect for you when you stand firm and don't kowtow to them at all. They are used to being able to intimidate others, and often aren't used to not getting their way. When their tried and true techniques don't work the way they assume they will, they often change their tune and shape up. 

And even if they don't, at least we don't end up feeling stupid for accepting their disrespect, or allowing them to take advantage of us, as if that will make a difference and they will suddenly be nice people and leave a great review.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Colette203 I may have missed it but can't find a bad review of your property. Did you get it removed?

[Helen350]

@Mike-And-Jane0 

@Colette203  says the guest was Cheryl. The second review from the top, second most recent IS from a Cheryl..... Cheryl wrote "Great space. Fun to see her garden grow." And Colette reviewed her "Cheryl was very clean & respectful guest."

So if this is the same Cheryl, I'm confused........... Or was she retaliatory only with the stars?

And why did Colette praise her as "respectful"??????? 

[Emilia42]

I am confused as well. @Colette203, your reviews tell a different story. And actually a better story, so why not just leave it at that. Don't fret. No future guest (or host) has even the slightest clue of what went on.

[Debra300]

@Colette203,

I saw two reviews from Cheryl, one in May 2020 and the other in June 2020, and they were both favorable.  Did she write some private comments that you feel are derogatory?  

@Emilia42, @Helen350, @Mike-And-Jane0, @Sarah977, @Anonymous 

[Colette203]

She changed her review after I spoke to her. It happened between when I wrote this and today. Perhaps Airbnb does watch. I did give her a good review because she was in town dealing with a dying relative and I did not feel like I wanted to add to her distress. My plan was to contact her later and discuss how to be a better guest in person. 

[Lisa723]

@Colette203 if the review was changed after publication, that would be virtually unprecedented, not to mention contrary to Airbnb policy. Are you sure you are not mixing up private feedback and public review?

[Colette203]

I spoke to her and explained that she had made a a "retaliatory review" - which Airbnb will remove. She contacted them and had it altered.

[Lisa723]

@Colette203 that is truly astonishing.

[Mark116]

@Lisa723    I know I have seen more than one post on here where people contacted airbnb to say they had made a mistake, like they hit the wrong star, and wanted to change the review and airbnb always said 'no'...now we see a case where someone apparently made a super negative review and was allowed to change it to be positive??  LMAO, Airbnb is like the wild west now, anything goes.

[Emilia42]

@Lisa723 @Mark116, I am just as surprised that the guest got ahold of someone from Airbnb (in the current climate,) let alone change the text of a review after it was seen by both parties!!

[Lisa723]

@Mark116 yes, or where people accidentally said "is" instead of "is not" ...

[Colette203]

The review was changed. It happened between when I wrote this and today. Perhaps Airbnb does watch. I did give her a good review because she was in town dealing with a dying relative and I did not feel like I wanted to add to her distress. My plan was to contact her later and discuss how to be a better guest in person. 

[Anonymous]

@Colette203 I do agree with the last part of your advice - stand firm with your rules and don't be a doormat. But for the life of me I don't see how "Great space. Fun to see her garden grow" is a BAD REVIEW that can SINK YOU. What will it do, scare away guests who are terrified of plants?

Also: while it's nice that you have advice to share with the host community, that doesn't quite make up for the damage you've done by leaving not one but two dishonest positive reviews for a terrible guest. Thanks to you, this guest will be even more emboldened to keep abusing people's hospitality, and the next host will have no idea what kind of monster they're letting into their home. Next time, don't just tell your story in the forum - tell it in the review!