Review from guests after Airbnb cancels the guests booking due to rules being broken.

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

I had a guest book via IB, on the welcome message via Airbnb platform I noticed that the person only booked for himself so I reminded him that only persons on the booking will be admitted as per stated in my rules (which state clearly only authorised guests may enter the property). The guest asks if he can check in early, as my previous guest checked out early my co host msg him saying that is fine and she will Meet/Greet the guest. The guest replies back saying he now will be late So no need for the co host to wait.  She thought it was obviously a little odd and replied back stating that he was the only person on the booking and he security at the gate are aware of this as by now even she is a little suspicious.

So he turns up late in the evening and has another 4 people with him in his suv. The security grant access but as they saw 5 people going into the apartment they call the co host to inform her of the events. She calls the guest and he states he did not know and will call her back for a resolution. He did not call back or answer any of the comments hosts calls. I send a message via Airbnb stating due to our rules which is a maximum of 4 people which are disclosed on the booking the booking would need to be amended and the 5th person cannot stay at our 2 bed apartment and would need to leave immediately. No answer from guest including calls I made to his phone. We send security up to the apartment and guest states he is going to leave. However he stays with the 5 guests without making any attempt to amend his booking or ask the 5th person to leave.

I contact Airbnb to update them on the fact he has many people in our apartment and avoiding any contact with various people including host/co host/ Security. Airbnb come back to me and state it is unacceptable and they will contact him. 30 minutes later I get a call from Airbnb stating they have cancelled his booking.  However he is still in the apartment with 5 people. The security goes back to the apartment and states he must leave the premises. He ignores the phone call and knocking at the door.

6am the co host turns up at the apartment and all the 5 are still there. They will not respond to the co host knocking on the door dispute there booking being cancelled.

The police are called then another story as they are trespassing on my property.

My issue now is this guest has left a review and no doubt it will be scathing. Why has Airbnb allowed him leave a review considering all the above which they are aware of.

Btw looking at the transcript of our conversation on Airbnb it states the guests cancelled! Which is odd as Airbnb said they cancelled his booking. Maybe a glitch on the system?

[Anonymous]

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0  Unfortunately, Airbnb's review policy allows reviews from all bookings cancelled on or after the arrival date - regardless of the reason for cancellation. There's no feature to block reviews from guests who broke the rules. Part of the reason for this was compliance with consumer protection laws in the UK and other countries. 

All I can suggest is that you study up on the Content Policy, so when the review is published you can scrutinize it for any detail that's in breach, that might give you cause to have it removed. And by all means, post a reciprocal review with the honest facts about what happened, and prepare a concise public response with your future guests in mind as the audience. If the guest's review sticks, the silver lining is that it gives you a chance to demonstrate that you take your rules seriously and don't tolerate any funny business. Your rating average might go down, but reasonable guests will be able to see that it was a revenge review and not an honest reflection of your home.

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

Thanks for the info. The guest left a review all 1s as expected, All lies and contradictions which I have proof of, It will be Interesting to see if Airbnb let his review stand. Especially since the police were quite willing to charge them which would make them criminals if they were convicted, I am not really willing to just contradict these people as I see it as lowering myself by replying to thugs.

[Anonymous]

@Andrew-and-Yvonne0  I totally agree that you should not let the fear of bad ratings deter you from defending your home against people who abuse it. Airbnb is just your listing service, not your boss, and if they're not serving you well, there are other platforms available. 

But I wouldn't consider it lowering yourself to post a brief and professional rebuttal to the review - not to contradict the criticism, but rather to simply state that you terminated the booking due to violations of your House Rules. 

It's not entirely necessary to do this step - it's clear that you have many excellent reviews, and it's easy to see that the bad one was just sour grapes. Funny story, though - recently I was looking for a nice restaurant to order a special-occasion dinner from, and one I was considering looked appealing but really expensive. So I checked out the reviews on Google, and one of the first ones that came up was pretty negative. But the owner's response to it was so wonderfully witty that I hesitated no more and put the order in immediately. 

[Fred13]

I would take a more cunning approach, I would also tactfully put the onus on Airbnb as being too obtuse (aka stupid) to continue a policy of allowing a review by a guest that is being actually thrown out because they behaved like Neanderthals, which is really the absurdity of the situation. 

[Andrew-and-Yvonne0]

Clearly this policy of Airbnb is flawed, How can a guest act with criminal negligence and the host be penalised? I completely understand you get good/difficult guests. However if Airbnb cancel the booking therefore ending their contract with the guest. How can Airbnb allow them to leave a review. 

Bigger picture is it is my home and I will not allow someone to screw it over so I can be a Superhost. The additional monies that the police made the guest pay ( Another nights stay+extra guests) to our co-host a 100% went as a donation to the Police and the building security as they averted a potential disaster I personally just wanted them out.