I recently had a completely honest review that I left for a guest removed apparently at the guests request despite it not breaking any of the policies. When I questioned it airbnb admitted it didn't break any review policy and then just wrote a couple of sentences of complete gibberish that didn't even make any sense which was supposed to be their reasoning for it and closed the message thread. I then asked if I could have some reviews removed that were clearly unfair and basically down to the guest not reading the listing description. For example no matter how clear you make it that the listing is not newly renovated and the bathroom is shared with other guests and that you are not on 24/7 cleaning watch for a bargain priced room and that guests need to leave the bathroom clean tidy and not to book if they can't share, you still get guests who book anyway for the cheap price and then complain in their review that everything wasn't brand new and there was evidence someone else had used the shared bathroom before them.. If you get something like 3 reviews less than 4 stars over any time period, even if you've also had 100 five star reviews over the same period you receive a derogatory email from airbnb and your listing gets suspended for about a week. This "punishment" is not reasonable and also makes airbnb not sustainable for basic rooms at a bargain price (empty rooms means prices have to increase to compensate and make it sustainable)... which is why I've left and taken on long term tenants. I never used to have these issues in the earlier years of airbnb, guests were extremely happy and grateful for a cheap place to stay despite the quality of my accommodation being far lower than it is today after I've upgraded it steadily ever since I started airbnb hosting. It's a mid level student/young professional house, it's nice and clean but things are not new, but in the last couple of years you just get more and more people that will leave you a nasty review for something tiny and rather than airbnb seeing this and adapting to it they just punish their hosts for their guests behavior. Just think of the amount of time and effort and expense you put in to airbnb for increasingly demanding guests. All the cleaning, the time messaging with guests, answering questions, the expense of buying bedding and things for the house, cleaning products, toilet paper. Okay so you may earn more from airbnb than taking on long term tenants but your expenses are far higher and if you work out your hourly rate you may realise that your pretty much on slave-labor rates and that you're basically working for airbnb for free. Maybe your time could be better spent earning money elsewhere while receiving a passive income from a long term tenant or lodger for far less hassle? At least that's the conclusion that I've drawn anyway!
