Reviews being removed regarding *Adult Party* and automated message "This host cancelled 3 days before arrival."

[Zach111]

Hey all, 

I wanted to get some second opinions on this topic to see if you had any information or advice on what to do.  For starters, I travel year round and essentially live out of Airbnb's.  I have been a very good customer and spend a LOT of money.  Given the amount of properties I have stayed at, I have certainly come by my fair share of really bad stories.  Most of them I can look past, but recently I have 2 particular stories that really bother me in particular.  

A couple of months ago, I was staying at an Airbnb in Melbourne, AU.  On my first night, around 2 hours (if that) after arrival, the host began to bring a large amount of people over.  They then continued to have an *ADULT PARTY*.  It went from the hours of 10 PM to 6 AM.  I could absolutely not sleep.  It was horrendous.  The noises were far beyond the usual noises you'd expect, it was so disturbing and I did not sleep at all. The people from the *ADULT PARTY* were using the bathroom I was supposed to use as well.  When I would go outside of my room which everyone had to walk past, I could see everything happening as well! My room did not have a lock and I felt like a prisoner in there because it was so awkward to leave the room! I should also note that when I arrived that night, there was a cat closed into my private room with cat poop on the bed! The next day I texted the host to address this *ADULT PARTY* situation and tell him it made me feel uncomfortable, but was very polite.  I was meant to stay here for over 2 weeks.  Upon looking, there were no other good properties to move to that were still in my budget or that I liked within this last minute time frame.  The host owned up to his behavior and apologized.  I accepted and moved on with my day.  I then finally made it down to the kitchen for the first time and this is when I changed my mind.  The food, dishes, cutlery, floor and counter had dried foot on all of them.  There was even food dripping out of the fridge.  It was so appalling, I could not even eat there and I was absolutely not dealing with this for 2 weeks.  I then contacted Airbnb and requested to move.  They did not seem to care about this situation in the slightest, even given I had proof of everything.  Said I was responsible for paying the night I spend and the fee of booking new places.  This was absurd, but I did move and it costed me money and I had to go to 3 different properties. I then went to write an honest review about my time there and again, very polite but 100 percent honest.  As someone who lives out of Airbnb year round, I really rely on a good review! I know they are essential.  Airbnb removed my review because I used the term *ADULT PARTY*  and said it violated their policies but then actually even continued to say to me "But don't worry, we won't be removing you from Airbnb for this". LOL!!!! So, I cannot say that in a review, but it is ok for a guest to have to experience that!!?? Seems like a double standard. No matter how much I complained, nothing was done.  Fast forward to 1 month later, I decided to check the guys account and see his recent reviews. A lady posted a review almost IDENTICAL to mine!!! It was left up because she used a different term than *ADULT PARTY*.  She even wrote how she texted the host, promised it wouldn't happen again and then it did.  She then said how she had to leave at 1 am to a hotel because she was so disturbed and uncomfortable with the situation.  I reached out to Airbnb with this new info about someone else also now having said the same thing and have no reply, says case closed.  Does Airbnb just not care??

My next situation just happened 2 weeks ago, also in Melbourne.  I booked a place 2 weeks before arriving, options were already slim.  A couple good left, but I made my decision and was happy with it.  He had no reviews but property looked good. A week before arrival, the host (a superhost) decided to write me and said he no longer wanted to host and did not have a good reason why.  I tried to reason with him but I did have to get Airbnb involved.  Airbnb actually sided with me on this one and said the host was going against the policies in place.  They spoke with the host and he agreed to honor the reservation. All was good and I was happy it worked out.  Then 3 days before arrival (just 1 week after the host agreed to Airbnb to still honor my reservation), the host cancelled my reservation and messaged me saying "As you know, I decided to not host anyone at this time".  SO- he totally knew when he told Airbnb he was going to honor it that he was just going to cancel on me anyways! I really had NO options left at this point.  Airbnb apologized and they removed their service fee from the 2 new properties I had to book. It still costed me over 1,000 USD extra because this man cancelled on me last minute.  Airbnb assured me that this host would have to pay penalties, possibly remove his superhost status and it also showed on his account the automated message "This host cancelled the reservation 3 days before arrival." I saw the automated post and I was at least happy that was there. He deserved that. Today, something told me to look at his profile.  Sure enough, the automated message "This host cancelled the reservation 3 days before arrival." had been removed!!! I called Airbnb to discuss it and they said they would speak to management and get back to me. But I know nothing will be done.  I cannot even understand how they could possibly remove this review as it was automated and it was exactly what the host did, he cancelled 3 days before arrival!! And because it's automated, I really cannot find any valid reasons how Airbnb can justify this.  

I am beside myself and cannot believe this.  It even states in Airbnb policies that reviews cannot be removed unless they contain certain words and the automated messages cannot be removed.  Airbnb removed my first review for the word relating to *ADULT PARTY*.  Ok, fine. But shouldn't they have punished the host in some way and look into it especially given the girl posted a same experience as me???

And how about the automated "This host cancelled the reservation 3 days before arrival" review?! There is absolutely NO reason that one should have been removed.  I am upset about it because of the stress and LOTS of extra money it costed me.  It is really shady and a slap in the face to me as a customer that spends 5 figures with them each year as it is essentially my rent payment! 

If you can please comment a similar experience or advice of what to do, I greatly appreciate it.  I am even starting to consider taking this to some news outlet or something because maybe that will finally get their attention and management will need to directly address that publicly.  This behavior is so wrong. I have 42 reviews on my profile saying that I am a great guest and that speaks for itself that I am not a problem.  I am polite, clean and I keep to myself.  What I have mentioned above is just bad business and a shady company tactic.  I believe these are reasonable things to be upset about and most would be. I never complained when a cat had fleas at an Airbnb and I had 30 flea bites (now scars) or when an Airbnb host was not happy with my review and found me on social media and harassed me. So many more stories and I never spoke up.  I know things can happen, but these 2 things are completely inexcusable to me and I am looking to see that something gets done.

Please advise! We all are what makes up the Airbnb community and we ALL rely on being able to leave and trust reviews.  If that is being taken away from us, then why even bother?

*Note, I just had to repost this as they removed this article as well for the usage of a certain word that I have now replaced with *Adult Party*. -This removal and hiding things is so wrong.

[Sarah977]

@Zach111  Since you use Airbnb all the time, I would suggest you peruse the posts here more often. Not just this Help forum, but also the Hosting forum, which guests are welcome to participate in. 

What you have experienced is what tons of hosts and guests alike have been subject to. It's incredibly frustrating and angering. You sound like a really good guest, and of course these host's behaviors you encountered are not in the least okay, just like hosts get guests whose behavior isn't in the least okay.

As far as reviews go, Airbnb does have a policy about on what grounds they will remove a review, and it seems you used some term, which you have now changed for the purpose of your post to "adult party". Both hosts and guests have to be really careful not to say something or use words in the review which can be interpreted by Airbnb to violate their review policies, or if the other party complains, it can be removed. It's a stupid tiptoe game, and of course, no one likes it. Some honest reviews that should be left to warn others get removed because the poster used some word Airbnb objects to. Yet users are allowed to post total lies and Airbnb lets the reviews stand. The entire review system as it stands should be scrapped, it is fatally flawed. 

It's really best not to go into detail in a review- state issues briefly and in general terms, it will still get the point across. Something like "Host threw a big, noisy party which prevented me from sleeping, I felt unsafe as there was no lock on my door, and there were suddenly 30 people using the the bathroom I was only supposed to be sharing with the host. Shared kitchen was unusable in the morning due to the mess left from the party." will warn other guests to steer clear and won't give Airbnb reason to remove it.

As far as advice, what I can tell you is that some Airbnb reps are clueless, robotic, and unhelpful and some are knowledgable and work with you towards an acceptable outcome. If you get one of the former, it's best to just thank them for their time, hang up and phone back, in the hopes that you'll get a better rep the next time. Don't even mention that you were just talking to someone else about it. You may have to do this several times before you get someone who understands and is willing to do some actual work on your behalf.

The bottom line is that the company has gotten too big, and all they seem to care about is their profits, not effectively resolving users' issues. There are plenty of hosts and guests who should be banned from the platform, but Airbnb doesn't remove them. Luckily there are still lots of great guests and hosts out there, doing their best by each other and making Airbnb work for them in spite of the company policies and abyssmal customer service.

[Zach111]

Hi @Sarah977  - Thank you for your detailed reply!  You are right, I am definitely going to make more use of this forum!  I do also believe that it was the word I used.  However, I think it is so wrong as it was the three letter word beginning with S, which was describing exactly what happened! If I had to endure it as a guest and if it is not ok for it to be in a review, one would think the host should simply not be allowed to host! It seems to be a double standard :-(.  

I agree that it should entirely be scrapped.  I think a LOT with Airbnb needs to be scrapped for that matter.  Speaking to their staff or getting any help is such an infuriating experience with them.  I truthfully with I could never use Airbnb, but it's unfortunately one of the only good options.  I think Airbnb knows that and that is also why they just do not care...

I am curious what your thoughts are about my other experience? It states on their website that Automated Reviews CAN'T be removed.  So what do you think of them removing one of a host cancelling on me 3 days before arrival?  The host cancelled on me for what his excuse was of charity, which does not fall into any of the allowed categories.  Airbnb spoke with him reminding him of Airbnb Superhost standards and he agreed to still host me. Then, 1 week later, 3 days before arrival, he still cancelled on me after all.  Airbnb informed me he would receive penalties, look at his superhost status and the automated message would be posted.  I saw the message on his profile and it is no longer there.  I am particularly upset because I incurred around 1,000 USD extra cost because of his last minute cancellation booking a new place.  So him getting it removed and not being held accountable is so upsetting to me! Why should I have to pay all of that money just because the host supposedly decided he wanted to do charity? If they can wipe it off his profile, they should also have to wipe away the extra costs I incurred (but we know that will never happen.). It is also an issue to me because they are going against what it says word for word on their website, their own policy!! And if they are truly deleting reviews and automated messages, that is also so upsetting because what is the point of them? Hosts AND guests rely on reviews to be able to make the best decision for themselves.  They never have a good enough excuse or logical reasonings and I don't think they actually truly understand the issue part of the time.  They told me that after review the case manager decided they would remove the automated message.  I don't understand it for two reasons as his reason for cancelling does not fit  requirements and on top of that, even if they did waive the penalties, the automated review posting is totally separate from that. I am not even sure how an automated message could ever have even been up for consideration of getting reviewed 😞 

Sorry for my rant.  I am really upset with Airbnb about a lot of things and this has really pushed me over the edge with them. It is mostly about the principle and them as a company rather than the actual situation. I really wish a lot of us could come together to expose them lol.

[Sarah977]

@Zach111  Yeah, it's really frustratiing, and it's hard to understand why Airbnb makes the decisions it does. Many of them are totally illogical. Are you sure that cancellation notice got removed? Reviews aren't in chronological order- it might show up on page 3 of the reviews or something now.

As far as the word you used in the review that caused the review to be removed, I can tell you that if a host wrote specifically about guests having loud s** that disturbed the household, that review would be removed as well. Airbnb considers such things to be privacy issues. The host would just have to speak in general terms about the guests being disrespectful or loud.

[Zach111]

[Linda108]

As to your issue about the automated review for cancelling, yes it can be removed if the host produces proof of an extenuating circumstance. You don't know if the property or the host was compromised.  Deciding not to host "anymore" could mean  the host was medically compromised.  Things like that can happen when your only option is the single listing of a host.  Stuck between a rock and a hard spot is the saying that fits your experience I would say.