Terrible Host - **

[Penny386]

Has anyone else tried to leave an honest and negative review for the host **.? **. She bullied us, violated our privacy, and tried to extort us for extra money and she seems to know how to manipulate the airbnb platform to hide her bad behavior.  Airbnb has not acted in good faith with my efforts to hold her accountable and I have to believe there are other guests with similar experiences. She managed to get airbnb to remove my review and I am betting she has done the same to others.  She has only positive reviews posted that I can see, but based on how we were treated by her, I know there must be others out there that she has treated poorly as well.  Please contact me if you too have had a bad experience with her and we will band together to force airbnb to hold her accountable.  Please do not book with **. 

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[Colleen253]

@Penny386 Host don't tend to call the police on guests unless the guest is a big problem. 

This is a global forum btw, so your query is going to be fruitless.

[Penny386]

My purpose is to make others aware of this host and their bad actions. And you are correct good hosts don't usually call police on guests unless they are a big problem.  So you can imagine how annoyed the policeman was to have been called out for the reason that the host knowingly booked the property to me as a first time airbnb guest when I told them it was for my son and 3 others.  Suddnely 10 days in they decided I was a third party booker so we should be forced to leave.  I went and stayed at the property since I hadn't known the rule at booking but once made aware I went and stayed so I wouldn't be in violation and the host still called the police.  The police thought it was ridiculous since the host had been paid in full and we had zero complaints from the neighbors.  We were respectful and the host was trying to bully us out so they could keep our $16,000 and rerent.  We were respectful and courteous guests and this was a scam by the host from day one and the police saw it as such and told the host that very thing.  So if you are a good host good for you.  But you should be just as upset as I am that hosts like ** can behave this way and hurt the whole system.  This host also came on the property unannounced and walked right in the door without permission claiming to be delivering unrequested creamer for the coffeemaker.  I bet good hosts don't do that either.  Maybe get the facts before you suggest who you think is in the wrong @Colleen253 

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[Emilia42]

@Penny386 If you wanted to make others aware, you should have left a review. 

[Penny386]

I did leave a review and it was removed  Airbnb will not a state a reason for removing it. All airbnb says is sorry for the inconvenience.  I asked for a supervisor and airbnb said it will take up to 72 hours.  Does this really sound like a company that is concerned about quality?  It doesn't to me. So you see airbnb has failed all guests because this host has found a way to prevent negative reviews from being posted about her.  After my experience I cannot believe I am the only guest she has bullied and treated badly but she knows the system well enough to prevent bad reviews from being posted.  Airbnb did not notify me they removed it and they provide no reasons and no recourse so this is the only way I have found to warn people.  But thanks for your concern @Emilia42 .  

[Penny386]

As superhosts, rather than assume I am a bad guest who deserved to be treated badly, you should be concerned that a bad host is making the title of superhost meaningless.  I am all for good hosts being recognized but not hosts who game the system and bully guests.  All of you superhosts should be equally upset that someone has a title you worked hard to earn and deserve and is ruining it.  But keep suggesting I haven't done all I can to respect and use the process if it makes you feel better.  Meanwhile superhost ** is out there destroying the reputation of superhosts and airbnb as a whole.  I have nothing to gain by putting myself out here for your ridicule.  I don't intend to spend $16,000 to be treated the way Superhost ** treated me ever again.  I am through with airbnb for good.  So you can thank her and hosts like her for dragging this platform down if you want to continue to defend her.

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[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Penny386 Can you remember what your review said? I can only think it somehow broke the rules covering reviews and hence the host was able to get it removed. Feel free to post the URL of the listing. There is always a suspicion that Airbnb favours big corporate hosts over us little guys or it may be that they just play the rules better.

[Penny386]

Thank you very much for asking and at least giving me the benefit of consideration that I am as interested in airbnb working well as you are.  I don't know why or how but I continued  to complain to customer service and as I said earlier demanded an escalation and an explanation.  And suddenly  after that and complaining in the community and commenting on an instagram page of the CEO of airbnb - the reviews are back.  Shouldn't take that much effort for airbnb to do the right thing.  

[Lisa723]

@Penny386 I'm glad you were able to get what you wanted, but, making no judgments about what actually happened, your very long and emotional review, in conjunction with the many other great reviews this host has, makes you look like the questionable party.

Similarly, your somewhat dramatic response to the host's review of you would give me pause as a host receiving a request to book from you. It's important to know that ** will most likely never see that response. Its audience is other hosts that you might want to book with in future-- and it is not reassuring.

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[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Penny386 I am no expert but I cannot see anything in your review that would cause it to be removed. Anyway it is back now so at least that part of Airbnb is functioning correctly.

I do see many issues on the CC with these 'mega' hosts. Yours has 17 listings which is not as big as some but even so they are unlikely to be as easy to deal with as those who only have 1 or 2 listings. 

[Mark116]

@Penny386  That review does you no favors.  Also, the listing states that only registered guests are allowed to spend the night, yet by your own admission you repeatedly broke this rule by having multiple people sleep over, and you don't seem to understand that this is a problem.  

[Penny386]

You are right Mark - I did break the rule and for everyone's benefit - and again being a stupid first time airbnb user- I thought then when I rented a property for 24 days for 4 people when the capacity was for 7 people that the host would understand that my son's girlfriend had slept over 2 times.  And on other days a local friend slept over 2 times as well.  These were all because those few friends had stayed to visit past a safe time to leave and go home.  Yes - that broke the rules and I should have read the rules more carefully.  But I foolishly was honest with the host and told them after the fact these very specific details and when they pointed out it was a violation I apologized, offered to never do it again, and even offered to pay extra so we could finish our stay.  Again- the host wanted none of it.  My understanding from friends who have used airbnb is that it is extremely unusual for a host to allow no visitors on the property ever for any duration.  So yep you caught me - we threw no parties, had no extra people living there, tried to keep safety in mind but we did break the rules.  And if you think that justies having the police remove me and losing $16,000 then **.  Again, these violations were brought to the hosts attention by me because I thought my honesty and the fact that I did not read the rules stupidly. We would not have probably chosen this property since it is pretty unrealistic that we would rent an airbnb for 24 days and never have any visitors.  Again - with a hotel I could have done these things and it would have been totally fine.  And thats where you will find me in the future.  Not airbnb.  And for those of you who want to see my situation and pick it apart and take nothing from it other than I am a rule breaking, emotional, terrible guest you are glad is gone - that is your perogative.  For those of you who want to see my story as an opportunity to make airbnb better - I wish you success.

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[Mark116]

@Penny386  It's actually a very, very common rule on Airbnb that only registered guests are allowed on the property, we have the same rule for our humble Jersey City apartment.  The rule exists to prevent parties and extra, unregistered guests being sneaked in, as many properties charge an extra guest fee over a certain number.

I have no idea what the reason the host called the police might be, but I suspect that more was going on here than what you have outlined, since the host, seemingly, generously, did not mention that she felt the need to call the police/try to shorten your stay, only that there was a lot of 'drama'.  There is also the fact that the rest of the reviews on multiple properties are all very positive, this makes your stay seem like an outlier.  You're probably correct that Airbnb is not the best fit for you, not everyone is a good match for the platform which in theory requires more attention to detail/behavior from guests than a hotel.

[Penny386]

@Mark116 .  Glad we agree.  But hard to let you make unfounded accusations without setting the record straight.  Really - ** was vague and chose Drama because there were actual facts that justify her behavior that she didn't state?  **.  If I threw a party or had extra guests living there or there were complaints she could have easily been brief and stated them  Her review is purposely short and vague because she cannot defend her actions.  All the reasons you state for not allowing extra guests are fair and understandable but have no relevance to what actually happened here.  My review was long and detailed because I provided facts.  If you choose to believe I left terrible actions out that's your choice but its a stretch.  I was able to stay for my full reservation, I had 3 agents confirm I had done nothing to warrant being kicked out and the police scolded the host.  If that suggests to you there is more to the story that justifies the hosts actions then so be it- **

And if you saw how this thread began - I stated that mine is the only negative review and that I find it very suspicious that there are no other negative reviews as well.  My suspicion as I stated, is that this host know how to work the system to get negative reviews removed.  There is no way that she treated me this badly and has only been wonderful to others.  It is clear by the effort I have put into this chat and working with customer service that not many people are like me and willing to put the time and effort into warning others and fighting for the transparency that airbnb claims it offers.  I am sure there are other bad experience posts that she managed to get removed just like she did to mine but those guests didn't want to make the effort to get them reposted.  I get that hosts won't want to believe me or host me but my hope is that other guests don't get put through the hell that ** put me through.  And if a few hosts care about what a bad superhost can do to the reputation of airbnb then that is icing on the cake.  My review may be unappreciated by hosts but as a guest I would have been grateful to have seen it before I booked with **

Have a great day!

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[Mark116]

@Penny386  As a long time  host and frequent reader of this forum, I know that it is almost impossible for hosts to get reviews removed, even those that are clearly false and retaliatory. Your belief that this host is getting all the negative reviews removed is extremely unlikely, verging on impossible.