Will Airbnb really do nothing about a fraudulent review?

[Andrew2588]

I just stayed at a super sketch airbnb where the toilet didn't work for the first few nights of my stay, and the owner kept asking to enter  the flat when I was gone after I repeatedly told him I was uncomfortable with that, and showed up unannounced to try to get me to pledge to leave a positive review.

Due to how creepy it all was, I took a video as I was leaving, to demonstrate that I left the apartment in great condition, in case he followed through on his threats.

He went for a total character assassination, and I tried contacting support, but rather than reviewing the pics and videos, which could be time referenced with my uber to the airport, I just got a flat no from Airbnb.

Is customer service really this abysmal that a host can really trash my ability to use the platform with no factual recourse?!?

To Gustavo's credit, the bit about me peeing in the trash can is gold.  I wouldn't rent to me either.  What an imagination!

[Sarah977]

@Andrew2588  Unfortunately, Airbnb usually refuses to remove reviews unless you can point out to them what specifically violates their review policies.

Lies apparently don't because Airbnb takes the attitude that "it's a reflection of the user's experience". Guests who have been called out for rule breaking during a stay will often leave bad reviews that consist of nothing but fabrication. Airbnb will refuse to remove them, it doesn't even matter if the host has 100 5* reviews and the guest is a total newbie.

Normally they wouldn't know which party was lying-it's just one person's word against the other's. 

That you have photos, however, may help and you should never take one CS rep's decision as the final word. So if you really want to spend the time, you can pursue it, try again.

In the meantime, leave a review response. It will appear on your review page, not the host's, and be read by future hosts. So all you need to say is something like,

"I don't know who this host was reviewing, but it wasn't me. There were numerous issues during this stay regarding the non-functioning toilet, the host's intrusiveness and lack of respect, so perhaps this was a preemptive strike in presumption that he would receive a bad review. He had tried to pressure me to leave a good review and I obviously would not promise to do so. I have photos of how I left the place (clean and tidy), taken before check-out because I didn't trust this guy, and I was correct. The review is a complete fabrication.

Please refer to my other 39 reviews for an accurate picture of the kind of guest I am."

With a response like that (or likely even without a response), the review will not trash your ability to be accepted by other hosts. Hosts aren't so naive that we would believe a review like that when you have 39 positive reviews. We know there are sleazy hosts out there and we'd love to see them booted off the platform. 

I did look at this host's review page and he has many great reviews. It seems the toilet issue started this stay off on the wrong foot and just went downhill from there. 

[Colleen253]

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2673/airbnbs-review-policy

While we encourage and expect all community members to post reviews that contain objective and accurate information, Airbnb doesn’t mediate disputes concerning the truth of reviews. We expect the author of the review to stand behind the content of their review.