host threatening fines/legal action for negative reviews

[Crissy15]

I recently had a terrible experience with a host. We had issues from the moment I booked and when I arrived, the place was filthy. Every issue we had they insisted that I was lying about (even though I thoroughly documented everything). I left after one night and have no real hopes of getting any of my money back. However, I fully intended to leave a review detailing my experience. They sent out a supplemental lease document prior to check-in, my fault for not reading it thoroughly. Part of the text says "Any comments made publicly on any review sites or Online forum that are below a 4 star, untrue/ defamatory/ slander/libel/ bias/ discriminatory will be fined by additional $100 per day, all attorney and collecting attempt costs until the review is removed." I have no interest in a legal battle, or any further contact with these guys. Can they really pursue legal action if I leave a bad review? Could I get away with just quoting this part of the contract in my review and leave it at that?

[Debra300]

@Crissy15,

I don't suggest that you spend much energy worrying about that clause, and write an honest non-emotional review as I recommended to you in another thread.  You can still leave appropriate star ratings for the sub-categories, such as communication, cleanliness, accurracy, etc., and leave an overall 4 star review.  The host doesn't realize that a 4 star review is not considered good according to Airbnb, and will not enable him to achieve SuperHost status.

So, you do you, and everything will be fine.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Crissy15 What country were you staying in? If this were in the UK it would not be legally enforceable - No idea about the US.

Anyway I think @Debra300 gives a good solution - perhaps you could also say in the review text that you only gave 4 stars due to the following text being included in the supplemental lease document and then quote from it! Just make sure you are not breaching the agreement. You could always post your ideas here - I am sure people will comment to ensure it is not in breach of Airbnb's rules.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Anonymous Are the hosts in breach of Airbnb's T&Cs by using threats to gain good reviews? If so @Crissy15 should also report them to Airbnb for this.

[Debra300]

@Katie, @Nick, @Liv, @Lizzie, @Quincy,

Would you please weigh-in on the situation that @Crissy15 has described?

[Anonymous]

@Crissy15 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Debra300    See here:  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews

Extortion or incentivization

Any attempt to use reviews or review responses to force a person to do something they aren’t obligated to do is a misuse of reviews, and we don’t allow it.

People who use Airbnb aren’t allowed to tie positive reviews to promises of compensation or to threaten negative reviews if a desired outcome is not met. Violations may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of your Airbnb account.

This policy prohibits:

• Guests threatening to use reviews or ratings in an attempt to force a host to provide refunds, additional compensation, or a reciprocal positive review.
• Hosts requiring a guest to leave a positive review or rating, or to revise a review in exchange for a partial or full refund, or a reciprocal review. Hosts also cannot offer a free or discounted stay in exchange for a guest revising an existing review.
• Hosts or guests asking someone to take specific actions related to a review in exchange for the resolution of a dispute.

This policy does not prohibit:

• A guest from contacting a host with a problem prior to leaving a review.
• A host or guest seeking refunds or additional payment and leaving a review - where that review is not used as a threat to sway the outcome of a resolution.
• A host from asking a guest to leave an honest positive review or rating reflecting a positive experience.
• A host or guest from revising a review within the time constraints for revision.

[Anonymous]

@Crissy15   Additionally: it is not possible for a host to "fine" a guest  via Airbnb for writing a negative review,  because Airbnb does not honor claims like this. Regardless of the terms of the lease agreement you signed, they don't supersede the Terms of Service that the host is bound to when they list on Airbnb - which, as you can see in the above Extortion policy, they are in serious breach of.

Please do leave an honest review before the 14-day period elapses. Leave whatever star ratings you feel fairly represent your experience  (i.e. don't leave 1 stars for everything purely out of retaliation, if some aspects of your stay were satisfactory). But also, you should separately report this host to Airbnb with visible evidence that all of their guests have been subject to an act of extortion. 

This should result in the listing being banned from the platform, but given the conditions of the customer-service operation these days it's anyone's guess if Airbnb will ever take appropriate action. Just be sure your review follows Airbnb's content policy, and the host won't have any grounds to get it removed. Guests need to be warned what they're getting themselves into.

Don't worry about the threat of legal action either - your review and any other content you submit to this platform is the property of Airbnb, as they are the party that publishes it. They delete content that exposes them to the risk of a defamation suit, but those are extremely hard to win - this host is just a bully.

[Sarah977]

@Crissy15  In the future, if you find you have issues with a host "from the moment we booked", it would be advisable to cancel the reservation right then and there. With most reservations, unless they are last-minute, you have 48 hours to cancel a reservation with full refund. Be pro-active in reading and being very clear on the cancellation policy for a listing before you book, so you understand the conditions under which you can cancel and receive a full refund. 

I'm not sure why you seem sure you won't be eligible for a refund for this place, I think that given all the issues, Airbnb will refund you, at least partially. Unfortunately, their customer service is abysmal these days, and it may take quite awhile to resolve, but just be patient and persistent.

And don't be afraid to leave an honest review, which you have every right to do. The host has made empty threats and should be banned from the platform.

[Crissy15]

Thanks @Anonymous I have reported the listing, hopefully Airbnb will act. I looked a little further and the host is actually a management company with about 30 properties in the Seattle area. Not sure they all have the same "rules" about reviews, but it looks like they might. They also advertise direct contact information on some of their listings, which I think is also in violation of Airbnb's terms of use. Lesson learned for me, unfortunately I was in a bind and needed something on short notice. 

@Sarah977 Unfortunately, this was a last minute booking. I did try to cancel (both with the host and through Airbnb). The host then used the fact that I tried to cancel to say that I was just lying about other issues that arose to try to get out of the booking. It's all been documented in the message thread, so I can keep pushing with Airbnb. I'm just glad to be comfortably and safely in a hotel at this point.

[Mark116]

FYI, airbnb has a different set of terms for large scale property management companies, so its possible that their rider is within the TOS for their size organization or even that airbnb negotiated a separate agreement with the company. 

[Anonymous]

@Mark116  Also possible that they don't have a specific agreement but they turn a blind eye to the dodgy practices of high-volume property managers. These guys are the cash cows, it's crazy what they can get away with. 

This one seems beyond the pale though. There's just no legal basis for them pursuing a claim based purely on their own extortion attempt. And if Airbnb tried to process such a claim, the egg on their face would be an omelet in the press, which they're extremely sensitive about.

[Sarah977]

@Mark116  I know that there are different rules for the big boys, such as being able to hold an actual security deposit, and being able to have a contract which might not be quite in line with Airbnb policy, but threatening to fine a guest for anything less than a 4* review, I should hope, falls outside even Airbnb's look-the-other-way for the big earners.

@Crissy15  Rereading that review threat, it doesn't say anything about a a fine for a simply "bad" review. The less than 4*s is the rating, but then there is also the written review. The threat refers to lies, defamation, discrimination, slander, but if you notice, there's nothing about simply speaking to the truth. Perhaps they worded it like that specifically not to run afoul of Airbnb. So even if their policy held in Airbnb's eyes, they would have to prove somehow that what you wrote wasn't the truth.

[Katrina79]

@Crissy15 I agree with @Sarah977 where it doesn’t say anything about a fine for writing a “bad” review. Although I would define the threat of $100 fine per day for anything under a 4* review as duress, which to me would void the entire contract. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Crissy15 Perhaps you could do us a favour and ask Airbnb specifically if the large scale property management companies are allowed to make the threat re reviews that they made to you. I would hope that the answer is no but if it is yes then this needs to be exposed as it distorts the whole ethos of reviews on the site. 

@Nick @Lizzie @Quincy Any ideas if they are allowed to do this?

[Katie]

Hi everyone, 

@Debra300 thanks for the tag 😊

@Crissy15 I'm so sorry to hear you've had this experience. @Anonymous 's link to the Help Centre article above lays out the basis of the policy, and I would absolutely say that it's not permitted within the Terms to obligate a guest to give a certain review or star rating, as long as the review is honest.

I also notice, just from my personal reading, that the agreement you quoted refers to 'review sites or on an online forum' which would suggest that perhaps the company has this in there to protect their rating on other sites (such as Google, Trustpilot etc). I'd be very surprised if Airbnb could be classed as a 'review site' in and of itself. 

As you've reported the listing, this should be picked up by the team, and they can review all of your information and the listing itself - do make sure to provide them with the agreement so that they can see this.

@Mike-And-Jane0 as far as I am aware all parties listing properties on Airbnb have to comply to the same Terms of Service, whether they are an individual or a host/company with multiple properties.