Email from airbnb: Warning Reviews Removed!

[ChuckandCarole0]

I have been an Airbnb Superhost, for over five years with over 400, 5 star reviews. Earlier today, i received the strange and threatening email below from Airbnb. Can anybody shed some light on what is going on here?  

<Hi Chuck&Carole,

After a thorough analysis, we have removed one or more reviews on your account that we have identified as suspicious, fake, or misleading. As a reminder, Airbnb only allows real reviews written by real guests.

Please make sure this doesn’t happen again, as posting additional inauthentic reviews in the future could force us to remove your account from Airbnb.>

[Ricardo85]

@ChuckandCarole0 

"...inauthentic reviews..."

What was removed?

Ricardo

[ChuckandCarole0]

I don't have a clue what they even mean....i haven't had any "inauthentic reviews" 

[Helen350]

That's terrible! Poor you!

Judge, jury & executioner...

Kafkaesque....... (As many regularly observe on this forum.)

@ChuckandCarole0  

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

It sounds like you were a guest and gave a review to your host and this review was removed.

At least so I understood

[Helen350]

I assumed that Airbnb were accusing @ChuckandCarole0 of engineering their account to contain fake reviews, possibly by creating fake profiles, making fake bookings & then writing fake reviews.... But of course C&C appear NOT to have done such a wrong thing, because they don't understand why Airbnb should think this.....

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

[Emilia42]

@ChuckandCarole0 

I'm with @Branka-and-Silvia0. This sounds like it was written to you, as a guest. Check to make sure the reviews that you wrote of previous hosts are still there. You have a lot of them.

[Helen350]

...but C&C have been accused of posting inauthentic reviews @Emilia42 ... Surely  no one would have reason to do this as a guest, unless you had multiple aliases & were posing as a guest to boost your own listings? And if you have 400+ 5* reviews, why would you need to add extra fakes? I'm confused!

[Emilia42]

@Helen350 Another host wrote on here yesterday that a guest's review was removed because it said "It was a pleasant stay" which according to Airbnb, "is not relevant and does not add anything to guest's opinion when looking at the review." So it could be something as simple as that. 

[Helen350]

Absolutely NOT wanting to start a fight over something so trivial @Emilia42 (!), but it was the sinister threat & warning re account removal that was worrying me... Why would Airbnb threaten hosts with being banned because a guest said the stay was 'pleasant'?

Re the 'it was a pleasant stay' - how crazy that such a thing should be considered irrelevant! I get that sort of review all the time! - It's good! Or at least not bad! - It's some guests style, not to itemize blow by blow, not to repeat that which is in listing description! I'm sure guests think 'pleasant stay' is good review! - Better than the "-" or "A" reviews which are typed to give star ratings whilst giving nothing of self?

[Emilia42]

@Helen350 I totally agree but this is Airbnb we are talking about here. This message is clearly automated and I would assume it is sent to all guests whenever a review is removed. Just like all those automated emails that say your account is at risk when presumably someone reports you but they won't tell you who or why.

[Lawrene0]

I'm seeing that aspect of it, too, @Helen350 . The threat. Looks like @ChuckandCarole0 are being accused of having their mum's friends book in order to write gushing reviews.

Any chance at all you got some reviews from relatives/friends just to get started, Chuck (or Carole)? It is something those blogs out there recommend, so wouldn't have seemed wrong at the time. Do you mind saying? Otherwise we are all going to worry that our "amazing!", "fabulous!", "unreal!" reviews will have us delisted. 

[ChuckandCarole0]

@Lawrene0 ,we have been at this for 6-8 years, and all guest reviews are authentic....and when we travel we leave reviews as well....i just don't get it....thanks for joining the conversation everyone....Also, i have contacted Airbnb support, but i just keep messages,  " this is being referred" for the last 48 hours???

[Lawrene0]

Thanks, @ChuckandCarole0 . Yikes. Let us know what they say! 

[Kelly149]

good grief, yall have a boatload of reviews @ChuckandCarole0 of course you'll never figure out what this is about (I'm guessing you don't even have access to knowing "which" review/s they objected to)

you know already of course that any host can be delisted at any time for any unknown reason.... y'all are busy travelers/hosts, I hope you have other baskets for your eggs...

and, btw, the new ToS about 'must include personal experience' has me worried that some of my 'didn't say anything nice, but didn't say anything negative' reviews will be considered problematic. Who knows?