I’m a relatively new host (about a year) and had a frustrating experience that I hope Airbnb will address.
A guest left a misleading and retaliatory review after I refused to let them use chemical foggers (“bombs”) inside the unit, which would have violated safety rules. During the stay, Airbnb Support reassured me that I didn’t need to worry about retaliatory comments, so I posted only a brief, polite reply instead of providing the full context. Later, when the review went live, I learned that host responses can’t be edited once published.
When I contacted Airbnb to request an edit—just to add the full context—I was told repeatedly that “the system doesn’t allow edits,” and no exception could be made even though I was misled by Airbnb support.
What really surprised me is that Airbnb explicitly says reviews don’t need to be factual since they reflect personal “experience,” and that hosts can defend themselves through responses. Yet, in this case, I was denied that very opportunity after acting on incorrect guidance.
Has anyone else faced something similar or found a way to raise this kind of policy concern to Airbnb management? I believe allowing hosts to correct or replace their responses in cases like this would make the system much fairer for everyone.
Sam
