I think the main reason these bad guests persist is because:
1) Hosts are reluctant to decline guests due to the fact that declining bookings hurts our ratings. If we have instant booking on, it’s even worse, since we’d have to cancel their reservation ...which has grave consequences to a superhost.
2.) Hosts are also reluctant to post bad reviews because these bad guests now know where we live (as they’ve just stayed at our houses) and they also know exactly how to get into our houses! May seem paranoid, but when you get a couple of dirtbags, it’s hard to justify putting personal security further at risk after they’ve left your house by telling the truth about them ... a truth that they will definitely read, especially when other hosts likely won’t read those reviews or will feel pressured from Air BnB to accept the booking anyway.
We just heave a sigh, leave a review that doesn’t reflect the truth of these people, and then thank God they’re gone and they didn’t steal our things or kill us in our sleep.
It would be GREAT if we could come up with a code word system amongst hosts so we can leave an honest review without being scared of the guest coming after us. Would also be great if Air BnB didn’t penalize us for declining or cancelling bad guests.