Can anyone provide advice on appealing against listing removal?

[Lisa990]

I made a big mistake thinking that a period of negative reviews would not effect my listing on AirBnB. My place was suspended one week ago and a few days later, after I had already made some significant changes based on the reviews. Unfortunately, during the suspension a guest, who gave me some good advice, ended up giving me a 3 star overall rating. That put my listing in queue to be removed in one month. 

Can anyone share their experience with this type of appeal to avoid deactivation and removal of a listing? My place is at a current 4.7 star average. I have purchased a new, larger bed and mattress,  had a gap in the ceiling repaired and painted  and purchased new linens and some furniture. I can and will do more if it will really make a difference. Guests always comment on how safe and friendly the neighborhood is and that the location is convenient. I don't charge a lot and am consistently booked. 

The good news is 2 guests who stayed after I was told my listing would be removed,  were very happy and gave me 5 stars but my 3rd and most recent guest did not communicate very much.  Do I  not review this silent guest? Because my experience in the past has been that people that don't respond are sometimes unhappy (if you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all). Or, should I wait a few days and reach out again to the guest just to make sure that everything was great during his stay?

[Howard103]

@Billy228 Wow, we just had a listing with 425 reviews and an aggregate review of 4.65 and 4.70 for 365 days that got permanently removed. We are in Puerto Rico, where the electricity grid is notoriously bad. Despite 4.70 for the last 365 days, we got two recent ratings under four stars. Many of our negative reviews stem from guests' experience with electricity, especially after the recent hurricane.  I also appealed with "what I thought was a very comprehensive appeal," and they almost immediately rejected it. 

Over the six years, a lot of effort has been made, and one hurricane season has whipped it all out. 

[Tania2]

My problem is similar. I have been running for 10 years.  Seems airbnb is on the hunt to take down anything they consider substandard and I don't think anyone gets a 2nd chance.  I also have had my appeal denied and will be delisted on 9 November despite what I believe is NO VALIDITY to their claims.  I have had comprehensive email exchanges with a very one sided response from airbnb (chatbot/AI/template responses with no humanity at all) plus numerous phone calls requesting that someone call me to discuss it as I am sure once I can speak to a human being it will be obvious that a delisting is rediculous.  Funnily, my other property rating at 4.62 hasnt been attacked yet, but this one which was 4.7 was attacked again after 6 months after a 1 week suspension for 3 reviews that were considered low and 1 cancellation.  As I am sure many of you hosts can appreciate that we put our assets up at great risk to allow airbnb to profit of us.  My issue was resolved immediately over 6 months prior when a protected species in Australia found a way into my roof space and died there.  Hence the 3 lower reviews of a smell (not fully offensive but uncomfortable).  It did take us a few weeks to find out between bookings  with lots of investigations etc as the smell wasn't consistent so we would turn up and think what smell???  The other issue was my cancellation which stemmed from a technical issue (not our fault) with the syncing of calendars between platforms allowing a double book (unlucky me it was an airbnb booking who booked 2nd so they were the ones I had to cancel)  The guest didn't have a problem with it but airbnb did.  I happily copped the $121.50 aud fee for cancelling and went about my business.  

Issues resolved, suspension completed for 1 week, all good, happy customers.

Fast forward 6 months, 1 get the same email stating the same complaints on 2 October 2024 but this time with a delisting threat.  Well, to say I am surprised is an understatement but this is airbnb.  What choice do you have but to appeal the process which I did explaining the above.  This was an issue from 6 months back, I was confused by this and provided supporting details and photos with the addition of the renovations we had just completed within the last month.  I received nothing in the 7days it said it would take to review.  I followed up the following week.  Still nothing.  Then out of the blue, I received an email on 16th October saying they were unable to assist me because they hadn't received any information from me from the 2nd October email yet I received an email on 3rd October confirming the receipt of the appeal and that it would take 7 days to review.  As so I have been going around in circles for the last 3 weeks now getting nowhere and only getting AI/template responses and the email saying your review was unsuccessful and will be delisted.  But they did say in one email that I chased that they couldn't do anything now because the deadline had passed.  Which is bull___t.  No explanation or further clarification as to why they came to that conclusion.  

My summary is STRIKE 1 YOUR OUT.

I dare say that I don't think anyone survives this once you get this email.  I would love to know if anyone has been successful in getting relisted again.  

I personally think I will close my other listing also.  I feel sorry for my guests who will struggle to find something in the price range and with the location I offer but don't feel its right to allow airbnb to continue to profit off my other listing after this disgusting display of unprofessionalism.  Side note, I see they can remove anything they don't like so this will be interesting.

[Tania2]

Oh, and forgot to say, because my properties are on multiple platforms I have the syncing to ensure that double books don't happen (except in the event of a technical issue usually from an upgrade from one of the platforms causing a break down in the sync ical).  Not only did they threaten to delist but also suspended  the listing and in doing so closed off the dates on all my other platforms (because they are synced).  It took me a few days to work it out as to why I hadn't received any bookings anywhere.  Once I severed the link, I was able to gain bookings again but was disappointed not to have been told that they had closed the listing effectively on 2nd October.  

[Helen3]

Unfortunately some hosts with lower reviews don't do anything to address issues leading to these reviews until Airbnb threatens to suspend their listings .

It's certainly not one strike and you're out @Tania2 

Looking at your remaining listing I can see among some lovely reviews  you have had quite a few poor reviews and ratings being marked down for cleanliness , accuracy and communication.

Whilst I appreciate some may be unfair - when you are consistently getting marked down across both your listing it would indicate that it's how a host is managing the properties  that's the issue .

hosts do get a number of warnings and are asked to address issues before your listing is deleted . 

and by the way hosts do short term rentals not to profit Airbnb - you can use multiple marketing platforms -   but because it's a relatively easy way for you to make money .

[Tania2]

Yes I do use multiple platforms and yes unfortunately you cant please everyone and am fully aware of that and that many guests don't really understand the review process and the repurcussions of the review.  I would like to confirm that I am not one that doesn't address issues.  I have not had repeated warnings as you say, only the one which was addressed immediately.  Sometimes you get rated down for cleanliness because the guest decides to move the fridge and found something under it or sometimes its because the cleaner you paid didn't do a very good job.  These are all the issues we hosts have to deal with.  I am not complaining about the lower reviews.  The best of us still get low reviews sometimes for no real reason.    I don't think I consistently got bad reviews as you seem to imply.  My reviews are not perfect because you can't please everyone and it seems harder on this platform than other platforms.  

Anyway, my main point was that dealing with airbnb seems impossible.  The humanity has disappeared and you no longer get to talk to a human meaning you can't seem to get your message across accurately no matter how many different ways and times you tell it and still no answer or explanation or clarification from airbnb as to why.  

Have you actually been in this situation? Because if not, you could not understand the frustration when you are trying to do the right thing and you are just hitting your head against a brick wall.