I’m sharing this to make sure the Airbnb community is aware ...
I’m sharing this to make sure the Airbnb community is aware of an important issue coming before the Sarasota City Commission....
Hi everyone, I’m hoping to get some guidance or escalation help regarding a review that was incorrectly allowed to remain on my listing.
A guest left a negative review even though they never checked in, and the reservation was canceled by Airbnb due to an unexpected water leak in the building. Despite this, Airbnb Support declined my removal request, saying the review “follows the Reviews Policy.”
Here’s the situation:
- The guest booked several weeks in advance.
- Before check-in, the building had an emergency water leak.
- Airbnb canceled the reservation on their end because of the issue.
- The guest never arrived, never stayed, and never experienced the space.
- The review they left describes my communication, professionalism, and their “stay” as if it happened — even though no stay occurred.
This directly violates the No-Stay Review portion of Airbnb’s Review Policy, which states that reviews are not allowed if the guest did not check in and the review describes the stay, the space, or the host’s performance in ways they couldn’t have experienced.
Airbnb removed nothing, even though the review includes statements that are impossible to verify because the stay never happened.
I’m hoping someone from Airbnb can help escalate this to the Content Integrity team or provide the correct steps for getting a second evaluation. This type of review is harmful and misleading, and it seems to fall clearly under the category of irrelevant/inaccurate content.
Any advice from other hosts or moderators would be appreciated!
