Review removal

[Katie1814]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been a Superhost for over 3 years with hundreds of 5 star reviews and only three not so great ones. I take real pride in my listing and guest experience, but I’m now genuinely questioning whether I want to continue hosting.

Recently, a guest chipped my bathroom tiles. I submitted a damage report, including clear before and after time stamped images and an invoice from a VAT registered company listed on Companies House. Airbnb reviewed and approved the claim under Host Damage Protection.

However, the guest then left a public review accusing me of being a “scam artist”, saying the invoice was fake, and calling me a fraud. These accusations are not only completely false, but also deeply personal and upsetting.

I raised a review removal request, citing Airbnb’s own Reviews Policy, which prohibits:

• Retaliatory reviews
• False and misleading claims
• Harmful or defamatory content

Despite this, the request was rejected. I’m struggling to understand how a review with such serious and false accusations can be allowed to stay up, especially when Airbnb has confirmed the claim was valid.

I’d really appreciate any advice from other experienced hosts who’ve navigated this before. I feel completely disheartened and don’t know what my next steps should be if Airbnb won’t uphold their own policies.

Thanks so much in advance.

Katie

[Bryon48]

We experienced a similar problem. Reported damaged & missing items, plus excess filth, and requested a reimbursement. Guest in turn retaliated by making totally untrue statements in their review. AirBnB would not correct the false review or remove it. Lesson learned:  if we give a bad review of our guests, they will do same for us. Made us wonder, what is the incentive to report any problems at all?

[Alex13563]

We recently had a guest violate our strict no-smoking policy by smoking inside the home. After their stay, they left a 1-star review filled with completely false and exaggerated claims. We have timestamped photo evidence proving these issues did not exist, yet our review removal requests have been denied twice — without any explanation as to why.

The guest never responded to or sent us a single message during their stay, despite us reaching out repeatedly to check in. Yet in their private feedback after posting a review, they wrote "It isn’t acceptable to charge me $2K" which strongly suggests the review was retaliatory. Had these issues existed or had he even reached out one time during his stay we would have entertained refunding him, or finding him a better accommodation.

Airbnb acknowledged that the guest broke both our house rules and Airbnb’s policy by smoking in the home and even issued $250 to cover part of the damage. Despite this, the review was still deemed acceptable to remain on our listing, with no reason provided as to why.