Advice on Review Received

[Ray214]

So I received a negative review on the basis that I left the premises that I stayed in unclean. To my mind I left the premises in a respectable condition where I even took photos to record this. I also  paid $40aud or 880Thai Baht (which is a good amount of money to clean a small 1 bedroom condo in Thailand)  as    part of Airbnb’s  cleaning fee.

If Airbnb allows hosts to leave feedback based on cleanliness then  Airbnb or the host should have  warned  me about keeping the condo clean before I checked in.   Also wasn't  the  money that I paid  meant   to clean the condo? 

To my credit I didn’t leave the condo in an unliveable condition nor  did  I  trash the place or break anything (photos taken as proof at the time of exit) and again I repeat money was taken from me to clean the condo for petty cleanliness issues  so why is Airbnb allowing such a review to be published? 

There is also a background between me and my host which I wont get into too much  but lets just say that it wouldn't be a surprise if the host deliberately  left negative feedback  for me as airbnb had heard both sides of our stories at the time of check in and they compensated me as according to airbnb the  host provided me with misleading information.

 I   did leave the host with positive feedback though inspite a few negatives while staying there.

[Emiel1]

@Ray214,

You did comment allready on the review (allthough IMO could be a little shorter and just addressing the cleaning issue only). But the review itself is not that extremely bad and also not easy to understand. ..

Let it go, you have other reviews which are fine, other host will not take to much notice. If possible edit the comment, it is not benefitting you.

Best regards,

Emiel

[Ray214]

Thanks @Emile0 this was the constructive feedback I was looking for. Unfortunately I can’t edit my response as I was extremely angry at the time of writing which is why I couldn’t think it out properly. Cheers  

[Rachel177]

@Ray214 you'll find plenty of commentary  on the community forum on the cleaning fee. Most hosts view it as a fee to prepare the accomodation for the guest, not clean up after the guest when they've left. Guests seem to see it as a cleaning fee after they've left, so are comfortable leaving places messy as they think the cleaning fee pays for that.

[Gordon0]

@Ray214 If ever the 'take a deep breath' phrase should be muttered, it's before responding (in a fit of pique), to what was a fairly innocuous review. But I've done the same.

Cleaning fees are a bone of contention on here, but the common theme (for entire properties at least) is that they are for getting the place clean for the next guest, not cleaning up from the previous (there is a difference).

I'm not sure what sort of state you think 'unliveable' might be, but - for me - I always make sure there's no washing up left, the worktops are clean, no rubbish is left and the place is generally tidy.