Airbnb Allows Racist Retaliatory Review To Stand

[Julieanna0]

Once again, I am OUTRAGED at @Airbnb and their unbelievable lack of care for hosts, however, for people in general.  I had a guest who for whatever reason, (in spite of a special video that goes out in my welcome message), broke a vertical blind off the track.  At first, I didn't see it and inquired as to what had happened to it.  Of course, he denied any wrong-doing and said it was that way when he arrived.  I do a video walk-through of my guest suite prior to all guests' arrivals, so had proof that this was not the case.  I can't replace one vertical slat anymore as the blinds are too old.  I thought I was going to have to replace the entire set.  He accused me of accusing all of my guests of stealing to make extra money.  Prior to his retaliatory review, I had a 4.99 rating.  

I eventually found the vertical slat in the corner,--which was the best case scenario as I can replace the track the slats go into, however, I can't replace the blinds.  Even still, it was very puzzling as to how this slat which has a METAL reinforcement on the top of it, was able to be detached from the track.  In the meantime, this guest sent "joker" emojis and in general, caused me to feel enough discomfort that I did not pursue an open case for repair.  I noticed he has been staying at other Airbnb's in my same neighborhood, and based on the things he stated, he honestly believes he should be above consequences.  

As soon as I asked about the blind, he filed a case, (asking  ME for monetary compensation), against me claiming he had been burned in my shower while staying with me and was extremely uncomfortable, with no consistent internet service, etc.  His entire behavior was so narcissistic that I felt genuinely frightened.  

I asked Airbnb what could be done about retaliatory reviews and they assured me that they would take care of it.  However, once the review was published, they said it didn't violate any of their policies.  So, just so everyone knows, this man called me a "Karen."  The definition of a Karen is an aggressive, racist, minivan-driving, white mom who engages in racist acts.  

"In 2020, Karen spread as a label used to call out white women who were captured in viral videos engaging in what are widely seen as racist acts.  White women in viral videos—engaging in what was criticized as selfish or racist behavior—were shamed as Karens."

FACT:  @Airbnb is just fine with someone calling me a racist person who engages in selfish, racist behavior, something which is absolutely NOT true.  I am absolutely beyond the word OUTRAGED that as a Super Host who has opened my home to people all over the world, from all nationalities, ethnicities, genders, and origins, they're perfectly okay with letting this stand.  

How many other people have had experiences like this?  

[Amanda1775]

@Julieanna0 

I'm amazed you haven't encountered this type of guest previously. We all get "interesting" ones occasionally. 

And his review speaks volumes about him! As a ABB traveler, I would automatically ignore his review. It's very obvious that he is issuing a preemptive strike and trying to defend himself at the same time.

On the other hand, as a ABB traveler, I would have paused at your response and probably wouldn't book your place. It's way too long and you sound very angry. I know you have justification for being so, but I as a future traveler would just avoid the possible confrontation. 

A better response would have been to say something like "The guest is better suited to a hotel." or something non-emotional. You really have no need to defend yourself. 

As a fellow host who has made mistakes myself(!), I would suggest you ask Airbnb to remove your response to his review. And then move on...

[Julieanna0]

Thanks @Amanda1775 .  Yes, I was pretty frustrated at this point due to the fact that my very polite and neutral question to the guest as to what happened was met with his accusations and filing a case against me.  But, you're right, I don't know why I let myself get upset.  As far as ABB doing anything,--that's never going to happen.  We're at the end of March, and everyone has "escalated it to a different department," and "they're out of the office."

[Huma0]

@Julieanna0 

I don't see a mention of 'Karen'. Perhaps Airbnb removed this part? Personally, I wouldn't waste more of your time trying to get Airbnb to remove the review. As upsetting as it is to be accused like that, Airbnb doesn't care about the accuracy of reviews, which is why they let so many retaliatory reviews stand. They just don't want to get involved in a 'he said, she said' situation and haven't even stated as much in the review policy.

I also agree with @Amanda1775 that your response was perhaps not the best, although it was completely understandable. It should have been much shorter and with a neutral tone. Certainly, I would not have included all those repeated messages to Airbnb CS within a review response. It's not really the appropriate place.

Bear in mind that your response to a review are not really for that guest, who may not even read it. The responses only appear on your profile to be read by potential future guests and should therefore be approached as a marketing tool. Although I can see you tried to state the facts, there is far too much information here and your anger is clear. It's better to take a neutral tone. I find it best to write the response in a document to get all of my frustration out, then sleep on it and edit it to something calmer once the fury has worn off!

[Julieanna0]

@Huma0Good point.  I am still trying to get the Karen comment removed as this does strike a personal chord.  I'm a Superhost who welcomes everyone who agrees to my house rules into my home.  I do see he has also accused other Superhosts of wrongdoing just to extort money.   Not sure how the algorithm still gave him a perfect 5-star review prior to him booking my place?

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0  Do you realize that the guest's response to your review appears on their review page, not on yours?

[Julieanna0]

@Sarah977 Yes.  

[Huma0]

@Julieanna0 

Ah, okay. I was looking at the review he left you, not the response to your review. As @Sarah977 says, the response appears on your profile, not his, so I really wouldn't worry about it. Only hosts are going to be looking at that, not your potential guests.

Although I understand it can be upsetting, don't let it get to you. It doesn't matter and won't affect your Airbnb standing. I had something similar with some horrendous guests a few years ago. They responded to my review basically calling me a liar (and lying about something that they could not have possibly known was true or not, i.e. other guests having complained about their behaviour). I tried not to let it irk me.

Even with their review, which was probably one of the worst ones I ever received and so far from the truth, I decided to brush off and not bother asking Airbnb to remove. It was so contradictory to the many glowing reviews both before and after and was soon buried below lots of positive ones. In that situation, it's the guest who ends up looking crazy, not the host.

[Huma0]

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@Julieanna0 wrote:

@Huma0Not sure how the algorithm still gave him a perfect 5-star review prior to him booking my place?

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@Julieanna0 I'm not sure if I understood that part of your post, but the algorithm doesn't give someone ratings, it's the average of their hosts' reviews. The problem is that some hosts will just give a 5* rating, even if the guest was far from okay and, even if one or two don't, if the guest has enough 5* reviews so that the average is 4.5 or above, it will just show as 5*. 

As an example, the guests I mentioned above got a pretty low rating from me, and I am pretty sure (based on her review) that the host they stayed with after me did not leave them 5* either, but their average still showed as 5* because they had so many positive reviews. They had more positive reviews than anyone I have hosted and yet were the worst guests I have ever encountered! 

[Julieanna0]

@Huma0 I decided to take my place off Instant Book. As you say, it appears that guests can have several bad or low reviews, yet their average still appears to be 5-stars.  It doesn’t seem to work the same way for hosts.

If I could go back in time, I wish I would have never said anything.  I still feel uneasy, and had to block this guest.  Never in a million years did I think asking what had happened to an apparent missing blind would have led to feeling personally unsafe.  

And, to date, this person also had more reviews than anyone I have ever hosted, to the best of my knowledge.  I wouldn’t have said he was the worst guest,—yet I haven’t ever felt unsafe after a guest has left.  Part of the reason I didn’t see the blind was due to the mess he left behind.

@Sarah977 Here is one for the books,—ABB actually did remove the remark where he called me a “Karen.”  Not sure if that made things better or worse as I was hopeful they were going to remove the entire review.  It has made me more uneasy as this man has behaved very aggressively,—so I thought if my comments were deleted too, it would have been better.  He can’t send me anymore messages or emojis, because he’s blocked, but I worry because he has been staying in my neighborhood even though his profile says he lives in TN.  I’ve blocked off my calendar for April.  

Have kind of lost the heart for hosting at the moment….

[Huma0]

@Julieanna0 

Sorry to hear about the stress this one guest has caused you. It's a shame that it's put you off hosting.

RE damages, should we say something or just let it go? It's tricky because, in my experience, guests either tell you they have damaged something and offer to pay for it or replace it, or they keep quiet. The latter have no intention of paying and, when you bring it up, either deny it or say it was broken/faulty/old already. If you persist, they can often become very hostile, although I've never felt unsafe as a result of this hostility. They are usually just dishonest, irresponsible guests, not overly aggressive. 

It's a shame to have to be held hostage by the fear of negative reviews, so if a guest damages something, I will bring it up. However, if I sense that they are not willing to pay for it and it's something small, I do usually just let it go as I am really not sure it's worth the hassle of having to go through a whole resolution case, especially as those small damages unfortunately occur very often.

Having said that, the one time I did claim (because the guest broke an expensive front door lock by ignoring my clear instructions), it was a pretty straightforward process with Airbnb even though the guest said he did not want to pay. He even left me a 5* review. He was, however, a pretty decent person and also a host himself. I believe he didn't want to pay largely because he thought Airbnb should cover it with their insurance.

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0  Did you read through his written reviews when  he booked? While he has a lot of reviews and most are very brief but good, he has several troubling reviews that would make me not accept him. It seems like he's a non-objectionable guest as long as everything goes his way, but gets belligerent when it doesn't.

I don't know whether this was the case with you, but it seems to me that IB hosts rely far too much on star ratings, which to me are totally unreliable, because they are subjective and have no explanation attached to them. 

Non-IB hosts can't even see a guest's star ratings- we rely on the written reviews and communication. Which seem much more reliable vetting tools.

[Julieanna0]

@Sarah977 Unfortunately, I didn't read his reviews as I had my place set to Instant Book.  It wasn't until after this incident that I started to look more carefully and then felt very confused as to how he was able to book my place with a perfect 5-star review.  When I asked ABB how it was possible that he had a perfect 5-star review, (in spite of obvious negative reviews from other Superhosts), I was told it was his average.  Again, I'm in total confusion as to how guests can have numerous negative reviews and keep a 5-star rating, yet all it takes is one negative review for a host to lose years of hard work.

And yes, I am in complete agreement, (live and learn!), that the star ratings for guests cannot be relied upon.

[Sarah977]

@Julieanna0  Yes, that's what I meant- IB hosts, to a large extent, seem not to bother to read the written reviews, even though those are fully available to read. I've never been able to figure out why hosts would fail to do that.

Star ratings for guests and hosts, and all other stuff online that people rate are unreliable. You have no idea why someone chose the rating they did unless there is a written explanation. And people have different experiences and  different expectations. There are hosts who don't expect guests to leave a place clean and aren't upset when they don't- they consider it a part of hospitality to not expect guests on vacation to do much, if any, tidying and cleaning. So unless the guest totally trashed the place, they will leave a 5* cleanliness rating. But that guest might be a 3*  cleanliness guest to you, because you expect guests not to leave you a pile of dirty dishes and garbage strewn around.

Also, just as with host's ratings, because star ratings are not seen individually as to what each host rated a guest, you have no idea whether a guest with 20 reviews and a 4* rating has that rating because all his previous hosts rated him 4*s, or whether 19 of his hosts rated him 5*s and one rated him 2*s. And the 2* rating host may have been one of those old biddies with an endless list of micromanaging rules no one would want to have to adhere to, who expects her guests to leave the place spotless. 

[Julieanna0]

@Sarah977 @All good points for sure!  And the best point, is that for some odd reason, (as you accurately point out),  unless a host has their place set to IB, they can’t see the guest’s actual ratings.  However, as mentioned, I’m going to do more reading prior to approving, now that I have IB turned off!

Airbnb has let me know that my place is now less desirable to guests and will not show up in search as much due to my choice to opt out of IB.

I was shocked at how difficult it was to opt OUT of IB!  

Overall, just feeling disheartened.  Hopefully it will pass.