Airbnb Refusing to Remove Negative and Dishonest Guest Review - Any Help or Advice?

Nia4724
Level 1
Darwin, Australia

Airbnb Refusing to Remove Negative and Dishonest Guest Review - Any Help or Advice?

Anyone have some advice? Although relatively new to Hosting (commenced July 2019) we have quickly reached Superhost status, and have really enjoyed the experience. However, we unfortunately had a guest recently who acted horribly - checked in drunk at 1am, snuck in 2 extra guests without permission, partied (loud music etc) until we'd had enough at 5am and shut him down, stole food from our fridge, went through our drawers (places out of bounds). Despite this, we acted professionally and with respect. We didn't kick them out or call police. (Wish we did now). Despite this, the guest, a first time Airbnb user with no history, took delight in giving us a bad review, and one which can be very damaging to us. We've been in contact with Airbnb Management, who are declining to remove this review, citing "policy" as the reason. It is unacceptable, and totally lacking in support of the people (hosts) who are the face of the brand. Anyone have advice as to how we can get this ridiculous situation sorted out? 

1 Reply 1

@Nia4724  Have a look at the Hosting forum for a minute; you'll see that retaliatory reviews are in the top 5 topics. And generally, something close to 100% of negative reviews appear to be ones that the recipient describes as false, illegitimate, unmerited, etc. 

 

No doubt Airbnb receives hundreds of requests per day to delete negative reviews. But they tend to only do so if they violate the Content Policy or disclose protected information. The review you're referring to doesn't break any of the review rules, and would immediately look fishy to any reasonable guest, so it's unlikely to do significant damage to your ability to attract bookings. You've already posted a Host Response that underlines the fact that the guest was behaving inappropriately, and that's all there is to be done.

 

Yes, it does feel unfair that you have to accept negative consequences for doing the right thing and enforcing your rules. But don't let that discourage you from continuing to do so. Stars and badges are nothing more than phony manipulation tactics designed to make you feel subservient to Airbnb; in reality you are the boss of your home; Airbnb is just a listing service, and the guests are only there at your own will.

 

When you keep that in mind, it's clear that there's nothing to gain from letting a guest walk all over you. You can adjust your listing to include a cutoff time for check-in, so that you have the option of refusing entry to guests who arrive too late without a good reason. You can (and should) immediately intervene to eject unregistered guests from your home. You don't have to wait for hours to shut down a loud party, and you can kick out a guest who is breaking your rules (though you may have to forfeit the cost of the unused nights).

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