Awful Guests Who Violate Rules And Then Leave A 1 Star Review. Airbnb does nothing.

Mark-And-Jamie0
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

Awful Guests Who Violate Rules And Then Leave A 1 Star Review. Airbnb does nothing.

We recently had a guest who booked last minute for 1 night for 4 guests.  Our rules are clearly stated on the listing before booking, but we send them again before the guest checks in, and they are also in the rental.  We are very clear that we do not allow extra guests, and do not allow parties.  The guest had someone else check in for them, which we let go.  They said the place was great and so clean.  They were there for several hours and then we received a call telling us they would be having 20 or more people come over.  We politely told them that couldn't happen, they said they understood and hung up.  Several more hours later, late at night, we received a message stating they were cancelling the reservation.  When we arrived to the rental to lock up, all of our furniture had been removed and shoved into the bedroom and the keys were taken.  Apparently they were planning on having a huge party.  We were shocked to find the rental like this and notified Airbnb.  We sent the guest a message about the keys, and they said they would return them the next day, if we gave them a refund.  We explained that wouldn't be possible considering they had the rental most of the night, how they left the rental, and that they had the keys.  They said if we didn't give them a refund they would give us a bad review.  We said we don't deserve a bad review, and they said well then give us a refund or we will.  So guess what, they did!  They left us a review and called me a liar and gave the rental 1 stars for everything.  We've been superhosts since we started Airbnb and now because of this we are not.  We've called Airbnb and they have done nothing to remove the review or penalize the guest.  It just seems that we as hosts are being punished.  Does anyone have any suggestions?

13 Replies 13

@Mark-And-Jamie0  Airbnb appears to have deleted the account of the user who left the bad review.

Hi Andrew, thanks so much for your response.

@Andrew do you know if Airbnb would remove the review because of this?

@Mark-And-Jamie0 

For Airbnb to have removed the guest from the platform, it's highly likely that she has been reported to them several times previously, for similar behaviour. However, as unfair and unjust as it may be, that doesn't mean that Airbnb won't allow her review to stand, or won't permit her to assassinate your character on your public profile.

 

You may just have a tiny little glimmer of hope here though. Airbnb's Content Policy states that the following is never allowed.. 

 

• Content that provides specific       details or outcomes of an Airbnb   investigation

 

Now, whilst the guest's language is a little vague in relation to this, it's clear from her review that the cancellation occurred because she wanted to bring extra guests (ie throw a party/trash your house) - "He charge each guest if you want to have company over".

 

Due to the subsequent dispute between yourself and the guest, Airbnb did become involved, and -presumably - conducted their "investigation", in order to determine a fair outcome (Ok, so we all know they rarely bother their arses investigating anything, but they're not going to admit to that, are they? :)) 

 

Therefore, you could argue - strongly -  that by mentioning the extra guests/extra fees etc, the review does indeed "provide specific details or outcomes of an Airbnb investigation", and as such, does violate Airbnb's own stated Content Policy, and should be removed immediately. 

 

It's worth a shot, at least! Best of luck. 

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Mark-And-Jamie0  Ask Airbnb to look at the message the guest sent you where they said they'd leave a bad review if they didn't get refunded- that's extortion and against Airbnb's terms of service and they should remove the review on that basis.

And maybe it's not a great idea to take last minute bookings.

Hi everyone,

I had a similar experience with a guest: she booked my house for 5 days, she stayed there for 2 days, she wrote me the LAST day that for 3 days she went to a hotel....but she didn't tell me anything after the second day!! I'm not sure she even went to the hotel... anyway she  got me a 2-stairs review writing the photos weren't true! Airbnb didn't anything for remove this review also if all the other 88 reviews attested the photos were correct!...

But I want to discuss also about another topic:

in this review the individual evaluations were 2/3/4/4/3/5   and the overall was 2 stars

In another review the  individual evaluations were 5/5/5/5/5/5   and the overall was 4 stars, in this case probably for a mistake of the guest!

I think the overall evaluation should be the average of the individual ones, do you agree with me?

ciao

Cristina

 

Mark-And-Jamie0
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

@Anonymous  I called Airbnb, and the guest was removed from the platform, but their review is still there.  Does anyone know if they have to remove the review because of this?

@Mark-And-Jamie0  I've read other hosts saying the review remained after the guest was banned from the platform, but I think you should be persistent in trying to get it removed. If he was bad enough to get kicked off the platform, it's absurd that his review stands, but I don't know that there's anything in the TOS that says they have to remove it. 

Mark-And-Jamie0
Level 3
Los Angeles, CA

@Sarah977  thank you, I appreciate your response.  We tried again, and the person I spoke with on the phone, seemed responsive, and agreed that this person shouldn't be allowed to leave a review.  He said he would escalate the issue and call us with back.  But instead we received the email response of it doesn't violate the content policy.

Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

@Mark-And-Jamie0  I'm so sorry this happened to you, but maybe you just need to put the whole mess out of mind now. Don't fret about losing the Superhost status- many many hosts have for similar reasons- horrid guests who left untrue bad reviews and ratings. It's not a big deal that status- it's a carrot Airbnb dangles and you shouldn't let it stress you out. Hosts who've lost it say it didn't affect their booking rates at all. Just carry on hosting in the way you always have and continue to enjoy your good guests who appreciate what you offer and don't try to take advantage of you.

Beverly21
Level 3
Seattle, WA

AIRBNB DOES  N-O-T-H-I-N-G  TO HELP HOSTS WHO HAVE BEEN SLIMED IN A REVIEW FROM A GUEST!!!!

       

Let me preface this by saying that have been a Superhost since 3mos after I began doing airbnb 2 1/2 years ago,   Receiving only 5/4 star ratings.  HOWEVER -

 

  iN late August 2019 a guest with whom I had no contact left me a completely INACCURATE as well as DESTRUCTIVE REVIEW in which she made the following INACCURATE CLAIMS:

   Our bedroom was FILTHY

   Our appliances were all OLD!

   Our description of our unit was deceitful and inaccurate.

   Our unit was NOT updated.

As soon as I saw the review I contact Airbnb - they said "the review did not meet their standards for removal, there was nothing they could do!

 

 FAST FORWARD TO  - NOW OCTOBER 2019

I received on of those lovely notes from airbnb that 2 people had looked at my listing and chose other units.  (always nice to hear).  I decided to check and found that BOTH units cost considerable more than mine - which made me wonder why that might be. 

            I have always had great guests and great ratings/reviews. (with that one exception last Aug)

 

When I checked my statistics I found that when I compared my bookings in 2018 to 2019 there was a shocking difference:

       2018  Oct-Dec.       10 BOOKINGS

       2019  Oct-Dec.        1   BOOKING  (the one booking was made 8/18 one day before the bad post)

I WAS SHOCKED!

IMMEDIATELY called airbnb again  was told the same inane story "it doesnt violate their standards for removing a review HOWEVER SLANDEROUS it might be.

 

I POINTED OUT THAT AIRBNB DID NOT INVESTIGATE AT ALL AS TO THE TRUTH OF HER CLAIMS!!!!!!!

THEY BELIEVE ONE HORRIBLE REVIEW - NOT ALL THE GREAT ONES.

 

Once again I called - this time I got the SAME response, that it doesn't meet "their standards" for removal - and included a link in Spanish which helped not at all.

 

SO, IF YOU THINK THAT AIRBNB HAS YOUR BACK - THING AGAIN.  THEY WILL THROW YOU TO THE WOLVES.

 

Beverly G

 

 

 

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

There are many issues that can affect your bookings @Beverly21 . Why do you think it is purely down to a negative guest review that was left back in August?

 

I am sure you provided a response to counteract the points they made? If it is just one negative review amongst many positive ones, it is not likely it is having the impact you think it has.

 

Issues that might be affecting your bookings include many more hosts entering the marketplace so more competition,  less demand due to the low season etc

 

What other platforms are you listed on? Do you take direct bookings? Have you researched local marketing opportunities ie through your tourist board and to larger local employers/universities?


As the old saying goes....you should never put all your eggs in one basket.

 

(By the way using capitals in your posts is seen as shouting).

Beverly21
Level 3
Seattle, WA

Helen

 

I am aware that all caps are shouting - I meant to do so because I am COMPLETELY steamed by the mistreatment of Airbnb.

 

As I mentioned in my comments, this is the FIRST negative review I have received - and this was not only negative is was/is patently incorrect.

 

I enumerated the way in which is was in error in my commentary.  IF Airbnb had done any investigating at all, they would have discovered the truth.  THEY DID NOTHING.

 

Again, as mentioned in my comments,  here are the facts:

      HORRIBLE comments were posted on 8/19/19.

      FROM THAT DATE FORWARD I RECEIVED  ZERO  RESERVATIONS!!!

      (For the same period the previous year I had 10 reservations).     I'd call that definitive!!!!