Bad reviews without photos or proof

[Brian303]

I am concerned that a guest (or a host for that matter)  is allowed to post a negative review without any proof of claims. I had a guest post a one-star review only after I submitted a claim through the resolution center. It was clearly retaliation. I had photo proof of all of my claims. She had no photo proof of the mess she claims my condo was. Despite four lengthy phone calls with AirBnB, and my review dispute, AirBnB says she didn’t violate the review policy. If my condo was the mess she claims, she should be required to show photos, don’t you think? Further, just as a host is required to submit a claim prior to the next guest check in, the guest should be required to submit a claim, or at least show an attempt to reach the host, prior to their own check out. Ps: I am a superhost with 87 five-star reviews. This one bad review hasn’t seemed to impact our rentals. But I still think it’s a bad policy for AirBnB to allow anyone to write anything without proof. 

[Linda108]

Reviews are only opinions whether here on Air BNB or Yelp and as a host, I would not want my review removed if a guest objected to my opinion.  The content policy does not allow retaliatory reviews so you might pursue that line of reasoning.  

[Brian303]

Thanks Linda. I tried that. Even though the time stamps of our entire conversation is clearly showing retaliation, bc the guest never says directly “if you don’t drop the resolution request, I will post a bad review”, they can’t prove retaliation.  I agree a review shouldn’t be randomly removed. It’s a very important part of the process.  I just think that if a guest claims the kitchen was a mess, that they should be required to submit a photo. Just as I took a dozen photos of the mess she left. And if a guest says I’m not communicative, yet our message exchange shows that I replied to all messages immediately and to her satisfaction, it’s not an opinion, it’s a false statement. Otherwise it’s the Wild West and anyone can say anything.  That said, I do see you point about the opinions. And like I said in my post, this single review has had no impact on my rentals.