Dishonest reviews

[Mel-and-Jim0]

We recently had an issue with a guest who’s dog stained some bedding.  We requested money right away through the Airbnb app.  The guest declined to pay. Airbnb paid out the amount $50. Then the guest wrote a dishonest review, and gave a  2 star rating among all of our 50+ Five star ratings. We asked Airbnbto take it down, under the “one off” exception, and we had proof that the guest was lying.  Airbnb repeatedly refused to remove the dishonest and slandering review.  If we follow their advice and request money for damages through the app, then the guest accuses us of extortion on a public review, that’s libel, right?  We are very disappointed in Airbnb’s “support” for super hosts.  They talk on and on about building trust, but they aren’t helping with that in their actions.  @Airbnb  your review policy is clear, but your lack of corrective action needs to be addressed.

Mel and Jim

Yurtastic Hobby Farm

[Sarah977]

@Mel-and-Jim0  "We asked Airbnb to take it down, under the “one off” exception, and we had proof that the guest was lying."

There is no such review policy as a "one-off exception"- I'm not sure where you got this idea.

And Airbnb won't remove reviews based on a guest lying. You have to read their review policies and see if you can find a way in which the guest's review specifically violates them if you can even hope to have the review removed.

And yes, you always run the risk of the guest leaving a revenge review if you ask them to pay for something. So you have to weigh whether the item is worth charging them for. A damaged sheet would not be worth it to most hosts.

Also, most stains are removable. It's valuable to research how to remove various types of stains, because stained bedding and towels are a common fact of the hospitality industry. You can't be buying new sheets all the time just because they are stained and you don't know how to remove the stain, nor constantly trying to charge guests for minor things like this.

[Mel-and-Jim0]

Hi Sarah,

This is my first time dealing with a guest like this.  

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

A while back, Airbnb made an announcement on the CC about it was going to tackle 'outlier' reviews. The changes they were proposing (no idea if these ever came to fruition) were not particularly useful in revenge review situations, e.g. if a guest leaves 5* in each category and then 2* or less overall, they would get some sort of "are you sure?" prompt.

Perhaps this announcement gave hosts the false hope that the one off incongruous review could be removed. However, Airbnb CS don't even seem to know what an 'outlier' review is.

@Mel-and-Jim0 

I am sure there used to be something in the review policy that meant reviews (from either the guest or host) that mentioned an Airbnb dispute/damage claim could be removed, but I can't find anything like that now in the review policy nor the content policy. Perhaps someone else here knows if that no longer qualifies as cause for removal? It might still be worth a shot.

Another reason you could cite to CS is that the guest is claiming you tried to extort her and that this is defamatory. The review policy states that reviews could be removed if they contain:

• Profanity, name-calling, and assumptions about a person’s character or personality

and in the content policy, it mentions:

• Reviews that are biased and exhibit indications of extortion/incentivisation, conflicts of interest, or direct competition

Upsetting as this review is, it will eventually slide down the list and be buried under all of your future 5* reviews. I noticed that you responded to it, which I think is the right thing to do. However, if you leave a response (especially a lengthy) one only when there is a problem, it will draw attention to that review and to the drama.

I therefore think it's better to leave responses to all or most of your reviews, just thanking the guest and saying something positive about the experience. I find that future guests like this anyway, and it means that the responses to negative reviews don't make those stand out like a sore thumb.

[Sarah977]

@Mel-and-Jim0  PS Why did you not leave a review for this guest? Or a brief response to their review?

[Mel-and-Jim0]

I wanted to work with Airbnb, let them see what the guest was lying about and have them back me up.  They didn't do that.  

Also, yes, I know how to remove stains.  I have 4 young children and several animals.  The guest is responsible for the damage their animal caused, but she refused to pay.  Airbnb paid it to me, but then the guest decided to leave a dishonest review as revenge, just as you said.  Why wouldn't Airbnb see the trend and remove a defamatory and dishonest review, especially if they want to keep hosts on their platform?

[Sarah977]

@Mel-and-Jim0  "Why wouldn't Airbnb see the trend and remove a defamatory and dishonest review, especially if they want to keep hosts on their platform?"

That would be something you'd have to ask Airbnb. They just usually refuse to. Many hosts have to deal with these lying revenge reviews.

And they don't seem to care about keeping hosts on the platform. We're expendable- there are many more listings than guests to fill them, and always new starry-eyed hosts signing up. And Airbnb is constantly creating PR designed to enlist more hosts. 

It's guests who they try to keep on the platform- guest service fees are what fills their coffers. 

Regardless of how Airbnb handled this, I still don't understand why you wouldn't leave an honest review to warn other hosts about a guest who creates damage they refuse to pay for. Or a response to the review the guest left, clarifying that this was a revenge review given for being asked to pay for damages.