@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.