Dispute a review

[Shannon291]

Hello,

I am new to hosting.  I had to cancel a booking because there was some pathways being worked on at our resort that made it loud and unsafe to access our unit.

I gave the guest the option of canceling and finding someplace else to stay,  or that I could move her into another unit but keep the booking as it through airbnb.

I gave her a link to the listing of the new unit.  It had a higher nightly rate but we worked out a deal with the owner and I covered the different.

My unit had childrens toys and games in the listing but no AC or BBQ.  The new unit did not have toys but did have AC and a BBQ.  Different units, different ammenities.

The guest left me a 3* review based on accuracy that the unit was not what she booked and that it didn't have toys and games for her kids.  Ofcourse it didn't have the same amenities, it was a different unit.  She also said the new unit was dirty and that my comminucation was poor niether of which was true.

Is there anything that I can do to have the review removed as it was not even a rewiew of my unit?

Thank you

I

[Emiel1]

@Shannon291,

The change to another unit is done by you "internally", outside the airbnb system. Next time call Airbnb and ask for relocation of your  guest to otherunit (owned by another host). The booking and review will be then at the right place and about the right accommodation. Now you have a situation which is indeed unpleasant, but i think Airbnb will not remove the review, as proper procedures are not followed. You could maybe even risk some penalty !

Best regards,

Emiel

[Ange2]

@Shannon291    Unfortunately I doubt Airbnb will remove it, although if you have all the documentation and conversations regarding changing the unit etc give it a try.   You can also respond to the guests review with the facts.  Best advice I have been given is to use the response to sell your place and your proactivity as a host to future guests  rather then an attack and defense  point for point.

[Sarah977]

@Shannon291 "I gave the guest the option of cancelling and finding someplace else to stay...." Are you saying you were giving the guest the option to cancel their booking themselves? If that's the case, that's not right- if the issue is yours, work being done making the place unsafe, it's not for the guest to cancel, it's for the host to cancel.

I know you were trying to do a nice thing by finding the guest other accomodation, but you went about it all wrong. The thing to do would have been to contact Airbnb, explain the extenuating circumstance of the construction work being done, so that they would cancel the reservation for you without penalties, then the guest could have rebooked the new place on her own and if you felt like offering her the difference in price, you could have done that. Arranging to place a guest in a unit not your own, and leaving the reservation up as if she had booked your place was rather foolish- as you've seen, that means she gets to leave YOU a review. And if you ask Airbnb to remove it, based on it not being your place, they may possibly delist you from the platform for not following proper procedure.