Does blocking a guest stop them from leaving a review?

[Bezejouh0]

Hey all! So I'm new to the whole hosting thing and I currently have a difficult guest who wants to alter the days of their stay, even though my listing is set to "Strict" I told them this and that they agreed to these terms when they booked my listing. So they are upset of course and are threatening to leave a bad review because I don't want to to alter their stay. Just for context, their booking is set for the 12th-14th, it was the night of the 13th that they decided to alter their reservation and check out the next morning (the 13th instead of the 14th). I told them that because of my cancellation policy this is not possible. So now I'm just wondering, if I block said guest after check-out, do they still get to leave a bad review? And if that isn't the route to take, what's the best thing to do now? Thanks for reading and responding!

[Huma0 · Accepted solution]

@Bezejouh0 

Blocking a guest only stops them booking with you or messaging you in the future. It does not stop them from leaving a review.

However, if you have it in writing on the Airbnb system that they are threatening to leave you a bad review if you do not refund them, then you may have a strong case for getting their review removed, if they post one. That is considered extortion and against Airbnb rules.

However, please be aware that a lot of Airbnb's customer service staff are outsourced, poorly trained and do not understand their own policies. So you take a gamble every time you get them involved!

[Bezejouh0]

Thank you for this! Appreciate it! Ill go with the extortion route because they definitely said that.

[Val76]

@Bezejouh0 @I just reviewed a guest just saying I thought they shouldn't stay in a home with a dog if your wife is afraid, nothing bad just a suggestion.  I also said they were very quiet and no problems. Plus they gave me a good review no issue from them.  WELL he contacted customer care and asked that the review be taken down.  No matter what I said customer care said they will be taking it down and if I wanted it back up to contact the guest.  No wonder the guest only gad 1 review.   Doesn't do any good to put an honest review if the guest can ask to remove it.