Hi,
I'm a single female, living alone, and have been hosting on Airbnb for the last 18 months. I recently decided to try 'Instant Book,' and got quite a few bookings for single men and women -- whereas up until then, I'd normally choose couples as guests since it's more lucrative. Initially, my single guests were great -- no problems. But then I hosted a man my own age who confessed on arrival that he'd googled me, and immediately asked me to accompany him on his excursions that day. I politely declined, and he never asked again. He otherwise seemed very timid and shy, and he was extremely polite and neat. So of course I gave him a good review, and his public review of me was good. But right after his review posted, I received an alert from Airbnb that due to a guests's recent low ratings, I needed to make improvements. I checked my stats, and this man gave me the worst star ratings I've ever received from any Airbnb guest -- most of my reviews have been 5 stars in every category except location, where approximately 15% of the time I get 4 stars (usually when the weather is bad and guests take a taxi back to the house instead of walking). But this man gave me 3 stars and some 4 stars -- which doesn't sound bad, but 4-stars for 'Arrival' when I greeted him at the door, gave him tea and maps/brochures, spent an hour on my computer helping him organize his museum and event bookings for the weekend (he didn't bring a laptop) is retaliatory. He did the same with 'communication,' even though he privately praised me for being so prompt and informative in all my emails, and having so much information at his disposal on arrival. Initially I was inclined to let it go, but then I got an email from him (through the site) telling me about the rest of his European trip; so I wrote back and advised him that I was surprised to receive an alert from Airbnb about his low ratings. He responded with a mostly non-sensical email saying there was nothing I could have done as a host to make his 'Arrival' better or otherwise improve as a host, but that his low ratings were my fault because I didn't explain to him that star ratings were important, perhaps I hadn't noticed that he had very little experience (3 prior Airbnb stays) so of course he didn't know how star ratings worked; that I should have explained it to him more clearly since I was 'so good at explaining everything else.' I never responded, and was inclined to let it go, but then a male friend of mine encouraged me to complain -- his opinion was that this man had 'targeted' me as potentially available (he'd know I'm single from the reviews on Airbnb, which only mention me as a host), and that he had definitely downgraded my ratings because I said no when he asked me out. I emailed Airbnb and asked that the review and ratings be removed from my profile, and that the guest be informed that Airbnb is not a dating site. I got a call from a man who seemed inexperienced with complaints about guest conduct and would only say that guests are free to rate as they wish. I wasn't satisfied, so I sent a second email asking what Airbnb's policy on sexual harrassment was, requesting that the guest be formally informed that it's inappropriate to ask hosts out on a date, and that his review and ratings be scrubbed from my profile. And in response, I got a call from the very same Airbnb CS rep who blew me off the first time. I'm a lawyer myself, and if only for future reference I'd like to get a response from the legal department on Airbnb's sexual harrassment guidelines are for hosts/guests. Has anyone had similar issues, or any knonwledge about guidelines? Does anyone know how to contact Airbnb legal? I've since disabled Instant Book, which is a shame because it did result in more bookings -- but I won't risk another single guest with a personal agenda. Thanks.
