Host lied about our conversation and my review was removed from his listing

[Ana1992]

Hi I booked a listing for a last minute trip in Colombia South America.   I found the listing  and started communicating with the host.  He offered me a lower rate since the listing was really for double the amount of people staying.  Based on the photos I decided to take it.  The host lives outside of the country and he sent me via WhatsApp the contact for the person that was handling the listing for him locally.  From that point on this is how we communicated y mistake.  Honestly the communication was excellent with both.  He supposedly rushed and had the place prepared.  When I arrived the person met me.  The photos did not tell the entire story of the listing.  The entire place was old and deteriorated.  One bathroom had the toilet seat missing.  My family and I just did not feel confortable there.  After about an hour I let the host know via WhatsApp that we were not staying and I explained to him that while the phots posted showed those specific areas it did not show the tru state of the unit and the deteriorating conditions.  He did not seem to see it that way.  His person came back and as we did a walk through to show her that we had that touched anything we saw a cockroach in one of the bathrooms.   I then proceed to ask the host if he would refund any of my money.  He said he would see so I requested a refund from him.  I then wrote my review with all of the above stated and submitted it.  The host refunded me $25 of my $135 (including the service fee) I did not say anything else to him about the money .  I then received a message from him stating that he would give me an $50 because he had incurred expenses I told him that was fair because I understood that.  I then received a message from Airbnb community stating that my review was in violation of the policy ( I gave 2 stars and wrote my experience with the listing) because the host stated that I had sent him a message stating that if I did not get my full refund back I would write a negative review.  This never happened!  I have been back and forth with Airbnb community because the host supposedly sent a WhatsApp screen shot with this message before I supposedly deleted it.  I sent them my screen shots and transcripts of the chat.  This is very upsetting because I gave an honest and fair review based on my experience.  I thought that that is what reviews are for.  The host is upset and to take my review down made this all up.  I have pictures of his place to show what I am speaking about.  Unfortunately I was not able to get a photo of the cockroach.  How can this happen!   

[Alice595]

@Ana1992  Always keep the conversation in Airbnb app and keep the photo evidence.

[Ana1992]

Yes now i see why.    I will do that from now on

[Linda108]

@Ana1992  As a guest it is most disturbing when any accommodation you book based on what you see online does not live up to your expectations, whether it is a hotel or an Air BNB listing.  Not only do you not get what you expected but you then have to contend with the negative affect on your travel plans.

Given that, I am always surprised that travelers do not follow the directions provided on Air BNB to ALWAYS communicate on the Air BNB system.  I don't know whether you began the WhatsApp communication or the host did, but the host should definitely know better.  

If you believe the listing was misrepresented one step you can take is to report it using the "report this profile" on the listing.  

[Ana1992]

Thank you yes he sent me his number to connect because since his representative In Colombia could only connect through WhatsApp.  It is also an easier platform to use, but I have learned my lesson.  The disturbing piece is that he lied to get his review taken off and went to the lengths  to have created a fake screen shot of our conversation.  If I were looking for a full refund I would have never asked how much could he refund and I would have also requested the full amount.  Not sure if I should message him through Airbnb expressing my shock on the lie?  

[Mark116]

@Ana1992   At this point, what do you have to lose by messaging him through airbnb....but it probably won't do much good in terms of getting a refund.  And, yes, it's terrible when the unit isn't as advertised.  The host must be pretty slick though because it's very unusual to get a review removed, especially if there is also photographic evidence that substantiates that the listing is inaccurate.  

As for whatsapp, don't feel too badly, a lot of our guests use whatsapp while they are visiting because it gets around the cell phone usage costs.  We don't use it for privacy reasons and because it's safer for hosts to keep everything on the platform.  

You could try opening your own case and having someone else look at your screen shots and see if things can be changed/get your refund and get the review put back.

[Ana1992]

Thank you honestly I wasn’t asking for a full refund I requested a partial refund but if I didn’t get one I was ok with it.  He initially gave me back $25 and I was fine with that and did not message him anymore but then he said he would give me and additional $50 because he incurred expenses and that my review was not right that his photos were accurate.  I did not respond to the review part of it but I did thank him and told him that the amount was fair because I understood he incurred expenses.