How can I resolve the review from my profile?

[Tricia129]

I rented an Airbnb home over 2 years ago, my first and only one.  During that time, the stay was great, the home was left in good conditions and we followed all the rules.  But we forgot to report the existing issues when we first checked-in and had some misunderstanding.  For instance,

1. there were some burned mark on carpet but since that was there before I assumed they already know.  So I didn't report it to them when I checked in.

2. my 2 years old son picked up fallen fruits (lime or something) from their garden and left them in the bedroom under the bed.  The rule is not to pick up any fruit from the tree and we didn't pick any from the tree.  

3. we even mop the floor in the living and dining area and wipe out the counter. 

The host wrote a review on my profile that we ruined their house which is totally not true.  I tried to communicate back to them explaining all those and ask for a proof that we really ruin the house like they stated.  They didn't reply back.  I didn't know that I can leave a response back on their comment so I didn't.  Now I ended up with one and only review which makes me sound so bad that no one might want to rent me another room.  Is there anything I can do to mitigate this?

[Anonymous]

@Tricia129  Once the review has been published, you have 30 days to post a response. There's no action you can take against a review two years later.

Furthermore, the host is only obliged to show "proof" if they make a monetary claim for damage, and even if that is the case, it's Airbnb that they have to submit it to - not the guest.

I'm guessing that your concern has been renewed because you'd like to be able to rent on Airbnb again. The best you can do at this point is preface your requests with a message humbly acknowledging the negative review and inspiring confidence that you will leave a better impression in the future. 

[Sarah977]

@Tricia129  You may have thought you left the place in decent condition, but it's pretty obvious from the review that was left for you that you didn't. If there was already a burn mark in the carpet that you didn't let the host know about when you checked in, that's one thing, but the hosts said there was trash everywhere and stains on lots of stuff. I checked out the reviews these hosts have left for other guests and they leave nice reviews saying the guests were great, left the place clean, some they say left it spotless. These hosts have hundreds of reviews, so it's unlikely that they made something untrue up about your stay at their place. There would be no reason for them to do that.

So it's not just a matter of overcoming this review- if you fail to acknowledge that you obviously didn't leave the place in nearly as good condition as you feel you did, then you'll just get more bad reviews. You say you even mopped the floor and wiped the counter. Wiping the counter isn't some special deal- that's expected of all guests when they rent an Airbnb- wipe the counters, clean the stovetop, make sure all the trash is in the bin or wherever the host told you to leave it, and you don't leave fruit your son picked up in the yard to rot under the bed. And if you have children, you don't let them walk around with food, eat on the sofa or the bed, etc.

The hosts didn't mention picking the fruit in the review, nor did they say you "ruined" the place. They indicated that you left a mess behind you, in every room, and weren't careful with their stuff.

If you are going to book Airbnbs, you need to learn from this experience, be respectful and clean up after yourselves. As opposed to being in denial about leaving a mess.

[Dimitar27]

If your next 10+ hosts give you nice reviews and 5 star rating, this bad review will go on page 2 and nobody will see it.