How can a guest who cancelled, still leave a review?

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

I am so angry right now that I want to quit Airbnb. We have 300 five star reviews, now for the first time we have a guest that has canceled their stay and left us a two star review (not clean, not accurate, not, not, not). 

We contacted Airbnb and they told us that they could not drop the review.

 This review is a lie and they did not even enter our Airbnb, they canceled the day before!

Does anybody have any suggestions other than "suck it up"?

Thank you for responding to my venting.

Denise and David

[Paul1255]

Hi @Island-Girl-BnB0 David and Denise, hope you're well.

The body of the guest review says that you would refund the guests money but then didn't, so perhaps this is the reason for their leaving a review and then rating you so lowly in it.

Would it count as a revenge review? perhaps you could get Airbnb to view it as such and see if they may remove it under those terms.

If the guest had said anything to you along the lines that they'd leave a poor review if you didn't refund them then you'd be covered by the extortion policy:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/548/what-is-airbnb-s-extortion-policy?q=reviews&page=2

Sorry to not be able to be more help.

Your other nearly 300 reviews are generally fine and all your stats are 5* so this particular review won't have an impact in isolation.

Best wishes

Paul.

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Hello Paul

Thank you for your kind comments.

I did not say that we would refund the guests money. I did write that I would fully refund the guest if the apartment was rebooked after they cancelled (we always do that as a considerate "rule of thumb").

The simple truth of the matter is that the guest that cancelled was very critical of our cleanlyness, accuracy, etc, and etc. They never walked through the door.

[Paul1255]

@Island-Girl-BnB0  You're welcome 🙂

And for clarity, I was just referencing the text in the review, I wasn't implying that this is actually what happened- I can see you're a seasoned host who knows what they're doing.

I hope you can get back in touch with Airbnb and speak to a different agent and move the conversation along the lines of the review being a revenge review, and seeing if that helps.

Paul 🙂

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Hello again Paul

Yes we are seasoned hosts who have had over 500 guests. We have also traveled quite a bit and spent many years living outside the USA in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe. We know how to be both good hosts and guests.

Airbnb did the right thing by us. Cheers for the Airbnb Team!

Airbnb Support

11:31 AM

Hello,

This is Salah from Airbnb, thank you for contacting us, I will try my best to assist you as fast as possible.

I completely understand the situation, I was able to investigate the reservation. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience and I just deleted the review for you.

Thank you.

[Sandra856 · Accepted solution]

Wow, @Island-Girl-BnB0 I'm so glad to hear that it all worked out as it should. There has been so many stories in this community with the opposite outcome.

Best, Sandra 

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Hello Sandra

Thank you for the kind words. I do appreciate your good heart and kindness.

We have had over 500 guests, by and large 99% were absolute wonderful experiences! We love sharing our home with Airbnb people, and I feel as we give great value for their vacation funds. We always leave beer, wine, lots of food and we even give them a tour around our little island. Our happy home always feels better when shared.

On a side note, we love Copenhagen! I taught technical school in Alborg and spent many months in Copenhagen ( I stayed at the Admarials Inn in Nyhavn. Lovely place.

Please enjoy your day and please give Copenhagen our love!

[Paul1255]

Yessssss 🙂 nicely done @Island-Girl-BnB0  !

[Susan17]

@Island-Girl-BnB0 @Paul1255 @Sandra856 

I didn't see the guest review, but Paul wrote, "The body of the guest review says that you would refund the guests money but then didn't"

Just for anyone else reading this who may need to get a retaliatory or revenge review taken down - that right there is the reason the review was deleted so swiftly by the CM. The one thing Airbnb will always stick to their Content Policy and remove a review for, is when the guest makes reference to a dispute that required Airbnb's involvement. The exact wording in the policy is "Content that provides specific details or outcomes of an Airbnb investigation"

[Mark116]

@Island-Girl-BnB0  I agree, it is unfair bordering on insane.  It would be one thing to allow people to review a place if they arrived, went inside and then cancelled because of cleanliness or some other inaccuracies in the listing.  But to allow people who have never set foot in a listing to complete a review where they are giving stars on things that they have not experienced is totally  unfair to hosts.  I have no idea what airbnb's reasoning is on this, it would easy to fix things so this can't happen.

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Hello Mark

Thank you for the support. Airbnb just did the right thing by us.

Cheers for the Airbnb staff.

Airbnb Support

11:31 AM

Hello,

This is Salah from Airbnb, thank you for contacting us, I will try my best to assist you as fast as possible.

I completely understand the situation, I was able to investigate the reservation. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience and I just deleted the review for you.

Thank you.

[Lisa723]

@Island-Girl-BnB0 They cancelled the day *before* check-in? This is definitely not supposed to be possible and if this is what happened I would keep reopening the issue with Airbnb until you get a rep who understands this and will take down the review. If they cancelled the day of check-in it's trickier. Airbnb unfortunately does allow this to accommodate the scenario @Mark116 mentioned. Still I would keep trying with Airbnb:

AirBnB number:

United States and Canada

+1-415-800-5959 +1-855-424-7262 (toll-free)

For Superhosts (they will verify you):

North America: +1-647-945-9627 +1.888.326.5753

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Hello Lisa

Thank you for the support. Airbnb just did the right thing by me!

Cheers

Airbnb Support

11:31 AM

Hello,

This is Salah from Airbnb, thank you for contacting us, I will try my best to assist you as fast as possible.

I completely understand the situation, I was able to investigate the reservation. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience and I just deleted the review for you.

Thank you.

[Island-Girl-BnB0]

Airbnb did the right thing!!!!! So happy that they support the hosts!

Airbnb Support

11:31 AM

Hello,

This is Salah from Airbnb, thank you for contacting us, I will try my best to assist you as fast as possible.

I completely understand the situation, I was able to investigate the reservation. I deeply apologize for this inconvenience and I just deleted the review for you.

Thank you.

[Phil-And-Aquilla0]

I had a booking, less than 24 hours from check in for one night. The guest profile told me he was verified. When I approved it turned out that the verification was a phone number and nothing else. Moreover his photo (which now under the ridiculous new rules that Airbnb has introduced does not appear before a confirmed booking) was that of a fox (his name from the Chinese was apparently Mr Fox). He had no previous reviews, had just joined and I felt uncomfortable with the booking. I asked him to provide offline ID and a proper photo and off line ID. Receiving no reply I contacted Airbnb and they cancelled on my behalf. I waived the fee which apparently I could have charged. Yet Airbnb are still allowing him to leave a review, never having even seen my place. Apparently if there is a cancellation with 24 hours of the reservation date Airbnb policy allows this. A ridiculous situation!! My fear is that he will leave a negative review because I didn't let him proceed with the booking. Any advice??