It is outrageous and unfair if a guest does not show up and they get to write a review

[Anthony48]

This is happening to me once a month or so, and I do not understand why Airbnb puts Superhosts and hosts through a real stressful multi step process to remove a review that should never have been allowed in the first place. To be clear:

- No show

- no notification (this is fine)

- no message interaction 

- when contacting them, it’s usually cancelled flights, and not in any way our fault. (We are next to the airport and really convenient,  but it comes with these type problems)

Magically the next day they get to write a review about our home when they never got near it, never checked-in, never in got in the same state. 

There is NO REASON they should be permitted to evaluate a host. If they aren’t entitled to a refund, this can make it even worse, and they can blame us for our clear cancellation policy. We have sometimes been forced to “bribe” a no show, virtually begging them to please not review us in exchange for a partial refund they absolutely do not deserve.

you can contact Airbnb and plead your case, but the answer is always NO at level one. You must demand a case manager, and it is always strongly implied it won’t make a difference. You must further fight to go up higher, and demand the stars and commentary be removed, and it is still discretionary. This is OUTRAGEOUS and TOTALLY UNFAIR. The guests NEVER got anywhere your home or experience or interact with you even by message, yet they get to make up some imaginary review based on your refund policy, which they WILL punish you for.

airbnb reps try EVERYTHING to discourage you and leave the absurd review from someone who cancelled or never showed up. They claim the reviews are not unkind or unreasonable, they say you are “doing well and 3 stars one time is no big deal”. They will say OVER AND OVER THERE IS NOTHING THEY CAN DO. this is infuriating! Why are we forced to fight for something that should not be allowed in the first place!

i have had them removed, but the multi level phone calls always take at least one hour, and this is absurd, unfair, and needs a policy.  NO GUEST SHOULD REVIEW A RESERVATION THAT THEY CANCEL OR DO NOT SHOW UP FOR WITH NO FAULT OF THE HOST.

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Anthony48 agree completely.

Do you respond to the review by saying "guest did not show for their stay" ?

[Anthony48]

The damage is done by that point. Those replies are not really read. The power is in the stars that count towards your overall average - and worse - your most recent evaluations/stars/reviews are at the TOP of your listing for the next days/weeks as the first things future guests read and have serious negative impact on your reputation.

[Rosa580]

I do exactly that 

[Inna22]

@Anthony48 I think if the guest pays for the stay, they have the right to leave a review. I am not saying it is fair if they lie in it or use it as a platform to vent or blame you for things that are not your fault, but technically if they never got a refund, it is a valid reservation. It is true they have not experienced any of the criteria (accuracy, location etc) other than communication but if they paid full price, I can see how they can expect any of the parts of the full experience they choose to have.

[Rachel177]

@Inna22 I don't know how a guest can leave an honest review of a property that they never set foot in, and don't believe that they should be able to leave a review if they have cancelled through no fault of the host. How can someone rate your place for cleanliness, value, accuracy or location when they haven't set foot inside the property? 

[Inna22]

@Rachel177 if they CANCELLED -yes, absolutely. However @Anthony48 was describing a no show. Morally that guest should not be able to leave a review as well. However this is hard to police

[Mark116]

@Inna22  It would be easy for airbnb to fix this.  Make the first question:  Did you complete your stay?  If the answer is no...then the rest of the 'review' goes on a different track with different questions, to separate them out from actual guests.  It's insane that anyone who never set foot on a property is allowed to review cleanliness or location or even value.  How do you know the 'value' if you never stayed or saw it in person?

[Inna22]

@Mark116  yes, that’s a fantastic  idea. Or another booking site has an option for the host to report a guest as a no-show. They do it for a different purpose but same idea in terms of that should disable reviews on both sides. Same process should take place the moment host makes a deposit claim against a guest

[Anthony48]

YES!!!! This should DISABLE REVIEWS on both sides!!! You win!! LOL. I so wish we could get this point across! NEITHER host NOR guest should be able to comment about the other.

[Lauramay0]

@Anthony48 I really see this as a problem. If a guest has never set foot in your place they should be blocked from writing a review. In the same way a host should be blocked from writing a review on a guest that was never at his place. Airbnb needs to upgrade their system to prevent such occurrences. Yes disable reviews.

[Robin167]

I disagree that the host shouldn't be able to review no shows. I had a guest booked last night. She communicated very little but did say two days ago that she would arrive at 4:00pm. I have to be here to welcome guests (I make this clear to my guests) so I waited seven and a half hours on a Friday night for her. At 11:30pm she messaged that she was staying with her sister to "help out" with a wedding party.

I was furious. She canceled for last night this morning after I sent her a message expressing my feelings about her inconsideration. Now there is a notice on my calendar for today that says "Advance n." It's cut off so I on't now what it means. I think other hosts deserve to know how she behaved! 

[Sarah977]

@Robin167  That notice on your calendar doesn't have anything to do with that no-show booking. You must have "Advance notice" set in your booking settings. I do- I require 2 days advance notice for bookings, I don't take last-minute or same day bookings. So check your settings- they may have changed on their own- those things do inexplicably sometimes happen.

And I agree with you- no shows should still have the review option, but it should only have the option to rate communication and talk about it in a written review.. Obviously no one can rate each other on anything other than that if the guest never set foot in the listing.

[Anthony48]

With all due respect, I think you have misinterpreted all the intent of the initial posting. What you are describing is not what the discussion is about. Yes, what you describe is good to know - but it's not in reference to complete disassociation with a property

[Emilia42]

This is one of the best ideas I've heard @Mark116!