Mistaken identity?

[Laxman1]

I had a strange experience in our newly hosted site.

The Guest Booked and when he came in he started demanding Swimming Pool, Wifi and Breakfast. We politely told him that we never put this in our site and asked him to provide screen shot from the site. He could not provide but kept insisting that we have cheated him and now changed the property , changed his messages etc etc which was so fictitious.

He was complaining and was very violent. He demanded that money be returned to him and he wanted to leave when the time was 11:00 PM in the night.  Luru N checked and confirmed that what the guest was demanding was not in our site. Yet the guest  was insisting that he was right. Since I did not want such rowdy people I told them to initiate process for refund. The process was initiated on Airbnb support and Luri N came in asked me let the guest in. But the guest wanted money, so I told Luri to refund the money since  we did not want violent/illiterate persons on our property.

We allowed him to stay in the night free of charge as goodwill since it was very cold in the night. The guest said he will check out in the morning at 6:00 AM. However when we checked at 11:00 Am the door was locked and the guest had gone out. Finally the guest left at 1:00 Pm. Luri N apologized to me . I told her I am fine and there was no issue from my side. Finally the case was closed.  

Now my question here is . Why should the guest post a bad review when he technically did not pay?  How can Airbnb allow such review when we are not at fault. This is a case of mistaken identity. I have full transcript from Luri N. 

I am trying to understand whether I was wrong by offering someone shelter in the middle of the night as a gesture of goodwill. I have spend a fortune to build and buy furniture and up keep the property in excellent condition. What could be the feeling of someone when a review is allowed without staying and that too at the start of business  itself?

Can the community help me as I am trying desperately to reach Airbnb for answers but I am not reaching anywhere. I cannot find the right link to address this issue. I could not open the case as it was closed and when I click support the link goes to the existing bookings .

[Lorna170 · Accepted solution]

Was the reservation cancelled or just refunded?  If cancelled, the guest should not be able to leave a review.  If just refunded, the guest can leave a review.  It was kind of you to offer shelter to this guest, but as you have discovered, the guest is able to leave a poor review, even though you were generous.  I would suspect that this guest is the kind that make a habit of arriving, complaining at late hours and getting free stays.

[Lisa723]

@Lorna170 no, the guest can still review if the reservation was cancelled the day of check-in or after.

@Laxman1 the review doesn't appear to violate content policy as it only says the address is incorrect, which you seem to have acknowledged to be at least partially true. (You can contact Google Maps to try to get them to fix that.) When responding to a review, keep in mind that the guest probably won't see it. It's only for the benefit of other prospective guests. Keep it brief and professional. Never respond publicly to negative feedback that isn't part of the public review. In your shoes I would contact Airbnb and ask them to remove your response to the review as it isn't doing you any good.

[Lorna170]

Thank you @Lisa723  for the information about review parameters.  Another OTA will not allow reviews if cancelled at any point.  My mistake.

Your suggestion to @Laxman1 is very good.  

[Laxman1]

Lorna Thank you for your reply. It is unfortunate that Airbnb support team still does no understand the situation even after sending the whole transcript from Luri N. I am going in circles with support team giving me various links in Airbnb site, when the case is straight forward. My team went through so much torture and mental pain for no fault of any one of us . Yet without hesitation I refunded the full  money at the same time the guest arrived. I am still lost and looks like this negative review will remain even after lost money, lost future bookings and free stay for the guest.  It is like people take free ride and abuse and on the top write a negative review. Airbnb team should address such issues judiciously. Now I realize that the transcript given is not even read by the next person who is giving support.

[Laxman1]

Thank you everyone . The issue is solved and I am glad Airbnb policies do address lot of such issues.