Non-communicating Guest checks out, 3 days later claims the toilet was clogged and asks for refund

[Luis384]

Hello community,

I am writing to you all to explain my current situation and how I cannot resolve this problem. 

I am a host and had someone stay in one of my properties from Oct 19th-21st. She did not communicate at all during her stay until, several days after check-out, she requested a $150 refund (out of the $228 she had paid) claiming the toilet was clogged (which she failed to communicate). She mentioned I should ask my cleaning services and I did so, they told me there was no clog in the bathroom. I then rejected the refund request. It seemed she is just playing the system and trying to get money since she has nothing to lose.

To nobody's surprise, she left me a  bad review. This caused my listing to be removed from the system for 5 days which I find outrageous since there were no issues with my space after her checkout verification by my cleaning services, and no communication during her stay. I can't fix problems if I am not aware of them. Had she reached out, I would've immediately resolved the issue.

The biggest problem is that, after receiving an email mentioning the CEO, Brian Chesky, had shared with hosts that he wanted to protect us from bad, one-off reviews, I decided to call Airbnb support and try to resolve this situation. They escalated the ticket and the 'final decision' was made that the review wasn't violating any policies. So, after wasting 45min of my life on the phone with Airbnb customer support, they told me that I have to deal with the bad review and the listing pause. There is nothing they can do to help. 

This listing pause will cause me actual money. So the bottom line is that someone that has no track record and no reviews, can file a wild claim with no communication and no proof, leave a bad review because I reject the request and my listing is removed costing me money. I have been doing this for years and have hundreds of reviews.

I am amazed that airbnb support specialists, case managers and even supervisors I talked to provided no resolution. I need some help because this seems unfair, disproportionate and I - as a host - feel entirely unprotected by Airbnb if someone can simply claim whatever they want and the impact is as severe as this. I am hoping you can help me turn my listing back on and, ideally, dispute the review and have that removed.

Thank you!

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Luis384

this is not the first time I've heard similar story about extortion  and retaliation reviews and ratings . It obviously become very common . Someone said there is a website where you can learn how to get your money back from your host and Airbnb.

I would contact Airbnb via Twitter, Facebook, mail, phone... as long as it takes to put my listing back online. I would emphasise that she has no proof  for her claims .

[Luis384]

Exactly my thoughts. I just imagined that escalating as far up the chain as I could would help resolve my issue. This pause process is automatic and they apparently have no way of overriding the situation.

I can't believe we're so unprotected. I can leave her a bad review with the extortion story but she'll just delete that account and start a new one. I live and die by my reviews and I don't have that option. So unfair!

[Sarah977]

@Luis384  Of course they can unpause your listing, that's total BS. It's just like some hosts get told that there's no way to remove a bad review full of lies, but other hosts manage to get them to do it.

I'm confused about you saying that she left a bad review, and then saying "I can leave her a bad review". How could you see her review if you haven't written one? If hers has already been published, that would mean the 14 day window for you to submit a review has passed.

[Luis384]

Hey Sarah,

I meant, I can probably respond to the review publicly or try something else, but, what I wanted to say is that people can create accounts, do this, delete and restart while us, hosts, cannot do that. We're exposed to this sort of harrassment and we're told Airbnb can't help.

Any ideas on what you'd pursue? 

[Sarah977]

@Luis384  Actually, if you didn't leave a review, you lose the option to respond to the guest review 😞

Maybe try contacting Airbnb on Twitter, which people say has the best results. If you can't get Airbnb to unpause your account, and remove the untrue review, I guess you'll have to wait out the 5 days. 

[George77]

Everything you have written is sadly far too true.

Airbnb are more focused on keeping guests satisfied than the actual host. 

I run 7 studios and spread my advertising between several different booking sites. 

Airbnb account for about 50% of all my bookings. 

Yiu our need to investigate other options and DO NOT  put all your eggs in the one basket. 

I use Aurbb, HomeAway, Booking dot com, and several private AUstralian sites. 

Good luck

gW. 

[George77]

To add to my last comment....

i guess EST its only fair that Aurbnb focus on the Guest rather than the host’s needs. 

Without the guest there would be no revenue whereas one or two thousand hosts will have little impact on 32,000 hosts in Sydney.  It’s all a numbers game !!

[Diane471]

I had a guest who demanded a 'partial refund' recently because the tv didn't have local stations.  She didn't leave me a review and I didn't leave her one because if I did, I'm sure she would leave a bad one as would I.  Anyway, that made me wonder -- these guests are verified by Airbnb when the make a payment via a government ID.  My assumption then they can't just delete and start new accounts without their history following them?  Reason is, as a host, I would like to see if a guest has a history of bad behavior so I can make a wise decision.  Am I wrong about this?

[Luis384]

You might be right. It's been a while since I've travelled on my Airbnb account. Even so, in this case, I didn't write a review for her and I have no option to respond to her review. I denied her claim and I'm stuck with a bad review, a paused listing and all the potential reservations I could get in these 5 days...due to a claim that has no basis and no proof, and all Airbnb does is tell me to deal with it!

I've tried reaching out to them on Twitter but haven't heard back. I doubt this'll get resolved. 

[Diane471]

I've made a comment on their FB ad before (mostly positive).  They asked me to contact them (customer service) directly on the negative review.  They may not address it there but they have to respond because it's a big public forum.  Not sure if it helps but at least you can vent.

[Susan1028]

It’s been shared in this forum that Twitter gets immediate positive response.

There are also other blogs and sites that deal with these issues you can find easily with a simple search.

[Kristy43]

Seriously??  Common sense would suggest that Airbnb should not allow complaints and attempts at refund to occur unless the issue was identified DURING the stay...... If only common sense was common!  Persist with Airbnb @Luis384, as @Branka-and-Silvia0 suggest, jump on social media to try and get a more positive result that way!  Good luck!

[Luis384]

I agree 100%.

Should've been an easy conversation and not an hour escalating a ticket. Should've been resolved in my favor but they say Airbnb is a community where hosts and guests can share whatever their experience is. Unless they violate terms, the review stays, the listing pause cannot be stopped.

[Giedre-and-Andre0]

@Luis384 WWWOOWWW...

thats crazy!

I just updated my (long list of) house rules:

- NO refund without prior notice and documentation. Any issues during a booking period/stay,

resulting in a refund request, needs to be addressed in writing before checkout through airbnb message.

Short description and (if possible) photo of the issue is mandatory.

What is the nessurement/base of a "listing pause"... 1*  3* ...?