Retaliation review removed and then reinstated after guest complained about removal?!

[Priyanka7]

A very strange thing happened. A guest had asked for a 50% refund or he would have to “lodge real complaints about my listing” among other things... I eventually got it removed as this was clearly extortion. The guest then complained to Airbnb that the review was removed- Airbnb then contacted me saying they would reinstate his review (they emphasized that it doesn’t matter of what he said was wrong or defamatory- that’s not their problem) as he did not have the exact words “I’m writing you a bad review if you don’t give me back my money”. I don’t understand why they employ such strict policy adhesion to the point where a case of extortion is not considered this because it’s the “wrong words” and therefore they’re going to overturn the removal. Airbnb has double standards with regards to hosts and guests and it’s becoming increasingly more frustrating because guests are weaponizing the reviews against hosts who adhere to their policies. 

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

@Priyanka7  A guest had asked for a 50% refund or he would have to “lodge real complaints about my listing”

That sounds like clear extortion and abuse by Airbnb of their own T&C's in my understanding.

[Priyanka7]

Yup. That’s literally the definition of extortion: using a threat in order to induce someone to do something- usually involving money. I got the review removed after providing screenshots of the conversation. The guest then got annoyed and contacted Airbnb about the fact that it was removed- Airbnb then sided with the guest because they can’t even read their own policies properly. And now the review is back up despite the fact that the guest literally said they would not escalate things if I gave them the 50% refund. 

[Alexandra316]

@Priyanka7 I would go back to Airbnb again either on Facebook or on Twitter @airbnbhelp and ask them to take it back down again. Copy directly from the terms and conditions where it talks about extortion and include the screenshots where the guest said they would review you poorly if you didn't refund them. Don't stop pushing until you get it taken down.

Ridiculous that Airbnb would put the review back up after removing it.

[Priyanka7]

I have logged another complaint. I find it ridiculous that it was removed and then reinstated because the case manager said that my guest had to explicitly use the words “review” when threatening. My guest instead said that “I would be happy with half the money and not having to lodge any real complaints against your listing”.  This was after he had initiated mediation with Airbnb so obviously he was speaking about the review and reporting my listing... I wish they trained their CS people to understand how to interpret policies. 

[Fumiko3]

@Priyanka7 have you heard back from AirBnb? I am keen to know the result. I got similar messages from guests in the past and didn't end up getting unreasonable reviews but would be good to know how to deal with this kind of situation. Many thanks!

[Priyanka7]

I've spoken to three agents and they've told me the previous case manager left a note on my account saying that this issue is resolved so they cannot help me. I've sucked it up and left it up and have since gotten a lot more 5 star reviews. It has impacted my rating for sure- but I have not seen a decrease in bookings