Revenge Review

[Emma574]

Hi everyone,

We recently had a guest stay that put a claim in for a full refund, Airbnb investigated her claims which were found to be false. Within minutes of her claim been denied she left a malicious review that went above and beyond. Airbnb refuse to remove the review, it’s the first review people see when our listing comes up and is impacting our business. 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks

Emma

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sandra856@Emilia42  thanks girls 🙂 I use a laptop and I've tried to leave a response as soon as I got the review but I couldn't.

this is email notification from Airbnb when both of our reviews are posted. You can see the red button "write a response" If I click on it I can reply to a review.

This is email notification when my guest's review is published after 14 days because I didn't review the guest. See the red button "Send my feedback" and when I clicked on it, it took me to the message thread with this guest.

[Sandra856]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 It is interessting that the options are so different and depends on what kind of devices and browser /phone /app /laptop you use.  🙂 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sandra856 

screenshots are emails I received from Airbnb. It doesn't matter if I read it on the phone or laptop, Mozilla or chrome 

The first one is for the guest I reviewed and the second is for the guests I didn't review

Maybe you in Denmark have some options which I don't have

[Sandra856]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 I'm sure they send the same emails to me. With the same different red buttons. I don't think that differs but I have noticed that the webbrowser airbnb site on my phone looks very different from if I use the same webbrowser on a computer. 

[Sandra856]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 did you try to enter the review weblink I gave you into a webbrowser with your own airbnb profile number instead of mine?

https://www.airbnb.dk/users/reviews/3593997

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Sandra856 

yes I found that page, on laptop. I'll try it to reply on it the next time we forget to leave a review and will let you know 🙂

Thank you for this info

[Sandra856]

Thank you too 🙂 

[Linda108]

I agree with @Sandra856  in terms of leaving a response.  Short and sweet is best as your other reviews are  glowing and you place is lovely.  If you did not leave a review, why? Seems this is the type of guest hosts would appreciate a warning.

[Emma574]

My oh wants to put this as a reply but I’m not sure 

Dear Michele 

We are very sorry that you didn’t enjoy your stay with us and are very upset and confused by it, we have really struggled in how to reply with your review as it contradicts the comments left by your group that they had a fantastic time and didn’t want to leave.

This is our first and hopefully our last negative review but we feel we should respond to all of your issues, we are not sure if this is the correct or professional way to do this but feel it is only fair to give other guests a full picture.

The hot tub is cleaned and water is changed for every new arrival, your group confirmed it was used nearly everyday of your stay with no issues.

The games room is an outdoor room/shed as can be seen in the pictures, it is swept and cleaned for every arrival.

You reported the garlic press had broken when you were using it and we replaced straight away, that is something that is out of our control.

You reported the dishwasher while you were here wasn’t cleaning the pans properly but other guests in your group said there was no issue and it was fine because they were trying to clean pans with very stubborn baked on stains, dishwasher tablets and extra tea towels were left for you. I imagine most dishwashers will not remove burnt on stains.

We have a hand made rustic table and chairs which always looks worn and old as it was our intention when it was made.

The stairs and hallway are looking tired and are on our next phase of redecoration due in January but they do not not affect the usability of any of the areas.

When you reported the leak in the shower we responded asap of your email and when we arrived a member of your group apologised and said he had left the shower door open causing the leak that is out of our control and just human error.

There are areas that we appreciate could be perceived to be unkept, this is because we have left them to grow wild and have been seeded with wild flowers and other native plants. We are hoping these areas will help with the local wildlife. There’s a large lawned garden and patio which is maintained regularly.

We hope the above makes things clear and fair and we are truly sorry that you felt it necessary to leave what we feel to be a very malicious review as the claim for a full refund was denied. 

[Linda108]

@Emma574   Usually I caution against a long response to a negative review.  However, your response is VERY respectful, professional and informative.  That you only bring up the refund denial at the end, I think is also effective.  You do not have a defensive tone and you do not lash out at the guest.  Good job!!

[Petra327]

@Emma574   Hi Emma,

I will concur with the other comments here that you need to write a response.  I would not personally make it a long response because people don't normally read through those.  I do want to say I looked at your listing and it is soooo nice.  What a beautiful setting and great accommodations.  Anyone seeing those pictures will want to stay there so you should feel confident in that.

It's easy to pick a property apart.  And I mean "any" property and that's exactly what that guest did.  It is obvious to anyone that reads her review that it is a revenge review.  Since that is the truth just say that without justifying her concerns.  I can tell this will be difficult for you to do, but please do it or have someone else do it for you.  It will put the truth out and help dilute that review.  Something to the effect of the following;

"Michelle, Airbnb investigated the claims made in your review and your claims were determined to be false.  Since this review was made after your full refund request was denied it does question the sincerity of your words as do all the other other positive reviews of this property. 

 I do not recommend this guest to future hosts."

[Maggie46]

ooooh, that's good - i just had a revenge review and am trying to figure out how to respond.  I first have written the guest, who i believe is upset b/c i wouldn't change their reservation from 2 to 1 nights, only 2 hours before they were due to arrive.  I also have a 2 night minimum.  I'd like to hear from her what was "mediocre" and "not clean," before responding to her review.  And she gave me 2 stars for "value," i think b/c of this.  

[Ange2]

@Emma574   I agree, write a response, if you can.  And, if you can bear it (it's often labor intensive and incredibly frustrating)  I would call Airbnb again, and again bring to its attention that it  investigated the complaints and found them to be false, hence it is knowingly allowing a  false and malicious review to be published that  "does not represent the author’s personal experience or that of their travel companions",  which is contrary to its own policy.

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/546/what-is-airbnbs-content-policy

[Emma574]

We have complained over and over to Airbnb and they keep stating their policies for reviews and the review that was left doesn’t break any of them. We can’t believe they can let false reviews to be left on. 

[Linda108]

While it is very upsetting to see negative statements in print, your professional response will actually be a plus.  Don't worry too much as you have a good base of reviews and enough experience to be able to weather this aspect of the hosting experience.