Sign My Petition to Stop Guests From Shaking Down Owners With The Threat of a Bad Review

Pete2721
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

Sign My Petition to Stop Guests From Shaking Down Owners With The Threat of a Bad Review

The time has come to stop Airbnb from giving Guests the power of the bad review to shake down Hosts into not collecting money for breaking rules or damages... or even just shaking us down for a refund just because they can.

 

Half my life is spent trying to keep them happy even when some are showing an incredible lack of respect for my home.  Please see my petition and solution below and sign if you agree... and pass it on!

 

https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-unfair-reviews-from-guests-on-airbnb.html

 

 

2 Replies 2

@Pete2721  I'm sure all hosts agree that guests should not be allowed to leverage the threat of a bad review for money or tolerance of rule-breaking. Airbnb already has an Extortion Policy to deal with this:  https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/548/airbnbs-dispute-moderation-for-reviews

 

Before you start lodging complaints and asking people to sign petitions, I recommend familiarizing yourself with the actual review policies, especially in light of recent changes going into effect this month. It is already the case that you can have a review removed if you can demonstrate that the guest has broken these rules.

 

Your proposal is not one I can get behind. You think people should be able to have 10% of their reviews removed if they're not flattering enough? If that were the case, reviews would be pointless because nobody would trust them. If you find that you're consistently being bullied by your guests, the problem probably lies not with the review system but rather a need to screen guests better and act like a boss.

I agree that the guests should not be allowed to leverage the threat of bad reviews for getting away from paying for damages caused by him/ her. The hosts should have an opportunity to request a particular guest's review to be held back from going public till Airbnb can review it and decide in favor or against the review going public.
Having such a system in place would balance the Airbnb reviewing system and allow both the guest as well as the host to have a fair say. Presently, the system unwittingly favors the guest and leaves the host vulnerable to fend for himself.