Untrue bad reviews

[Delia90]

Hey guys!

i recently received a bad review after staying at a retreat for 1 night in the Yarra valley & im so disappointed & frustrated about it. AIRBNB will not remove it & the host will not answer the private messages I’ve sent her asking her to explain. The review is completely dishonest & she’s calling me dishonest & that she wouldnt recommend me to any host. I’m so shocked that someone can just up a lie or a fake story about you & for there to not be able to have it taken down. Isn’t it discrimination to lie about someone in public? The review is complete untrue & im not even sure what she is talking about. I paid for 4 guests to stay 1 night but she wrote that I had snuck someone else in over night... it is absolutely not true & if it was I would cop it on the chin. But she has left a terrible review about me & I don’t understand how that can be fair. Does anyone know how I can have it taken down. I’ve asked her to tell me when I was supposed to of snuck someone in. She saw all 4 of us at checkout & spoke to us all for about 5 minutes before we left. I’m not sure if she was she seeing something that I was missing because there was only 4 of us there EVER! It’s just very strange.. do people go out of their way to write bad reviews or is this as weird as I think it is.

if you have any ideas of what I can do please help because AIR BNB won’t. 

Thank you 

[Emiel1]

@Delia90 

Airbnb only wll remove a review if it violates their terms. I read the review, technically it does not violate the terms. I noticed your comment on the review, and you refer also to some private conversion with strong language in it ? If this is in the Airbnb message system and you are convinced the host is lying, you can report the host to Airbnb by using the "flag" link. I think at least Airbnb should ask the host for some proof of her statements.

Hope this helps,

Emiel

[Marit-Anne0 · Accepted solution]

@Delia90 

If your host makes accusations without proof, I do believe it would be a violation of terms.  Try airbnb again using Twitter and found your case well.

[Delia90]

Thank you so much ladies! I am finding it hard to believe what she is saying about me. I honestly did not have an extra guest of visitor in the property. I just do not understand how without proof she can accuse me of this & leave a damming review. Thank you again. 🙏🏼

[Ange2]

@Delia90    You can also reply to her review saying it is not true or  she is confusing you with another set of guests.   The shorter the better so it doesn't come across as a rant.  Unfortunately, false reviews (and petty  revenge) happens to hosts and guests alike.  Airbnb calls it 'opinion' .

Another thing you can do is ask Airbnb to remove your review of her.  Apparently guests can do that.

[Irusia0]

Hi all 

This issue is a festering one and will NOT go away.

I was a super host until a guest gave me a 3 star review

because she did not like the beach!  She admitted my

pod was wonderful clean and sparkling. I still lost my super host status.

As she was polite

I could not take review down and lost my status.

My units have been trashed twice and as a host you have no where to go.

I will only review good guests as Airbnb have been so un-supportive

irusia

[Sarah977]

@Irusia0  I'm sorry the guest did this to you. It's really unfair and angering. 

But I have to say that failing to leave reviews for bad guests doesn't hurt anyone but other hosts. If we don't warn each other about objectionable guests, those guests just keep getting accepted and making other hosts lives miserable. Please review them!

[Carmen1420]

I am in a similar situation but my guest is mentally ill and dangerous.  We contacted the police as well.  Airbnb also will not take their bizarre and untruthful review down.  This person Dale Solomon, is dangerous and I can't even get help from Airbnb.  I have come to the realization that I will just have to take my Airbnb profile down and no longer use this service.   I was also a super host until a very similar situation came up.

[Byron54]

Im just started a new listing and had a terrible and hypocrite guest who gave me a 4 star because she didnt like our beach front as well. Worst thing is i gave her a 5 star review thinking we were all fine.

[Sarah977]

@Byron54  There's nothing wrong with rating a guest 5*s just because she ended up rating you 4*s. 

Reviews are meant to be honest, not an exchange of the same star rating. The reviews you leave are for other hosts, so they can make a decision whether to accept a guest or not. 

If you feel a guest was good and deserved 5*s, that's what you should give. Just don't rate them 5*s to be nice if they really weren't good guests and didn't deserve a high rating.

[Emma339]

However, you can't know that a guest is telling you something different to your face from what they then write after they've left until you have left your own review of them. This would (has for me) affect your opinion of the guest's communication (at the very least), yet you can't respond or edit.

[Karen1201]

I am using this outlet to vent, knowing that nothing will happen through the official site. Yesterday I was given a very poor review by one customer with several comments that are simply untrue. I, in contrast, gave this first time Airbnb user a fair comment and said I would be happy to host them again as all appeared to be well after a 4 day stay with no queries or comments at the time. I am a Superhost and this review is obviously out of sync with so many others. Today I received a message from Airbnb basically saying I had fallen below standards and expect them to put me lower in the listings. Where is the sympathy with hosts that they keep claiming is the new Airbnb? How about having a proper conversation with hosts who have the disappointment, frustration and upset of an unfair review! There are two sides to every story and I see the same lack of sympathy to the hosts as ever there was! Feeling let down on both sides.

[Julie4582]

Hi Karen!  I'm sorry about your frustration and I feel your pain! I just had a review stating they didn't feel safe in the area. I'm working on being a super host and I'm super bothered by it.  The area is great and I walk around there all the time. I bent over backwards to accommodate this guest whose husband had a disability and got them checked in early for no charge so she could time his breathing treatments. I'm frustrated that she can leave a review like that with no basis.  I suspect it is racially motivated by the nice family that lives next door but I'm sure there is nothing I can do.  I wish they would have to state why they felt unsafe.  The rest of mine are great so I hope it just gets buried soon.  I left a great review for them since they left the place clean and communicated.  I wonder if I'm allowed to ask her why she felt unsafe through the Airbnb chat?  Probably won't amount to anything anyway.  Thanks for letting me vent too!  

[Spencer184]

I also received an u true review. After having no problems from any guest, this one guest got lost because we dont have cell service. It was obvious they simply did not read their directions however they are sent right to the app well before the booking. They just didn’t read it ahead of time. They were angry and made false comments about cleanliness. They said the rooms smelled funny and the upstairs bed had dog fur all over it. I had just washed the entire bed set including comforter and shaken it out. This guest also drove up on my lawn to unload their luggage and checkin. They drove right across a small stone wall. I didn’t notice until after I wrote the review because I don’t check the lawn! It’s frustrating and relying on guest reviews for search placement is not a great policy nor should result in losing super host status. Any guest that just has a bad experience or is just an angry person will gladly take that away. It’s impossible to please everyone but I do find that most people are honest. You really can’t host enough people to make up for that one bad review. It goes both ways too I admit that but the single bad review policy needs to be reevaluated. I have 10 glowing reviews and then one bad one. Most guests are smart enough to realize these are disgruntled guests and mostly untrue and exaggerated though.

[Julie4582]

@Spencer184  I agree!  Hosts need a voice - especially when unfairly reviewed.  I'm going to check out other options to check out their policies.