lie, 2 stars review, and more

[Hans83]

Hi,

    I have a group, gave me 2 star review (2 sub-categories were 3 stars, 3 sub-categories were 5 stars, but overall was 2 stars). The review comments were "professional", but my questions are:

1. I have 2 solid/concrete evidence to show he lied in the past, since he likes lying, can airbnb change the policy, and remove reviews if we have evidence to show s/he was lying;

2. if average stars of all sub-categories are much higher than overall (another one I got 1 star, but average was 4.5), can airbnb remove this review?

like to know your opinion.

- Hans83

[Helen3]

@Hans83 I find your post a little confusing

You say the guest lied previously, but what does that have to do with your review?

If you want Airbnb to consider removing the review then you need to demonstrate in what way you feel the review breaks their review policy.

As you say the guest only wrote the word 'professional' I am not quite sure how you think that goes against their review policy.

Presumably this is about your guest Brandon who actually gave you quite a decent review. Rather than saying 'professional' they actually said

"Sweet place, make sure you ask about pool, lake, gym access if that is what you are looking to do"

Your response on the other hand I would say doesn't show you in the best light.

[Gordon0]

If this is about Brandon, @Hans83, I'd be more concerned about your rebuttal to his review (which he'll probably never see). 

[Anonymous]

@Hans83   I believe you're referring to the review from May that says:

"Sweet place, make sure you ask about pool, lake, gym access if that is what you are looking to do."

To answer your questions:  no, and no. Nothing in this review violates Airbnb's content policy, and even if you can prove that the guest lied at some point in your correspondence, this has absolutely no bearing on the validity of the public review. And no, Airbnb does not change the star ratings just because the sub-categories are rated differently; guests enter an "Overall" rating separately from the categories, and it doesn't matter one bit what the "average" of the categories is.

Instead of wasting your time trying to get the review removed, perhaps you should ask to remove  your Public Response, because what you wrote is a disaster. You come across as unprofessional and vindictive, drawing prospective guests' attention to the negative when left to its own devices, that review would scan as positive. It's shocking (in a very bad way) that you claim the guest "lied" about giving you 4 stars; why on earth would you put this kind of comment in a place that is visible on your own listing? 

If you felt the comment about pool/lake access was misleading, all you needed to do was clarify what the cost and procedure involved is so that future guests have correct expectations. The fact that you instead chose to air out a payment dispute and attack the guest's star rating simply boggles the mind, and dramatically decreases the odds that an attentive guest will choose to book this listing.

[Sarah977]

@Hans83  I echo what other hosts have said. There is nothing about the public review which is bad. He doesn't even say he was asked to pay extra, only says "ask about". When you have a private altercation with a guest, or they send you a private message, no prospective guests are aware of that- by responding to what isn't publicly evident, and attacking the guest in an unprofessional way, you made yourself look bad, and that is what will stand out to potential guests reading your reviews, not the review you responded to.

The purpose of a response is to clarify misinformation to future guests, not to speak to the guest who left the review, unless your response is of the "Thank you for staying, you were lovely guests" variety.