Airbnb not supporting host against flagrantly inaccurate and false review by guest

[Deb75]

Hi all,

Been in the business now for 15 months. Have made 'superhost' all four quarters. Have over 67 5 star reviews with almost all commenting on my 'knack for hospitality' which is a joy to hear, as I love love what I am doing.  Also have 5 star status at the 'competitor' where I am also listed.... My tiny cabin in on my farm, I designed, built and decorated it, it's been a joy to over 100 guests since I opened such a short time ago.  

Sunday, July 15h, my 2 guests checked out.  I had little to no interaction other than checking in, a couple of texts from her regarding an activity (all will become clear later here). 

She left a review today that shook me to my boots.  95% of it was untrue, the rest was gross misrepresentations of a couple of the interactions we had.  I spent awhile thinking, and then I answered calmly, and addressed each of her 'comments and complaints' in a careful manner clearly counteracting on her statements.  It was bizarre, some of her comments, like the bathroom having no 'privacy', and she had to ask her boyfriend to go outside when she used it.

The bathroom has a DOOR, it is on a barn door slide, and slides rather than opens traditionally.  Photos clearly show that in my listing, but even so, standing in the cabin with her, there it was. As plain as day. Yet she says there is 'no privacy' in the bathroom. Etc etc.  It's important for those reading this to please read the review she left, and my addressing her comments.  I have IN WRITING, all the back up to my counter to her other claims.  

After posting my rebuttal, I called Airbnb with my concerns. They were very nice. End of story. I was told a 'special councelor ' would be calling me to discuss my concerns and my 'side' of the story. 

Instead, I got an email from 'Gladys' stating that they understood that I had 'requested that this reveiw be removed'..What? I never said any such thing, and merely said I wanted to speak to someone regarding how they handled a guest that obviously fabricated a negative review.  And then  they said that they had reviewed everything (??) and that this review did not 'meet their requirements for removal'...Period. End of discussion...

This business means the world to me, I need the income, but mostly I love what I am doing. I am sharing a piece of paradise with people who truly appreciate my efforts, and reward me with kind words, and in some cases, continued friendship. However, now I am quite concerned about how future potential guests are going to evaluate my property when reading this nut job's review, despite my response to her. 

I would deeply appreciate anyone's feedback once reading the review (and many of my others) as well as my response .

I feel like Airbnb really doesn't support the hosts in this, despite the fact they would not HAVE GUESTS, if we didn't provide the properties.

Thanks in advance.

My property is 'Little Mountain Cabin at Shadows Drifting Farm'

[David126]

I did have a look at the review but what struck me most was the reply.

The review system is deeply flawed, and you will inevitably get a weird one, just a numbers game.

If you wish to leave a response you need to keep it short, keep it professional and focussed on future guests.  Basically showing that this is a one off weirdo that can be ignored.

[Sarah977]

@Deb75  I understand how distressing it is for a guest to lie about things in a review or otherwise write what you feel is such because they didn't experience the communication from the same perspective as you do. It's natural to wish to defend oneself from off-the-wall attacks.

However, I would not have responded to her review with the long detailed rant you did. If you wanted to talk to her about why her interpretation of events and communication was very much opposed to yours, it would have been far better to do it through private feedback.  Your public response to her review could have been short- "I'm sorry that XXX was displeased with aspects of her stay, and that her interpretation of our communications seems to be in opposition to what actually took place. As can be seen by past reviews, none of my other guests has experienced what is reported here. Perhaps our interactions would have been clearer had XXX not been ongoingly distracted when talking with me, trying to control her poorly trained dogs. The bathroom has a fully closing sliding door. More opaque bathroom curtains has been duly noted, although there is no one else around for half a mile except my animals."  I wouldn't have even bothered to counter her claims about dust and dirt, or that there were mosquitoes. 

Reviews are written for guests to determine if they would wish to stay somewhere, and for hosts to determine if they would be willing to host a particular guest, not to do public battle with either. Her long rant review would have been taken with a grain of salt by other guests and dismissed, as it is obviously an outlier in a string of wonderful reviews, and other hosts would see her review in exactly the same light. Your long, detailed, public response, however, could make you appear to be overly critical and defensive, plus she's not worth spending that much time on.

But I do understand the irritation and your wish to set the record straight.

And I would put opaque curtains on the bathroom window, regardless of how silly you find that. It wouldn't bother me in the slightest, but I know a lot of people who are extremely modest who would be uncomfortable with open-weave burlap.

[Rachel0]

@Deb75 This is just one guest, leaving an unpleasant review in the midst of all the positive reviews you already have.  Unfortunately you have made it stand out by the length of your reply.  This guest does sound overly fussy though and anyone who refers to their dogs as "our fur babies" has lost the plot in my opinion.  One thing struck me though, you wrote a review about her saying that she had observed your house rules whereas in your reply to her review you mention that her dogs were off the leash and that that was against your house rules.  If she is going to travel with these dogs to other places in the future, hosts do deserve to know that she does not always control them properly.

As  for the bathroom issue, as @Sarah977 says, it would not hurt to provide opaque curtains or a blind as some people are overly modest, although it would not  bother me.  

As for the mozzies, just make sure that guests are aware that bites could be an issue and perhaps provide some  repellant and some calamine lotion - although they should have enough common sense to work that out for themselves.  

[Deb75]

Thank you all for your in-depth and considerate response to my issue. I will take it seriously in the event that anything like this should happen in the future. I will clarify one thing tho,  the window she's complaining about is not in the bathroom. It is a big picture window in the living area overlooking the valley. The bathroom has no window. Her comment about the privacy in the bathroom was apparently the fact that she did not realize that the bathroom door was on a sliding track. Hard to believe but that is the only thing I can imagine would cause her to feel the bathroom had no privacy.

My biggest concern was this sort of a misleading review would put off other guests in the future and I merely wanted to set the record straight. I see your point however and will keep that in mind in the future. and yes, it is very hard to read these kind of false statements when you've worked so hard to make than welcome. Will just put it behind me and enjoy the next guest! Thanks.

[Deb75]

Oh, and I did try to communicate with her privately but she would not respond. And I will be more accurate on reviewing a guest in the future for the benefit of other hosts.

[Sarah977]

@Deb75  Makes you really wonder how people like this get through life when they can't even figure out a sliding door. 

[Deb75]

Lol! It never crossed my mind that that was the possibility until a good friend of mine suggested it... Until she did, I was truly scratching my head wondering what this woman meant about no privacy in the bathroom! Her poor boyfriend, having to sit out on the front porch because she didn't know how to shut the door to the bathroom!

[Ute42]

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@Deb75, Your reply to the guest review is too long. I didn't even read it.

[John1080]

What a terrible review from the guest and what a learning lesson as well. I have enjoyed reading the feedback from other hosts on this issue and while I have not yet received any negative reviews, I'm always trying to plan ahead in the event it occurs. 

It seems there the theme is consistent that there will always be that one odd guest, who will not be happy with anything. I think it's apparent from your other almost 70 reviews that you're a great host and that your space is nice. 

Lesson I've learned from this thread - keep any feedback for negative reviews short and professional.  

[Deb75]

Once the shock wore off, my biggest concern was how it would affect my super-host rating. After speaking to Airbnb today, my stats showed that I am 30% above the minimum for super-host status and this one review would not affect it. So I was able to relax somewhat and just let it go. I'm looking forward to this weekend's guests.. and I also would have preferred to be able to answer her in a shorter form. But there were several issues I felt I had to clarify for the benefit of potential guests that were completely false. I have learned a valuable lesson!

[Fred13]

@Deb75 Potential guests are not that interested in who is 'right' or 'wrong'; in this case, they could easily surmised that the guest was a bit self-absorbed by her comments about how much emphasis she places on 'hospitality' (aka she is high maintenance). 

   Future guests are more interested in how 'cool' a host is by how they respect, but make light of odd opinions.

[Deb75]

 I wan't interested either in 'proving ' her wrong. I was only concerned that potential guests would have misconceptions (i.e. 'no bathroom door) about my property. As well as the claim that as a host, I am 'unfriendly and unhelpful'.  It will be interesting to see if my bookings drop off until a couple more positive reviews are on top of here.  I usually get one per week for future dates.

I would also be interested to hear from those who commented here, if YOU have ever received a review this bad, with so many false statements, vehemence, etc. And at what stage of your rental program, as in how many reviews you had prior that were glowing, etc.....AND if you did, how far along into your hosting experience did you get it, how did you feel when you first read it? Were you shocked, dismayed,  some other emotion?... what WAS your reaction initially?  Did you expect something negative at some point with that guest during their stay or did it take you totally by surprise?  Did you find that it hurt your bookings for a while until other positive reviews topped it? I'd love to hear others' experience with something like this. And I don't mean a slightly negative review or a comment or two. I mean a rant like I got.  Thanks!  

[Ross648]

Hello Deb, 

I had just one experience in which the couple telephoned me on checkout asking for a full refund and suggesting that they would give me a negative review and lowest rating unless I agreed.   Of course I didn't accede, and the rating brought me down from somewhere in the 4.9s to the 4.7s.   I still haven't returned to the 4.9s, and I have almost a hundred reviews.  

Despite the fact that the review was a tissue of lies, AirBnB wouldn't change anything.  

Despite the drop in ratings I was pleased that I didn't accede to their extortionate demands.  Now I try to do everything through the AirBnB app and ask customers not to call me on the telephone number that they give out.   

And although it wasn't easy at the time, I try not to care about ratings.  Anything of 4.7 is fine, I think -- we can't be held hostage to their crazy rating system.    I travelled across country this summer staying in AirBnB's and was SHOCKED by the lengths my hosts went (in small, untouristed towns) to give me a great experience.  Which we had -- but it was too much effort on their part.   

[Rick3931]

I’m having the same issue. Guests posted retaliatory remark”roach infestation” after hitting my boat with a boat he rented. 
I had exterminator go and inspect. He found no signs of any roaches or any other pests and Airbnb said they don’t care to even read the report. It’s so unfair how a guest can get away with that type of behavior. 4.84 superhst rating prior to this rating of 1 star.