Asked guest to leave the property. Left me with a Negative Review

[Hazel26]

I need some advice here as Airbnb is taking this guest's side saying his review was not in any violation.

My guest booked for 3 nights in my guestroom, the same house I live in. He had zero reviews.  During his stay, the whole place smelled of weed. And at midnight, my video doorbell notification, popped with a Person Notification at the door. I immediately came out of my door but my guest was very quick to let this woman into my guestroom. I asked this guest to leave as he had broken two rules. I had Airbnb case manager on speaker phone. This guest caused a lot of issues. By the time he left at around 2a.m., I brought up my concern with my Airbnb case manager that what happens when he leaves me a negative review. She advised it will be taken down. Now this guest's has left me a bad 3* review. I rung up Airbnb, that's another story. They do not think his review is in any violation at all.

[Hazel26]

Hi Sean,

Thanks very much for your suggestion. I will keep this in mind. I do not feel relisting anytime soon as this review is malicious and defamatory. I was the one left to clean the heavy smell of weed in the bathroom. 

[Hazel26]

Thanks Sean

I've just sent them a message thru their app. I used to call before, thanks for suggesting this. I used your third suggestion that guest is suggesting I a such when he only did it because he was asked to leave

[Delwyn3]

@Sean433 @Hazel26 I would have thought this review is calling you a racist and based on that the review should be removed.  I would not give up as others have said keep pushing.

[Hazel26]

Hi @Delwyn3  ! Wow you're from NZ? I moved to USA from NZ btw! 🙂

Yeah I thought so too. I am so confused. The fact that this guest was asked to leave, he obviously, wrote this in retaliation

[Hazel26]

I have no idea how else to to change my approach. I thought @Sean433  did a good job of the choice of words when I wrote to case manager again

[Hazel26]

@Sean433  @Christine1081  @Sarah977  @Lisa723 

Here's their reply

Danny, Jan 29, 09:33 PST:

Hi Hazel,

My name is Danny and I work here at Airbnb on a specialized team. Thank you for reaching out to us about your concern. We understand that you would like us to remove the review left after your reservation with Prince.

It is our general policy not to remove reviews. This is because reviews help to generate an honest portrayal of the variety of experiences that our hosts and guests have with each other. There are rare instances when we do consider the removal of reviews, as outlined in our content policy: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/546/content-policy

After an examination of the review, we have determined the content does not violate the guidelines.

With that said, I want to assure you that we take reports of discrimination very seriously. We are committed to following up with every report and fighting against discrimination in any form, to ensure that our community is a respectful and inclusive place. You can read more about our Nondiscrimination Policy here: www.airbnb.com/help/nondiscrimination.

Let me know if you have any questions about our policies linked above. I’m sure that, moving forward, you will receive reviews that positively reflect upon your part in the Airbnb community.

Best regards,

Danny
www.airbnb.com/help

[Sean433]

@Hazel26 

Sometimes airbnb will just be airbnb.

Try the other approach which was the spelling mistake he made when righting the review. Wait a couple of days and send another request - this time not about defamation but about relevancy due to the one sentence where he made a spelling mistake. A tip, do not right in your message that this was a spelling mistake. Play it off as it not making any sense and that it is a confusing and incoherent sentence, thus irrelevant. Actually, in reality this will come across as confusing to many perspective guests, especially those whose English is not strong.

[Hazel26]

Thanks very much I'll do this on my day off

[Helen427]

Hello @Hazel26 Did you manage to get the review removed?

Hope you are keeping safe & well wherever you are in these challenging & evolving times.

Central To All Home & Location

Remuera, Auckland

[Flo2119]

I am a new airbnb host and am learning with each guest. I’ve amended my house rules on my listing and in the manual available for guests in a variety of ways. I’ve stated very specifically that there is no smoking or vaping allowed in the guest suite or on the property. I also state that no illegal activity is allowed on the property. As for who is staying in your property - I’ve written that only pre-authorized/registered guests can stay in the guest suite. Following another topic of conversation on this community site, I wanted to be as clear as possible about pets. My rules clearly state that no pets are allowed, as I want to encompass service animals as well as emotional support animals. Some hosts were having challenges with this issue. 

[Paul7484]

Same story,

I manage 20+ properties in Sydney, and within the past 3 months, 

4 different guests damaged my apartments and left syringes, drug bags and blood stains everywhere...

I sent evidence straight away to the customer service and blocked the guests.

Next day, same guest booked another property in my portfolio, and the customer service didn't understand why I was trying to cancel the booking before their arrival (same day as booking).

I finally got it cancelled,

but they left a 1 star review on my 1st property with irrelevant comments not even referring to amenities I have in my apartment...

Very damaging, but Airbnb refused to remove the review saying that it was their view about it!

Airbnb is not doing anything to prevent this type of behaviour and always take the guest side which is very sad.

I was only taking bookings from Airbnb before, but now using a PMS and taking bookings from other platforms and direct bookings (where you can manage a safety deposit yourself), guests look taking care more as you hold their money...