Can Star Ratings Be Removed, Along With Deleted Reviews? Yes - They Can

[Susan17]

The question of whether or not star ratings can be removed along with retaliatory or false reviews that violate Airbnb's T&Cs, comes up again and again, with hosts consistently being given conflicting, contradictory answers by CX staff. Many hosts have been told that it's impossible  to remove star ratings: it simply can't happen: istar ratings are automated  and there's no way for CX to manually over-ride that , etc etc

So here's the official answer, once and for all, straight from the mouth of Laura Chambers, General Manager of Core Hosts and Community, clearly stating - not once, but twice - that star ratings absolutely CAN  be removed. I strongly suggest everyone saves this video to send to your support agent the next time you're seeking to have malicious or retaliatory star ratings deleted, and being told that it can't be done.

At 3' 30...  LC  "The teams will be able to remove the review, and the star rating..."

At 5' 00...  LC  "The team now will be able to remove that review, and that rating..."

[Pat271]

@Pete2721 Airbnb is more and more joining forces with hotels, so I don’t know for how much longer Airbnb will be dependent on our homes - especially with many cities and HOAs all over the world  shutting down or severely limiting short-term rentals.

[Pete2721]

Interesting point.  That said, their working with hotels should not matter.  Hotels will bever be able to match our rates.  And I agree about cities limiting short-term rentals... although that will likely only matter if you are in a non-tourist friendly city.  We have a rental home in Big Bear, CA, and the town is thriving due to short-term rentals (taxes and property values).

[Pat271]

@Pete2721  I guess my point is that Airbnb could decide to get out of the non-hotel business altogether.  I don’t know how likely that is; it’s just something I’ve thought about, while watching all the STR strife I’ve seen lately in the press.

[Ange2]

@Pat271    I was just checking listing in various places for imminent dates,  on the very first page this pops up and takes you to a different site altogether. Maybe they have already decided  to get out of the non-hotel business.

[Pat271]

@Pete2721  Yep, Airbnb is definitely getting a foothold into the hotel business.

[Ange2]

Airbnb owns HotelTonight

[Pat271]

Interesting that they are acquiring hotel booking companies.  Makes sense in areas such as SF, where the hotel lobbyists have successfully thwarted STR efforts, to the point where STRs are almost nonexistent.  Since Airbnb can’t beat the hotels there, they’ve joined forces with them!

[Pat271]

@Pete2721  Totally agree about resort areas.  I’m a host in Maui - I doubt that island will be placing regulations any time soon on areas and properties that have been built and run as STRs for decades.

[Alexander1029]

I had a similar experience with a guest that caused damages and a huge party during Covid that had to be reported. Airbnb customer support told me that I don't need to write a review because none of use will be able to share the review, and before you know it I get the revenge review from my guest. I didn't even get a chance to review the guest and was lied to by airbnb customer service. 

The reviewed the revenge review, this is 2 star compared to my all 5 star reviews and decided it was fair. How did they decide that and how was I advised not to leave a review when the guest did, that will all remain a mystery. I provided evidence that the review was not accurate and full of lies to revenge, but they want me to share that publicly, when some of this stuff is private messages and pictures that can't be shared. Airbnb is definitely losing my trust there, extremely disappointed 

[Steve864]

I find it interesting to see what other hosts do to get 5 star ratings.  We do them all!!! Last calendar year we were fully booked all year (99%) with 19 AirBnB stays amongst the 100 or so stays (all booking platforms) we had.  Of the 19 stays, we received 17 x 5 Stars, 1x 4 stars and 1 x 1 star from young guests that partied all night and disobeyed all house rules.  This has meant, for 3 of the last four quarters (assessment periods) we have lost our Superhost status and AirBnB FLATLY REFUSE to remove the malicious review and INSIST on counting it towards our assessment, so for 9 months of the last year we are 0.01 below the 4.8 point average and AirBnB couldn't care less!!!!  All other platforms give you chance to challenge obviously malicious reviews.  I will be working on trying to get ZERO new bookings through AirBnb from now on. What a bunch of idiots who have the audacity to call themselves OUR PARTNERS.  What a joke!!!!

[Brian2305]

I had a guest smoke in my house, caused $6k of damage, threatened me when I asked them to stop smoking in the house, and bullied me on my Nest doorbell security camera. AIRBNB assured me they wouldn't be allowed to leave a review. The guest left a 'positive' review, but with low star ratings. AIRBNB 'ambassadors' are saying they can't fix the stars or remove the review, because the words in the review are positive. This pulled my 5.0 rating down, jeopardizes my Superhost status. I'm on the phone now with the 'ambassadors' and am telling them AIRBNB is financially liable by facilitating a platform that lets malicious guests cyber bully and harass a host via use of a review system. Clearly the General Manager knew this when she said they can remove the low star ratings. But corporate has handicapped the customer support reps, the reps do not have a system to remove the stars and can only-- by policy-- remove a review if it is violent. AIRBNB is setting themselves up for a class action lawsuit.