Lost Superhost Status due one bad review

[Krystal16]

I had a guest from the depths of the underworld stay with me for 11 weeks.  The guest tried to leave the reservation early and since the long-term policy applied they weren't refunded; they were rude obnoxious and a multitude of other things and in the end of course they left me a 1 star review.  The guest reported to Airbnb that my listing was inadequate which I provided all the information to Airbnb and after I wrote my review they reported me to the Anti-Trust department for having cameras installed that they didn’t know about.  In both cases I had enough documented information to prove to Airbnb that this person was telling lies however it seems now in the end they have won.  I am not sitting at a 4.73 because of their one star rating, so I have to get 14 more 5 star reviews between now and the next review time.  It’s unfair we work so hard and it can all be taken away by one guest. 

Anyone ever had any luck getting a review removed.  The only time I ever have, and it was a 5 star review was because the person put the address of the home in their review.  How do other Superhost manage to stay Superhosts? 

[Huma0]

@Krystal16

That's so unfair. It may be an automated process, but I am sure they could find a way around it if they wanted to.

I'm definitely going to watch out for that in future...

[Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0]

I am SH for 2 years @ 4.9.

A young man booked same day on IB and did not communicate well. I thought it was a language issue. He also could not use a keypad, park his car on a neighbourhood street, or flush. You read right.

He awarded me a 1 star across the board. The review was "worst place ever." After frantically trying to pull in more reviews I am at 4.7, because he was within TOS.

I lose my status after 95 reviews, and he is still on platform. 

[Sarah977]

@Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0 The way this platform is being run is really out-of-control. I feel sick reading this.

 That Airbnb has the audacity to bandy about the word "discrimination" as if they actually care, and then let some loser do this to a long-standing Superhost is beyond any kind of human decency.

You should send this to Laura, our "host rep" who just went on a nice little around the world "listening tour" of host's concerns. She's supposedly working on our behalf, but I can't see that she's doing anything.

[Mandi-S-Just-Business-Ro0]

Thank you, Sarah. 

Apparently word got out in the media that Airbnb was doctoring its negative reviews. This may have been in response to removing outlier reviews. Now they will only remove reviews that violate TOS. Transparency, you know?

There are two issues here: the review itself, and the rating. In the current culture, the rating takes priority. And a one or two star could kill the business. The more ratings, the greater the probability of sudden death. As hosts, few of us have the equity to recover. 

Reality: guests don't read, never mind give a hoot about ratings. Super host? What's that? They want a great price, nice reviews, and anything 4 star plus. They ignore flame out reviews. 

Consider this. 

Say the average host globally is a 4 or more. This means 1 or two stars are very much the exception. As a customer focussed organization, this review should be investigated. What happened? How can we improve in future? It works both ways, guest and host. 

If both parties ignore it, the review stays. If one party has a point, it's followed up. But if it's obvious that one party is being punitive, it should be removed. It's business that is not worth saving. 

You see, word will get out that a one or two star will kill a host. An entire business gone belly up. No one should have to do business in fear. 

At the same time, reviewing low reviews may uncover untold and unacceptable business practices. 

Bottom line: Air needs to stay on top of their brand and business, not just hosts, and be proactive in guest and host retention. This is one opportunity. 

[Huma0]

@Krystal16

Out of interest, which part of the content policy did he violate?

As for retalitory reviews, I think it used to be possible to have them removed if you got a sympatheic and logical rep on the phone. Now, however, it seems that the CS staff have been briefed not to do this anymore as they come out with a very standard response of "We can't remove it if it doesn't break the content policy," judging by the posts from other hosts on these forums.

To my mind, this is very wrong. If a host has asked a guest to pay for damages and the guest doesn't want to comply or a guest has been asked to leave for breaking house rules, for example, it is highly likely that they will leave a very negative review and ratings. If the host has clear evidence of this in the correspondence, that should be sufficient to have the review removed. 

Airbnb have said though that they are looking at removing one 'outlier' review for Superhosts, but I don't know if they still intend to do this or when they will bring it in.

[Krystal16]

@Huma0

The policy that he violated was

• Content that provides specific details or outcomes of an Airbnb investigation

7 weeks into his stay he contacted BnB about if he would be refunded if he left the reservation early, they told him no, he than gave a long list of what was wrong with the accomodations and told them my listing was not accurate I was witholding heat from them among a number of other things.  Luckily my CS rep saw through this, the CS rep contacted me for my side of the story, there "investigation".  When the guest mentioned in his review that he contacted airbnb support but they did nothing and wouldn't refund money he was then in violation of providing specific details of an Airbnb investigation.  

When I read my review of him I guess I have done the same thing but today my review of him still sits, if BnB chooses to remove it up to them, I'm certainly not going to point it out.

Also, to note I once had a review removed (it was 5 star) because the guest put the address of the house in the review, again against the policy.

Policy link again if anyone is interested

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/546/what-is-airbnb-s-content-policy

[Huma0]

Thanks @Krystal16. Yes I was aware that neither party are supposed to mention details of any resolution centre dispute. That makes sense then. I think that policy is designed more to protect Airbnb than the hosts and guests though!

[Susan1188]

@Krystal16 So sorry that happened to you, I know how frustrating and angering it is believe me.  I've spent my share of sleepless nights and ruminating days trying to get through a guest problem myself.

I have some things to offer, it's not going to help you much this time but maybe will help others or for the future:

- One of the issues here was the long term booking to someone you don't know.  Is there any way to try to have long term bookers come for a short stay first?  Or put a maximum stay in your parameters.  I don't take long terms I don't know have found them to be way more problematic than short term.  

- Secondly, making a small gesture goes a long way with Airbnb CS, I have found.  When the rep contacted you about the investigation, did you flat out refuse to give a refund?  Or did you propose something half-way?

- After the guest arrived, did you message to see if everything was as they expected ?  If he had responded to that with "all OK, great apartment" on the app, pretty hard for him to then complain about how bad your place is when he just had a change of plans and wanted his money back.  Try to get a reaction when they are enthusiastic on arrival day.

- Thirdly if you sense trouble is brewing with a guest its probably better to reach out and try to propose a solution and get something documented on the app.   

- Dishonest guests tend to overplay their hand and if they threaten to extort you, asking for money in exchange for a refund for example, then you can get their review removed more easily.  But for that you have to be communicating frequently through the app.

- And finally, I have found CS really appreciated if you show excessive professionalism and client-service attitude  in your communications on the platform.  I'm not saying you didn't, but I'm just saying if they see that you have been bending over backwards to satisfy this person, I really think they will try to help you out much more than if you hadn't communicated with the guest since his arrival and then refused any kind of compromise for his cancellation.

And my ultimate idea:  sometimes you have to give a refund or a discount, not for the guest, but for YOU, your peace of mind and your reputation and your Superhost status.  If you think of it that way maybe it helps for the next time.

[Alienor-and-Piers0]

Wish I could even get through to a CS rep on the line to complain abut a retaliatory review and rating that is exactly in line with what you describe.  But no possibility as the reservation was more than 72 hours ago (actually one month...and is going to impact my next Superhost qualification...

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Alienor-and-Piers0 Whilst interesting I am not sure your 'war and peace' length response to the guests review will encourage future guests to book with you. Also if you get a couple of quick 5* reviews you should make the 4.8 cutoff - or you may do now if the round to one decimal place

[Alienor-and-Piers0]

@Mike-And-Jane0 - Alienor here - unfortunately it does look like a big 'wall of text' - it's really just the transcript of the messages exchanged with the guest. I've thought about how we'd respond next time, and it would definitely be different. Ah well - you live and learn.

Luckily we have a couple of guests expected in the next few months, and hopefully they'll give us 5*!

[Samuel-And-Ragnhild0]

Don't even bother posting here. Airbnb. don't review these posts. Call the phone number which you have for them in your country. If no joy - drop Airbnb. They do NOT support us.

[Huma0]

It's really unfair that Airbnb no longer seem to consider removing retalitory reviews, especially when there is a damages claim in progress. This means the host is put in a really awkward situation of having to decide between brining up damages with the guest/asking them to stop breaking house rules and then receiving a bad review in retaliation and possibly losing Superhost status, or just grin and bear it.

My experience is that if you tell a guest that they have damaged something (regardless if you are asking them to pay for it or not), they get VERY angry. The guests who are going to be reasonable about it tell you about the damage themselves/offer to pay for it. 

Last week I had two careless and clueless young American girls stay for two days. During that time, they left the front door open, taps running, shared bathrooms dirty and disturbed another guest. All of this I could have overlooked, but they damaged two radiator valves in their bedroom through excessive force, causing them to leak through to the ceiling below and soak made-to-measure silk curtains and an antique chair.

I had to turn the radiators off, even though I had another guest checking in, until the heating engineer could come on Monday as I couldn't get anyone out on the weekend. I will now have a hefty electricity bill from the electric heaters she had to use until then.

I told them that I was going to try to get the radiators repaired through my home insurance and never even mentioned any costs in relation to the water damage, but still they freaked out and went from friendly and cheerful to angry and rude. I am now expecting the bad review and low star ratings to come in and there is nothing I can do about it.

[Nadir7]

I would reccomend contacting them and warning them that if any bad reviews come, you'll know what it is and will mention what they did.

I just had a flame war with a guest, simply because I asked him if he remembered seeing a missing hanging keychain in his room.

I told him if he remembers anything, just to message me on the site.

He sent me a very rude response claiming if he remembers anything that "the room was the filthiest he'd ever been in". He claimed he was well off and did not need anything of mine thanks.

I pointed out that he had stenched the house as he was a smoker and his clothes stentched of cigarettes and I had to spray the front entrance with deoderant (which i actually did) because he passed by.

I think he was intoxicated or soemthing when writing. We exchanged several angry messages.

He messaged me this morning that he can leave "an appropriate review" for my place, to which i responded the review system works both ways and that I won't write anything as long as he does not.

I had an appriprite review to write for him and made him well aware of that. It's unfortutely the only way to protect yourself from hostile guests.

It's very strange that he got on fine with me during the stay and even asked to extend his stay till February.

I offered him coffee, even though it was not included in the listing and gave him a link to a free rental ad website for long term rental so he could quickly find a place to stay and I get such rudeness just for asking a simply question after he left.

He even shook my hand right before leaving saying "thank you for the buisness."

[Andy470]

Same thing happened to me but no security camera issues. One was a drama queen who complained about not having a fire blanket.. I had a fire extinguisher but I didn't have a last verification tag on it. Sorry I'm not a public facility. If you want breakfast in bed you could book a proper hotel. For $50 a night what are people expecting? Then other guest complained of cleanliness - 2 star rating -even though 95% of reviews were 5 stars and many complimented on it being sparkling clean. They both contacted support to get money back and succeeded to some degree. Airbnb should weigh cost benefit better. The support people seemed to be inconsistent with applying policy. Also minimum quality standard is not defined so it's open to interpretation. I told them these cases set a dangerous precedent for future complaining guests. I could just book a place at 50% off for complaining about the smallest things technically. What's there to stop me?