Review Blackmail - Time for a Serious Conversation with Airbnb

[Tony134]

I don't know what kind of experiences the higher end listings have, but I bet anyone with a fair priced listing and a lot of stays has at one point or another experienced 'Review Blackmail.'

Sometimes you have guests that request something that you do not provide in your listing, or is clearly marked a certain way in your listing.  They assume that because they 'asked politely' that you should give them what they want regardless of how it was listed.  I find when you fail on even the smallest of these requests, that you often get slammed in reviews for it.  I'll use an easy example below:

I have a listing that has a 7am checkout time.  The guest in question prompted me in the app about checkout time.

"Hi Tony, just reading the checkout time tomorrow... is 7am correct?" - Guest

"Yes sir, that's correct." - Me

This guest states clearly in his review "Parking situation sucks. Must checkout (the day you leave) @ 7am." and gives me one star rating because I didn't capitulate to his demand for something clearly listed differently then he wanted in listing.

I had another guest fairly recently who complained that I didn't provide extra towels for her two day stay.  She went on a page long rant in review about how my house was dirty, smelly, how I would never replace towels for longs stays, and that I retaliated against her for asking?  I never spoke with the woman after her request and didn't even leave her a review.  Her review is full of ranting and screaming about things clearly not true becuase other guests were there at same time reporting great stay, but after reporting review it stays up.

Seriously, in our society, Blackmail Is Illegal, we are that sure that it is not an honorable activity.  Despite this, Airbnb regularly supports guests who participate in this activity.  Even if I could convince Airbnb to take down the review, these guests who clearly and obviously with text message proof have blackmailed people don't get removed from the platform, they go on doing it to other guests.  I've seen reviews from some of these guests at other places, and they ofter do the same to others that they have done to me.

When you call Airbnb about serious issues like this, it seems they do everything they can to brush it off and leave you with the problems it creates.  While I understand Airbnb wants to make a profit, I don't understand why they don't see the problem in trying to make *everyone* a return customer.  Some guests are not good, and should not return to the network, but Airbnb's greed keeps sending the bad guests back with the good ones.

I'm writing this today to encourage anyone who experiences this problem to IMMEDIATELY SKIP AIRBNB AND FILE A COMPLAINT WITH THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.  When you call in with problems like these, we all know, Airbnb does little or nothing to make a future difference.  Being hit by illegal activity on a regular basis and having Airbnb defend these people is just plain over the top crazy sociopathic greed, and hopefully you are as over it as I am.  Filing a complaint with BBB is easy:  Go to BBB.org, hit 'File Complaint', look up Airbnb in San Fransisco, and fill in details, very easy.  The only important part is actually watching your email closely:  Airbnb will respond to the BBB to tell them they have resolved your complaint, EVEN WHEN THEY HAVE DONE NOTHING!  This is important to note;  in twenty years, I have never seen a company that sends false replies to BBB until Airbnb.  You must keep telling BBB to keep complaint open and that business response was false.

Sorry to rant, but getting blasted over the listed checkout time today was the last straw for me, and I'm ready to go to war over it.  I really wish Airbnb didn't think we are slaves that should suck up anything they throw at us.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Tony134

I have to say I would agree with him on the checkout time - it does suck and I think it's fair comment. I would have mentioned it and dinged you!

But I think your overall point is very valid - we should be able to easily see the reviews potential guests have left of other  places, plust we should be able to star rate a guest on a number of points, from cleanliness to friendliness. 

Finally I couldn;t see that bad review -I just see great reviews and superhost status, I think people easily see through the odd (or very odd) person who is just picky about everything.

[Tony134]

Hi Gerry and Rashid, while I can understand not liking an early checkout, you don't think that comes down to guest choosing a checkout that is good for them???  If I was advertising noon checkout, or not advertising anything at all, that would be one thing, but the listing clearly states a checkout time of 7am.

You don't think a Guest Choosing a 7am Checkout and Then Complaining about it in review when they don't get the special exception is horribly wrong?! 

Every single host has to choose where to draw every line on what they offer and don't offer, including check in and check out.  There is ZERO POINT in offering all these options if people can choose your listing and then slam you for not giving them things that are clearly not listed.  I find it HORRIFYING that Airbnb thinks this is ok on any scale, large or small...

Whether or not it's on top, every one of these 1 star Blackmail reviews significantly hurts my rating.  How would you feel if I stayed at your listing and then made up a bunch of lies in review and one starred you because you didn't provide me daily maid service, meals, and free room service like a 5 star hotel?

[Matthew285]

@Gerry-And-Rashid0, @Tony134, it is possible to see the reviews that a given guest has left for other hosts.

However, you have to install a browser plug-in to make that happen.

AirReview is a plug-in that does this: When you are looking at a guest's profile, the list of host reviews of the guest will be enhanced by the addition of the matching reviews written by the guest about the host.

Here is the Chrome version:

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/airreview/plkdnpjpnhhnmigmekaocdfokkmebdnm?hl=en-US

Here is the Firefox version:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/airreview/

I find it extremely useful.

[Tony134]

 Another good example:

2 weeks ago I had a guest stay for a week and then request a discounted stay for a full month.  I don't like doing cash bookings (as he requested) and don't need to discount my rooms, so I didn't offer him any impressive discount.  He then, even though he had such a good stay he wanted to stay for another month, slammed me in review and said explicitly my listing was too expensive! Because I didn't give it to him for the price he thought was better!!!  I literally covered Airbnb and refused offsite booking, and Airbnb did not cover me in return.  This thing Airbnb does where they refuse to cover you AS YOU COVER THEM is heinous and starting to disgust me.

[Rene-and-Zac0]

@Tony134 Why is your check out time 7am?

Irrespective of wether a guest chooses your listing or not, that checkout time seems unreasonable to me. 

[Tony134]

@Rene-and-Zac0 @Gerry-And-Rashid0 

The checkout is at 7am because there is no parking after 7am, people try to bring their cars to the house after 7am when the checkout is different, i've literally tried it.  The listing in question wiht 7am checkout is a $17 bunk bed listing 10 minutes from world's number one rated beach.  It's dirt cheap, just with limited parking, which is stamped all over the listing.

But seriously, let me turn this around.  I prefer to be a late sleeper.  To me, 12pm is a ridiculous early time to check out, I would prefer something more like 3pm.  If I book your place, then leave you a one star review review say your place sucks becuase you didn't agree when I demand 3pm checkout intead, how would you feel about it?

Again, I don't see the point in hosts being able to set any of these details if they are still subject to guest's whims.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Tony134

I can see one solution here - if guests want a later check-out, they would have to pay for/book another night.

[Tony134]

@Marit-Anne0 That's exactly what I thought, because I'm a grown reponsible adult.  Especially considering it was $17/night.... Best part is, this guy checked in at absolutely last minute and zero notice, with a wide check-in window, and of course I accomodated him for a short stay on short notice and got wailed on for it.  At this point, I don't even take short bookings on the cheaper units anymore, it's just not worth the emotional damage on a regular basis providing people the cheap stays they need, then getting pounded.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Tony134

Exactly - I am sorry you had to learn the hard way, but that is mostly the case for all of us. 

Last minute bookings are best avoided as you do not have enough time to communicate with the guest or to contact airbnb for a cancellation if you are uncomfortable with the guest.  

In a business with fierce competition, we cannot afford the incidents you outline - each one is a nail in the coffin.  

[Tony134]

Update: I shut this room down, and delisted a five bedroom property. That ended up being the only viable solution as things stand currently.

As a host, when I get a guest, I WANT TO BE ABLE TO SEE THE REVIEWS GUESTS LEAVE FOR OTHER HOSTS. I don't want any brats, I have no shame saying it. I should be able to see how those guests leave reviews(and the replies) without using a third party app.

[Karoline20]

I had a guest made an inquiry and asked for discounts on my apartment. I didn’t agree to the discount. Then she kept on bargaining after I kept saying no. Someone else booked those dates while she was bargaining with me. She’s upset that I didn’t accept her offer so she threatened to make trouble in my community with my landlord. As you well known, Airbnb has a lot of resistance in New York. She knows by making trouble with my landlord and my neighbor, she could create a lot of trouble for me (she also lives and hosts in New York. She's in between two leases, she temporarily needs a place to stay). I could be evicted from my apartment if that happens. I called Airbnb for help, but the representative said because the guest didn’t make a reservation, they couldn’t help me. This guest knows where I live and knows how I look like because I put all that information on Airbnb. Even though Airbnb didn't disclose exact locations, but she figured out which building it is from the photos on the listing. I trusted that Airbnb would protect me when things like this happen. Airbnb should do something about it instead of just saying we can't help you. If guests can just blackmail the hosts into the discounts they want, it would be very problematic.

[David126]

@Karoline20

I see you have taken you listing down but not sure what you would expect AirBnB to do. What do you mean by protect you?

[Karoline20]

Well she threatened to tell all my neighbors what a cold heart bitch I am and get me kicked out of my apartment. She only knows what I look like, where I live and what my name is because those information were disclosed on Airbnb. I trusted those information with Airbnb because Airbnb promise to keep hosts safe. Now m I can’t even go to the police to fire a restraining order because I don’t have her full name. Airbnb wouldn’t block my listing from her account or give me her full name. They wouldn’t even punish the account on Airbnb.

[Tony134]

Hi All,

For anyone interested or still looking for relief, I opened a new thread and actually have an inquiry going with the United States Justice Department.  Thread link below, it also shows clearly that Airbnb knows it has problems and even is bribing the BBB to look good while they try to get it sorted, pics included.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Arbitration-Agreement-Fail/m-p/774462#M185517