Hi Everyone,
We had this sad experience lately, where we had 4 chineese guests, who didn't speak any english, stay at our penthouse in Phuket for a single night. Communication was through the airbnb communicator (so everything is recorded). I just wanted to add that they refused our airport pick up service and decided to take a municipal taxi. Our airBnB offer of the penthouse is highly described with plenty of photos portraying the place.
They arrived late, with hassle, due to the fact that the taxi driver didn't know the area and couldn't find the place (chineese guests can't use google maps on their smartphones), they were dropped of at the main street (which is outrageous) and had to walk uphill to the building (again this is not our fault).
Our building manager was there who takes care of the place waiting for them (we weren't there ourselves in person which is described in the listing). After their arrival they ceased all communication and failed to respond to our check up questions via the airbnb communicator.
Just yesterday we received a terrible review - 1 star and a review stating that:
1. Our place is in a different town than the one they wanted to go to (which is clearly stated in the listing).
2. That we had Buddha paintings by Thai artists on the walls (which is clearly portrayed in the photos).
3. That we and the manager only speak english (actually we speak a lot of languages and our manager is Thai, but neither of us speak chineese - and this is clearly stated in the listing)
4. It's an 1,5h drive from the airport (beacuse it's the south of the island, where the airport is in the north - and this is clearly stated in the listing)
5. That in the building and around town are only "Foreigners" - I cannot understand this argument (am I supposed to describe that tourists visit the island in high season???)
6. That there was a stain on the pillow - but this wasn't communicated to the reception nor the manager (if there indeed was a stain and our guest would ask for a pillow change we would do it immediately).
So taken all this into account, are we wrong to recognize these arguments as completely irrational and besides our hosting capabilities (apart from point 6 narually).
Because the guest joined AirBnB directly before booking our place, we asked AirBnB for support in removing this review. Our reviews are all very good and we've maintained superhost status for a couple of years now, but this last review just seems ridiculous and I don't see why I should accept nor tolerate such irrational and hurting guest opinions.
Unfortunately AirBnB support agent just copy-pasted a typical reply, in short "sorry, against airbnb policy, we feel for you". Given, he was in such a ruch, he even copy-pasted the name of the previous host instead of addressing it to me.
So dear AirBnB Community, is there anything else you can think of that could clear this sad, unfair stain from our review plate? Can we protect ourselves against such irresponsible and damaging reviews?
All comments highly appreciated,
Thank you all!
All the Best,
Maria