Unfair review - what is the chance of me having it removed

Yan1
Level 2
Carnegie, AU

Unfair review - what is the chance of me having it removed

Long story short, I am almost certain that I was set up to make it look like we have stolen things from the guest. He has been unhappy from the start and kept complaining. I believe he just wanted to get out of the situation penalty free. This is my previous post asking for help https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/What-can-I-do-if-I-disagree-with-what-the-resolution-certai...

Just when I thought I could cut my losses and put it all behind me. He left me a one star review. He implied in his review that we had stolen from them while the theft might never happened after all. The one star review dragged down my overall score a lot because I do not have many to start with. I do not believe someone would do this to me after I responded to every single complaint of his, including getting a new bed installed straight away.

Now my question is, what is the chance of me having the review removed, even partially, because it implied I was a theft when I am not!

4 Replies 4
Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

@Yan1 having looked at his review I don't think you have grounds for removing it based on Airbnb's T&Cs for review.

 

He didn't accuse you of stealing. He said that he was informed that the 'break-in' was made by someone with a key.

 

Clearly this could be a cleaner, previous guest etc rather than you.

 

Frustrating I know. You can always ask Airbnb to review.

Thank you @Helen3 for your reply. You are right. It's not direct accusation. Frustrating because I am almost certain the theft never happened. I have never used a cleaner. I've had the property for many years, never had anyone reported theft before, including the guests who have stayed after him!

@Yan1  Looking at it objectively, the guest's review appears to be fair and relevant, so as @Helen3  said it would not meet  the criteria for removal. 

 

Filing a false police report is a crime, and it seems like a bizarre thing to do to get out of a cancellation penalty. And I don't see how the fact that no robberies occurred in the past would prove that one didn't happen that time. Which is all to say, his story and review sound credible enough that he doesn't stand out as some kind of con artist.

 

The review contains both positive and negative feedback, nothing extreme enough to doom your listing. But your Host Response will be off-putting to prospective guests, because it sounds more like you're trying to pick a fight with the guest than address the critical feedback. When you say "You need to adjust your expectations, this is not a 5 star hotel," it comes off as though you have no interest in  making any improvements to the space and that guests paying a budget rate deserve a low quality experience. I don't think this is an accurate reflection of your real hosting style, considering that you went to all the trouble of bringing your guest a brand new bed. So it's important that you remember - the audience for the Host Response is your future guests, and it will largely define how they perceive you. Seeing "I wish I never accepted S----'s booking!" might scare away the good ones!

 

If it's still possible, I recommend revising your public response from a calmer perspective. Don't mention the pricing (it's not relevant to the review) and address the police incident with some assurance that you've taken measures to improve the home security. You can say that the space wasn't the right fit for the guest's expectations without lobbing insults at them.

Thank you @Anonymous for taking the time to write such a long reply and to give suggestions. You are right that I cannot be 100% sure that the theft did not happen. Just too much a coincidence that it only happened once during the most unhappy airbnb guest's stay, right after he lied about the bed being collapsed. And the gut feeling. You are also right that i am unnecesarilly emotional in my response. It hurts to get a one star. Even without taking into account bending myself over backwards to accommodate to their needs, I do believe the place deserves more than one star and reviews from other guests proved that. But I should have written a calmer response.