Why Aibnb says they will delete false reviews but they don't?

[Miguel559]

According to Airbnb policies, the reviews should reflect the real guest experience.

Constantly we get bad reviews for reasons that are not what the guest really experienced.

Maybe the most common reasons are:

We said NO to a guest request of doing something against house rules, or we opened a claim because the guest broke or damaged something.

Then the guest is very angry and goes to the feedback and give 1 star to everything and writes a bad review.

Somethimes is OBVIOUSLY a false review if you see all the others reviews.

Shouldn't Airbnb contact these guests giving very bad reviews to listings with average 5 stars to know what happened?

I mean, if it was really the hosts' fault, maybe Airbnb what to give a feedback to the hosts and some advice to improve.

[Frank589]

I agree. I'm thinking that if a claim or refund is issued you can bet on a poor review for one side oir the other. Seem like maybe they should agree to disagree and drop the review process for all case matters that have medeation or Airbnb involment.

[Davide363]

I have an issue with a customer: he wrote a false review (I am a SuperHost), saying he found “blood on the mattress” which is ABSOLUTELY not true because every single time a guest leave, the cleaner comes and cleans EVERYTHING up reporting me what has to be changed and what doesn’t need to be changed; he wrote down some silly stuffs like: the pictures are fakes and all these kind of stuffs but those ones are OBVIOUSLY true. I’ve contacted Air BnB already to notice them about it and they saw it, deal with it and promised me to don’t post ANY “review” from this “Gentleman”. Can they do anything about it? Can they delete it? I am so upset because I worked a lot to make all customers happy and get all 5 stars review. 

[Alexandra316]

@Davide363 I'm not seeing this review: maybe it was removed already?

If you get a bad review and Airbnb won't remove it, the best thing to do it to write a short, concise, professional response to it. I can't say what I would say in this situation, as I can't see what your guest wrote. Especially if the bad review is an anomaly, a good response can go a long way in the eyes of potential guests. Remember that your response is for future potential guests, rather than the person who left the review. Also, don't respond to private feedback in your response.

[Miguel559]

@Alexandra316 sorry but I strongly disagree with you when you say: "the best thing to do it to write a response".

That is not the best thing to do, that is our only option because Airbnb does not want to take responsibility on "The best thing to do".

Reviews are meant for helping.

Helping other guests to take a more informed decision in their choice on where to stay.

Helping hosts to improve their listings by knowing what needs extra effort.

If a review is not written with this intention, then it is only a wepon to harm.

As I said before, any review far from the average reviews you have received, needs to be analysed to find out what went that wrong. You do it with any other situation in your life: Work, health, school. If you are average 5 and then suddenly you get a 2 or a 1, there is something that needs to be understood.

Unfortunately, most of the times you (the host) won't get the answer from the guest. Then the best thing to do is to get Airbnb involved. 

Reply to the review is our last resouce just to give a different point of view from a situation. In the mean time, your average score is affected and it is only you who cares about it.

[Alexandra316]

@Miguel559 Oh dear Miguel, I'm afraid that you didn't actually read my response. My first sentence reads: If you get a bad reviewAND AIRBNB WON'T REMOVE IT. In other words, if you have already spoken to Airbnb and they have refused to do anything for you, as was the case for David. You should probably direct your ire elsewhere.

[Miguel559]

@Alexandra316I think you misunderstood my message.

There is no ire to you.

What I meant is exactly what I said. Airbnb is not doing what they should do to make reviews what they are meant for.

Sorry if I wrote something you think was directed to you personally.

[Robin4]

@Miguel559

Whos review were you actually refering too Miguel? I don't see any shockers there....only a one sentence post...."housing small enough. clean but a constant smell of moisture".

If this is the review you are referring to, Airbnb will not remove that because the guest has not made any false accusations against you or slandered you, just given their perception of your listing.

If that is not the review, then Airbnb have done what they said and removed it because I can see no other poor reviews. Your guests all love you and were perfectly happy with their stays.

It's a bit hard to advise you when we can't see a problem Miguel!

Cheers.....Rob

[Miguel559]

@Robin4 

Clearly you could identify an unusual low-rated review in my page listing. Why?

Think a bit on how you could find this review in 21 reviews when I did not give you any hint.

I don't know if you can see the stars and the rating in that particular review you mention.

I'll give you and example of what you maybe cannot see.

Check-in: It is low-rated by this guest. How come?

My listing's check-in is a code for the door lock that was sent, received and acknowledged over 24 hours before check-in date/time.

How is this related to the comment from the guest?

About Airbnb, did they tried to see the problem?

They do have access to the chats between guests and hosts. There are a lot of answers in those chats to know more about the truth behind the low rating.

As @Alexandra316 said.... AIRBNB DOES NOT REMOVE FALSE REVIEWS.

They say they would do it, they wrote it in their policy, but they do nothing to identify a false review, so they won't remove them.

I am open to learn about what is a false review, how Airbnb identify them and remove them.

[Alexandra316]

@Miguel559 I didn't say that Airbnb won't remove reviews: they do remove them, if they are found to be false or abusive (containing hateful language, obscenities, etc). What I had said was that if Airbnb had refused to remove a review, a written response is a good way to counteract its effects. It can be quite difficult to prove that the review isn't true.

[Yulianna0]

Even if you can prove that review isn’t true they don’t eliminate it. One guest stated that I didn’t have AC, even it was in the amenities. I was reading it looking at conditioner. How she could not notice it?! Very easy to prove that review was false, but still it is there. Good thing that some of my guests are asking me, how could I deal with such strange person:) 

[Robin4]

@Yulianna0

Hi Yulianna, that is the whole idea of the review response, you get to be able to make the guest look the fool!....

"I am so sorry you were not able to find the airconditioner....that thing on the wall that all my other guests have had no trouble locating"!

"I am really sorry we did not have time to engage a builder to slap that extra couple bedrooms on the end of the house you thought you were going to get"!

Make the guest the idiot, the one who didn't read, the one who considers there is only one side to a story!

The review response is the great leveller and you can use it to your advantage because people will judge you by the way you carry yourself. You can thank good guests, you can build nice relationships, and it makes you look good...and I can assure you, it is money in the bank. Most of my booking come because of my reviews. But if ever something does go off the rails you get to use that review response to explain and gain the sympathy of those that read it.

@Alexandra316 once again nailed it here!

Cheers.....Rob

[Yulianna0]

@Robin4, I’m learning to use responses for my benefit:) The worse thing in such untrue reviews are stars... In fact silly unreasonable statements can be funny, but 3 stars overall is not such fun:( 

[Robin4]

@Yulianna0, I agree whole heartedly, the stars are what hurts, particularly now they have upped the required criteria for the retention of Superhost, and the star rating is the thing that a complaint to CX must be based on, not the content of the review.

And always ask CX for their thoughts, don't demand answers! Ask them if they feel the long term damage done to your profile and future business justifies the review. As often as not, they will side with you.

Cheers......Rob

[Miguel559]

@Alexandra0

Then again, we disagree. 

AIRBNB DOES NOT REMOVE FALSE REVIEWS

If you know about a case they did, I am really curious to know about it.