abusive reviews-that is the reason why I quit airbnb

[Corrine0]

I am not too sure if there is an answer to what I am going through but maybe the community has a solution before I pack up everything and forget about aribnb altogether.

I have been a host for nearly 2 years and a super host for 6 month. there were up and downs... but the result had been pretty positive and I work hard to achieve those standarts.

I care about my guests and really go out of my way most of the time to accomodate and enjoy the exchange. I am not hosting for money but for lifestyle.

Two days ago, I had to confront a very nasty review. giving me 1 star, which is unheard off on airbnb, and with very nasty comments. I can hardly remember the guests as they stayed only 48hours. they checked in at 3 am in the morning and they left early in the morning and they came back middle of the night, making a lot of noise and I had to tell them to stop as other person were sleeping. they left early mornng the next day, and 14 days later, I am left with a very bad review and marking to one star. they left in their review that if they knew that I was that old,!!!! they would not have bothered requesting a booking. I felt very segregated agewise.

There were other abuses in their private feedback and they complained about the saccatos making noise outside.... Saccatos, in New Zealand, is a landmark and no one can stop them in summer.....Maybe they should blame me for the weather...

I tried to reach airbnb to have the review reviewed but they said that the review was very fine and totally compliant to their standards...... That there is no ground to remove one inch of it.....The person who replied to me did not go through my history, did not bother trying to get a personal backgroung. Just sent me already made links and already made answers. She just said that interaction were very encouraged on Airbnb.....Airbnb doesn't send you feedback neither. Everybody can send feedback and rating but airbnb doesn't ask you any rating on the service they are suposed to provide. So we are left with anonymous people..

I just wanted to know if other person had to suffer abuses and airbnb just let them down. i live by myself and I can't be exposed to what I have been exposed just like that. Airbnb seems to think it is a game between people but it is not.... 

Is Airbnb up to it standards or are they fleeing to avoid the problems of dealing with people?

Are they Ok people, or an organisation which weakens what we are trying to do at our small scale?

I am just ready to pack up, hoping they dont retain too much of my datas... I have been very upset by that reviews ( not review to my standards), and I am wondering if it happened to someone before, and if a member had to cancel the membership because it is perceived as a dangerous intrugion in their life.

[Emiel1]

Hello @Corrine0 ,

I read the review and your comment. To be honest: i don't think it is that nasty or abbusive as you experience it. It also not discriminating on age, if you read it correct. I think your comments are doing more harm then the review itself. So please do not stop your hosting activities, as their are to many fine reviews and many people love your place ! It's a pity those "1 stars" will affect your overall statut as a (super)host, but it is part of the game. And if nessecary, give a short and "business-like" comment, avoid personal attacks  and argueing. Guest can read for themself what a review is worth. 

Best regards, Emiel

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Best to reply to this kind of review with a generic informational response that shows future guests what kind of host you really are:

"I was happy to accommodate these guests for late check-in the first night they stayed.  However, my house rules clearly state quiet after 10 pm because family and other guests may be sleeping.  These guests were sadly inconsiderate about their noise level on arrival and again on the second night they stayed. I was disappointed that they did not follow this basic house rule."

The above response will show future guests that you are not defensive or easily ruffled, that you are happy to accommodate special requests and that you are reasonable in posting and enforcing your house rules.

[Rebecca181]

@Corrine0 I am sorry you are going through this. It does seem that this was a retaliatory, malicious review. It would not hurt to call ABB one more time and ask to speak to a Case Manager (or, a different Case Manager, if you have spoken with a CM already). Do you have Quiet Hours listed in your House Rules? If so, then your guests broke this rule, and when you called them on it, they responded with what seems to me like a retaliatory review. Doesn't matter what they wrote in the review itself - They left you a One Star review, and that is lethal to our Super Host ratings and can even cause our listing to be reviewed / possibly suspended, from what I hear. 

I have had a positive experience when receiving the one retaliatory review I have ever gotten. I can't say if this will happen for you, but I do know that I reached someone compassionate and knowledgeable in the South-East Asian office (have to put that in there, because many say they have terrible experiences when getting this support center, and I have had some pretty bad ones myself) and she did remove the review after researching and consulting with others. But it really depends on who is reviewing your case.

The other thing that likely helped me is I gave an honest review on the guest, and I also documented the issues via the messaging center (the guest claimed she paid for a two night stay and was belligerent and aggressive upon check-in - I documented her false claim in the messaging center and I factually reported this in the review I gave her, and I gave her a thumbs down and few stars). Did you review this guest? Do you have any documentation in the messaging center that they violated your Quiet Hours (if indeed these are in your House Rules)? It's these sorts of things that will possibly inspire a Case Manager to remove a review, because there is evidence to show it is retaliatory.

If none of these things work, then I agree with @Emiel1: Let go of holding on to your Super Host status, and focus on Income Generated. I myself have gotten to a place where I am okay if I lose my Super Host status, because under the new conditions being rolled out in July, I would guess that up to 50% of Super Hosts may lose their status, as a weighted average is not being used, and they are going to use the last 12 months of reviews to rate us (on a bell curve). So one three star review would take many five star reviews in a row to undo. I am not willing to exhaust myself worrying about that anymore. I provide the best service possible, I provide a brief paragraph to my guests on the star rating system and what the stars mean, and I let go of the rest and try not to take it to heart anymore. There will always be guests like this, and even the best hosts will be targeted at some point, and so it's best to just focus on bookings and the bottom line, especially when the Super Host filter is not promoted much by ABB and most guests don't even know what that is. If that ever changes, then I will be more concerned if I lose it. Until then, for me, life is just too short to try to hold onto something when the deck is stacked against you. Since you don't need the income, you have even more choices about how you ultimately will handle this. But if you enjoy hosting, don't let this one guest ruin it for you!

[Pete28]

Yup - the new avg 4.8 score over a year clearly came from some MBA who wasn't dealing with guests. Unless you care for plus, family or business ready then it seems like a road to a mental collapse trying to make eveyone happy.

Last night, 4* because they don't like the pillows - choice of 6 available. No one of the other 170 reviews has issues. Utterly random. 

[Corrine0]

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It's these sorts of things that will possibly inspire a Case Manager to remove a review, because there is evidence to show it is retaliatory.

thanx @Rebecca181. thats the whole point, the case Manager refuse to change one inch and only sent me a set answer. the response was not personalised and obviously took her 1 mn to copy/paste and send to my inbox.

I wish I could give a rating too. (most of companies ask you to evaluate their customer support by rating) but Airbnb doesn't do that!!!! It is like talking to a brick wall.

[Sarah977]

@Corrine0  The few times I have had to deal with customer support (nothing to do with guests, just glitches in their platform) I received an email asking me to evaluate the support I got. Maybe they don't do that anymore? In any case, the questions were, of course, in true airbnb fashion, not logical. The first question was "Based on your interaction with XXX at customer support, how likely would you be to recommend airbn to a friend or family member?" or something like that. I couldn't really see what one thing had to do with the other. I mean, I was dealing with one customer support person, who may or may not have resolved the issue to my satisfaction, but since there seem to be support staff who really try to help, and others who seem like they just blow you off, how does that relate to recommending airbnb? 

But just wanted you to know that at some point, they did send those evaluation questions.

[Carmel307]

I have had a nightmare experience with Airbnb support who failed to return two of the support calls I place after twenty minutes of wait time in their queue.  They used a completely demeaning, accusatory tone in reply to my sincere questions about their policies as I was trying to understand the vagaries of their policies with guests who abuse a host's hospitality.

Airbnb senior case manager staff refused to own up to deficiencies in their support and pointed to policies that supported a belligerent guest who booked for one guest but then showed up with two guests, and a pit bull without disclosing this in advance. In addition, he was blatantly rude, made comments with racist undertones, and wrote a review with false allegations and derogatory comments toward our maid who did backflips to accommodate him on New Year's Day. 

Somehow the dangerous animal disclosure policy on Airbnb only applies to hosts according to this senior staffer who consistently reprimanded me when I was trying to ask for help . The whole issue could have been addressed in a fair, timely manner if someone from Airbnb could have taken 5 minutes to speak to me on the phone. Instead, it took two days of long drawn out messaging and like you say....talking to a brick wall. A truly horrific customer service experience.

[Corrine0]

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@Rebecca181 wrote:

Did you review this guest? Do you have any documentation in the messaging center that they violated your Quiet Hours (if indeed these are in your House Rules)? It's these sorts of things that will possibly inspire a Case Manager to remove a review, because there is evidence to show it is retaliatory.

@Rebecca181. 

Yes I reviewed them saying that they made an awful lot of noise in the middle of the night.

I was not aware of the quiet hour option. Airbnb must have added it after I did my original listing and I was not aware of that change... I would have ticked that option otherwise.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

@Corrine0I just read your listing and see you do not have a house rule about quiet hours.  You might want to add that.  Even though they were inconsiderate you did allow them to check in at 3 am and the listing mentions night life in the nearby area, implying that someone enjoying the night life can come back to your listing later than you may prefer.

Also, never respond to star ratings or private comments publically. No one sees the starts or private comments except you and Airbnb so no need to mention them.  Unless they are favorable and then you can publically thank the guest for their great 5 star review or respond to their lovely compliments.

[Corrine0]

thanx for the tips. I am not aware of this quiet hour option. airbnb does a lot of updates on listing option without us being aware of.... That option was not there when I created my listing and I don't know where to find it now...

[Rachel0]

Hi @Corrine0, the quiet hour option is not a tick box supplied by Airbnb, you just have to add a sentence to your House Rules such as "Please do not make noise in the house between 10am and 7am" or whatever hours you choose.  

[Corrine0]

thanx for all your experience and advise.

I remain convinced that quiting airbnb all together is my best option.

I can't focus much on the income it generates as it is not more than I would have by having regular flatmates ( it is even less in winter with the big bills and tourist season at its lowest).

It is the case for a lot of hosts.

Airbnb was more a lifestyle for me and I know that quiting won't penalise me financially.

I just can't overcome the idea that airbnb expose their host to danger so easily. Good host should be protected, not left at the mercy of new angry members who have issue with the world and want to score points.... It is giving power to the wrong person. @Rebecca181 used the word "lethal" and lethal and hospitality don't work together!!

On one side, we have long term plan hosts who really work hard over a long period of time to built good relationship with their neighbourg, their landlord, their guests.... and on the other side, new comers with identity not guaranteed are given the power to distroy our work out of a whim or anger, as it pleases them. All that supervised or even encouraged by airbnb.

That's being at the mercy of angry people who are given too much power, power to really destroy our listing and hard work. I am not too sure if it is a "part of a game" I want to play : I don't play games. I know that the review they left me will put off the asian community. And I welcome the asian community very well. 

Super host status doens't really bother me, it doesn't bring anything, it is a big bluff.

My last question is how to delete one's account. I can't stay in an environment which is weakening me and expose me to danger!!!

It is easy to cancel a listing, but to delete one's profil..... I have sent a message to airbnb who doesn't reply!!! I want to make sure they don't sell my datas in the future (they have made enough money out of my listings already...)

Is there a special way ? a link I haven't seen.

Thanx to you all

[Marit-Anne0]

@Corrine0

A quick search in the help center

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/240/how-do-i-cancel-my-account

[Robin4]

@Corrine0 

Hi Corrine, it is probably going to happen to all of us sooner or later and I am so sorry you have copped it now but, hang on a tic....look at you! You are a Superhost with 170+ great reviews, don't you think that counts for something?

There are always going to be those guests that will come 'out of left field', but Corrine, you are better than that, realise just how good you are and leave the odd negative behind....we are not all fools Corrine, we can read between the lines! This guest is like the digger in the Anzac Day march....she is the only one in step!

Your best way to handle a review like this is to say in your review response....."I value all guests feedback, after all, that is the only way we as hosts can improve. I do however feel in this instance, after reading all my other 174 reviews, Joanna's (and the one star rating that she gave with it) says more about her than it does about me but..... I do wish her well for the future and hope that her future hosts will be able to better meet her specific hosting requirements!"

Something like that Corrine will tell us all to stay well clear of this one, and it will leave you where you rightfully belong...on the higher moral ground.

Don't think of packing up because of one rotten apple....as I said before, you are better than that, and Airbnb needs hosts just like you!

Cheers.....Rob