Airbnb recently denied my request to remove a biased, retaliatory review after a guest, even by his own admissions, trespassed my private property. This is my summary regarding Airbnb's procedure for disputing retaliatory reviews and the Review Policy, which contradicts how Airbnb exercised its own dispute procedures.
Relevant Facts. Guests reservation was successful! All was good until Gabriel the main guest & Garselia (the second guest) checked out. The interaction between us was great, no issues, I have messages to prove it. Day of check out March 9th 2025 Gabriel and Garselia broke into my property (trespassed) opened the main gate & the main door -entered the property and was frantic, he lost an item,?? We told him to please calm down & house keeper at this point was scared, she does not get to see who the guests are b/c her job is to perform the cleaning after 11am (check out deadline). She called me as she thought perhaps its an intruder? After calming her down and him down, I allowed for her to walk with him to see if he left the missing item, he later said he will check his vehicle again. We later discover he found his missing item inside his vehicle it was all a mistake, the part Gabriel and Garselia fail to understand is they scared several people including the house keeper & committed a crime, trespassing. He checked out at 10:40am (11am) he walked back inside opened 2 entry doors to get to the room with no written or verbal warning (I requested for airbnb to demand he provides he contacted me via text message or by sharing a phone call to me prior to entering private property) - he has nothing to show proof because he once again TRESPASSED.
Thereafter, I made a phone call at approx. 11:22am we discussed the matter with 3 different people over the phone, I discussed retalitory reviews, stealing and/or damaging property?, Safety and Security of the Hosts? Airbnb guaranteed they will protect me and thanked me for cooperating and providing receipts that back up what I experiened that day. I submitted a claim, notified Airbnb of the exact situation & provided verifiable evidence in support thereof. Guest retaliated with a biased, false review. By Guest's own admission in the retaliatory review, Guest "I admit to not calling before re-entering the property."On the same day as the review, I submitted a dispute to remove the retaliatory review over the phone. Without questions or requests for evidence, Airbnb summarily denied my dispute, without explanation, and only a template-style reference to the same policies that encouraged me to submit a dispute under the circumstances.
Airbnb Review Policy & Analysis. Pursuant to “A Simpler Way to Dispute Retaliatory Reviews,” found in the New features & policies section in the Resource Center, “[Hosts] should feel comfortable hosting guests without worrying about the possibility of receiving a retaliatory review. You can dispute a retaliatory review . . . from guests who commit a serious violation of policies[.]” To be considered for removal, the Host must "demonstrate a serious policy violation and that [Host's] enforcement of a policy led to the retaliatory review." Serious violations of policies, according to Airbnb, include guests that (1) damage property, (2) overstay their reservation, and/or (3) violate house rules.
The above article refers Hosts to Airbnb's Review Policy for more information. According to the Review Policy, "Reviews must be unbiased, contain relevant information reflecting the actual experience of the reviewer during the stay or Experience, and follow our Content Policy." Under the requirement that reviews must be unbiased, Airbnb explains that "guests s...
Contrary to the ambiguous explanation for denial by Airbnb, the Guest’s retaliatory review unequivocally violates Airbnb’s Review Policy. Guest, by Guest's own admission, trespassed my private property. Guest violated my house rules by trespassing and stealing bathroom accessories provided by the host for Guests use during their stay. misrepresenting the number guests staying at the property, exceeding the max capacity by two people. Guest committed "serious violations of policy," as specifically defined by Airbnb. I enforced Guest's liability for trespassing caused as a result of Guest's serious violations of policy, and in response, Guest wrote a biased, inauthentic review as a form of retaliation against me. Guest loved my property during Guest's stay, never mentioned a single issue throughout the entire stay, but was suddenly aggrieved by it once held accountable for serious policy violations. In conclusion, the Guests own review strictly talks about the incident and the incident only ---that occurred on March 9th 11:22am (AFTER CHECK OUT) technically they were no longer considered guests, at this point they are considered intruders, if they are entering a private property without permission.
Conclusion. Airbnb failed to follow its own policy when it denied my dispute to remove Guest's retaliatory review. Pursuant to Airbnb's Review Policy, Guest's review is biased because it's a retaliation against me for enforcing policy and house rules. Airbnb continues to respond with ambiguous templates that appear to be automated. Failure to remove the review is damaging my reputation and turning potential guests away from my listing. For the reasons stated above, Airbnb should immediately remove Guest's retaliatory review.
Final Notes: Thank you to Sara8246 for the information, I appreciate your support, it seems that airbnb is doing this to many hosts which is cruel to our hard work and dedication. This is not over, I will continue to push to find resolution and/or justice for Great Hosts!
