For the past two years I've demonstrated that I'm a honest, dedicated, and kind superhost with three listings with 5-star reviews across all. However, It appeared that they used AI-generated responses to my requests to remove a retaliatory review.
During my interaction with an ambassador named Noel, after explaining my situation and not getting any help, I asked him to direct my call to a supervisor, and Noel confidently stated that he was exactly that. However, something seemed off. His tone did not have the professional demeanor that I would expect from someone in a leadership position, which raised my suspicions. I asked him to send me a simple message stating that he was, in fact, a supervisor, and he became evasive, and repeatedly agreed with me that the review was in fact retaliatory and as a form of retaliation against me for enforcing my house rule and should be removed but claimed that he had no power to make the change. The documentation I had provided proved that her review fell squarely into that category and should be removed. Airbnb, failing to uphold its policy against retaliatory reviews to ensure fairness and protect me from abusive and manipulative guests puts me in a situation where, like many other hosts, have no choice but to let guests do whatever they want in our homes or face the consequences of retaliatory reviews and unfair treatment from Airbnb.
The guest left me a horribly degrading review, full of demonstrable lies, fueled by retaliation for having to pay for the unauthorized guest she brought into the apartment. She wrote that since my maximum capacity is 4 people, she had the right to bring 3 people and shouldn't have to pay for all of them. If that was true, she would make a reservation for one person and bring 3 more along. On top of all her serious allegations, she added that I have hidden cameras inside the apartment to watch guests and enter the unit without their consent, and that the area is extremely unsafe with neighbors partying all night and people knocking on doors 5-6am will scare way potential guests preventing them to book my listings.
The guest had booked an apartment for her husband and son, but she never stayed in the unit. Since their arrival, her behavior suggested that she had an intention to make false complaints and cause problems. intentionally overlooks
After discovering that she had snuck an unauthorized guest into the apartment I asked her to add him to her reservation. She complied, but then became angry, demanding a refund for the extra fee. I clearly state in my listings that all guests must be included in the reservation. Yet she still made the reservation, and it quickly became clear that she intended to break the rules of my house.
I called Airbnb and received a message stating that they had honored my decision not to refund the guest, and she became infuriated. She contacted Airbnb to make false claims that she had to leave one night earlier due to a noisy party in the property demanding an unreasonable refund. Again, I called Airbnb and found out that she didn't provide any evidence to support her claim, so I refused to refund her.
After the guest’s two attempts to extort money from me failed, she left a nasty, negative review with serious false accusations in retaliation.
Hosts open their personal sanctuaries to complete strangers, trusting them to respect their property and abide by house rules. And increasingly, that trust is being broken, leaving hosts feeling vulnerable and exposed.
Airbnb shouldn't allow guests to abuse the system, and they should honor their policies and remove retaliatory reviews.
