Airbnb recently denied my requests to remove a biased and retaliatory review after a guest left a false and damaging review purely because I submitted a legitimate compensation claim for her repeated violations of house rules. This is my situation and an analysis of how Airbnb’s own Review Policy and dispute procedures were not properly followed.
Relevant Facts
The guest booked my place for herself and boyfriend and from the start, there were clear violations:
- Smoking: On the night the guest and her boyfriend arrived, I immediately contacted Airbnb support because I smelled cigarettes in my unit (I live on the first floor). I was advised to document evidence, which I did. I sent Airbnb a photo of the guest’s boyfriend holding a cigarette coming inside which was caught on our security camera. Furthermore, I paid for professional smoke odor removal and provided the invoice to Airbnb after they checked out. In the guest's review, they claim they never smoked, which is a blatant lie.
- Unauthorized guests: Security footage and photos I sent to Airbnb showed at least 5 unauthorized guests entering and staying late at night — some even jumping the front fence which is over one person's height. The guest later claimed in her review that they were just her “drivers” — but 5 drivers at once in the middle of a night? Clearly not credible. Airbnb documented these violations at the time. Besides, The unauthorized guests repeatedly broke the front lock (which never happened to any of my other guests) and I resolved each issue promptly. I was always responsive to their needs.
- Damages and compensation: The guest also falsely claimed in her review that I charged her $275 just for a stained sheet. In truth, only $25 was for the sheet she ruined; the rest was the $250 professional smoke odor removal invoice. I submitted full documentation to Airbnb.
Importantly, throughout the guest's stay, I was in frequent contact with Airbnb support, expressing concerns that guests were violating house rules, and I specifically raised concerns about potential retaliatory reviews. Airbnb support reassured me at the time that if the guest retaliated with a bad review because I enforced the rules, the review could be disputed and removed.
Airbnb Review Policy & Analysis
According to Airbnb’s “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 candispute 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 guest clearly:
- Damaged property (sheet, smoke odor, lock)
- Violated house rules (no smoking, no unauthorized guests)
The review she left was retaliation after I submitted a claim for the damage and rule violations, and it contains proven falsehoods. The guest had no complaints to the property during her stay, until I held her accountable at checkout.
Conclusion
Despite providing Airbnb with extensive, time-stamped evidence, Airbnb denied my dispute to remove the guest’s retaliatory and dishonest review, without a real investigation or request for more information. They even said in their response to me that depiste some of the contents in the guest's review may not be true, they would not remove it.
Per Airbnb’s Review Policy, reviews must be unbiased and reflect the actual experience — not be used to retaliate against hosts enforcing clear policies. Failure to remove the guest’s review is not only inconsistent with Airbnb’s own written policies, but it is also damaging to my reputation as a responsible host. I feel very disappointed.
