A retaliatory 1 star review posted by a guest who also attem...
A retaliatory 1 star review posted by a guest who also attempted extortion was initially removed by Airbnb and then reinstate...
Airbnb recently denied my request to remove a biased, retaliatory review after a guest, even by her own admissions, caused significant damage to my property. This is my situation and analysis regarding Airbnb's procedure for disputing retaliatory reviews and the Review Policy, which contradicts how Airbnb exercised its own dispute procedures.
Relevant Facts. Guest's reservation was for 2 adults and 2 children. During Guest's stay, through Airbnb's message portal, Guest expressly states, "[W]e are LOVING our stay and would love to book this unit for the following month if possible and if it's not too late" and "[T]his place is a hidden gem. I'm gonna to leave the most excellent review regarding our stay." Upon checkout, Guest refused to vacate property and I had to block off the next day since there was no time to clean and prepare it for potential next guests. I also discovered 2 additional unauthorized guests who stayed for the duration of the reservation (minors) when I repeatedly knocked at the door and respectfully requested that they vacate in accordance to house rules. Once Guest vacated, I discovered significant property damage and missing property, i.e., the worst busted pipes under kitchen sink and flooded kitchen, which ruined 3/4 of the baseboards of my custom cabinets and pulled up the sealant on the floor, several damaged walls from Guest hanging makeshift curtains (attempting to cover it with paint that doesn't match) or markers/crayons/pens/dirt, a pungent odor that I could not remove (which caused the next guest to cancel and I fully refunded), etc.
Thereafter, I submitted a claim / requested reimbursement from Guest and uploaded verifiable evidence in support thereof. Guest retaliated with a biased, false review. By Guest's own admission in the retaliatory review, Guest hung "a sheet with duct tape for privacy!" In the private message, Guest further states, "The duct tape on the wall is your fault for not having a curtain on the window & I STILL was gracious enough to purchase paint & go over the tape marks!" Guest's response to my public review of Guest states, "So we accidentally took [property] from [Host's] home, ACCIDENTALLY . . . mix ups happen."
On the same day as the review, I submitted a dispute to remove the retaliatory review. In roughly three hours, 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, damaged my property. Guest overstayed their reservation, as verified in Guest's message indicating departure, which was over 2.5 hours past check out time. Guest violated my house rules by misrepresenting the number guests staying at the property, exceeding the max capacity by two people. The property is not equipped for that many people, which subjected it the damages eventually caused by Guest's violation. Guest committed "serious violations of policy," as specifically defined by Airbnb. I enforced Guest's liability for damages 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.
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.
Answered! Go to Best Answer
*UPDATE
After I posted here and submitted a claim on BBB San Francisco, I received an email stating that the review was removed (and confirmed on my profile). Although I’m happy with the resolution, I should not have had to spend hours just to get Airbnb to follow its own policies.These false, retaliatory reviews affect our reputation and income, so policies must be followed. If any other hosts go through what I did, I recommend commenting on this forum and also submit a claim with BBB SF - feel free to use my analysis to plug in with your facts.
@Sara8246 Given that the guest is not disputing they caused the damage it is strange that Airbnb will not move their review. It really is not clear what counts as a retaliatory review but this one is more clear cut than many.
I appreciate your response - this has been a stressful situation. The responses from Airbnb seem automated. I tested it by asking specific questions in relation to my dispute and Airbnb responded, "We understand that this may be disappointing and not the outcome that you had expected. Trust me had it been possible for us to remove the review we definitely would have." If this came from an actual human who reviewed the case and my questions, it's dismissive. A part of me feels taunted at this point, considering the time and effort I've exhausted, which is why I'd like to believe it's an auto-response.
If this is any consolation, I had a similar incident and got the same response from Airbnb. I think they use AI to settle these type of issues. In my opinion, the process does not protect hosts and is useless.
i have 22 reponses from guests on booking and of the 22 i have received 3 give 9 out of 10, 17 give me 10 out of 10 and 2 give 5 out of 10, the two that gave me 5 one of these is someone who was quite unpleasant for no reason whatsoever, a minor local celebrity i think was upset that i didnt recognise him and the other was a spaniard who booked my living room sofa bed because it was the cheapest and this was my own fault because the sofa is not used so often and the bedding was in the base unfortunately some of my dogs hair must have accumulated and got onto his bottom sheet. i have now realised that using this sofa bed i must protect the sheets in plastic bags after washing. however he stated that the bed was comfortable in his review so it cant have been that bad and its upsetting that when he was leaving he didnt mention any problems and when asked said he was happy, oh well sh*t happens! meanwhile when you get reviews that are so very much against the grain you should be able to reply but if the guest doesnt give a written response you are stuck with it, Boo!
Agreed. Very automated responses.
Hi @Sara8246 ,
Seems like the guest experience has not been that smooth and am sorry to hear about the review removal. It seems like you have already gone through the review policies and the process of retaliatory review removal.
Although I cannot promise much here, I will make sure to reach out to the concerned teams with your feedback.
Bhumika, did you fix the issue?
@Richard2459 the admins for this community don't have the power to fix anything on Airbnb they work for a third party company that manages this community.
All they can do is flag issues like this with Airbnb.
Well I hope it "flags" a trend so Airbnb can change its policy.
You are such a positive contribution to this community I can't tell you how much it means to read all of your notes & see someone who understands that we're not running hotels we are renting out houses...it's a completely different experience.
I've had to throw sheets & very nice towels out now twice, bc people stay for a month & they do not do laundry ONCE. I don't think they wash their bodies even....They are literally filthy dirty the whole house stunk.....I didn't write anything bc I was afraid they would come at me w bad marks - they were already coming at me for 1/2 months rent back saying the house was dirty (they refused to let our maids in & cooperate w weekly housekeepers).
If I wrote a the TRUTH on them, nobody would ever rent to them. It is so hard to actually state the facts here without these ungrateful people retaliating....what are we supposed to do?
I am glad u area here nonetheless.
*UPDATE
After I posted here and submitted a claim on BBB San Francisco, I received an email stating that the review was removed (and confirmed on my profile). Although I’m happy with the resolution, I should not have had to spend hours just to get Airbnb to follow its own policies.These false, retaliatory reviews affect our reputation and income, so policies must be followed. If any other hosts go through what I did, I recommend commenting on this forum and also submit a claim with BBB SF - feel free to use my analysis to plug in with your facts.
Sara8246, thank you so much for posting your interaction with airbnb. i have been a superhost for 12 years now, and just had a guest sneak in an undisclosed, unpaid for adult guest. She then cancelled the rest of her reservation, and left a sneaky review that states i was "over involved and somewhat invasive". She never mentions that what provoked me to be "invasive"( i knocked on their door), was that she ignored my attempts to reach out via messages, and even a phone call, for 40 minutes. Finally i had to knock on the door, to have the undisclosed, unpaid for guest removed from our home. So her review is slanderous, and knocks down my star rating. Airbnb support is being quite nonchalant about this, in my busy season when other potential guests are viewing the review that i need to have taken down in accord with their statements, that we can "host with assurance" that they will in fact take down retaliatory reviews...your advice about contacting the BBB will be helpful, should i need it. Thank you!
Update: now, of course airbnb is stating they will not remove the review, even though their Content Policy states reviews must be unbiased. This guest is very biased and disingenuous, as she arrived after our check in time, parked in neighbors' area, and snuck in an undisclosed, unpaid for guest. She ignored my repeated attempts to contact her, and now states in the review, that "host is invasive" neglecting to also clarify the reason I had to knock on her door. This review has brought my star ratings down, is untrue, and will affect my income and reputation.
Thank you, Sara. I too had a similar event happen to my listing. I reported them to BBB now and even tried to seek a resolution with their team, to no avail.
It’s unfortunate how much Airbnb favors the guests and not the hosts. Without us hosts Airbnb would have no business or revenue. Due to safety and security reasons, as well as favoritism on Airbnb’s behalf, I no longer feel a desire nor benefit in Hosting under this Airbnb platform. I feel it’s best to leave Airbnb and become independent from them. It’s a real shame. They don’t even do background checks on their guests anymore. I’ve had really shady characters in the past, unfortunately.