Hello All, We have an unfortunate story with a guest we woul...
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Hello All, We have an unfortunate story with a guest we would like to share with all the community. Yesterday, a guest contac...
Latest reply
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.
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*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.
Dear Raman89, who is bbb and how can they be contacted.
I am desperate also, as I got a retiliatory reveiw from guests and Airbnb customre service just closes the case and not helping to remove the biased review....
After a guest asked me to discount her stay (which was declined , she left a horrible review that my house was full of cockroaches (NOT true). After spending an entire day arguing with Airbnb, and providing our conversations
someone finally decided to help me
and remove the review . However , I was just notified that it didn’t “violate their standards “ and was just posted back on my reviews .
We all know that a review claiming
cockroach infestation is a death sentence for a rental. I’m really upset that they took it down only
to put it back up 24 hours later .
I mean, even 1 cockroach could be a 'lot' of cockroaches to someone who is not used to seeing cockroaches. She probably asked for a discount because she wanted to give you a chance. But yes, I would look into getting them exterminated for good.
I would hire an extermination team if I was in your position. I would take this very seriously!
I mean, although you being situated in the mountains probably makes it harder than normal to get rid of cockroaches, ants, mosquitoes etc.
I remember I had a really bad time at an airbnb that was literally "FULL OF" mosquitos and I had a terrible time then 😞
It is incredibly difficult to persuade AirBNB to apply its own policy on retaliatory reviews.
We had a 4.9 average from over 200 reviews at a time when a guest left on day 2 of a 9 day booking. After abruptly checking out, they sent a long list of supposedly untenable issues with the property.
On inspection we found not one single claim made by the guest to be true, and suspect they simply regretted their booking and decided to move somewhere more suitable, thinking they'd pocket a refund.
So we did not offer any refund as we should not be liable for a loss in these circumstances. The guest lodged a claim with AirBNB and AirBNB found in our favour after we supplied time stamped videos proving in fact that the appliances were all in working order.
Sure enough, then comes the retaliatory 1 star review spewing out all of the same untrue claims, and more - but after supporting us initially, this time AirBNB doesn't want to know about it.
It is totally bizarre how they treat hosts with such disdain.
I've now cancelled all future reservations and removed my listing.
Hi Sarah, I experienced the same situation as you did! One of the guests I hosted last year overstayed in my house after his check-out time without my permission. He wanted to take a free night from me following the check out time. I refused and only gave him a discount. At that time, I was a very new host with very little experience that I didn’t know how much he paid to Airbnb, I trusted him and asked him how much he paid to Airbnb. He lied to me and attempted to get a free night from me. Even though I charged him at a very big discount, he was upset, left the room in a very dirty and messy state, and left a 1-star review for me in the last day when we could leave a review. As I was too new to Airbnb, I didn’t notice that until I passed the day to leave a review for him.
I disputed with Airbnb many times, they all denied my request. I am very upset too. The guest made many untruthful comments which was so unfair to me.
I am very disappointed that Airbnb doesn’t remove that.
I would continue to ask for this to be removed. This is not right.
hi Sara, this just happened to me. Guest has a prior bar review but 2 good ones. He said his bad review was untrue and I made the mistake of giving him a chance when he wanted to rent. He had 6 kids a “service ” dog. I checked in and asked if everything was ok and if they needed anything bye said all great. I bought a clean n play for their use and a high chair since he has a young child. When we came into the house afterwards, the dog peed everywhere. On brand new curtains, on a front door rug that they removed afterwards to hide. The pulled on my new couch. Blueberry stains everywhere. Scratched my front door large Glassdoor This guy is a traveling doctor and books airbnbs often for his family to spend time with him Therefore, he booked more dates on my calendar. Once I posted a negative review and put a claim for carpet cleaning and for my couch, he immediately canceled his bookings and gave me a 1 star for everything. Claimed my house had bed bugs and black mold. Said they were stung by wasps and had to go to the emergency room. But not one of these claims were mentioned anywhere before the review and open claim for damages. It was completely retaliatory. I sent pictures Etc. My house is immaculate. My first review shows that. I’m a new host and this has been a terrible experience. And this was on my second booking. They too give me canned responses and in the end say it wasn’t against their policies or standards and the review will remain. It’s created so much stress and is very slanderous and all lies.
And sorry for all the typos, was typing from phone and not very user friendly interface
Airbnb is nothing more than a software. They have nothing tangible to claim . Hosts on the other hand own physical properties. Airbnb is only interested in placating the guests no matter what . The guests are always right. There are lot of crazy people out there, who would think nothing of destroying your property or making your life hell for the period they occupy your property. Believe me . I had to deal with some insane , stupid guests . That’s why I have decided to delete my account and the hell with Airbnb. My sanity is more important to me than a few bucks. Airbnb will never side with hosts because they think they got us by the balls with their stupid system of reviews and rewards . As if we were kids in kinder garden. Guests can destroy your stuff, hold parties til the wee hours, check out late and do a host of other things but you can’t dare to upset them because if you do the single star rating is awaiting you. How fair is this ? Please tell me. If you check into a hotel and don’t act responsible and follow the rules , they call the cops or haul your ass out. Nor reviews . No ratings
Hi Sara, first of all I appreciate you speaking out about your situation. I thought I was alone on this. I’m a super host in Indiana and co-host of several listing in different states. I had a similar situation with this couple that wanted to claim squatters’ rights and a seven day credit/refund in the house. I called the police 3 times so they can get these people out of the house. The boyfriend was very aggressive towards the cleaning crew and I have it on video the guy repeating “I kill” “I kill”. I submitted all the evidence on Airbnb and denied my request with police evidence. I personally believe these people need to be banned from the app and reviews like that shouldn’t be affecting our listings.
I have the same thing going on with 2 reviews Airbnb refuses to remove that are direct retaliation. I am contacting BBB of San Francisco