Airbnb Let a Guest Trash My Place, Harass Me, and Leave a Fake Review—And Their “Support” Did Nothing

[Oliver949]

Alright, fellow hosts, I need some advice (or at least someone to tell me I’m not crazy).

I recently had a guest stay at my place, and while everything seemed fine during the trip, they left behind a disaster. The damage was bad—I’m talking expensive, frustrating, “this guy clearly didn’t care” levels of bad.

So, I did the responsible thing—I followed Airbnb’s claims process, submitted all the evidence, and waited. Airbnb covered a tiny fraction of the damage (which was already annoying), but THEN the guest went full psycho mode on me.

Harassment, Spam Calls, and a Fake Review

After getting charged, this guy spam-called me relentlessly, threatened me, and tried to intimidate me into waiving the charge. I had to block his number just to stop the madness.

And because that wasn’t enough, he left a nasty, fake review, accusing me of “scamming” him—even though he was the one who destroyed my property.

So I did what any host would do: I reported it to Airbnb.

Enter Airbnb “Support” (AKA, The Brick Wall)

This is where things get truly infuriating. Not only did Airbnb refuse to remove the clearly retaliatory and false review, but their senior supervisor Akash was rude, dismissive, and completely unhelpful.

• He kept closing my tickets without actually resolving anything.

• He yelled at me over the phone when I tried to explain the situation.

• He refused to acknowledge that a guest harassing a host is a serious issue.

And then, the best part—Airbnb literally told me they “cannot mediate truth or fairness.”

So let me get this straight… Airbnb is totally fine with:

✔️A guest wrecking my property

✔️A guest harassing and threatening me

✔️A guest writing a fake review to ruin my reputation

…because, according to Airbnb, fairness is just too complicated.

I guess expecting truth or fairness from Airbnb is like expecting a guest to take out the trash before checkout—technically possible, but almost never happens.

So… What Now?

Apparently, according to Airbnb, a guest can destroy your place, harass you, threaten you, and then ruin your reputation with a fake review—and their “support” will just let it happen.

I feel completely abandoned as a host. Airbnb loves to push host guarantees, safety policies, and fair review systems, but when we actually need them? Silence. Or, in my case, a supervisor who yells at me and closes tickets.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Do we, as hosts, have ANY protection anymore? At this point, I feel like I should frame the guest’s review as a souvenir and accept defeat.

Would love to hear your thoughts—because right now, I feel like I got played by both the guest AND Airbnb support.

[Etuna0]

Wow, this is absolutely shocking and unacceptable. I can’t believe Airbnb is allowing this kind of behavior. The fact that they won’t remove a blatantly retaliatory review is shocking… And a supervisor yelling at you? That’s completely unprofessional.

[Frances3408]

@Oliver949. Do not let this go. A new guest versus a great host and Airbnb should be supporting you to not only remove this review but support your damages claim.

@Alex @Elisa can you help refer this back up the line? I too have had my support case repeatedly closed recently (with no reference or success) , despite promised follow ups.

Feeling like we are treated like second class hosts here Down Under sometimes 😞

[Oliver949]

I appreciate your response, I do not know what to do. I keep contacting and getting ignored.

[Frances3408]

@Oliver949. They have removed the guest profile, now for you to prove its a retaliatory review. Give them an exact timeline of all communications. Ask them EXACTLY when the guest submitted their review then compare to when you submitted your damages claim.

Also investigate your own STR insurance for contents, especially if you are the owner.

Lastly, for these sort of topics be aware the conversations they end up on the www unless you post under Host Circle (which is limited access to hosts only).

[Elisa]

Hi @Frances3408 and @Oliver949 😊, 

I'm really sorry about what happened to you!

@Frances3408 I'll reach out by DM to ask for more details. @Oliver949

I will pass this to the dedicated team.

Warm regards 🌻,

[Oliver949]

The dedicated team has already yelled at me and told me to get screwed when I clearly outlined the violations this guy has committed. He threatened me, intimidated me and airbnb said they don’t care in a nutshell. It is very disheartening . They said “we are the last point of contact and we agree with you but we can’t do anything”

[Pete28]

Get another bad review in the next 3 months and they will shut down your listing for a week. Thanks Airbnb !

[Helen3]

That's not true @Pete28 

Why not provide some helpful advice rather than scaremongering about a platform you no longer use .

[Joan2709]

@Oliver949 

So sorry this happened...

First, I would write a short, factual, non-emotional response to this guest's review. You are writing it for future guests to read. 

Start with:

"We work very hard to offer a 5-Star stay at our home and that is reflected in our previous five-star reviews. Unfortunately, this guest broke some important house, caused damage to the property and additional cleaning was required after their stay. This tetaliatory review was written after we requested the guest cover the damages they caused. I would not recommend this guest to future Hosts.

It looks like this guest has been removed from the platform, so seems like Airbnb took the harassment seriously.

For the future...

It's best to not let on to the guest that you will be filing a claim for damages. Quietly gather your documentation (photos/video/receipts). Then wait until just before the 14day cutoff to file your claim and write your honest review. Give yourself just enough time to write the review and file the claim. I would create a word document for the review so all you have to do is copy/paste it when the time comes. 

[Rebecca2501]

I have only started and not yet a year, but hearing this has made me second guess the "protection" I was told I would have as a host. It is bad enough no city or state helps the host even if they get a squatter, but when you have proof of what a guest has done and no support, that is concerning.

[Jd69]

Airbnb will not protect you. I’m finding out that they’ll do anything to throw their hosts under the bus if it’s easiest for them. 

[Rebecca2501]

I see some of the forums about this were around Covid or in the year or 2 after. Is it still like this today?

[Jd69]

I’m running into the support brick wall too with a guest’s review. It’s amazing that a company that depends on its hosts would treat them like this—it’s an abusive relationship. 

[Rebecca2501]

This is my concern right now as I have a guest right now in my home I live in that has proven to be a "issue". He has booked for 2 weeks letting me know he may want to extend but he wanted to see if he "liked it" first. It has already been a week of him irnoring basic house rules and acting like he doesnt need to follow rules to the point of almost dismissing me when I try to give a gentle reminder. The other current female guest is also seeing this and not as comfortable and she is a 3 month stay. So I have decided to accept another booking for right after his 2 weeks, as I normally would wait and give the current guest a chance to extend first. So at this point if he wanted to extend it is out of hands but becasue he cant will I get a bad review becasue of it and what will be the long term of a not good review. I am just starting out and have gone waaaaaay above and beyond more than I should and most times do not mind I just hope somthing like this being the best for everyone that I do not get penalized. If so I will have no other option but to list elsewhere even without the support host;s do currently get. I do not like that one bad apple can ruin what would be a great track record with more very happy guests then not. Sorry to be long winded but since I came across this post and others yesterday I have been almost sick of worry with it especially as a single professional women just trying to keep her head above water like everyone else.