Airbnb Not Following Through on Their Own Review Policy

[Qi33]

I'm a relatively new host and it was my first time requesting Airbnb to help remove a retaliatory review from a guest. Airbnb rejected my request twice without providing any sort of explanation why they would not remove a retaliatory review.

I accepted a last minute booking from a guest with 4.5 rating and it's a huge regret accepting this reservation. The guest booked the suite for 4 guests but brought a 5th guest, trying to sneak in late into the evening which was captured by our outdoor cameras. I notified the guest that we don't allow unauthorized guests and we have a policy to charge an extra guest fee, which I sent through the Airbnb platform. The guest lied saying he tried to pay multiple times but couldn't and we ended up accepting cash. The guest then left a long retaliatory review saying we are inconsiderate and they expected not to get charged, when I was simply trying to enforce our property policy/house rules. 

I find it absolutely outrageous how Airbnb's Review Policy says very clearly that reviews should be unbiased. They even say "guests should not write biased or inauthentic reviews as a form of retaliation against a host who enforces a policy or rule", and yet their review team rejected my request TWICE. I'm also a Superhost with Airbnb - and I felt I was treated like my policies and rules mean nothing to them in the face of $. 

Does Airbnb management only care about $ these days that they'd not follow through on their own policies just so they don't offend a bad guest? I don't see why they'd encourage this type of behavior by guests not willing to follow the host's rules and not willing to pay... At the end of the day, if every guest sneaks in unauthorized guests and hosts can't even confront them or charge them because they'd leave a retaliatory review - why even have this policy in the first place? 

Maybe I should raise this to the BBB. Posting a policy this way and not following through is outright misrepresentation to hosts.

[Lorina14]

@Qi33 

Sorry to hear about your poor experience from a guest who was trying to get a free person in and disrespecting your house rules. You should look on the community center as this has been happening recently where hosts are getting denied claims for damage and also denied for retaliatory reviews. It seems to be linked to Airbnb using AI more to respond to issues. Some people just respond with facts, non emotional, with reference to Airbnbs own terms and conditions that they are not honoring and sometimes it gets removed. Some hosts have called out Airbnb on their social media X or FB accounts and got better traction. Some others have had to take them to arbitration for resolution. 

Please let us know how things work out for you. 

[Qi33]

Thank you @Lorina14, this is very helpful information! I didn't know they'd use AI to respond but I definitely suspected this, since any reasonable person would have clearly understood the review was biased. I'll try social media and see if I can get some traction there, that's a great suggestion. Much appreciated!

[Karen114]

@Qi33  For the future, I would not have "extra" guest fees.  This will always be gamed. 

In your house rules you should state that over occupancy will result in being asked to leave without a refund.  This way it can't be gamed, some guests just roll the dice and are prepared to pay if they get caught.  Then you have to chase them for money which hurts them more than if they are being asked to leave for over occupancy. 

You will still get a bad review I am sure,  however you can just respond with guest broke house rules by over occupying.  It's great for the future guest that thinks they will do the same and they will know it's being enforced.   

[Natasha740]

We totally understand what you’re going through — we recently went through a very similar situation. As Superhosts with an excellent track record, it was so upsetting to have guests blatantly violate our house rules by bringing in extra people without permission and even using our neighbor’s private roof deck. We provided Airbnb with clear video evidence and reached out to support multiple times, but sadly, it felt like no one was truly on our side.

Interestingly, when the guests asked for a refund, Airbnb didn't give them anything — which shows they were aware the guests were in the wrong. But unfortunately, we were still hit with 2- and 3-star reviews, and now our once-thriving listing is struggling to recover.

It’s disheartening, especially when we’ve continued to receive straight 5-star reviews from all our recent guests for June and May. We put so much love and effort into creating a great experience, and moments like this are tough. You’re not alone — we’re rooting for you and hope Airbnb does better for us all.