Airbnb Refused to Remove a Retaliatory Review

[Minnie35]

Could someone help me understand why a review that’s factually incorrect and misleading is allowed? 

This guest wanted to check in ASAP around 11am, the normal check-in time is 4pm. In order to accommodate his request, I had to move the cleaning schedule up and expedite it. So I asked for a small early check-in fee of $25, which is also mentioned in the listing as a rule. I eventually was able to accommodate his check-in at 12:30pm. There was no issue or concern raised from this guest during his stay. But after check-out, he left a 2-star review that contains basically lies, which also seems retaliatory.

He claimed that amenities listed mostly didn't exist, but I checked multiple times that all listed amenities exist. I even reached out and politely asked what he felt was missing, he couldn’t name anything (because obviously nothing was missing). No guest in the past has ever mentioned any amenity is missing either. He also falsely stated that the attached room is shared and same as the bathroom, but the attached room is only rented out for guests who wish to rent both rooms. The listing explicitly states that his room and bathroom are private, and he didn’t share the space with anyone during his stay at all. 

I submitted evidence and screenshots through the review removal form and spoke with Support multiple times, but the requests were denied. According to Support, the review is “based on the guest experience”, but in reality not only it doesn’t reflect the true experience, it is also misleading, deceptive, and false! 

According to Airbnb’s review policy, “guests should not write biased or inauthentic reviews as a form of retaliation against a host who enforces a policy or rule.”, and also “Reviews must provide relevant information about the reviewer’s experience with the host, guest, stay, service, or experience that would help other community members make informed booking and hosting decisions”. This review is clearly biased and is misrepresenting the listing.

I love seeing happy guests and take pride in providing them a great experience, but this has truly truly been a discouraging and frustrating experience. Has anyone else had any experience like this? I’d really appreciate any advice and help.

**[Image blurred in line with the Community Center Guidelines - Please note that  it is not allowed to post an image that contains identifiable information due to privacy concerns]

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Minnie35 sadly it would be too onerous for Airbnb to differentiate between truthful reviews and others. All you can do is respond to reviews being careful that you are addressing future guests NOT the guest who left the review.

[Minnie35]

Thank you so much for your response. While I understand the challenge, in this case  the review violates Airbnb’s own Review Policy and should be removed due to its retaliatory and misleading nature.

• Retaliatory: This review was not written in good faith or based on the guest’s actual experience. The review is made up with lies and was posted in retaliation after I asked the guest to pay an early check-in fee, which is explicitly listed as a house rule, and was only applied because the guest insisted on checking in several hours before the normal time. There were no complaints or issues raised during the stay and the only point of friction was enforcing a clearly posted rule. Airbnb’s policy explicitly prohibits “biased or inauthentic reviews as a form of retaliation,”.
  
  
• Inauthentic and deceiving: The guest claimed “most amenities didn’t exist” and that the “room and bathroom were shared.” Both statements are false. All amenities listed are available (as confirmed by messages with the guest, listing photos, and prior reviews), and the guest had a completely private room and bathroom (the room and the bathroom are never shared). Airbnb’s Review Policy clearly states that review “may not be used as an attempt to mislead or deceive”.
  
  
• Undermining the integrity of the review system: Reviews are meant to help future guests make informed decisions. When a guest posts false claims out of retaliation, it misleads future guests and truly harms trust in the platform.

I sincerely hope Airbnb can take a closer look at this and help make this right. Allowing retaliatory and biased reviews on the platform undermines the trust the review system is meant to uphold, and is very discouraging to hosts who work hard to provide guests with a transparent and enjoyable experience.

[Csaba54]

Hi! I'm a European host, but Airbnb is also treating its own policies in such a mean way! I also get retaliatory reviews like this from time to time. There was a recent case where a guest tried to steal electricity to charge his car. Moreover, he did it in a fire-hazardous way. I noticed this and told him to use the designated paid outlet in the parking lot and pay for the electricity. I sent him a payment request, attaching the security camera footage where the incident is visible! He refused. I contacted Airbnb customer service, and based on the evidence, they paid the requested amount. Now here's the thing. That's why the guest wrote a retaliatory review, which was nothing but lies! Lots of different lies. One of them was that there was no door to the bathroom and therefore the neighbor and everyone on the street could see when the guests were taking a shower. He also wrote that there were cameras everywhere and the guests had to live under them! Of course, this is not true, since the bathroom has a door and there is no camera anywhere, only 1 that monitors the car park! I sent photos of these to Airbnb customer service and asked for the retaliatory review to be deleted! I also wrote that this guest was caught stealing by 2 other hosts and this can be read in his profile. The fact of the retaliatory review was completely clear, and the previous hosts had already written this to him. Despite this, Airbnb customer service wrote me exactly the same answer that they wrote to you! I also asked them to apply the Airbnb policy regarding the deletion of retaliatory reviews, but they were not interested in that either. They sent all kinds of meaningless answers. The whole communication with them was completely ridiculous. They simply sent irrelevant answers, as if they hadn't even read what I wrote about their own policy. It was outrageous that they refused to apply the Airbnb policy on this, but when I asked why, it was as if they didn't even see my question, they wrote an answer about something completely different over and over again! They were completely unable to explain why the rule doesn't apply when I, a superhost, have proven with photos that the guest's lies are not applicable. Moreover, the lies of a proven thief guest who has already stolen from another host!

[Minnie35]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It’s very frustrating when guests can retaliate in reviews and make up lies after being held to house rules. There’s a lack of accountability and it’s very unfair to hosts. 

Sorry you went through that, but I appreciate you sharing it. It helps to know other hosts are dealing with the same thing, even if it shouldn’t be happening at all…

[Gernide0]

Hi Minnie,

I’m really sorry this happened to you. You did everything right as a host — clear communication, adjusting your cleaning schedule, and even accommodating an early check-in. It’s really discouraging when a guest repays kindness with a retaliatory review.

Airbnb’s own policies say reviews can’t be biased, misleading, or used as retaliation. From what you described, the claims he made were factually inaccurate and go directly against that guideline.

When this happens, what usually helps is:

• Resubmitting the request and labeling it specifically as “retaliatory + factually false.”

• Listing each false claim one by one, with photos or screenshots showing the true setup.

• Mentioning that the guest agreed to the early check-in fee before arriving.

• Asking Support to escalate it to the team that handles policy-based removals.

You’re clearly a thoughtful host who cares about your space and your guests’ experience. One unfair review doesn’t take away from all the great hosting you’ve done. Keep going — the community is here for you. 💛

GeGe 

[Csaba54]

Airbnb could perfectly distinguish when the host proves the opposite of lies with photos. And the guest cannot prove them! Moreover, there are lies that are completely unmistakably false, because in my case, about 600-700 guest reviews prove that what he writes is a lie. The guests who arrive immediately before and after him too! But despite this, they believe the lies of a thief guest even with a photo as proof, and they do not take into account the evidence of a superhost host. So don't write that Airbnb cannot decide what the truth is!

[Minnie35]

Someone from Support called and they refused to remove the review, saying that it's not a retaliation because there was no case created and there wasn’t a violation - the guest wouldn't be able to check in early if they don't pay the early check-in fee, so there wouldn't be a case if this is a policy they have to follow before they can even make a reservation, but doesn’t mean that they were happy about it. In addition, Airbnb’s own policy is that guests can’t retaliate against a host who enforces a policy or rule, not that a violation has to occur. Guests can still be disgruntled as a result of the enforcement. 

Support couldn’t explain why this review doesn’t violate Airbnb’s policy where “review may not be used as an attempt to mislead or deceive Airbnb or another person. For example, guests should not write biased or inauthentic reviews as a form of retaliation against a host who enforces a policy or rule.” They just kept saying that the review is based on the guest experience, but it was not a true reflection of guest experience because what they said in the review was factually false (lies). 

• The guest claimed most amenities didn’t exist: I politely asked what they felt was missing, they couldn’t name a thing (because nothing was missing). I can provide evidence and photos that every single listed amenity on the listing was available. And no other review ever mentioned that anything was missing.
• The guest also claimed that the bedroom and bathroom were shared: They never shared the space with anyone, and the space is meant to be completely private. Reservation records confirm that no other guest was booked at the same time. The listing explicitly states that his bedroom and bathroom are private.

The review was not written in good faith, it’s biased, misleading, and deceiving. I’m attaching the detailed review. It’s mind boggling that this is allowed to stay up. 

Support kept following the script without listening to the facts I presented, and he kept saying that guests won’t judge you based on one review, but it’s a matter of principle, integrity, and policy. It’s also damaging my reputation and hurting the business by turning potential future guests away. 

Airbnb failed to follow its own policy. It’s truly unfair to host and frustrating. Please escalate this to a different case manager or policy leadership.