Airbnb Refusing to Remove False and Defamatory Review

[Armaan5]

Fellow Hosts,

I urgently need your advice and support. I'm dealing with a nightmare guest who left a scathing review filled with lies and fabrications, and Airbnb is refusing to remove it, despite clear violations of their own content policy.

Here's a summary of the situation:
The guest booked my property for 8 people but only 4 showed up, likely because some of her group bailed. Instead of communicating this change, she attempted to cancel the reservation after check-in, aiming to shift the cost of her friends' absence onto me. To justify this cancellation, she fabricated and exaggerated issues, such as misrepresenting the distance to a local venue and falsely claiming the property was not as described.  AirBnB ended up refunding her 10% of the stay without any justification + gave her $200 compensation. On top of that the 2 star review she left renders my new airbnb useless. This was only the third stay by a guest in the property, the past two being 5 stars. 

In the review, the guest claims several false claims that airbnb support has completely ignored as being an opinion but more specifically that the property has full-sized beds instead of queen-sized beds that is demonstrably false and misleading. This is not an opinion; it is a factual inaccuracy that violates Airbnb's Content Policy, which explicitly prohibits "listings and profiles that provide fraudulent, false, misleading, or deceptive information." 

Has anyone else experienced similar issues with Airbnb refusing to remove false reviews? What steps did you take? Any advice on how to escalate this further or challenge Airbnb's decision?

I appreciate any guidance and support from the community. Thank you!

[Mamedie0]

I am so sorry you are going through this!

I had the exact same issue with a guest…3rd booking after 2 5-star stays in a new listing, and the 3rd guest left a 2 star review.

Airbnb took the review down in the same day when I reached out!

 Here’s what I said when I reached out to Airbnb, but you can copy and paste this for your message to them.  Reach out to them directly through the Contact Us section.

“Hi, I am writing regards to guest XYZ, reservation code ABC123.  I am writing to dispute the review as it is in clear violation Airbnb Policy for the following reasons: False Information and Retaliation.  They blatantly lied in their review about factual information listed in the booking, and the retaliatory review they wrote is with the intent to deter other prospective guests who are making informed booking decisions from booking my place.”

 Include a screenshot of the guest’s review.

 They will close that inquiry ands take it to email.

 Please keep us posted!

[Armaan5]

Thanks! Will keep you updated. So far the case has been escalated to a specialized agent who has told me "This review details the user's perspective, which is their subjective experience and not in violation of our policy." which doesn't acknowledge the false statement made in the review at all. 

[Marie8425]

@Armaan5 

I can't see the actual review because this is a guest profile but yes I have had a false review removed usually if you stay on the one line nothing about the guest because that really isn't relative.