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 for the advise, will try to open a new case and copy this message. My current customer support agent has responded with the following message to close the case which doesn't address the violation at all:

"Hello Armaan.

This is Fátima again. Please allow me to clarify my position. I work on a specialized team that addresses these types of concerns.

Having said that, we understand you are not satisfied with the outcome of this case.

As stated previously, we have reviewed the content of the review you received from Sophie and we will not be able to remove this review from our platform.

In order to promote trust and transparency in our community, we won’t delete reviews unless they violate our content policy.

This review details the user's perspective, which is their subjective experience and not in violation of our policy.

For your reference, your case number is **.

In case you can learn more about our review guidelines in our Help Center: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/546

Since further communication will not change the outcome of this case, we must respectfully distance ourselves from further discussion.

Thank you again for your understanding, your valuable contribution and the time given to this case.

If you’d like to give us feedback on this issue or your experience, you can do so at:

airbnb.com/help/feedback


Best,
Fatima P."

**[Sensitive information removed in line with - Community Center Guidelines]**

[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.

[Zheng49]

I think if you can demonstrate that they are in fact queen beds, and not full, then you should be able to remove that review.

I had a similar review removed which a guest claimed the Single bed in the room is Kid-Sized, but in fact it is a Single bed. A single bed is adult-sized, but can only sleep one adult. I was able to remove that review on basis that it's inaccurate information and would be misleading to future guests. 

[Armaan5]

Airbnb has not asked for any proof or even tried to look into this case. They have simply closed the case refusing to acknowledge that the review stating queen size beds are full size beds is false. This decision is via email. I have called two airbnb support personnel since and they have both said they will investigate the case as they realize that this is false information and then they have both closed the case shortly after with no response.

I am at a LOSS of words. I don't know if there is any alternate escalation path I can follow here. All I am asking for them to give it to me in writing that a guest saying my queen size beds are full size beds doesn't constitute false, misleading and deceptive information.

[Armaan5]

Mid-Day update: The specialized team this was escalated to says they cannot remove the review "because it doesn’t meet the criteria for removal in our Review Policy."  

I have continuously asked them that The guest's claims in the review that the property has full-sized beds instead of queen-sized beds which is demonstrably false and misleading that violates Airbnb's Content Policy. They have not acknowledged this at all and only given me a generic answer.

I have called two support agents since who have both agreed that this is false and misleading information over the phone with me. One of them said he needs time to investigate and closed the case after 10 minutes without any communication. I called back and had to explain my whole case again. The other one just said that even though part of the review is false and misleading, the rest of the review simply describes the guests experience. I KID YOU NOT. He said he doesn't see a problem with part of the review being false and misleading. I told him to put this in writing and send me a message with the same and he wouldn't do it. He said he needs time to investigate and I'm sure he will close the case shortly as well.

I feel like I am dealing with a shady business in a 3rd world country. This is not how Airbnb should operate. Their support has gone downhill but the outright refusal to follow airbnb policies is unacceptable. If anyone has any contacts that I can reach out to escalate this, I would really appreciate it!!