Airbnb behavior addressing review violation.

[Matt434]

Dear Airbnb community

I have the issue of slander, defamation of character, inaccuracy, and unclarity in a multi violation of terms review and need your help. "What affects one directly, affects all indirectly".

1. Host husband-wife team initiated; made direct contact to single guest to request to have contractors come reserved whole space for work and upgrades during stay.  This is not comfortable, surprising and it violates health, safety protocol and my guidelines for health. I requested the host delay this for check out. This created hostility.

1. Space is in undisclosed shared space with Hosts dog, shared yard, reserved bungalow to the whole house fenced yard. The Host dog repeatedly violated the unit, dog in yard all day, any opening of door, dog is inside unit. Guest requested the dog not come in.

1. Mattress cover at check in was original from previous guests, original dog hair, dirt.  The guest requested this be changed because it violates health guidelines.

Requests are normal human exchanges of communication. There were over 25 text sms exchanges over a month and face to face, husband host sms cell phone to guest, wife host sms phone to guest. Normal every day, nothing unusual. No reason for Airbnb involvement. I handle requests, daily host interaction on my own, and even Airbnb suggests this. I have 12 years of Airbnb host guest stay experience.

Host posted a retaliatory review, saying I made odd requests, unusual from other guests, ambiguously comparing me to seemingly other short-term guests.  Worse, the host leaves accusations and “odd requests” unclear, what accusations and criticisms are based on, and left open to imagination, stigmatising guest reputation.   This is construed as slander, and defamation of character. Host pre bookings have even brought this to my attention.

Additional verbiage goes on to say the host doesn’t want to have to clean extra for a monthly guest, (I was hosts first monthly guest). The host is complaining as to his own original and produced uncleanliness, being a do it yourself cleaning host and is possibly criticizing guests for anti-covid health standards and beliefs.  This second part of review is inaccurate and false. The first part of review is slander and defamation of character, with intent to hurt.

I told Airbnb, and I had some backing imagery, and Airbnb agreed, and removed the review, and made publicly the message of removal. Issue done.

After review removal, and having had a month of direct exchange communication with this multi-team host, and a degree of relationship was built.  I was quite hurt by feeling betrayed, untruths, and felt bullied using social media. I sent a short, sincere, polite, respectful personal letter of my own snail mail to the family. No request. no solicitation. Just a letter. Host gets upset, asks Airbnb to intervene, Airbnb slaps me, says they are noting my account, reprimands me, and puts back up the review to punish.

Please advise me on the next step. This issue affects us all, and needs resolving. I am requesting the review removed, and Im currently in what feels ghosted limbo. Airbnb in this case on its face is violating its own terms, breaking public trust, and feels a bit extreme and overreaching in policing social interaction.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Matt434 Their review doesn't seem overly critical. Your review of them was glowing. How weird is that.

[Matt434]

Accusing someone publicly of "he made odd requests",  then comparing these "ambiguous requests" to other guests, is left to imagination, and fictitious. You can not get more unclear to that.  What are you accusing guest of requesting? how does guest defend him or herself? 

Several hosts actually brought this verbiage to my attention, and said they are not booking based on these comments. The verbiage intentionally stigmatizes.

- Are you accusing guest of requesting to keep hosts dog out of unit?

or are you accusing guest from keeping contractors out of unit?

or are you accusing guest of making odd requests to replace original bed cover mattress?

or are you accusing me of requesting  everything under the sun?

are you accusing me of what?  there are infinite amounts of opinions and and interpretations of this.

What are you accusing me off in the public eye?  What do you consider odd?

You are fee to assume and pre judge as wildly as you wish.

You can not strive more to hurt a persons character more than this, and post this on social media booking site. It violates terms.  Airbnb agreed and removed the review. 

Airbnb  is over reaching in its public policing, misunderstanding from a note sent, and put the review back up as retaliatory message to guest. It breaks public trust, and is extreme.

My own review applies to over all stay and made as such.  Pointing out specific odd requests made in actuality from host contacting guest, for his own conveniences to violate space was not needed in my public review.  My review is not the subject matter.  A host making direct contact to guest during stay for requesting contractor team to come in, prescheduled, and upset at possibly upset at my request to keep dog out of unit, and then posting a public review that defames character of that guest, for ulterior motives is the pubic issue.  

The review verbiage is unclear, inaccurate, and stems from hosts own requests that violate health and safety, and retaliates against guests own request to keep dog out, change mattress, and keep contractors out.

Airbnb should remove the review or ask host to remove.

I have asked airbnb to do the latter, and airbnb does not comment

[Colleen253]

Reviews should be objective, not violate content policy, one should not engage in review extortion, and the review should be relevant. The host shared their objective experience hosting you, and did not violate the review policy. That one particular CS rep decided they did means nothing. Airbnb reps often get things very wrong. Nothing new there.

https://www.airbnb.ca/help/article/2673/airbnbs-review-policy

[Matt434]

Sorry, you can’t just accuse someone as odd on social media, as a contribution to a site for decision making between buyer and seller.

Worse, you cannot say someone “made odd requests”, and leave that ambiguous, blank, so for someone to decide if they want to rent their property to them. (i.e., sell their home space to that person) it is intentionally damaging to decision making.   It is unfair for human interpretation.

The verbiage is unclear, and irrelevant and intends to spread hate .  It intentionally sways decision making to the ethers of imagination, and the decision defaults to the negative, and fear.  Decision then is made based on prejudice.

Airbnb overreaches by reposting the violating review as a form of punishment and violates its own strive for public trust.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Matt434 I really think you need together over this and move on. For the host to say you made 'odd requests' is no big deal. To say you are making a mountain out of a mole hill reminds me I need to deal with the moles in our garden.

By the way - What were your requests?

[Colleen253]

@Matt434 “…you can’t just accuse someone as odd…”

They didn’t accuse you of being odd. Had they done that, it would have been a clear violation. The language used was ‘odd requests’.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Matt434 you need to re-read the review. You seem to be very confused between what it actually said and what you thought it said.

[Colleen253]

@Matt434 I don’t see anything in that review that violates the review policy, so I’m very surprised it was removed in the first place. 

[Ann72]

Your choices @Matt434 are (1) drop it and move on or (2) ask Airbnb to remove your glowing review of this host, if that would make you feel better.  Otherwise you can go on and on with Customer Service until you get someone who will remove the review of you, which isn't that bad, as other hosts have said.

In the meantime, I assume you have stopped writing to or messaging the host.

[Lisa723 · Accepted solution]

@Matt434 in your shoes I would seriously ask myself why I felt compelled to continue to contact the host after achieving the desired result (review removal). As a host I would find this extremely odd and potentially harassment. Reviewing your Airbnb profile, with its preemptive demands, and this review and a few others that mention how "exacting" your expectations are, I would hesitate to host you, particularly for a shared home.

[Sarah977]

@Matt434  What I find most odd is that you go on in your profile write-up about not wanting to hear sounds through the walls from the hosts' homes- it sounds like you need quiet to concentrate on your work, which is also mentioned in at least one of your reviews- that the host felt like they had to tiptoe around all day.

So why are you booking home-share situations? You should be booking self-contained places, a bungalow or cabin all to yourself with no common walls. I would venture a guess you book shared units because they are less expensive. But to do that and expect the hosts to alter their lifestyle so you can enjoy total quiet is quite entitled.

And there is nothing whatsoever in that review that violates policy or is slanderous, defaming, nor inaccurate. The hosts said you made odd requests no other guest has ever made before. And that they were surprised by the condition of the unit, that they aren't used to having to do so much cleaning after a guest. Those are expressions of their own experience, they didn't attack you personally at all.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

As usual, @Sarah977  was quicker to write exactly my thoughts 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Matt434  And re your complaints about the dog. The dog situation is clearly mentioned in the listing information. 

"Well behaved pets are encouraged to run free in the fully fenced in yard. Our black lab puppy would love the company!"

Most people reading that would understand that there will be a dog running around the shared yard. So how was that something for you to complain about? Of course if the dog runs free in the yard it would be curious and friendly- it's a puppy. If you didn't want it entering your unit, you needed to keep the door closed or shoo it out. 

[Helen3]

OMG @Matt434  after reading that a host felt so uncomfortable for your need for absolute quiet that she felt she needed to move out of her own home to meet your demands for a quiet place, I'm afraid myself and many homeshare hosts would feel most uncomfortable hosting you.

I really don't understand why an entrepreneurial property developer like yourself doesn't stay in a self contained whole listing.

Nor do I understand why having got what you wanted from the host you are complaining about i.e. having their review removed, you decided it was  acceptable to harrass the host still further by sending them a letter.

Why, just why? you had got what you wanted there was no need for further contact.

For every homeshare out there please, please book a whole listing with it's own garden in a stand-alone property. 

As for you wanting advice on how you can reverse the decision ? Words fail me..... leave well alone. Please move on.

Maybe work at a homeless shelter over the festive season to help give you a sense of perspective.