Can't air bnb have a policy to help with the no-review situation?

[Vivienne90]

I've just had my first experience with a difficult guest after several lovely five-star reviews.   Basically he spent the weeks leading up to the booking trying to renegotiate the price and payment terms.   I kept on with the booking on the basis that he had two excellent reviews but now I check again I can see that they were from some time back and there have been no reviews since then.     

 The guy is a scam artist, citing everything from job changes to issues with his wife and even his wife having to cancel a brain scan in order to come on the holiday (really?). in order to chop a big chunk off his booking price.     

My listing is brand new and the (renovated) property still needs a little work on it, which is made very clear in the notes I send to the guests when they confirm their booking.   So he went round the property and took photos of what he claims are cleaning issues (they aren't) - things like the stainless steel sink draining board which wasn't polished and a gap in the skirting board where it wasn't flush to the wall.   

Clearly he hasn't got any reviews over the last few years because this is something he does deliberately and hosts are afraid to tell the truth about him so do nothing as they person who will suffer is themselves.  I am the same.  I don't want to be held up as a bad host.    But I think air bnb should have a notation on their guests which points out how many trips they have booked since they first joined air bnb and how many reviews they have received.  This will be a red flag warning to hots without hosts having to run the risk of leaving an honest review.     Alternatively they could have a bad review system where the hosts rate guests to airbnb in private and air bnb flag up how many bad reviews the guests have received without identying the hosts.     This would protect the whole community.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Vivienne90 I just wanted to check that you know how the review system works (apologies if you do). When a host reviews a guest the guest does not get to see the review until the earlier of them leaving the host a review or 14 days after which it is too late for the guest to review. As such there is no reason why hosts should not leave honest reviews for their guests. Indeed not reviewing honestly could bite them later if the guest then makes a complaint.

Do make sure that your review meets the rules and it will not be removed.

[Helen744]

@Vivienne90 Please remember whose house it is Vivienne and whose rules this guest should be following . Its wise to ask the guest the second day of a stay and throughout their stay if everything is okay , get this via messaging in case you need it later.Double up with phone and messaging if you have to . Check ids directly with the gust , before arrival . Sometimes becoming a host means toughening up a little Vivienne . Offer to allow the guest to cancel vivienne next time he pulls that siort of Malarky with all the sympathy you can muster . you have the first bit right , you can see through these scammers , but follow though with this Vivienne .scammers often cluster around new hosts ..if you feel unsafe around this person you can say so to Airbnb or only host females if you wish.. Good Luck.. H

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Helen744 I think @Vivienne90 has a whole home listing so is not allowed to limit stays to females.

[Helen744]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Okay thanks for that clarification Mike.. H

[Vivienne90]

No, I don't live in the property and it's for families who want a beach holiday, really.    I offered this chap the option to cancel multiple times but eventually I realised that the point was that he was determined to have the holiday but at a knock-down price.   Once he was in the property he demanded a 50% refund for the 'cleaing'  and I've had no choice but to let him have it.      Live and learn.  I should have had more faith in my spidey senses earlier on!