Dispute a biased, irrelevant guest review

[Waqquas0]

For the past four years, I've been a host on Airbnb, and it's been a positive experience with many great guests. I've generally found guests to be pleasant and accommodating. However, recently, I encountered a situation that left me a bit disheartened. One of my guests seemed new to Airbnb and had a misconception that the "BnB" in the name meant they were entitled to breakfast. Just before their check-in, they inquired about breakfast, and I politely explained that breakfast wasn't included in the booking, and they were welcome to use the cooking facilities provided in the listing.

Unfortunately, this led to an unpleasant turn of events. The guest left a negative review, expressing dissatisfaction with various aspects of their stay. They complained about noise from a fan, mentioned that the bedsheets had an odor, and criticized the lack of breakfast availability. This feedback took me by surprise and left me feeling upset. I reached out to Airbnb's support team for assistance, seeking to address the situation.

Airbnb's response was a bit disheartening as well. While they acknowledged that the breakfast issue was irrelevant and biased, they indicated that other parts of the review could still be relevant. This left me pondering the challenge of distinguishing between biased and relevant aspects of a review. It's frustrating to think that certain parts of the review might be accurate, while others are unfairly skewed.

Given this experience, I find myself in a difficult position. I'm questioning whether I want to continue hosting on Airbnb, as I'm starting to feel like they might not prioritize the concerns of hosts. It's disheartening to consider that Airbnb's support might not fully understand the nuances of situations hosts face. I'll need to weigh my options carefully before deciding whether to continue hosting with Airbnb.

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Waqquas0 I can see why you don't like the review but it is, in may ways, quite positive when read by an outsider. Perhaps a carefully crafted review suggesting you will improve the bedding is in order?

[Justin1750]

We're experiencing very similar at the moment and have also been hosts for four years.

I'm still awaiting a response from the support team and its been 4 days now since my original message. I'll get a reply stating that a new ambassador is looking into it, then silence.

We had a recent guest complain about our property suffering from damp. She also listed a whole raft of petty and trivial complaints. When we arrived the next day we couldn't detect any smell and she admitted that it had disappeared but was adamant the property suffered with damp. But regardless, she had already packed and booked alternative accommodation - it was clear that she had alreay mad her mind up that she was not going to stay.

We since discovered that the previous guest must have spilled something and attempted to clean it up himself. Our cleaning team said they noticed a strong smell of cleaning agent.
Frustratingly they didn't alert us as they were unsure if it had been carried out by a different member of the cleaning team.
The previous guest tried to absolve himself of responsibility by blaming the smell on the property in his review (despite there being no smell before he arrived and no mention of it during hist stay)
She has taken this as confirmation that there is damp and left us a 1 star review.
It looks like Airbnb have read this and sided with her, giving her a full refund. This is despite us providing factual evidence to Airbnb that there is no damp (we invested in a professional moisture reader).
She's even given us a 1 star for being unhelpful and inconsiderate. We're not sure how we can rectify a damp problem that doesn't exist or a smell which cannot be detected.

We too are seriously considering an alternative to Airbnb. We're getting zero response from the support team, like they just coulnt care less.