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.

[Tawney0]

Yes. We experienced something very similar too. The guest repeated requested something completely outside our listing, we accommodated as much as we could. However the guest still left a negative review about not providing food/condiments, which is disrespectful and disheartening. We were confident and tried to disputed it twice since it's considered "irrelevant "(we thought), but we failed to remove it. I don't see any value of that review complain about food that we did not provide. It's very frustrating working with Airbnb to look for support. Due to these type of situation keeps happening, I felt host's rate has been held hostage by guest. We are seriously thinking about leaving Airbnb now. 

[Tawney0]

Yes. We experienced something very similar too. The guest repeated requested something completely outside our listing, we accommodated as much as we could. However the guest still left a negative review about not providing food/condiments, which is disrespectful and disheartening. We were confident and tried to disputed it twice since it's considered "irrelevant "(we thought), but we failed to remove it. I don't see any value of that review complain about food that we did not provide. It's very frustrating working with Airbnb to look for support. Due to these type of situation keeps happening, I felt host's rate has been held hostage by guest. We are seriously thinking about leaving Airbnb now. 

[John5097]

@Tawney0 

Really sorry this review was so petty. I've been hosting a while and noticed that guest would never touch any condiments ever so just throw them out. Mine is also very non cluttered and i don't have any rugs at all, but guest all rave about how clean it is. You responded really well and don't think potential guest would be bothered. As one guest of mine said "Even Crayola Crayons get bad reviews" 😂 And everyone has gotten used to recognizing there will be petty reviews. I didn't check your listing but may be worth adding some basics or mentioning somewhere what's included. I have a picture of cabinets that has coffee, salt, pepper. I also supply a few other things soaps, body wash, laundry detergent, paper towels, hand towels, etc. Sometimes a guest will mention something odd like that or say the host seemed to think of everything. Sorry that happened though. I read through so many reviews when choosing a mattress and everyone had their own perusal taste, one would say its to firm and next would say its too soft. All your other reviews are so amazing I hope you don't feel discouraged. I've gotten an odd review as well. 

[Tawney0]

Hi John,

We do have all coffee, salt, pepper, soaps, body wash, laundry detergent, paper towels, hand towels, etc. that you mentioned. I appreciated your suggestions anyways. after 2 years hosting, I do understand everyone has their own preference, which is normal and okay. Nothing is hard to digest after hosting so long. What I truly concerned about was the Airbnb platform or the system. Since they outsourced all the customer service part,  the review/dispute system is completely broken. The fairness has disappeared. Guest complains something that you do not provide is approved by Airbnb and the host get punished. That is the problem. 

[John5097]

@Tawney0 

I've been hosting 5 years, 450 reviews, and customer service has been outsourced the entire time. I really haven't had any problems.  I've also gotten a 4 star review that was totally irrelevant. Customer support  also wouldn't remove it, as the policy is that if part of review is relevant they don't remove it, even though to me none of it was relevant. I also don't think that was the reason for the 4 star review. The guest expected more flexible check in and check out, which also wasn't possible. 

That's why I was offering encouragement. Even after my 4 star review I kept making some improvements as well. My goad was to get 400 5 star reviews but only made it to 320. Since then I've gotten over 120 5 star reviews, and really just try an appreciate the really great guest and all the positive reviews.

I also wish you the best!