Goodbye, Airbnb, your customer support is not like before anymore, in Canada.

[Stanley222]

Last time we had an issue with my stay I need to contact support. The call was not clear, constantly got cut off (for no reason), I assume the call center is very packed up and you can hear the people talking very clearly right beside the staff that called me. They called me 2 times, sounds don't care about my issue at all, but just trying to give me $180 refund of my stay, and escalate it to $270. Which I don't care. 

Later on because my bad experience on the host, and that host accused me staging the whole situation. And later I left 1 star for him because it was bad experience from my side. They just easily got it removed, just because the host disputed. He even retaliated to had a bad review on me, which you can imagine. 

I mention this experience just because nowadays, you probably won't see any reviews below 4 stars, just because the bad reviews got all removed from the support team. 

Good Luck everyone! I will probably say goodbye to this platform, be careful, for what you have seen, especially for those new listings with all 5 stars, it could be risky to stay in because you don't know how many 1 stars got removed. 

[Lesley567]

i have discovered this myself recently. surely if air bnb have driven or permitted this state of affairs it makes their entire system of reviews worthless. it merely allows less scrupulous hosts to get away with being just that as guests get verbally attacked for writing an honest and fair review. even if the guest review is  not entirely fair it is unprofessional and unethical to permit retaliatory texts to remain on the platform. Much of this might be avoided if airbnb was more hands on. I only recently became aware they as an organisation require no documentation at all to support electrical, gas and fire safety compliance claims (unless part of a premium programme). That might have worked when it was a start up but  i think it is unacceptable in a global market leader. 

[Nandini11]

@Stanley222 So sorry to hear about your experience — that honestly sounds really upsetting and unfair. It’s extremely frustrating when you feel like your voice isn’t being heard properly, especially after going through a rough stay and then having your honest review removed like that.

I totally get why you’d feel disillusioned, but I’d really encourage you not to give up on the platform just yet. There are still many great hosts out here who genuinely care, provide honest service, and really appreciate guests who communicate openly — just like you’ve done here.

Unfortunately, sometimes the system does feel broken, but your experience (and others like it) are important to bring to light.

Maybe instead of leaving, keep sharing your feedback, and help make the platform better.

Not all listings are perfect, but there are still many genuine and warm stays out there that deserve guests like you.

Whatever you decide — wishing you smoother and happier travels ahead. And if you ever need a stay that actually values guests and communication, I hope you find one that truly changes your experience. 💛

[Joan2709]

@Stanley222 

I an assure you there are plenty of reviews out there below 4 stars. As a matter of fact, it is incredibly difficult to get a negative review removed these days.

You didn't mention what the issue was that you had or what your 1-star review said, so we can't really comment on that. Airbnb has specific policies on review removals for both guests and Hosts.

Review Policies

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673

Of course, anyone is free to NOT use Airbnb and use other platforms or even a direct booking site. That said, most other platforms have similar guidelines for reviews.