Guest damaged property then when i file insurance claim, she leaves a very damaging retaliatory review. Airbnb team is refusing to delete the review. My lifehihood being attacked!

[Val4219]

Recently, a guest nearly burned down my house.

She tells me one of her invitees left something burning. I discovered that it was more severe then I thought. There was literally a fire at the airbnb. The walls, ceiling, kitchen cabinets, even dishes inside of the cupboards were covered in heavy  smoke soot. I had extensive smoke damage!!! 

I politely contacted the guest about it and let her know that I was going to file an insurance claim. Hours later the guest submits a review that was exceedingly damaging to me. 

Her point was 

1- I checked her in late

2- she didn't realize it was a 1 bath house. And calls it to ATTENTION

3- I did not communicate with her for 1 week leading to check-in

She gave me 1 star review!!! I have been a superhost for 2 years without gaps at all. I go above and beyond for my guests though that does not mean I am perfect but I try to make ALL my guests happy.

The lowest review ever was 3 star.

airbnb is telling me that her listing meets their review requirement and they will not delete it.  I told them their policy should include retaliation which is clear.

This guest noted 1 star for accuracy after stating that she did not pay attention to the fact it was a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom house. My listing clearly stated its 3/1. If you overlook that, how is that consistent with my listing being inaccurate?  She gave me 1 star for right about everything she could. 

The day she needed to checkin, I lost my phone and needed to get a new one. I was 1.5 hours late sending her the code. I felt awful. I offered $30 compensation to which she agreed. Then I thought further how awful it must be to wait so long, I went back and gave her $50 instead!!!  I am a host that cares!!! She did not mention this. But never mind, right? 

Then communication. I communicated with the guest in airbnb inbox multiple times after booking and leading to the checkin via both airbnb and direct text messages. So we can lie and that is accurate right?

Checkout - checkout is at 11 am, right? The guest contacts me to let her mother back in the house because they forget their funeral flowers.  It is past 2pm. I hesitate because its not policy to let people back in several hours after checkout but AGAIN I wanted to be kind so I say ok.  The mother shows up at 5pm!!! My cleaning staff had saved the flowers and handed them to the mother.  That deserves 1 star review right? And that is okay with airbnb to victimize a great superhost, right?

I document everything and advise airbnb of all of this and they still said her review does not violate the review policy.  But MY LIFELIHOOD is being attacked because I file insurance claim.

The review policy should include retaliation. 

THE INSIDIOUS THING ABOUT RETALIATION IS THAT IT CAN MAKE EVERYTHING LOOK PLAUSIBLE AND LOGICAL YET MAKE VICTIMS OF ALL OF US.

I demand that review be removed and the review policy include retaliatory behavior.

I am just LIVID!!!!

[Val4219]

Omg! I am just so livid. I am being victimized by both the guest and airbnb.  Why do I bother to thrive to be superhost and make money for this machine that doesn't give a fiat about me?

[Kia272]

@Val4219  your response to the guest doesn't do you any favors. Remember, those responses are seen by YOUR future guests. The guest may have given you 1s across the board, but her written review isn't that horrible. It's not nice, but you draw more attention to it with your angry reply. It's always better to take a step back, calm down, and write a response without emotion. Short and factual goes a long way. 

Oh, and don't communicate with guests via text unless it's absolutely necessary. AirBnB doesn't take text communication into account when there's a dispute. Keep everything on the AirBnB platform. 

I send guests their entry code 4 days in advance. It's timed and dated, so there's not a chance that they can come "check in" early. I don't understand why you would wait until the day-of to send this to guests. People get anxious when they travel, and they like to have this info in hand ahead of time. Now you've experienced what can go wrong when you lose your phone and can't get a code to a guest. Could you not have used a laptop to send the info? When a guest is prevented from checking in on time due to a mistake by the host, it's likely to set a bad tone for the rest of the stay. 

Money doesn't fix everything. 

[Val4219]

How do you have a timed code? What do you use?

[Kia272]

 @Val4219   I use an electronic lock that I bought on Amazon for about $110. It works with an app called TTLock. I can customize codes ( I use the last 4 of their cell number) and time and date the code so it will only work during their stay. That's why I'm never worried about sending codes ahead of their arrival. 

If they came to check in early, they would not be able to get in. It's worth the investment. 

Here's a link to the lock:

https://a.co/d/0065MBe

Good luck. 

[Val4219]

What she said wasn't that bad but the rating is a killer.

And I am not excusing my mistake but I do not believe I deserved for someone to burn my house, call and ask to get a

back in and never once mention the house had damage. And for all I did, I do not deserve this injustice.

 So no its not about money it's about character

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Val4219 I would ask Airbnb to delete your response. All it will do is encourage people to ask for compensation for small issues (although a late check in is not a small issue to me.

[Val4219]

Let me see if it can be done and how to reframe. This is a terrible score. I didn't deserve a 1 star.

[Val4219]

No. Late check-in is not little, which is why i went above and beyond.  I take that seriously. 

I dont believe i would burn a house and just walk away saying nothing.  The damage she left is no joke. It's well over a grand. 

I think from what she told me, is that she vacated the house and left her guests in there who caused the damage.  And that is not ethical and against airbnb policy.

She needs to check her moral compass before submitting a review like that. There are real life consequences here. 

[Gwen386]

@Val4219  I was prepared for you to say tens of thousands of dollars in damage when you said she almost burned my house down! Now, I’m not saying over a thousand dollars is not a lot of money, because it is, but I was envisioning a lot more. 

All hosts are in fear of retaliatory reviews or even less than 5 stars. But it’s going to happen if we stay in business long enough. We just not have to allow it to knock us down. And, if it does, we just have to get back up and make sure that we completely vet those who rent our property. 

One other thing, if you don’t have a fire extinguisher, please put one in your home.  

[Mark116]

@Val4219  I'm sorry this happened to you, but Airbnb will never remove that review.  I'm curious, was there anything in the guest's communication that on looking back, were red flags that she was 'one of those guests' who didn't pay attention herself but at the same time was high maintenance.

I don't think your response was that bad.  We are all human.  It may over explain, but it would not prevent me from booking with you, it seems an honest and forthright response to someone who was both a bad guest and not a very nice person.  

[Val4219]

Thank you @Mark116 I was rereading my response. I got overheated but yes I said the things I meant to say in the absence of expletives, of course. Lol.

But if given the chance to rewrite I will be more concise. 

As superhosts we should all be concerned of retaliation and ask airbnb to upgrade the review policy to deter such behavior.  That guest submitted no reviews for 2 weeks until I submitted the claim. Hours later she drops the bomshell

[Huma0]

@Val4219 

Sorry this happened to you, but why did you leave a review for her as 'great guest' when she nearly burnt your house down?

[Val4219]

@Huma0 it was a case of mistaken identity. I had marked down another guest for the resolution.  I only realized who she was when I saw the date and by then the review was already submitted.

I had been away and returned to a lot of notifications to submit reviews for multiple guests.   by default i rate my guests well cause most of my guests are beyond great.

[Val4219]

I am asking for my review to be taken down on basis of mistaken identity not retaliation.