Hello! Hoping for some guidance. New host here - about 1 mo...
Latest reply
Hello! Hoping for some guidance. New host here - about 1 month to be exact. I have a unique situation. Our property and surr...
Latest reply
I'm struggaling to understand how Airbnb's review system works. It seems some people know how to game it and I'm the idiot over here trying to be honest.
I'm super pissed. I used to go under the assumption of always leaving 5 star reviews because I know as a host and how ratings systems work anything less is bad.
I used to leave 5 star reviews for guests even if I had minor issues with them, because its not a big deal.
But guests who had no issues with their stay and seemingly enjoyed it would then leave and write a 3/5 star review or 4 star review then comment on a bunch of silly biased things. It seems some people just want to complain.
One time a guest had an issue with the location, I clarified it, allowed him to cancel, refused, kept the booking, then left a negative review saying the location is inaccurate that were lying.
I work so hard as a host, and these guests just leave negative reviews because of wtvr bias or hatred they have.
So I decided that with this guest I will be honest for the first time, since I can't see their review, most of the time when I think a guest is going to give me a good review they leave a bad review out of no where.
I was honest for the first time, exactly how this guest behaved, and how was that guest review removed.
Airbnb used this excuse:
"Attempting to influence a review through intimidation, extortion, or incentivization, or using a review to try to influence an outcome or harm competition, are not allowed under our policy."
So I asked Airbnb what intimidation or incentivization I did, they responded with "you asked for a review"
I looked up their policy: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673. The word "ask" or "asking" cannot be found on this page.
I've asked to have so many reviews removed, one guest almost burnt our house down and another guest broke the law by removing the fire alarms, and Airbnb said 'no sorry we can't remove those reviews'.
Hi @Ahmad334 😊
Thank you for raising this topic in the community!
I am sorry to hear of the situation and would like to suggest that you also take a look at this conversation if you would like — where Hosts have shared about 👉 dealing with reviews.
One of the experienced host @Robin4 has also shared an elaborate comment of how he usually treats reviews.
Warm regards🌻,
-----
So you're telling me you're a community manager for Airbnb you can see Host's frustration on how guests lie and game the system but Airbnb does nothing. Extremely frustrating as a host.
Hi @Ahmad334 😊
I am so sorry, it must have been a very frustrating experience!
I have updated my comment with more context and I have also shared your situation and feedback with the support team. I hope they can reach out to you directly, in case they have any updates or suggestions on your specific case.
Warm regards,
-----
Hi there
I read your reviews to get a feel for what is going on here. BTW Nice place you have! I've been to Barrie many years ago...
It sounds like you have had some rough experiences.
I only have thoughts below because it's not clear if you are venting or have a specific question? When it comes to guest reviews, it actually comes down to what expectations do you set, what do your house rules state. Sometimes when guests rate you down, its what they are not saying that's important.
I read your listing as well, it doesn't some questions I would like to know (remember not everyone looks at that amenity tickbox!)
Hope this helps, best of luck, sorry if I have misenterpreted anything! Kind regs MK
I totally agree on setting expectations, I think I was naive and inexperienced earlier on. I used to do have an Airbnb in the city, and that was a much easier type of guests I found.
The suburban guests have a lot to complain about, especially when most of the guests barely spend anytime in the unit and on average stay for only one night or a couple of nights. But I think frustration continues now because we're literally upfront about everything, and people still find issues to complain. Someone wrote once "there was a spider outside" - like what I'm I suppose to do about that lol?
My favourite was a guest who had a lot of negative things to say and complained about the price, but reached out a few months later to ask if they could stay.
Thanks for the response.
Sorry I am just confused what were you "Asking" for. I just haven't had a positive or negative review that I remember using that verb, The Guest is gone I can't think of what I would need to "Ask" for
The Airbnb community manager was helpful. Basically, I think i provide great accomodations, it's also the cheapest in my area.
Before I was too cheap and that attracted super complainers, who expected 7-star hotel experiences for half of what you could get on Airbnb.
I fixed that, and got better guests by increasing rates to not attract the bottom of the barrel guests.
I'm basically asking how come guests can get reviews removed but we can't.