Guest left a retalitory reveiw and despite escallation won't remove the review. Help!

[Alexandra2134]

Guests stayed 2 nights of a 5 night booking. Complained that the AC was not working properly, despite guests that checked out the same day as they checked in having no complaints about the AC. I checked my remote thermostat and it showed a history of 74 degrees during the current guests stay, exactly what the guest had set it at. Despite this I called Abbott Air, who installed the new airconditioner for a service call. Abbott air came out the next day and confirmed the air conditioner was working properly. Wanting to appease the guest, I offered a 100% refund on the nights remaining on their reservation. The guest cancelled the reservation, and I refunded them the remaining nights and an additional 33% refund for the nights they did stay. Two days later the guest gave me a 3 star review stating that the house was too warm, despite being at the temperature the guest had set it at, that the airconditioner was not working properly, which Abbott air confimed it is working properly, and that the air conditioner could not be new (I have the paid invoice showing the new aircondition was installed and fully paid for last year). Finally he stated in his review that he was unsatisfied with the refund he was given. I provided the documenation of the historical temp of the home during the guests stay, the recipet for the service call from Abott Air showing the AC is working properly, and the paid invoice for the new air conditioner last year. Yet, despite this documentation, Airbnb denies a policy violation and will not remove the review.

[Bhumika]

Hi @Alexandra2134 , while we wait for suggestions from other Hosts, I have noticed that experienced Hosts usually recommend adding clarifications when replying to the guest's review. Did you add any polite clarifications for other potential guests to see? 

[Marie8425]

@Alexandra2134 

I am sorry but I don't understand why you spent money proving the guest had the temperature set wrong.   All this proves is the guest was correct it was too warm and if it was a simple guest error why then wouldn't you just explain again how to operate?  Since it is my property and equipment then has the host I am responsible to fix errors.

[Lorina14]

@Alexandra2134 

I am sorry that this happened. I can see how everything you stated and showed proved that the ac was working correctly, you handled the situation asking for an ac company to service it, you even offered a refund for the remaining nights and an additional percentage off the nights they were there. You did everything that you could to help ensure their stay went well.

Unfortunately reviews that are opinions of guests do not qualify to be removed unless you can prove that they broke your house rules, or did not follow the Airbnb terms and conditions (you can find this in the resource center for terms and conditions of reviews).

The only thing you can do is publicly respond to their review and state the facts that the guest complained on day x of having issues with the air conditioning and our prior guests who checked out the same day did not complain of any issues. I sent a repair company to make sure the unit was functioning fine and it was, and the average temperature of the unit was exactly what the unit was set at. Perhaps the guest did not know how to operate the ac (and did not read the instructions or contact us for assistance in lowering the temperature to their liking). I refunded them for their unused nights as they checked out early and comped them a percentage off during the nights they stayed with us due to their discomfort with the temperature they set the space to, and they are still asking for a full refund. I am sorry they did not enjoy their stay and we did everything to make sure the ac was working appropriately. Unfortunately sometimes one cannot correct for user error.  Or something like that. 

It sucks that you cannot remove it but at least explain everything so your future guests can see what really happened and how you responded to the problem. 

It sounds like they are trying to get a free stay from what I’ve read on other posts about guests who do this to avoid the requisite number of nights a host allows (ie host requires a 3 night stay and guest books it understanding this, then on day 3 morning complains of something not working at the space and wants to check out early and not pay for the last night). Be careful of some guests playing this game. 

Make sure instructions on how to change the temperature is in the unit or house rules and always check in the next day after check in to make sure everything is fine with the accommodations. This way if a guest complains about something you can say on day 2 morning I messaged the guest and they said everything is great so I am confused as they are now saying x has not been working since day 1. This helps to point out discrepancies between what a guest said initially and what they are saying later.

I hope you have better guests from now on and maybe you might be able to have customer service throw out the review if you can prove it is breaking the terms and conditions of reviews for Airbnb.

[Christy305]

I feel your pain!  I recently had a guest who didnt read that I don't have A/C...arrived at my home late at night, walked into my very hot home...didnt want to stay, went to a hotel,  but didnt want to ruin her chances for a full refund so she claimed a "safety" issue that caused her to not feel comfortable staying in my home - the safety issue?  I left 2 x windows open that opened into my private yard and the windows had screens!   instead of taking accountability, she blamed me!  she wanted half the money back, I gave her half of that.  I refused to give her what she wanted becuase of how she blamed me.  She ended up leaving 1-star review!  She mentioned that I left the windows open and that I have bad judgement which caused her not to stay.  No mention of her error with the A/C.  I could have saved myself the money I refunded her.  I called to get the review removed and it was removed but then she called back and got it back up and now every time I call support they tell me it did not violate anything  even though it is 100% retaliatory!  Some people are just 100% unreasonable and I've had plenty of other hosts here make me feel better over the last 2 weeks with their positive supportive messages!  if you are unable to get it removed, it's ok.  But as I;ve been advised, if you leave a response giving your side of the story that should help (and maybe help the guest see how ridiculous he is being)