Guest left retaliation review after we filed a damaged furniture claim

[Jessie141]

Hi, 

our recent guest broke our living room sofa and we filed a claim against him. He refused to pay and left a false review saying the sofa was already broken when he checked in. However, not one word was mentioned during his stay, all he said was great, happy to stay at our place etc etc. it’s until he checked out and we found the broken sofa, he turned on us and left a false review said we tried to scam him. 
we already contacted Airbnb to have the review take down but no words from them yet. 
anyone with similar experience and advice on what to do next are appreciated. 
thank you! 

[Dale711]

@Jessie141 ,

I’m so sorry for the outcome, I understand your concern.

Do contact again to Airbnb Support Help Center, “ Live Chat” with the team ,

That is always someone here to answer you within few minutes, request the case manager look into to it again.

Airbnb’s review policy guides hosts and guests to write reviews which are relevant and will help the  community make informed booking decisions. Airbnb will remove the reviews which violated to Airbnb housing standards.

For your reference, here’s a link to the review policy:

www.airbnb.com/help/article/2673

You have the option of posting a response to this false review, so that you may publicly reply to what the guest posted. Your response will appear directly below the review, so anyone who reads it will also see your response.

Hopefully you can resolve the false review issue.

[Helen3]

Oh dear @Dale711 you know that Airbnb rarely remove revenge reviews so why offer @Jessie141  false hope.

The majority don't break Airbnb's T&Cs so will stay and even where they don't rarely do Airbnb remove them.

There was a big fanfare last year when Airbnb announced there would be an opportunity to remove ONE outlier review each year, but nothing has been heard on this since.

Great advice @Sarah977 on leaving a response.

[Sarah977]

@Jessie141  I can pretty much guarantee Airbnb won't remove that review. 

It's extremely common for guests who have been held to account for damages to leave these kinds of retaliatory reviews. It's a big problem for hosts.

Just leave a brief response to the review along the lines of "This is a retaliatory review left after asking the guest to pay for damages which were clearly caused during his stay, as the property is thoroughly inspected after each check-out. Please refer to our other reviews for an accurate representation of what to expect when booking here".

[Jessie141]

@Sarah977 

i can’t thank you enough with the help of the public response. I will use them! Thanks again!!

[Carly47]

@Sarah977 great response!

[Jennifer1897]

@Jessie141  I can completely sympathize with your situation. I had a guest cause extensive damage to a room.  Once he saw the claim he freaked out saying the $15 cleaning fee should cover this stuff.  He caused close to $300 in damages.  He left me all one stars and a negative review. Prior to that he had probably ranked in the top three guests as far as compliments went in regard to the space. 

As others have said you can call customer service and  try to dispute the relevancy of the review as justification for its removal, but be prepared for them to say no. In my case they did say no, however they did agree to move the review if I agreed to have mine removed as well. If you are really bent on having the review removed this could be another avenue to try. 

Lastly as Sarah said, if the review stays make sure you respond accordingly on your profile. Something sort and to the point. 

[Dale711]

@William810 
I feel the same way you do,
            “ Retaliatory reviews makes my blood boil!” 

I’ve over a dozen of revenge and false reviews. I can’t even count. I not  even  wish to response to the public. 

Love your husky!

[Robin4]

@Jessie141 

One year ago we were told by Admin that retaliatory reviews would not be allowed to remain public and Airbnb would remove them.....really! Where is the evidence that Airbnb are removing retaliatory reviews? Every week we see the same posts from hosts that have become the victim of a retaliatory review.

Jessie, you can't take Airbnb at their word!

Jessie, the answer is simply.......

1/......Don't antagonise the guest, keep smiling to them, keep enough money aside to put right any damage that may be done. 

2/.....Don't write a review of the guest, wait till the 14 days are up and only then report the guest and explain the damage done in that report and file a copy of the costs involved to you for the repairs. This will make Airbnb feel guilty because they don't have a corner to retreat to, you have taken that option away from them. My experience says that, at that point they will offer you help!

3/.....After 14 days, message the guest and tell them how disappointed you are they abused your property and walked away from it, wish them well but tell them you would decline the opportunity to host them again.

That makes them feel like thorough pricks and there is no way they can strike back at you in retaliation......that review window has closed. 

You never know you might even get a great review out of it!

Cheers.........Rob

[Mary996]

Hi @Robin4 

I agree that this is an attractive and contention-free method (but does not put other Hosts on notice).

Alternatively @Jessie141  and others new to this... an 11th hour review (can be down to the min if you get it right... which I didn't). The review period expires at check-out time (not day end). 

Another technique is to draft a review which will come to the attention of Airbnb in any event even if not sent and so is evidence of there having been an issue.

[Robin4]

@Mary996 

Mary I do not use that approach where accidental damage is concerned....we all have accidents. Most accidents we settle amicably!

What I have described above is my approach when the guest denies any implication, or steals something from me. In my 420 + hostings that has happened on maybe 10 occasions and the object of my approach is to stop the guest from doing the same thing to other hosts.....make them realise they have responsibilities.

Guests who don't volunteer creating an issue become both defensive and aggressive when confronted with it!

I learned 2 things very early in my hosting career!

1/......Confronting a guest with an explanation or damage claim during or just after the stay will be guaranteed to get you a bad review from the guest.

2/.....Leaving a bad review gets you and the hosting community nowhere! As soon as the guest sees it they complain to Airbnb and get the review removed....and a removed review is useless, it tells the hosting community nothing!

By not leaving a review or complaining to the guest I have a high chance of getting a good review from them because, I have given the guest no reason to resent me.

Once that review window has closed the guest cannot hurt me any more and it is then that I let loose with my feelings both to the guest and to Airbnb. 

Mary, I have a feeling my tactic does work to the advantage of the hosting community. On 4 occasions out of the 10 I have used it I have noted that the guests profile has subsequently disappeared, and it is possible that that is Airbnb trying to right a wrong!

Cheers.......Rob

[Mary996]

I hope so Rob @Robin4 

We're all going to find our ways. Takes some juggling and thought xx

[John5097]

@Jessie141 Sorry this happened. You seem really nice and purposeful. Right away I was wondering how the couch got broken? I've had two guest break a pull out sleeper couch by not lowering the headrest that they had adjusted up, then forced it closed that bent the frame. But at least I can understand how it happened. Both times guest didn't let me know. I also discussed it with them through the messaging app. Anyway, I did read your review and it said the seat cushions had been separated from the frame. I'm just wondering if you had any idea why the guest would do something like that? Was it an accident? Could they have exceeded the weight capacity? Did the sofa have some pull out sleeper function? Is it possible it was broken by a previous guest who staged it to look normal enough, as someone cleaning isn't likely to sit on it? Of course, I hope you can get the reviews removed. There is no shortage of retaliatory reviews, but at least in this case the guest wasn't a scammer tying to get a refund, have a party or break any other rules, and had all positive reviews from other host, but somehow managed to break a couch. I also find that both times guest broke my sleeper couch they both left glowing reviews, I think as a way to try and compensate for the damage. When I discovered it I was 100% positive exactly what happened, but otherwise it could be difficult to discover if a previous guest staged it, glued something back together, or some temporary repair that finally failed. One of the guest staged it to appear it wasn't broken, but I check each time between guest, had a panic attack, but was able to repair it. First time it happened was just after I started hosting so just repaired it, and mentioned it later, and second time guest admitted it after check out but I was still able to repair it. I ended up not offering the sleeper couch anymore, as there was no way to disable the head rest adjustment option. Also the weight capacity for it is probably only 500 pounds. Asking guest to pay $1200 for a new one seemed very unrealistic to me. However it was intentional, or guest trying to scam a free stay, that would change the situation. 

Edit: I wanted to add that I don't think guest not mentioning something is broken is proof of guilt. Or if was an accident, or broke with normal use, that would also be different than something deliberate. It just wan't clear to me this was deliberate. I could also imagine scenarios where the guest intentionally broke something but was just asking as I'm curious if its a situation that could be avoided going forward by updating rules, more heavy duty furniture etc. 

[John5097]

Also wanted to add I think that the best solution here would have both reviews removed, unless it was a deliberate act of vandalism or something that wasn't mentioned. 

[Jessie141]

@John5097 

thanks for the reply. 
we checked our property prior to next guest check in. The couch was fine. I even sat on it myself. 
it was broken by the guest because all the broken pieces are all over the floor. There is no way we would missed that during the turnover before that. 
he broke it, probably because he is overweight 

and did not mention it at all. 
this is a terrible human being, no explanation.