Lying guest ratings not going to get SuperHost this quarter

[Rio4822]

Hello,  hope you hosts are well this morning. 

Just a little dismayed about a recent teenage guest who lied and gave me a 1 star because she was upset that she booked for 1 guest,  got here and wanted an event for 20.

(Upon arriving,  she stated that her mom booked for her and didn't understand the process, but they both knew she was having a get together).

She didn't have the extra $1,000 and she wanted to cancel,  but she wasn't going to get a refund.

She was trying to borrow money from her mom and relatives because she had already invited v these friends and food prep, etc.  I heavily discounted her to $600 extra for the event for an agreed upon ending of 10 pm. She ended up wanting to extend the time an hour,  which I denied at first,  but then let her have it with no charge. 

Then after checkout,  I discovered one of my luxury bath towels was missing and some broken Venetian blinds.   I contacted her and requested payment for the damages and missing towel.  At first,  she denied her guests even touched the blinds.   I had to remind her that they were up when she arrived and all down when she left so obviously somebody touched them. 

Then she said a friend must have taken the towel and she would drop it off.   However,  the towel was ruined with brown stains.  She paid the damages,  but she obviously was definitely peeved and gave me a 1 star, thus dropping my 4.82 to a 4.52 overall.   

I guess it is what it is,  but just amazed that Airbnb allows guests to be able to post bs ratings and making it difficult for us to remove unless it fits their limited categories. 

[Mike-And-Jane0 · Accepted solution]

@Rio4822 It appears you allow parties in your property as long as people pay enough money. I trust you realise this is against Airbnb rules and could get your listing suspended/removed.

[Rio4822]

Ok, thanks. 

[Anonymous]

@Rio4822  Prospective guests can't see the individual star ratings associated with your past reviews, so there's no point in commenting on those in a review response. The guest only said "Nice house," which it is, so no public reply is necessary. I suggest deleting that while you still can.

More importantly, though, @Mike-And-Jane0  is right here that allowing parties in your listing is not allowed on Airbnb and can get you permanently banned. Airbnb listings are only for accommodation, and your maximum occupancy rate should be no higher than the number of sleeping spaces you offer. That appears to be 4, in your case.

If you primarily want your home to be used for events and film shoots, I recommend creating a separate listing on a platform that's designed for those, such as Peerspace. Set an hourly rate, rather than nightly, charge a real deposit (Airbnb doesn't allow those), and stipulate that a location supervisor may be onsite for the duration of the event.

Meanwhile, if you still want to also offer non-partying overnight accommodation on Airbnb, you can list your house for small groups up to 4 with a longer minimum stay and a strict policy of no unregistered guests. 

[Rio4822]

Ok. Thanks

[Colette203]

I had a similar situation, and Airbnb removed a review because the it was not written by the person who booked the place, which is against the rules. Give them a call and you might be able to get it removed. on those grounds I have also been able to get a couple "retaliatory" reviews removed in the past. Read the policy on that. It seems you might have a case there too. If you are a good host, Airbnb seems to be pretty good with removing unwarranted negative reviews...

[Cherie-and-Bill0]

My experience with Airbnb has been very different. Guests cheat by breaking rules (3rd person in a queen bed studio), are caught out, asked to leave, and are allowed to leave a 1-star review. I wasted much time and effort talking to reps who only repeated that the review did not  violate Airbnb policy. The review does not have to be truthful. What a farce.

[Jef2281]

IMO.....I believe AirBnb should drop the lowest rating and the highest rating when calculating the average.  

[Huma0]

@Colette203 

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@Colette203 wrote:

If you are a good host, Airbnb seems to be pretty good with removing unwarranted negative reviews...

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That might have been the case a few years ago, but then Airbnb changed it's review policy to state:

"If you feel a review is untrue

While we encourage and expect all community members to post reviews that contain objective and accurate information, Airbnb doesn’t mediate disputes concerning the truth of reviews. We expect the author of the review to stand behind the content of their review."

Since then, it's become extremely difficult to get a review removed. In my experience, it's almost impossible, and reps certainly don't care about the accuracy of the review. If it doesn't violate the content policy, then they won't remove it.

[Debra300]

@Rio4822,

I read your profile, and see that you are a prosecutorial lawyer.  I am surprised that you are not current on basic or well publicized Airbnb policies since it directly impacts your business.  First, third-party reservations have always been prohibited.  You were lucky to get any reimbursement from the guest, because you wouldn't have been eligible for anything under Air Cover.  You also would have been held personally liable if the daughter or any of her guests were injured on or caused damages to your property, because none of them were the primary guest, and most, if not all, were not registered guests.  Secondly, you were hosting when the shooting at the Halloween party in Orinda occurred.  This event was in the news across borders, and Airbnb implemented the party ban two days later.  

I strongly advise that you familiarize yourself with Airbnb policies and process before you really find yourself out of pock, responsible for significant loss and damages, or your listing suspended.

[Robin4]

@Rio4822 

What puzzles me is, this whole thing is strictly forbidden by Airbnb on a couple of levels and, ordinarily  Airbnb would realistically have no option but to cancel the review and any stats that went with it! 

1/.....you say she left a 1 star review but, she was a 3rd party booking, her mother booked for her. Did she write the review on behalf of her mother who was not the in-house guest on her mothers profile, or did she coach her mother who was not the booked guest on what to write?

2/.....Why did you continue to negotiate with a guest who is not the account holder stated she wanted to arrive with 20 unregistered people in tow?

These are not just red flags Rio.....they are 'battle ensigns' for goodness sake.

You need to tighten up your acceptance rules considerably or you are going to end up with some serious problems on your hands.

It's probably no good complaining to Airbnb now because you knowingly allowed this 'gathering' to happen, so Airbnb are not going to take your side....parties are forbidden but, you welcomed this one, so Airbnb's hands are tied.

Although I am sorry that this didn't work out well for you,  I am afraid you really have only yourself to blame!

Cheers........Rob