Hi everyone,
I’ve been a host on Airbnb for over 5 years with consistently good reviews and a well-maintained property. I’m looking for advice from fellow hosts after a recent situation where Airbnb refused to remove a review that I believe clearly violates their Review Policy.
Here’s what happened:
A guest recently stayed at my property and caused significant damage, including a sofa badly stained with children’s slime and a broken blind. The damage was discovered by my third-party professional cleaning team, and I submitted a reimbursement request with supporting photographs and a statement from the cleaning team.
In response, the guest left a very negative review claiming:
I was “abrupt” in my response,
The property smelled of damp and was unclean,
I fabricated the damage to charge him,
And ended with “be warned,” which felt clearly designed to discourage future bookings.
None of these claims were made during or after the stay. In fact, the guest's only message to me came after he had checked out, stating that the boiler hadn’t worked during the stay. I was surprised, as the boiler instructions are clearly explained in the house manual and on the boiler cupboard door. The fix is simple and outlined clearly.
He stayed for two full nights and never contacted me via Airbnb messages or by phone at any point to raise the issue. What’s more confusing is that he had called me multiple times before check-in, so he had my number and was clearly comfortable speaking to me. In that post-checkout message, he said his 7-month-old child was freezing for two nights, which I find confusing because surely any reasonable person would do anything in their power if they had a freezing baby and no heating?
I responded politely, apologising and explaining that had he contacted me, I could’ve had the issue resolved immediately, as the park has 24/7 on-call maintenance. There was nothing “abrupt” about my reply.
The following day my cleaning team made me aware of the damage, I submitted the damage reimbursement request, the guest responded to the request and declined to pay then left me this negative review. This review was clearly retaliatory, and made only after being asked to cover the cost of the damage.
Despite highlighting all of this, providing screenshots and message history that disprove the claims, Airbnb has:
Rejected my review dispute,
Offered no explanation for why the clearly false and damaging statements meet their policy,
Informed me that because part of the review is true (the guest had an issue with the boiler), the entire review must remain,
And finally, closed my case without my consent, stating I could no longer appeal.
My questions to the community:
1. Have any hosts successfully challenged and removed a retaliatory review under similar circumstances?
2. Are there other channels I can escalate this through?
3. Is there anyone at Airbnb who listens to and supports hosts when the facts clearly prove our case?
Thanks
Matt
