Peculiar AirBnB policy about revenge reviews evaluation…

[Don-And-Emily0]

We are new to AirBnB and had a nice streak of excellent guests until we rented to a very young man without reviews.

He turned our home into a frat party house! He brought in extra guests (we caught him on camera) and huge amounts of alcohol, smoked behind the house, damaged our new jacuzzi, broke a door screen and then stole robes and towels…etc 

At the end of his stay he said he really liked the house and would like to return, however, after we confronted him about the stolen items he got angry and left a lengthy malicious 2 star review full of lies.

We have asked AirBnB customer service 5 times to please remove his review to no avail, and each time they come back with the SAME cookie cutter reply: “his review does not violate the AirBnB review guide lines”

What we don’t understand is the narrow-minded  AirBnB policy of ONLY looking at how a Guest WRITES rather than how a guest BEHAVES  in our homes.

We have an excellent 5 star track record with our guests and as you all know, a lot of effort goes into that. We work really hard and strived to offer a top notch product to our guests and to AirBnB. 

This particular guest has contributed NOTHING to the AirBnB community and yet his revenge review is allowed to stand.

The obvious question is: why is AirBnB not looking at the entire picture with some perspective, taking into consideration both parties’ track record, and they only make a call on whether somebody writes within their set guidelines??

Are we to believe that guests can break the house rules and vandalize our property but if they “write pretty” they are off the hook and there are no consequences for their behavior?!

We feel we brought value to the AirBnB experience, but someone who has done nothing is allowed to negatively impact our ability to rent our property going forward. How does that help us or anybody in case?

Airbnb needs to review this policy and do better. As hosts, we don’t feel supported or appreciated in this “partnership”. We have one more (return) guest and after that we will take down our listing unfortunately. 

Thank you for reading.

[Lisa723]

@Elaine701 @Don-And-Emily0 

fwiw I have collected disputed damage claims of significant amounts with Airbnb support and without any retaliatory reviews. The key I think was giving the culprits no hint anything was coming until after their (five-star) reviews posted, and submitting solid documentation of expenses with the claims.

[Don-And-Emily0]

@Elaine701  We tried to submit expenses for this guests damages, but it was impossible to collect.  AirBnB resolution center wanted receipts from 2 years ago which we no longer have. 

We gave up trying to get reimbursed… we just wanted to have his vindictive review taken down, but @AirBnB is refusing to do so.

[Ann72]

@Don-And-Emily0  It's easier to get reimbursed when you immediately repair or replace and have those receipts, not the original purchase receipts.  @Lisa723 when you cite solid documentation of expenses, are you referring to money you had already spent or money you anticipated spending?  In my experience I've always gotten reimbursed when I've already spent the money to repair or replace.

[Don-And-Emily0]

Hi @Ann72  

Thanks for your note.

We presented a receipt from our handy man for the broken screen door, but it wasn’t on letter head so they did not accept it. 

We showed a receipt for the replacement towels and robe  … but that somehow that wasn’t acceptable either.

The curtains they ruined were taken to the dry cleaner but they are not salvageable and we decided not to replace them. $300 loss for us.

The jacuzzi repair fell under our monthly service charge and did not even bother submitting it.

Airbnb was less than receptive to our claims so we just gave up… Almost not worth the aggravation. 

[Ann72]

Ugh @Don-And-Emily0 what an ordeal.

I'm trying to think of what I would do if I were a guest interested in booking your place.  I'm pretty sure I would see the guy's review as unhinged, but might message you just to be sure.  One review like that doesn't usually put people off, but two or more does.   I mean if one review said "Rats!," I wouldn't book.  But that guy's review, followed by your reasoned response, wouldn't put me off.

I know that's not what you're looking for, and that you've already decided to leave.  I had a revenge review once and a CS rep buried it on the last page.  But that was in the days when the CS reps were actual Airbnb employees and more like Airbnb ambassadors than anything else.  Definitely before the whole department was outsourced.  Still, maybe you can sweet-talk one of them into doing that for you...in case you do decide to come back.

I recently had a kind of marketing guru book one of my places.  I happened to be here at the same time and was super excited to meet him because I was dying to know what made him pull the trigger.  And guess what?  It was just the pictures.  He didn't read a word.  His wife said, "Not even the reviews?"  Nope, not even the reviews.  But clearly his wife would have read the reviews, so you really never know.

[Lisa723]

@Ann72 both. The largest expense was a broken hot tub part. We had no documentation of original cost as the tub came with the house. We persuaded a local spa company to give us an “official” estimate for repair, which was high as the broken part was not really detachable, replaceable, or repairable. We submitted that and photos. Airbnb paid the entire amount without ado and we bought a new tub from the spa company. In other cases we have submitted original purchase receipts and repair receipts. If just a local handyman we get them to give us a receipt with some kind of logo or letterhead even if it’s manufactured for the occasion.

[Ann72]

Well done, you @Lisa723!  You should offer a seminar.  🙂

[Elaine701]

Yes, Don, I know. It's depressing. 

But the best way to avoid this is prevention. Try your best to keep this type of guest from booking it. I know, it's not easy. But you can acquire a nose for it. You'll start to recognize the flags.

Don't hesitate to send them on their way. Your offering is lovely and desirable. You don't deserve this. And there's another respectable guest ight around the corner... Just be patient. 

Good luck with everything. You're worth it. 

[Don-And-Emily0]

Thank you @Elaine701 

We did really well qualifying the right guests until this one. 

I find it incredibly narrow minded of AirBnB to allow this revenge review to continue. They can have their “no reviews guest” they treasure so much. We decided to move on at the end of the month.

thanks again for your note

[Colleen253]

@Don-And-Emily0 Honestly, If  there are other means/platforms that work well for you to get bookings rather than Airbnb, then go for it. I would. 

[Don-And-Emily0]

@Colleen253  

We have two options but decided to stay until the end of the month when we will have a return guest stay for a few days. They love the house and we love them and couldn’t say no. 

Like I said previously, some ppl came as guests and left as friends. 

We made one more attempt today to have the review removed based on the fact that Youssef violated the party rule.  Hopefully AirBnB will do the right thing, if not we will take off.

Thank you for chiming in. We appreciate everyone’s advice very much.

[Elaine701]

@Lisa723 

That's great that you have the time to do that. You have to file the claim before the next guest arrives. If you stay pretty well booked, then it's unlikely that the offending guest writes their review before the next guest arrives. 

But even then, getting compensation is a different challenge. If the guest refuses to pay, then Airbnb usually does too. 

So, if you're lucky enough to not have another booking for a week or so, the offending guest writes a nice review within that time, AND Airbnb actually fails to find an excuse to close the claim in the guest's favour, then you're good. 

But you shouldn't expect to be compensated by either the guest or Airbnb. That's just begging for disappointment. 

[Lisa723]

@Elaine701 

I agree that nobody should rely on Airbnb’s misleading “guarantee.” It’s hit or miss at best. And I agree that they make the process onerous and difficult to comply with, especially with rapid turnovers. This is yet another reason to list on other platforms. If the next guest didn’t book with Airbnb then as far as Airbnb knows there has been no new check-in. And in my experience many guests can be prompted to submit their own review by the notification that you have submitted yours.

I know from this forum and others that many claims are denied for no good cause. But I don’t know if it’s true that Airbnb “usually” sides with guests in a dispute. I’ve filed three disputed claims and Airbnb has paid me in full every time. It’s a small sample, to be sure.

[Lisa723]

(And in one case the guest retaliated with a counter-claim of his own, for compensation for slow WiFi— which Airbnb denied. This same guest also found and trashed us on Google and Facebook, since his five-star Airbnb review could not be changed..)

[Don-And-Emily0]

Wow! That’s insane.  Where on Google did they trash you? Is your property advertised as a business?

I’m sorry you have to deal with this. It’s so unfair.