Removing a 1 star retaliatory review

[Sally116]

I was excited to read retaliatory reviews are being removed. And about time! It's so ridiculous to allow those scam reviews to affect our ratings thus our businesses.

So I sent a message asking to have one of mine removed. ( Yes I have many!) So I started with the first and most obvious no-brainer.

Two friends and their two children checked into my small twin room for 4 nights. It was a year ago so prices were dirt cheap ($244.27) which saw local couch surfers of no fixed abode able to afford a stay (especially if they are banking on scamming a full refund).

They wrote in airbnb messages to me the night before checkout that they "absolutely adored your place! was so beautiful and homely". But just after check out they send a message asking if I saw their request? And then said 'I hope I can still give you a good review.' I had no idea what they were talking about until I see a request for $250. (The amount of the booking) The reason given is that they found syringe needles in a draw. Little doubt there were needles in the room but they weren't there when they checked in as I check every room after cleaner is finished. I didn't pay it . I got a 1 star review.

Airbnb contact me yesterday and say they see nothing wrong with the review. I point out they gave me a one star review as retaliation for not paying the ransom. They don't agree. I ask for it to be escalated. After much discussion she says it will be. They phone today and say they won't be removing it.

So a 1 star review on a superhost's property that has an average of 4.79 from 128 reviews (lower than my identical room because of that 1 star) doesn't look out of place and suspicious to airbnb?? They aren't wondering if there's a reason that guest hated everything about a room that so many others loved???

That fact that they wrote ' I hope I can still give you a good review ' isn't rocket science for "I will give you a good review IF you pay  but I'll retaliate with a one star if you don't ".

Thoughts? Anyone had a similar one taken down?

[Regina1106]

It's the same experience for us with disputing a 1-star retaliatory review left by a guest for a power outage caused by Hurricane Debbie. We offered him a refund if he'd like to leave and seek accommodation elsewhere due to the power outage but he chose to stay. We were constantly in communication with him during the entire time considering that the place we're staying at also had no power and very limited cell service. We also sent our maintenance guy the following morning to check up on them and reiterated our offer of a full refund if they decided to leave that morning. Instead the guest went out rafting with his friends and later on decided to leave after power was restored and the house had both functional water and electricity. This was captured on our Ring doorbell camera including their conversation that they're sure to get a refund from Airbnb. He sent us a message and said that he didn't want to drag the issue with Airbnb support because he knew that heavy penalties will be imposed upon us. I didn't quiet understood how he could say this knowing that the power outage wasn't within our control. We opted to stick by our cancellation policy since he stayed so he sent us a text message saying that he will pay for the one night and not leave a bad review if he gets refunded the rest of his money. 

If this wasn't extortion, then I don't know what it is. 

To quote Airbnb's Review Policy: 

• Members of the Airbnb community may not coerce, intimidate, extort, threaten, incentivize or manipulate another person in an attempt to influence a review, like promising compensation in exchange for a positive review or threatening consequences in the event of a negative review.
• Reviews may not be provided or withheld in exchange for something of value—like a discount, refund, reciprocal review, or promise not to take negative action against the reviewer. They also may not be used as an attempt to mislead or deceive Airbnb or another person. For example, guests should not write biased or inauthentic reviews as a form of retaliation against a Host who enforces a policy or rule.

However, Airbnb Support's actions regarding our dispute was contradictory to what is indicated in the review policy. They told me time and again that there was nothing in the guest's review that violated their review guidelines without taking into account the evidence that we submitted. 

We are a 5-star Superhost and we take our hosting very seriously so this blatant disregard and bias is very disappointing. We're still fighting to have that review removed and it's proving to be an exhausting experience. Maybe Airbnb will be kind enough to also look at the side of hosts like us instead of just taking the guest's side outright especially as they're advocating that they don't tolerate extortion and retaliatory reviews. But based on our experience and the posts I've see here, their actions absolutely contradict what's written on their review and content policies.