Retaliatory review!! Please help!

Kathleen710
Level 5
Decatur, GA

Retaliatory review!! Please help!

I had a guest that had a party and caused damages and left me a 1 for a review after I put a claim for the damages.

The booking was for 3 adults and 2 children.

i had 8 young adults show up at around 10:00 pm and partied until past 4:00 am.

i submitted all the evidence to Airbnb and the videos did not even have the guests that booked my house.

After I put a claim In, the guest denied the claim and they left me a 1 for the review.

i spoke to Airbnb and they said that they could not remove the  review because they had already paid the damages!!

 

Please if anyone can please help!!

 

 

1 Reply 1
Jennifer1897
Level 10
Irvine, CA

I am so sorry that happened to you. I have been in your shoes with the bad reviews after a damage claim.

 

I found that persistence is key. I went through multiple support team members before getting a solution. Once a support message is open in your inbox regarding the review, add all the evidence there that support the violations. Photos, communication with guest, etc.  It makes it more efficient for the support member assigned to you to view everything vs referring back to the claim that has since been closed. The fact that the claim has been paid out should have no effect on the review removal. Most of Airbnb's support team is now outsourced and have little knowledge on actual Airbnb functioning and policies, they simple follow a script. 

 

I'm sure it's frustrating but keep trying. I think you did well though by providing a response to their negative review. You were concise and highlighted the violations without being emotional. 

 

For reference here is Airbnb's blurb on retaliatory reviews

 

You should feel comfortable hosting guests without worrying about the possibility of receiving a retaliatory review. You can dispute a retaliatory review—no matter when it was posted—from guests who commit a serious violation of policies, such as: 

  • Damaging your property

  • Overstaying their reservation

  • Violating your standard house rules 

  • Having an unauthorized party or event at your place 

Disputing a review doesn’t guarantee it’ll be removed. When you dispute a review, we’ll ask you to provide evidence, such as photos or message threads with guests. 

Your evidence will need to demonstrate that a serious policy violation happened. It must be clear that reporting the policy violation to Airbnb and/or the guest likely led to the retaliatory review.