The guest left a poor review simply to get a refund

[Luis3261]

Airbnb actively participates and backs guests who perform review extortion. They clearly violate their own terms and conditions. 

The guest left a poor review simply to get a refund. The 3 guests after her left all 5-star reviews. Airbnb refused to remove it without a refund. And even when the guest called Airbnb to remove the review, Airbnb wouldn’t remove it unless a refund was issued. Violating refund policy and review policy. 

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[Luis3261]

Here is the guest’s slanderous review:

Please be aware that this home is nothing as described or even from what I expect to be outdated pictures. The host was polite before my family and I expressed our concerns. We have yet to receive our refund or even a message back participating in helping to resolve this matter. Even though we were told to evacuate immediately so we can receive our refund. No attempt on the hosts part in any way. I have never been to such an unkept Airbnb in my life. Cleanliness was definitely not important in this home even during a pandemic. We didn’t even stay a full day, we couldn’t wait to get out of there. We were told by the host we would receive our refund if we left immediately which was around 8am the next morning. We cleaned up after ourselves and left. Then he cut off all communication and haven’t heard from him since. I hope he sees this and responds because we’d love to have a word. This isn’t how business should be handled. We did nothing to deserve to be treated as such yet ask for our money back. I hope what I wrote helps another family to go elsewhere. Be careful from scammers like this.

[Pat271]

I don’t think Airbnb is saying that they themselves are requiring the refund to remove the review. They are saying that it is their understanding that you have agreed to a refund, so they want to process both at the same time. The guest probably told them that.

I see in your answer to them that you did not correct their refund understanding. Did you agree to a refund? If not, let them know that in your response to them.

As you noted, requiring a refund to remove a review, is completely against Airbnb policy. That’s not to say they will remove the review without it, though. I think the guest, anticipating silently that they will receive a refund, agreed to have the review removed.

[Luis3261]

@Pat271the representative on the phone Lili, indicated that she would need authorization to refund the guest before she was able to remove the review. She was very clear. 

[Mark116]

@Luis3261  this is not airbnb's policy, i might go so far as to report this rep for giving out false and damaging information, since there is no connection between refunds and reviews.  A review can be made as long as a reservation is still active on the day of check in and guests can review if they never checked in or if they cancelled after 1 day.  

I don't see this review on your listings, but I also can't pull up the listings, I can see the previous reviews, but when I click the actual listings, they won't come up, did Airbnb pause the listing due to whatever complaints this person made?

[Luis3261]

Confirmed by her supervisor, but I still haven't heard back from Airbnb since December 4th. It was removed because I approved the refund. Now Airbnb is silent. 

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[Lisa723]

@Luis3261 Airbnb is not going to reverse a refund you approved. If I were you I'd consider myself lucky the review was removed and I was not suspended for participation in bribery/extortion, and move on.

[Luis3261]

Huh? I don't think you're reading this correctly. The Guest is extorting and bribing by using a bogus review to receive a refund she was not entitled to. Airbnb forced my hand by claiming they would only remove the review if I provided a refund. After which, they confirmed that the review violated review terms and conditions. I am now asking for the money I am entitled to as Airbnb obviously made a mistake and forced me to do something that should have never been done. 

[Luis3261]

Huh? I don't think you're reading this correctly. The Guest is extorting and bribing by using a bogus review to receive a refund she was not entitled to. Airbnb forced my hand by claiming they would only remove the review if I provided a refund. After which, they confirmed that the review violated review terms and conditions. I am now asking for the money I am entitled to as Airbnb obviously made a mistake and forced me to do something that should have never been done. 

[Lisa723]

@Luis3261 I believe I did read correctly. Yes, Airbnb should have removed the review without linking the issue to the refund, and their rep was absolutely wrong. But once you succumbed to the extortion and approved the refund you became complicit, and as a practical matter there is just no universe in which Airbnb will undo a guest refund that the host approved.

[Luis3261]

@Lisa723 Understandably that is your opinion and I respect it. However, please refrain from posting comments like, " If I were you I'd consider myself lucky the review was removed and I was not suspended for participation in bribery/extortion, and move on." as these are defamatory and insinuate that I initiated the bribery/extortion.

My hand was twisted and I was forced to "participate" (as you call it) in an unjust situation where Airbnb not only supported the guest's bribery/extortion but actively participated in cultivating it. 

As a neutral third-party, Airbnb (a publicly-traded company, mind you) with no mediation rights, this should have never been a scenario that had even the remote possibility of playing out. 

[Lisa723]

@Luis3261 usually when people post here they are seeking opinions, and they generally get them. Sometimes they get opinions they don't like. You should know that Airbnb regularly summarliy suspends hosts for ridiculous and/or unrevealed reasons having nothing to do with any actual host misbehavior. All it takes is one guest to report them and/or one clueless CS rep to capriciously suspend their account. You were absolutely mistreated. That's not in the least surprising to anyone with any familiarity with Airbnb's operation. If you're looking for justice, you won't find it.

[Luis3261]

@Lisa723 Thank you for that. I have one question for the Airbnb Community of Hosts; If we don't stand up and fight for justice, who will?

In my opinion (and I may be wrong...), I think the notion of just "letting it go" and "moving on" further feeds Airbnb and their CS Reps the ability to treat hosts like modern-day slaves, where our voices aren't heard and we are stripped of our dignity and completely humiliated in the process.

We open our homes for guests to experience what we are so fortunate to experience ourselves and simply ask for respect. For Airbnb to deny that respect to its hosts indicates that this is not a healthy relationship, rather a master/slave environment from this large conglomerate corporation. 

This has become the norm of our society. To simply take large corporations for what they are and to never question why we put up with them in the first place, all for the sake of earning a buck and in order to "drink milk and keep our bellies full." 

Understandably one must balance and prioritize their time to "fight" the injustice, but I ask the community, what do you think would happen if we all stood up and started fighting for such justice? It may be a foolish childish fantasy, but all it takes is for one person to stand up and demand justice for others to follow suit (especially if that individual proves their point and wins the battle, which I intend to do). The war is won by winning a majority of the battles and in this situation, Airbnb has made a clear declaration of war on their hosts.

It's time we actually gave a darn and stood up against the injustice. Finally, perhaps as a community, we could encourage one another to stand up for justice and not discourage them with negative opinions to "just move on and consider themselves lucky."

Airbnb's respect policy:

"Respect – We are respectful of each other in our interactions and encounters. Airbnb appreciates that local laws and cultural norms vary around the world and expects hosts and guests to abide by local laws, and to engage with each other respectfully, even when views may not reflect their beliefs or upbringings. Airbnb’s members bring to our community an incredible diversity of background experiences, beliefs, and customs. By connecting people from different backgrounds, Airbnb fosters greater understanding and appreciation for the common characteristics shared by all human beings and undermines prejudice rooted in misconception, misinformation, or misunderstanding."

[Lisa723]

@Luis3261 I do agree with you that Airbnb's mistreatment of hosts is becoming normalized. Rather than screaming into the void, I have done my level best over the past few years to move my business away from Airbnb to direct bookings and Vrbo. Businesses with monopolies pretty much invariably mistreat their customers and it's too bad that Airbnb has so little meaningful competition.

[Luis3261]

@Lisa723 Just an update to anyone who thinks there is no justice for mistreatment, actually, if you present a solid logical case against the mistreatment, with some patience and persistence, you will see that Airbnb will correct their mistakes.

Not only did Airbnb take full responsibility and apologize for the lack of knowledge from the CSR and confirm that the situation should have never occurred, but they issued a full payout for the "canceled" reservation. 

The bogus review remains deleted.