The guests asked Airbnb to delete their review on our place

[Bo24]

Hello everyone, 

As airbnb host, we just had this strange incident:

Our guests left us a really good review with comments and 5 star ratings and we reviewed them too. But several days after, I got this email from a case manager saying that she was requested by the guests to remove the review from my account becasue the guest thought the reviews are private and not public. The case manager deleted the review and then let me know.

I understand the guests are not aware that the review is public to everyone, but can the case manager really just go ahead and delete the review even the review is fully complied with the content policy? 

Airbnb hosts are evaulated and measured by the reviews and we constantly try to get guests to review us after their stay, so we can keep up with the requirement,  but the case manager just deleted the review and also the rating, that guests gave us. 

Do any of you have experince in how to handle this?

Cheers, 

Bo

[Lawrene0]

Good grief. It's not the worst thing ever, @Bo24, but it certainly does show some shocking inconsistency. Was your review of the guest removed as well?

I think, myself, I would not put any time and energy into getting it reinstated, as it sounds futile, but if you want to, on principal or because you need numbers, you could try phoning customer service or tweeting AirbnbHelp. 

[Bo24]

Thank you, Lawrene. It's only the review and rating for me are removed. We worked hard to impresse and please the guests for a 5 star review, so I got quick annoyed by how they handled the case.

My review is still public on the guests profile.  I have already written to the case manager and ask her to provide me the reason for deleting the review and rating according to which airbnb content policy and she hasn't yet replied. 

[Lawrene0]

Please let us know when/if you do get a reply, @Bo24 . I would be annoyed as well. 

[Gillian210]

In think it could be that their reasons for wanting the review deleted, were purely personal, (perhaps  having an affair) and once they realised that the review was not private they  needed to have it removed. 

[Bo24]

Thanks, Gillian.

When the guests were at our place, we asked them why they chose our place, they said they saw all the nice reviews, and I explained the reviews are important, so the airbnb guests can base on those and make better decisions. So they knew perfectly that's public. 

The review I made on them is still on their profile,  and it's still public. 

If what you said is true, I will just claim for personal reason that I don't want to disclosure the fact that they have stayed at my place, can I just call Airbnb to remove my review on their profile? 

For whatever reason, the airbnb CS should at least communicate with the host (me)first, because her action would  have an impact on the me. My review rate dropped. Plus she didn't only delete the public review, but also deleted the rating and private review.  

[Mike1034]

@Bo24Airbnb is ridiculous in handling the case. Definitely they should let you know before they deleted the review!

[Robert969]

I haven't had this happen to me, but in this day and age of privacy laws, etc.  It does not surprise me.  I protect my guests privacy in reviews by never mentioning the name of the person who is the partner/guest/etc.  of the guest making the reservation.  I never refer to guests as a "couple" unless they appear that way in their photo, or have had both names included somewhere in their communication with me.  I don't see why the star rating would be affected, but...some people just want to be under the radar for one reason or another.  Since it was your first booking, you'll learn how to figure out the guests "privacy level" just by having a few words with them- and by the next few guests...you'll understand more.  I'm curious to know how Airbnb ultimately handles this, as our star rating and reviews are what drives our (and their) business.

[Alon1]

@Robert969 @Bo24 

Robert, re your comment to Bo: "Since it was your first booking, you'll learn ..."

Bo is obviously not a first time host judging by his Super Host badge.

Please check Bo's profile to see that he's been a Host since July 2017 and has 28 Reviews.

Moreover, Bo did not contravene any "privacy level" given that in the case of a booking of more than one guest, Hosts are requested to review 'X's GROUP'. Thus as I've repeatedly stated there is nothing to stop us reviewing everyone in that Group.

Consequently, Airbnb CS seems to have conjured up this case out of thin air. 

[Robert969]

 Thanks for your feedback.

[Bo24]

@Robert969 

They were not my first guests. Again, If you read carefully what I wrote, you would know it’s not my review on them, that being removed. I didn’t mention their names, “couple” in my review either. My 5 star review was still there public on the guest’s profile. 

To qualify superhost, one of the requirements is to have guest review rate above 50%. And it’s also  precious to get a 5 Star review after the effort we put in. Because once you get a 4 star, you need 4 times 5 star to get to the average 4.8 for becoming or krepning your superhost status. Therefore I was confused and in doubts about their review on me being removed without communicating with me first. 

Have a great day! 

Cheers,

Bo

[Mike1034]

@Robert969 @8ths issue here is not that the review by  @Bo24 was requested 9 be removed. The issue was that the guests asked that their review to be removed. But your suggestion is a good one.

[Cormac0]

@Bo24 

If this does not show the system is broken, I don't know what would!

[Obinna0]

@Bo24 this cannot be real. Is this fake news? Please do report back what the rep says as I'm very interested in their response. Airbnb can not have content policy against hosts but favors guests whenever they want to. What part of the game is this? 

[Mike1034]

@Obinna0 Airbnb does always in favor or guests in many ways. Just name a few

1) guests can see hostsictures and detailed ratings before they book while a host can only see first name of a guest when a request comes

2) A guest can break a house with no consequence while a host cannot break a rule e.g. to cancel a request.