Two Guests in a Row Put Address in Review

[Ann72]

This tiny road is the only street with that name in the state, so it's easily searched and I thought it was a security breach.

I've written to both and asked each to have her review taken down.  Under authorship rules, they should be able to make that happen, right?

[Ann72]

Thank you @Huma0 that’s good advice and also good to hear you agree it’s urgent!  

Also check this out - I had Googled one of the guests who did this and she appears to work in Risk Management.  You’d think she at least would know better!

[Ilda-and-Mike0]

@Ann72 When one clicks on the map in location section of your listings, the map already shows the name of the street where your listings are located. So does ours. But since we do not include a photo of the street view of our property, it is not very easy to figure out which property on the street ours is. As yours is a very tiny street and you also have street view photos of your homes, I can understand your concern.

However, given that you have somehow embedded the name of this tiny street in all your listing titles as well, it seems not to be that confidential and the guests mentioning it in their reviews may not be much of a security breach or reason for removal after all.

To be honest, in your shoes, I would not consider this a foul play or worry too much about getting these two stellar reviews removed.

[Inna22]

@Ann72 I have been waiting for six weeks to get a racist review removed. Have not heard back at all. I am always really careful to not give my address. I usually give the nearest intersection when someone wants to be close to a particular area. Technically, they can just find the house at that point using the picture in the listing. Here is the silly part: I am not sure why I should be hiding the address. I do it, but have no idea why. What do you think will happen if someone knows it? My home address is easily searchable by my name, the rental houses are out there in the open- hundreds walk past it daily. There is less to take there than a regular home- no lap tops or game consoles. Why do you think it is important to hide the address? 

[Ann72]

@Inna22  I know what you mean - it wouldn't be that hard to find at all.  Maybe they just don't want to make it TOO easy for criminals who might be combing listings and calendars to find empty houses.  The glaring problem with this theory is that criminals would need to be both clever and organized to do that, and your average backwoods tweaker is neither.

@Ilda-and-Mike0 posted about this and removed their post (I saw it in my email) - they noted that anyone can click on my listing map, zoom in and find the street name.  They're absolutely correct - check this out:

Note how it says "Exact location provided after booking" under a pretty simple map with named streets.  The house isn't EXACTLY where the map says it is, but there are only 8 houses on the three marked roads so it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to find it.  I mean it's not Tokyo.

I guess it's a tempest in a teapot, but there's also the principle of the thing:  the content policy says "content that is sufficient to identify a listing’s location...is never allowed on Airbnb."  It would be nice to get them to stick to the letter of their own policy, but I'll probably throw in the towel and move on.

[Ilda-and-Mike0]

@Ann72 Actually, I did not remove my post, but it just disappeared after being posted and I did not have a copy to repost. Too many bugs here.

[Ann72]

@Ilda-and-Mike0  That's nuts.  I have a copy so here's what you wrote:

"When one clicks on the map in location section of your listings, the map already shows the name of the street where your listings are located. So does ours. But since we do not include a photo of the street view of our property, it is not very easy to figure out which property on the street ours is. As yours is a very tiny street and you also have street view photos of your homes, I can understand your concern. However, given that you have somehow embedded the name of this tiny street in all your listing titles as well, it seems not to be that confidential and the guests mentioning it in their reviews may not be much of a security breach or reason for removal after all. To be honest, in your shoes, I would not consider this a foul play or worry too much about getting these two stellar reviews removed.--ILDA"

I would just clarify by saying I don't have any street views of the houses - those are driveway views.  You can't see any of them straight on from the street.

The handle @Diagonair is in the listing titles.  It's not the exact name of the street, of course, but some people would easily be able to figure it out.  However, you'd be amazed at how many people do not find the reference familiar in the least.

I found the reviews kind of bland and forgettable but will definitely stop worrying.  Thank you!

[Ilda-and-Mike0]

@Ann72 Thanks for reposting. By the way, our listing map shows our neighbor’s property located at the corner of our block. A couple years ago, this neighbor reached us on Airbnb (through an inquiry) notifying us of this asking us to fix our map location. We responded that Airbnb does not show the exact location of properties but a random point close by, and the exact address is disclosed after the booking is made. We tried to reassure her that our guests would not accidentally go and knock on her door as she seemed to be concerned.

[Ann72]

@Ilda-and-Mike0  That's funny because I've mostly seen hosts here complaining that their map location needs to be fixed but have never heard about a neighbor complaining!

Would it be so terrible for her if a lost couple appeared at her door, though?

The random point close by is a more effective security screen for busier or more crowded neighborhoods than it is for rural locations, I imagine.

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Ann72 

Why in the world would anyone include the address/street name in a REVIEW?? I just don't get it........... of all the things they could mention....... sheesh~

One of my former guests mentioned our apartment is on the 14th floor and I found this to be weird - but I live in an apartment complex where there are 20 apartments on the 14th floor (spread across 3 different buildings) with the exact same exterior door (just different unit # attached)

[Ann72]

@Jessica-and-Henry0  I don't get saying the floor number, either!

I do a little bit understand saying my street name because it has a special connection to a very popular series of books.  One day years ago the fire chief called us up and said our part of the road was actually its own road, not an extension of the other one, and that we had to name it.  I asked my daughters and they of course came up with the name without even blinking.  I've been thinking of renaming the cabin "Hagrid's Hut" 🤣

[Huma0]

Although the map on my listing just shows the general area people could actually identify the house if they really wanted to as it's quite distinctive. They would have to be really determined though, as the area is urban and quite heavily populated. I realised just how many different homes there were right by me when my cat managed to get lost and I wanted to put flyers through the doors. I thought 50 flyers would be sufficient, but I couldn't even do a radius of one minute's walk around my house before they ran out!

If I was living in a more isolated area, with fewer homes, e.g. only a handful on my street, I would be much, much more cautious I think about having any identifying information on the listing.

[Ian-And-Anne-Marie0]

Who's collecting this data?

You know... the data that illustrates 'Hosts feel unsafe' after hosting guests who publish content against Airbnb Terms about hosts, and AirBnb CS do nothing about it?

[Ann72]

I got word this morning that @Airbnb removed both reviews that named the street.  Thank you @Katie.  Also - @Tara-Bunch - please note that a lovely young lady named Kizzy was extremely helpful and professional.

While I had support, I asked for one other thing - to have a review I wrote removed from the guest's profile.  I had written a nice review but we later discovered some serious damage.  Her response to a request was terrible, so I didn't want my positive review to stand.  Kizzy from CS had it removed and notified the guest, according to policy.

However, an important thing to note about having reviews removed:  CS wrote, "We are only able to remove the comments but not the star rating."

[Robin4 · Accepted solution]

@Ann72 

Yeah, look it can be done, I had one, not removed, but altered once!

Had this guy here and he was nice enough but, God knows how me made it to adulthood, the simplest things he needed a bit of guidance on. His name was Cooper and those that knew him called him 'Coop' .....fair enough. I gave him a basically good review but did say he found.....Well I said , "We enjoyed Coop's company but did find it a bit difficult keeping him focused on the operation of some of the cottage equipment!"  

Spellchecker took over didn't it, and like a fool I did not proofread before I hit submit. It changed his name to 'Poop'!!! Airbnb could see that this alteration could possibly cause offense and alter the offending wording but did leave the review intact!

Doesn't take a lot to make a goose of yourself in this world Ann!

Cheers.......Rob 

[Ann72]

@Robin4  And that well-known emoji is not even included in the selection here!   😂😂😂