I understand Airbnb has no way (and probably not desire either) to be involved in arguments between guest and host especially when it is just a my-word vs your-word situation.
But what about when certain things can actualy be proven ?
A host in Paris where I recently stayed for six days with my family (and we paid good money for that) wanted me to accept a charge of an extra € 25 after my stay as supplementary cleaning fee, that's on top of the € 59 cleaning fee paid upon reservation.
As proof of that he sent a bunch of pictures through the Airbnb system that were supposed to prove his point but really were just proving mine: we left the place pretty clean, my wife especially took care of cleaning everything, but yes obviously after a 6 days stay by a family of four some tidy up was needed.
The host pictures showed for example towels on the bathroom floor (yes, the one towel each that you left us were left on the bathroom floor, for collection), pictures of the towels themselves which I'm not sure what they were even supposed to prove as they were white as new, some dust on the floor (oh, really ?), the coffee machine with some coffee stains on its inside (BTW, thanks for leaving a grand total of 2 capsules for 2 adults for 6 days, please take the box of capsules we bought at the supermarket and give them to your next guest) and so on.
Because I declined this extra € 25 fee request, not really for the € 25 in itself but more out of principle, this host left a super negative review against me containing a bunch of lies including the poor cleaning condition thing. This one at least could be proven to be false, since - as I said - his "evidence" was sent to me through Airbnb communication exchnge (he also complained about poor communications with me, and this also could be proved to be false).
So when I notified Airbnb about the situation I was hoping they could and would do something about it, because after all they had (I presume) access to the pictures this guy sent me when demanding another € 25 and so they could see this was a ridicoulous demand, ditto for the poor communications.
Unfortunately the only reaction I got was that his review didn't violate Airbnb guidelines and so it wouldn't be removed.
Well, lying should violate Airbnb guidelines, and at least part of the review could be proven to be a lie, I would have appreciated and expected more help from Airbnb.
I have a lot of reviews, all 5 stars (with just one exception of another case similar to this), I am of course "proud" of that and I am very attentive and considerate when I use someone'a apartment as a guest. In the past I've done some guesting myself through Airbnb, I understand and like its phylosophy, but there are some weirdos out there who will just ruin things with false reviews, I think Airbnb should have a more energetic approach towards them.