When guests lie and Review Guidelines

[Dan132]

I've been a host for about a year now and love Airbnb. I really like being a guest but hosting is another matter. I've had some strange reviews from guests who didn't respect the guidelines of the house and clearly didn't read the profile. They didn't have the experience they wanted to left reviews with outright lies in them. 

The last review was the worst I've gotten. I contacted customer service and they said that the review didn't violate the review guidelines so they would not remove it. I asked if lying was acceptable and they avoided the question....repeatedly! I asked how far within the guidelines a guest could lie and, again, the avoided the question. I gave a hypothetical scenario....a guest claims there is no Airbnb at all and had to pitch a tent! Again, customer service refused to answer the question. 

I can understand why they don't want to mediate reviews, but when someone leaves a review that's totally inaccurate and downright false I find it troubling that Airbnb is not more supportive. Again, I can understand why they don't want to get involved or hear from hosts who can take honest constructive feedback....if your place is a mess then it needs to be cleaned, etc. 

In the recent survey they sent out I addressed this issue. As of today, I am really distressed to find such a large loophole in their review policy. For example, I have two brand new air conditioners in the house that have worked fine for everyone, but the last guest claims they "did nothing." We had record hot temps, he had done a long-distance six hour bicycle ride in that heat, and he was clearly not doing well after the ride. I also checked in with him to see if everything was okay, which is my routine, and he said nothing about the house not being cool enough....frustrating because I have a third unit in my studio that I could have provided.

I wonder if Airbnb is addressing this issue. A lot of hosts find this frustrating! I've invested a lot into this space and more improvements are forthcoming, and yesterday I pulled my business permit as the county is now requiring it. It's frustrating to think we have no recourse to guests who lie!

Dan

[Huck0]

Same thing here.  In our case, the review is actually generally positive but they dinged us a star on the accuracy of the listing then went on to say "There were two flights of stairs and no elevator. I did notice it in the listing but not until after I booked. My dad has mobility issues so I ended up having to rent additional space. Maybe it should be more prominent in the listing."  So the listing was indeed accurate and had the information they were interested in...but maybe it wasn't where they expected to find it.  Of course, Airbnb has said they won't/can't change the star rating even though it violates 10.2 in the terms and services that ratings must be accurate.

This particular story has more to it and is very well documented in the airbnb messages between the guest and me.  They booked the stay more than 6 months out and their first questions before booking were if we had a garage or storage space for them to store stuff in.  I quickly responded saying we did not have anything like that but there were several no contract storage unit facilities nearby.  I asked if they had any other questions about the space.  They did not and ended up booking.  Fast forward 6 months, about 2 weeks before their arrival, and I get a message from the guest that says "I just saw that there is 2 flights of stairs to get to the unit. Is there no elevator or other handicap access? My parents are planning to visit during the first week but my dad can't climb stairs very well."   I again responded right away clarifying that there was no elevator.  This (a) proves that the listing was accurate as she knew the answer to her own question and (b) indicates that she was planning on having more guests come to the space than she had originally booked for!  I didn't say anything as the space can handle the extra guests and I was to be an accommodating host when I can. 

My guess is that when she made the booking she wasn't even thinking about accessibility because her parents weren't going to visit....it wasn't until much later that this became an issue for her and then I have to take the blame for not including the lack of elevator in my listing title (or wherever she wanted the information to be).

This may seem like a minor quibble for a single star (I think I deserve 5 and she gave me 4) but I strive to be the Super Host that Airbnb calls me and the fact that I get dinged a star erroneously has me a bit miffed!  I see that you can now be very specific about adding accessibility features to your listing...not sure when the feature was added but even if it was added before my guest booked the accessibility features are all "not present" by default.

[Huck0]

When I pushed Airbnb on the violation of section 10.2 in the TOS they responded "the way we view it the guest sent this rating and review accurately".  What?  This makes no sense to me.

[Diana108]

Airbnb reps and case managers are not paid to make sense any more than guests are required to tell the truth. Don't waste your breath or your energy. Remember: it is a crazy system designed to make airbnb money.....that's all. You win some and you lose some - but trying to understand insanity can drive YOU crazy! I tried for MONTHS to get different "case managers" to understand that they had the wrong reviews on a listing I started in 2019 (and nobody had stayed yet) and the listing where the reviews were supposed to be showed "Nothing Yet" under Reviews. Although the reviews were dated 2016 - 2018, airbnb didn't care...........they just kept saying the reviews were with the correct listing.

[Mark3059]

I get 4 stars all the time, usually with no reason in their review.  And 5 stars in every area except "overall".  Ridiculous.  I recently had a guest that said she used to Airbnb her house but it became so stressful that she quit and sold the house.  I'm starting to understand why.

[Diana108]

Airbnb doesn't care if Guests LIE in their Reviews...........it's that simple. I asked today and was told, "No we don't care if they lie; Lying is not against our Content Policy/Rules." Plain and simple. So have at it with your own Guest reviews and READ reviews they have left for others. I closed my B&B early this season because I don't want to deal with the BS from guests AND airbnb.

[Diana108]

Oh, and don't bother to check in with the guests more than once to see if everything is okay and if they need anything. They will LIE to your face and stab you in the back with a horrid review and low rating. If they are liars, why would they do anything like telling the truth to your face?? That's not how Liars play the game!!

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Dan132 Oh, that's just terrible. It sounds like you did everything you could to be a great host, but you ended up with a guest who was going to find a reason to complain no matter what.

I don't really know what to say, as we are completely new to hosting and are just figuring all of this out as we go. However, Farah had a good point when she said that you have to keep all of your correspondence within the Airbnb email platform, to safeguard yourself. I've heard of cases where hosts have given out their WhatsApp and then corresponded with guests, and then when a problem arose later, Airbnb wouldn't recognise the complaints because there was no evidence of it within the system.

So, I think that is a golden piece of advice. It may not help, and they may still not back you in the end. But at least you'll have a bit of peace of mind in knowing that you did work within the system to do the right thing.

Hope you finally get some resolution for this. Good luck!

[Jessica3282]

I am a new host, have documented messages via airbnb to guest and customer service, AND airbnb STILL allowed lies to be in the review by guests. I also have video proof and pictures, to which airbnb has done 0 to help with. So documenting via airbnb is NOT a full proof help nor a help or support as airbnb claim it is.

[Blanca220]

I have contacted the Resolution Center about guests checking out 5 hours late despite us letting them know so much in advance that we couldn’t allow it. We had cleaning services coming that were already booked and scheduled. I have messages on Airbnb with the guests, notifying them in advance, 4 hours before check out about this.

The guests went to a scuba diving class and notified us they needed to leave an hour late, which turn into 5 hours late. I contacted Airbnb several times before check out time and after saying I needed help with  the guest. So they have a record of my phone calls, the whole time I’m told that I am right and they will help. Days later they call the guest, the guest lies and says they were allowed to over stay by the host (lie) and that they only checked out 3 hours late (lie, they checked out 5 hours late, past our time for checking in in case we had another guest).

Airbnb is happy with what the guest said despite my repeated phone calls. We will not be reimbursed for the cleaning we had to cancel because they believe the guest, despite there being messages on Airbnb with the guest with repeated denials to their request. The Several calls to the resolution center before and after check out did not help our case either. 

We had another instance in which the guests left a totally untruthful review, this time our guests were upset that we charged extra after they allowed 4 extra people not in the reservation to stay the night without telling us. They said yes to the extra charge for the first night and then begged us to allow ten people to stay in an apartment for 6, as their friends’ reservation got cancelled somewhere else.

We said no repeated times but felt bad for them in the end and allowed them to stay. We got an awful review at the end saying the internet didn’t work (lie), maybe it didn’t work as fast as they’d like since there are 10 people using the internet. We have two routers there.There were complaints of mistreatment which I assume is because we were upset they had smuggled 4 extra people at night. For security purposes we were not ok with this as we have other guests with children in the property. We told them we needed to know who the people that were staying were, we wanted to see IDs, I find it so risky to not know who is coming in and out. They lied about how clean the apartment was saying it smelled bad.

Why would they beg us to stay longer if the apartment was not clean, makes no sense. All our reviews say the apartment is always super clean as this is one of our priorities. We have amazing reviews but had no help from Airbnb despite me contacting them for help in a timely manner also. They do not moderate reviews and in both cases for me they have sided with the guests.

I have asked the hypothetical question of a guest totally fabricating lies and how can I protect myself if contacting them and the guest on their messaging system is not enough proof. I have found myself and our business not really protected from lying guests. In the end it was not a lot of money that we lost, the distressing part is the totally untrue side of the story from lying guests and how Airbnb ignores the hosts even when we are careful to document everything and help people have awesome vacations. 

My guess is that these are the risks with the platform and one should just accept them and try to make the best out of it.  They do not want to upset any guests it seems, after all this is a business and everybody is allowed to write whatever they want online with no repercussions or mediators. This is are the times we live in. 

[Alyson2]

I have been an Airbnb host for 8 years. I have worked really hard for my superhost status. I have recommended 6 other hosts who are also super hosts. I have just had my worst ever review of 1 star with the guest asking for a full refund. He claimed the bedding was not changed. It was! I have told Airbnb this is libellous and defamatory but they don’t care.The review has stayed. I am mortified

[Tanya528]

I am saddened at the injustice reading your review,  andothers. I stumbled upon this community after receiving a similar review on me , a "guest" with 3 blatant lies, (or complete different interpretations of reality), & I have proof against the lies, but as you note, it's written, and it's libel and defamation of character,  even a future employer could read these, and airbnb refuses to protect the truth.  I would like to think in your situation most other guests will see your favorable reviews, and reasonable heads prevail.  Good luck. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Tanya528 For what it is worth I think your answer to the dodgy review would mean I would discount this review if you were booking with us.

Given that guests have the advantage of knowing the address of the host could they not sue for defamation?

[Alyson2]

Thank you. I have lost my superhost status because of it. Gutted

[Leena61]

Me too! It’s so frustrating that we have zero control over the stupidity of guests! 

[Ginger-And-Ryan0]

Guests lie in reviews and Airbnb allows it. They allow guests to lie to get refunds. Guests are important to them. Hosts are expendable. Bottom line: know as a host you are Nothing! Expect to be abused . Learn the lesson : AIRBNB HATES HOSTS.