I hosted two Airbnb listings for past two years, earning Superhost status with nearly a hundred five-star reviews. If ever on the fence about a guest due to condition of my Airbnb post- checkout, I’d avoid leaving a review altogether instead of a bad one.
Not so with my last guest. I thought the guest did not match his photo, traveled alone despite claiming to travel with a spouse, staying all day long in the guest house for purposes unbeknownst to me, but definitely not a happy vacationer. Uneasy about security for the first time, I went so far as to write a negative review so other hosts might consider him depending on how their Airbnb was situated.
Airbnb actually deleted my negative review of this guest against my protests. They tried to say it was for my own good because it would delete his negative review of my Airbnb as well. I said it was fine to leave his critique as is. With so many five-star reviews, travelers could read both sides to decide. That’s how reviews are supposed to work: present balanced views. Instead, now I discover Airbnb censors negative reviews, so their whole rating system is worthless.
Airbnb has become too greedy. Disregarding safety, misleading the public via censored reviews. Consequently, I will stop working with Airbnb entirely this year, moving my listings to VRBO instead.
Have a read of this terrible message I received from Airbnb after they re activated my account. I had to agree in writing to their terms.
Quote:
“Apr 2, 18:33 PDT:
Hello
Thank you for your response and commitment to the Airbnb community. You should now be able to login to your account and navigate the site normally.
A note has been added to your account that you have agreed to our Community Standards & Expectations in light of this incident.(What Incident?????) If we receive a similar report in the future, we may take further action on your account.
All the best,
————–
http://www.airbnb.com/help”
“If we receive a similar report in the future, we may take further action on your account”….( in other words found guilty, stay in the naughty corner, you have a ” bad record” with us ,so be good or you will get another wack!).
This is just pathetic!
My story is very much the same…I believe i was defamed by these terrible guests who breached security at my Villa, and caused a nightmare for me. I have been tried without a jury, and have been bullied. Airbnb must be accountable for their actions! How can we solve this problem, something has got them going?? Maybe someone has some ideas of how to fight them? Airbnb’s behaviour is deplorable. I wish I could afford to take legal action…but I am just “small fry”.
Airbnb doesn’t remove reviews unless it violates one of their content policies, and removingr one review doesn’t remove the other…
Travel plans change. I’ve had family cancel on me last minute. And just because he was holed up doesn’t mean he was up to anything nefarious. Was anything broke? Stolen? No? Well maybe he just needed to get away from home for a few days and decompress. Not everyone finds site seeing relaxing or worthwhile. I travel a long distance to visit someone a couple hours a day. The rest of the time I’m just hanging out in the hosts accommodations relaxing away from my high stress job. I’m an introvert. Luckily I’ve not had a host as presumptuous as you.
Sounds like a felon hiding from Interpol. I recommend you stop hosting and STAY SAFE!