Congratulations, so glad it worked out for you!
Iāve been going for 7 years - 98% occupancy - dont really care too much about reviews as a whole anymore - just do my thing and if guests are happy great - if not so be it =but if they give me 1 star - has happened once i did the sameā¦ā guests had unrealistic expectationsā - didnt get it removed though it was a few years ago now - so maybe the system has changed which is good to know as i can say that more often ,ā¦
Sharing a long story:
I just had a bad review removed too. The Airbnb rep looked at my prior review history & superhost status before stating they would remove the review; I donāt know if it made a difference.
Bottom line:
Guest read neither the unit description nor the captions on the unit pictures of number of rooms & beds available & was unhappy that the sofas were not sofa beds. Guest did not respond to my communications through Airbnb.
The story:
Through Airbnb I sent messages when he made his reservation in July & two weeks prior to his trip, stating, āThank you for your reservation, I want to be sure this unit meets your needs. You stated 8 guests. The beds areā¦ā I listed the beds & sizes & stated the two sofas are not sofa beds & offered use of an aerobed-style mattress.
After no response to my two messages via Airbnb & an email I sent via Airbnb, I asked the Airbnb customer service rep to contact the guest. They did & confirmed the sleeping arrangements.
The guest left a review that the unit was misrepresented on Airbnb # bedrooms & beds available, complaining sofas were not sofa beds, complaining about the fees for guests >4, & demanding reimbursement for the air-mattress he purchased (and took home with him)
The listing is 3 BR and the written description includes ā3rd BR is a loft with a twin bedā and pics of the room include caption of ā3rd BR/Loft with twin bedā and clearly show the open area & railing with view below.
How it ended:
Airbnb CS looked through my correspondence with the guest & determined that his complaints were without merit plus he asked for a refund (against review rules). Also the guest did not go to the resolution center to request the refund. The CS removed the review!!!
It reinforced for me the importance of keeping communication through Airbnb.
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You are so lucky. Air did no such thing for me, even though my bad review was WAY WORSE than yours in terms of expectations. I was also accused of misrepresenting and scamming.
I hate their hardline approach, but maybe SH get special treatment?
I hate you had a difficult time. I donāt know about SH getting special treatment.(maybe the SH Customer Service number sent me to a different team?) I think what tipped it to my side was that I asked Airbnb to talk to the guest prior to his arrival because things were not going well with his pre-check-in communication.
I am so glad you had a positive experience with Airbnb regarding the removal of the review @Annet3176. I think the reason they removed the review is that it was clearly not in line with either your listing description or the additional information you provided through the messaging system to the guest.
I think though they can be arbitrary as @konacoconutzās experience shows.
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Now it happened to me, too!
Lost my Superhost because of a guest who gave me a 2-star rating, as opposed to all the 5-stars I had collected previously.
After his stay he contacted me to ask for a compensation for noise that was bothering him during his stay in the building, as he was recovering from an operation. This was due to repair work in another apartment, but as confirmed with my neighbours, only at day time. He never contacted me, nor airbnb during his stay, to complain about this and waited until I had refused this compensation to him and one hour later, he gave me this 2-star rating!
Why on earth did he decide to come to central Paris for his holidays, when he could have also complained about street noise with all the sirens and the rest!
When I contacted airbnb Customer Service, they confirmed that these ratings are so fundamental to their business that they canāt change them, as long as they donāt violate any other principles. They even thanked me for being a Superhost and all the rest of blabla, until the following day, my Superhost status was removed !
Not sure I want to live another humiliating experience like this again; all this because of a single clientās poor review, for reasons totally beyond my control!
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One 2 star rating shouldnāt end Superhost status. SH is based on an average of 4.8 stars. Itās simple math. You must have fewer than 15 reviews for one 2 stars review to reduce your average to below 4.8.
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Many thanks for clarifying this as I wasnāt aware of that. In any case, Iām still having a hard time accepting the fact that something totally outside my control could have such consequences.
Yes, itās terribly unjust. It seems that Iāve suffered about 57 years for things outside my control.
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Dear Lars Iām new at this and Iām wondering what is your advice after having this experience.
Do you think it would have been better to give the guy some money, or even a free stay though you knew he was ripping you off, in order to avoid the bad review?
Iām thinking like should you always overcompensate out of fear? Airbnb has this great system in place where hosts have to give unprecedented concessions, compensation, and service out of fear of āthe bad reviewā.
Iām no sure how Iām going to deal with this perhaps once you have a hundred good reviews you can relax a little?
@Jacquo addressed this in the other thread but Iāll say this here. You cannot prevent a bad review. You should not overcompensate out of fear and Airbnb canāt make you give unprecedented anything. State what you offer in your listing and then deliver it without exception and you should have nothing to fear save for the occasional crazy person. Iāve hosted over 500 people and the worst review (due to trouble getting in and barking dogs once in the home) was a 3 star. They cancelled the 3rd night of 3 and I did refund but not out of fear. I did it because they gave me a few days notice and I generally donāt charge for services not delivered. I got a 1 star by accident and I have a scattering of 4 star. Overall 98% 5 star reviews. Stop being afraid.
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And sad to say, itās the ones who are afraid of getting bad reviews, afraid of getting fewer than five stars, afraid to deal with guests face-to-face, etc. etc. etc. who donāt succeed in the hosting malarkey.
Well when you are starting up, and on the verge of getting superhost status, one bad review can really bring down your average and delay your superhost status for your high rental season of the year.
When I have 50 or 100 reviews Iām sure Iāll be able to relax a bit more.
This is great news for the hosting community. It is truly maddening that spiteful guests can damage hosts reputation with impunity.
I have an idea that I think Air should implementā¦ how about having a reciprocal concept of a āsuper guestā. It would gamify the experience for guests in the same ways as host then.
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They are already working on that.
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Where have you seen that mentioned?
First from Airbnb and then dozens of places on the internet. I looked up one for you:
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My second ever Airbnb guests gave me a 3* revenge review, with Air admitting it was in revenge - breaking my HRs, which I dealt with face to face - but refusing to remove it. I still attained SH at the end of my first quarter, based on the rest of my reviews going forward, probably only about 20. So stop worrying!
Hurrah and Bravo to you! Your post gives me hope. Iām in this forum because Iām dealing with a guest who sounds like the same person you hosted: first time Airbnbār, false expectations, high maintenence princess from Beverly Hills, whom I bent over backwards to please for 3 days. (Whereas my typical guest are self sufficient and appreciate privacy.) Now 6 days post check out, BAM, not only did she leave me my first bad review, sheās opened a claim seeking full compensation! Like you, I had a bad feeling about this one, but took the high road and left a her a good review, which I now sorely regret. I do my best to run my bnb like a business and not make it personal. BUT, that is easier said than done when I am offering hospitality to strangers in my home. Who am I kidding? It is personal. Itās my income which supports my family, and ITāS MY HOME, which is sacred ground to me. So to bend over backwards to make someone comfortable and have it thrown in my face, is a huge insult. Once I got over the initial shock and insult, I realize that itās not about me. There are people out there who thrive on drama and just canāt be happy unless they are making others miserable. They take others good deeds for granted, feel entitled to a free ride and donāt care who has to pay. Those who refuse to accept responsibility for themselves are great people to learn from, as to how I DONāT want to act, or treat people. I look at this persons behavior and think to myself, āGod please help me to never be like them.ā To just be a little more conscious and aware of how my interactions with others affects them. Itās not about being right, itās about being happy. Being an Airbnb host, working from home, meeting cool people from all over the world and seeing those deposits in my bank account makes me happy! Iām not going to let this one idiot ruin it for me. One bad review out of 200ā¦doesnāt deserve the energy. And yes, first thing tomorrow morning, I will call Airbnb and ask to have her review erased from my account. Thanks again for sharing your experience in your post. I appreciate it!
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