Airbnb removed a 5 star review from our account - they claim the guests is associated with or owns the listing which is BS

I am stunned at them removing a 5 star review. We are experienced hosts but this is a new listing for us, we have 2 reviews and were excited to get a third. The guest is not associated with the property and certainly does not own it, we do. How does Airbnb even come up with something like that and what is the best way to proceed.

No doubt they use some sort of computer program. The review policy covers other things in addition to the guest being associated with the property.

  • We also don’t allow individuals who are confirmed to offer competing listings or experiences to post reviews of their direct competitors.

  • You’re not allowed to incentivize positive reviews, to use the threat of a negative review to manipulate a desired outcome, or to influence another’s review with the promise of compensation.

  • You’re also not allowed to accept fake reservations in exchange for a positive review, use a second account to leave yourself a review, or coordinate with business partners to get positive reviews.

If they suspect it’s a fraudulent review in any way they reserve the right to remove it.

Airbnb's Reviews Policy - Airbnb Help Center

I can’t imagine that it would be worth the time invested to try to get the review restored. I’d focus on getting the next 5 star review.

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Definitely. If a host has been in business for a few years, they will have built up loads of reviews on their overall profile so one that’s been removed isn’t worth worrying about.

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I doubt that it’s worth your time or your worry.

I had a 5-star review removed because the guest was charged a “nightly rate that was significantly lower” than my average nightly rate. It was a student filmmaker and I gave her a good deal ($60/night for 10 nights) so that her location budget would cover the cost of renting my listing. I literally based the price on her location budget ($600) divided by how many days she needed to book (10). I’ve been a film student before and I just wanted to contribute in my own way. I was pleased to see that at least they didn’t remove my review of her since it was her first and only review.

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Wow - this is really helpful. I have been going lower and lower because we weren’t getting any bookings, I suspect the market here is at capacity.

Lower prices make many people think “Hmm, that’s cheap. I wonder what’s wrong with it?” So you might not be doing yourself any favours.

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That is a valid point, but when you are new in a saturated market and are not getting bookings, there isn’t much else to do :frowning: . I have to pay off the investment and will take less money over no money and it has increased bookings, but I’m open to suggestions.

There are lots of things you can do. Use social media to give your listing free advertising. Network with other accommodation providers in your area, with local events organisers, local colleges or businesses or hospitals and any organisation that has people coming in from out of town.

Ideas here.

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Furnished Finder has a FREE Facebook group where you can advertise for FREE. For $100/year you can list on their booking platform. They specialize in 60-90 rentals for traveling medical staff & relocations. If you don’t use their listing service, you’ll need to routinely check the group.

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Nurse seeking housing example

Owner offering rental example

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Of course there are lots of things you can do as @jaquo says i.e. you can invest in marketing to your target audience to promote your listing .

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Those are great ideas. Thank you so much - I will check it out. One of our issues here with local promotion is that we have a LOT of airbnbs - probably more than residences and most people really hate the airbnbs. I’m still thinking of asking airbnb to defend their crazy decision, but when I click on contact, it only brings up a bot. Like KKC said, it was probably taken down by a computer program.

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I raised my prices and got more bookings.

Also, it’s slow right now. Things will pick up in January. At least that’s been my experience.

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UPDATE: so - things came to a very interesting resolution. While we were deciding whether to take this up with Airbnb, the guest did and they restored the review. I’m figuring probably an algorithm took it down, an algorithm read the guest’s email and an algorithm put it back up. Yah algorithms - :frowning: pretty soon hosts will be algorithms :slight_smile:

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