How would you handle this?

I’ve had 3 reviews removed because they were written by crazy guests who violates Airbnb’s content guidelines. It’s a crap shoot and up to the discretion of the Airbnb support person, but it’s worth calling them and asking for it to be removed.

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I just had Airbnb explicitly tell me we can’t quote our conversations in reviews as that is a “privacy violation” (which is absolutely bullshit on Airbnb’s part) so I strongly recommend against this.

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Even if they didn’t stay? I had a crazy lady once who came to the house and said that she saw my other guest through the window with his shorts in and no top, called him naked and my husband, and left because she didn’t feel safe.
Then she called Air and they refunded her all the money.
I called Air and explained to them the situation and said that she said she arrives at the house at 11 pm but only cancelled 3 hours later at 2 am , and i think she Is lying that she even came to the house and that she saw anyone at all. My downstairs guest knows that he can be visible from the street so he always keeps his curtains down.
I think she just stayed at friends or went to hotel or didn’t make it at all and made up a story to just get her money back. Then I read reviews about her and one of the reviews was the exact situation where she did the same thing to another host.

They ended up still paying me and she couldn’t leave a review

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It would be interesting to know what the circumstances are, whereby they gave you this advice explicitly. I have, only on occasion, done so with no comeback, although I have been careful not to use quotation marks; just the words left in the the message audit trail.

I’ve thought about posting about it here because it pissed me off so much. :slight_smile: Maybe I’ll do that, since it might help other people.

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If someone randomly rang you up and said: “you don’t know me but I’ve had to leave my AirBnB so could you give me $100 to cover my expenses?”. Well, would you? You kept up your end up the bargain, keep the money guilt free. Not having to clean up after them is a bonus for the shabby way they treated you re cancellation.

After reading comments from many of the hosts on this forum I am too scared to use AirBnB as a guest :japanese_goblin:

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I’ll never use them as a guest. Too expensive! I prefer hotels!

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I agree that it is too expensive to use Air as a guest. I advertise with Air and other platforms but would never go through them as a guest. I did once, with VRBO, and paid the stupid service fee and the required insurance fee of $69 or whatever…never again. What a rip off after reading the fine print ~ it provides the renter-guest with absolutely no coverage or protection at all.

It is too easy to find a desirable property on one of the platforms and do some sleuthing to find the owner and deal with him directly…which I’ve done 4-5 times so far.

Even better though, is staying in choice hotels and residence-type stays with inclusive meals and manager’s free cocktail and reception nights!

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Yup, it’s coming full circle to hotels again. I love my hotel stays! No surprises! Although during my recent stays in Tallinn, Estonia, we stayed in an excellent VRBO in the heart of Old Town, and then in an excellent booking dot com ski cabin property in Finland. I didn’t book them though, my friend did.

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I’m surprised to hear these anti-Airbnb-as-a-guest comments. I’ve have mostly good experiences as an Airbnb guest. And I stay at cheap places, usually, priced lower than a similar hotel. I guess it all depends on what kind of experience you’re looking for.

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I’m shutting down for 2 weeks in August (our mid winter) and going on a road trip with the dog. We’ll be staying in on site caravans (like trailer parks for tourists I guess) that allow dogs.

That’s a great comment. I wonder how many other hosts worry about being guests? You’d think we’d be the best guests ever. Hotels can be impersonal but you know what you are getting. Maybe on my road trip with the dog I’ll book one Air place and see how it goes.

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We have yet to use Airbnb as guests either. My son is a manager for a hotel chain and he gets us really cheap rooms!

Hotels are definitely better for some situations. I’ve stayed in a few Airbnbs that weren’t as good as a hotel in many ways. But usually I’m choosing Airbnb because it’s cheap, not luxurious. Although those luxurious listings look fun!

I love Airbnb as a guest and greatly prefer it if I’m traveling alone or as part of a couple (at least I imagine I’d like it as part of a couple :sob::stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:.) Some of the worst things about Airbnb are addressed by instant book and Superhosts/Plus listings. If I’m traveling in a group then multiple hotel rooms are the only sensible option. I’ve seen so many Airbnbs I want to stay in and I so love the idea of living like a local.

As cynical as the posters on this forum are, most hosts are not pissed off and outraged and leaving Airbnb. I’ve had dozens of first time guests who loved it and claim they will never use hotels again. There is still market share to be gained and that’s the road ahead that airbnb is trying to navigate. They have guidebooks and GPS but Airhost forum members are sitting in the passenger seat with an old worn out map without their reading glasses on shouting “turn around you’re going the wrong way!”

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“We have yet to use Airbnb as guests either. My son is a manager for a hotel chain and he gets us really cheap rooms!”

That would work for me too…as long as it was a good hotel chain. There are a few chains I wouldn’t stay in even if the rooms were free – like the one advertised by the guy with the deep comforting voice who says, “We’ll leave the light on for ya.”

No thanks, not my flavor.

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“Hotels are definitely better for some situations. I’ve stayed in a few Airbnbs that weren’t as good as a hotel in many ways."

True, true – hotels are better for some situations…and for some people (like me). In my experience, a few of the AirBnbs (using the name collectively) weren’t as good as hotels either.

I generally chose vacation rental properties for longer stays because they had more perks over many hotels - a view, larger space, pleasing décor, A/C, internet/printer, King bed, W/D, parking, kitchen, nearby eateries…all must-haves. The properties would have fit the bill over hotels, provided they matched with their advertisement - and that was the problem I experienced.

Also, when renting from the owner, a level of trust is required which is stressful because of unknown factors and the risk of monetary loss - less so when dealing with a corporate hotel entity. When I have invested so much time and energy in selecting the right Air property to stay, expectations and disappointments seem to be greater than when choosing a hotel.

Everyone has their preferences, requirements and tolerances. I’m not throwing shade at anyone because I’m a firm believer of to-each-his-own. As for me, my choice is the less stressful alternative for future travels.

I usually compare AirBnB and hotels, and choose hotels due to price and proximity to the attractions I’m visiting. I have stayed in AirBnB’s twice and they were not the best experiences.

The first time, the host moved me from her Burbank to Anaheim listing (over an hour away), and I had to pay about $60 to get an airport shuttle back to Burbank. I was new so I didn’t think to call AirBnB and complain or tell her to cancel my reservation, though I did mention this move in the review.

The second time I stayed in a guest room in an awesome Brooklyn apartment. I was traveling with a friend. They’d advertised having a sleeper-sofa but said we weren’t allowed to use it. The apartment wasn’t very clean (layer of dust on everything, dirty floors, I ended up cleaning while I was there). But I didn’t leave a bad review because the apartment was so cheap and my friend I was traveling with was kind of high maintenance of a guest.

I only stay w/ Superhosts unless there is nothing else available. I also stay away from hosts with more than one or two listings. I have nothing against professional property managers, investors, etc. Part of the appeal for me is patronizing the mom and pop operation. The woman trying to stay in her house after a divorce, the retired couple trying to make ends meet. Even if they don’t have a “story” I’ll make one up. But when “Cheryl” has six properties listed and she doesn’t live at any of them I click away.

I haven’t had a bad experience as a guest other than the NYC woman who took 23 hours to tell me her apt with the open calendar (both before and after my inquiry) wasn’t available. That made me a fan on instant book. I won’t stay with hosts with few reviews, recent cancellations, less than 5 stars overall, too many rules, too many properties, LOL, I guess I’m picky.

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