I do not feel supported as an Airbnb host. Guests make the rules and are kings

[KKC]

@epadat

The fact that you haven’t come across it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist.

Haven’t come across what?

@epadat

It’s good to always shed positive light and be constructive in your criticism.

I’ve been here 6 years and I’ve shed lots of positive light and given lots of constructive criticism, as appropriate. But no, I’m not Little Miss Merry Sunshine. Just because someone doesn’t agree with my comments doesn’t have anything to do with how much value they have.

Frankly, when you and Rex Banner agree that Jaquo is an idiot, it undermines everything you post. She’s been in the hospitality business a long time and like everyone else here, volunteers her time and expertise.

The benefit of a forum is you get a lot of opinions from a variety of hosts with a variety of experiences. Creating a helpful, empathetic echo chamber doesn’t help anyone.

[epadat]

I can clearly see that you are not "Little Miss Merry Sunshine ". Being here for 6 years means you possible have something to share with someone who has been "here " for less than a year. Constructive criticism is great and well appreciated. I do take well with it actually and have improved based on recommendations from my previous guests. And I have always thanked them. But you don’t have to make the next person feel like they are not doing anything when I have put in a lot of work, effort and energy and know the value of what u provide.
If you don’t have anything beneficial to contribute, it might be a great idea to check the next post and keep it pushing. Life is hard, don’t make it harder than it already it. Learn empathy and tolerance my dear.

[KKC]

You didn’t answer my question. What is it that you think I haven’t come across?

Perhaps you realized that comment was out of place. Because whatever it is, I probably have come across it. You are not the first person to come here and say that Airbnb didn’t support them, only cares about the guests and so on.

I have lots of beneficial things to contribute and will continue to do so. The scroll button works both ways. If you don’t like what you read, keep going. Life isn’t made easier by people telling you only what you want to hear. Some here will be empathetic, some won’t.

@epadat

Constructive criticism is great and well appreciated.

I don’t really have anything to add to this.

@dpfromva

4.6 is a below average Airbnb rating. Even if being treated unfairly, and discounting a crazy, deceitful guest or two, worth it to think about how your guests are experiencing your listing and if there’s anything you might change.

[epadat]

Other people have said something that wasn’t what I wanted to hear but I appreciate their opinions and the information they have provided. That was not a question as far as I am concerned. More of an accusation. If you have, that’s all well and good and someone else can benefit from that experience ND how you handled it. Not you coming off as rude and standoffish. I am done with replying you for now. You need to improve on your SM etiquette.

I have come across people like you and I am not impressed.

[muddy]

@epadat Commenting on other posters style of communication or content in a personal way, instead of just responding to what was said says more about you than the person you are critcizing.

Lecturing other adults on how they should behave or respond is quite pompous and rude in itself.

If you expect all posters to conform to your idea of what is proper or that they should have the same level of empathy or whatever that you have, public forums are not the place to frequent.

[JohnF]

@JohnF

@RiverRock

what have you learned from this forum?

Don’t ask a question, or seek help, then get pissed because the answers you get don’t align with the answers you wanted to hear.

This is starting to sound oh so familiar…

JF

[epadat]

I see that Muddy. Honestly, my intention for coming here wasn’t to get bashed. I came here cos I have followed up on comments in the past and have learned a lot just by doing that. I wanted to get a better perspective regarding my experience and have a better direction on how to better handle my perspective and dealings with Airbnb. This is not the first time that I have had problems with them. I always wanted to share my experiences in this forum but held back cos of 1 reason or another. This was very serious for me and that’s why I brought it here. I have dealing with human being every day from different culture and works of life and I have come to understand that I can pass my message across without belittling the other person. Especially in this cyber world that we live in. Again, I never expected everyone to pat me in the back and murder Airbnb for me. We all have our different codes and values and can co exists without berating someone else and their work. No matter how old or experienced we are. Respect and trust is earned and not fostered.

[epadat]

Believe it or not, I have already felt better sharing my experience here. Even from ur simple comment. I am not afraid of any form of opinions just one that under mine my effort as a host. I am not afraid of growth. There is a different between constructive criticism and plain bashing someone else. Albeit how slight the content might be.

[KKC]

@epadat

I have come across people like you and I am not impressed.

LOL. Same, lady, same.

[Brian_R170]

What you’ve posted indicates Airbnb took the guest’s side at least partly based on past issues that previous guests have had with either the host or the listing. None of us can say whether it’s justified or not, but we know that a lot may hinge on the whim of a random customer service agent who is not even actually an Airbnb employee.

Remember that Airbnb won’t remove a review unless it violates the review policy in their terms of service. If you believe the review does violate the ToS, point out the specific violation when you contact them.

Members of this forum have previously noted that bad reviews for new hosts can lead to a permanent slump stemming mostly from a psychological impact on guests. If you believe that you’ve worked out all the kinks in your hosting and listing, maybe it’s time to figure out how to do a reset and start from scratch again. This is highly dependent on your goals, though, and whether you believe your rating is preventing you from achieving them.

As far as suggesting or expecting Airbnb to change. It’s not gonna happen. They do not, nor will they ever, have customer service personnel that can support all of the potential problems and exceptions from around 6 million listings, which is why you can’t ask them to do anything that takes more than a couple minutes of time. I’m not sure what “promises” they are not keeping, but you need to manage and protect your business in the scope of how they operate; not how you think they operate, but how they actually operate, and you’ll get a better idea of how they actually operate by listening to experienced hosts on forums like this. Don’t mistake this as defending them, because I’m not happy with how they market themselves to hosts, either. However, given that you agree to their terms of service when you start hosting, you have no other choice when you do business with them.

It’s fairly well-known that AirBnB is more guest-centric. AirBnB decided many years ago that was the correct strategy to pursue for growth and if you look at their STR market share, it has worked well for them, so it’s not likely to change. As others have suggested, listing on Booking.com or VRBO might be an alternative, but make sure you understand their terms, too, because they aren’t all rainbows and unicorns, either.

Regarding some of the “tough love” you’ve received on this forum, you might want put your pride and emotions aside and take some of the advice to heart. In pretty much every industry, the most successful experts come across as arrogant assholes, but that doesn’t necessarily make their advice any less valuable. Don’t take it personally, but do make it your motivation.

Good luck!

[dpfromva]

One thing I really like about this forum is that posters get lots of concrete advice (some contradictory; situations and approaches differ!) plus a genuine but finite amount of “yes, it’s so unfair” commiseration.

Because that’s not really productive after awhile, is it? It gets to a point of just whinging around the office water fountain so to speak.

The forum provides a safe place to vent and, for example, prevent emotional public responses to negative reviews that make the host read like a lunatic to other potential guests. That’s invaluable. But it also self-regulates to shut down long gripe sessions. That’s also a good thing.

I try to remember what it’s like to be a new host or face a frustrating situation for the first time and start my comments with “it’s a shame that happened to you,” but then move along to offering some useful action if possible. And sometimes the most useful action is “let it go.”

[JohnF]

@dpfromva

I try to remember what it’s like to be a new host

Name that president at the time…

On the basis I’m multiple time zones, several thousand miles and behind a perimeter confinamento, I can be brave and suggest Reagan.

JF

[dpfromva]

Can’t figure out if that’s a compliment to my host expertise or a slam on my age
(I raise you three emojis!)

[JohnF]

Ok, so it was Reagan.

Ties in with when you were in Madrid, during the Franco years…

Says he, ducking and running. Like seriously!

JF

[muddy]

One thing I’ve observed from following host forums for a couple of years is that some hosts say they have never had much problem getting Airbnb to support them on a damage claim, or other issues, while other hosts can’t get any satisfaction.

The hosts who haven’t had issues tend to be able to write posts which are brief and clear and don’t go off on tangents or tedious details. The hosts who can’t seem to get their issues dealt with usually write long, hard to read posts, with no paragraphs, unable to stick to the core issue, mentioning every minor detail.

If this difference is indicative of how they present their issue to CS, which I suspect it is, I’m not that surprised that those who don’t know how to be concise get their issues shuffled to the bottom of the pile.

Of course, this isn’t always the case, I’m sure. There’s a large amount of luck involved as far as getting a rep who is helpful and has some experience and knowledge, and getting one who is a clueless robot.

[epadat]

And that seems like what I would have to do. Just let it go. I don’t see any other solution. Thank you. I appreciate it.

[epadat]

Thanks Brian. I have actually pointed that out to them. I mean how the review violates their policy and sent videos and screenshots… that’s as far as it goes. No follow-up is done from their end. I will expect less from now on. I have come to realize the reality with Airbnb.
My question is, how do you start from scratch? Has anyone here ever been booted out? Did they make a come back? How did they do that if so?

[muddy]

@epadat

I have actually pointed that out to them. I mean how the review violates their policy

The copy of the review you posted in your original post doesn’t violate their review policies, though.

You really should read what the review policy says. While you may know that the guest has lied, Airbnb doesn’t. A host saying the guest is lying isn’t something they will base a review removal on.

[epadat]

But doesn’t the review have to be honest? Even when the evidence to refute that claim is on the message thread?

[muddy]

What screenshots of messages made it clear that the guest was lying? Just because a guest sends you rude, nasty messages isn’t proof that what they said in the review is false.

Now if the guest sends you messages that are clear extortion attempts, like “If you don’t refund me, I’ll leave you the worst review you can imagine”, that’s another story. Extortion is against Airbnb policy and they would remove a bad review if you can prove an extortion threat.