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.
LOL. Same, lady, same.
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What youâve posted indicates Airbnb took the guestâs 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 itâs 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 wonât 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 youâve worked out all the kinks in your hosting and listing, maybe itâs 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. Itâs 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 canât ask them to do anything that takes more than a couple minutes of time. Iâm not sure what âpromisesâ 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 youâll get a better idea of how they actually operate by listening to experienced hosts on forums like this. Donât mistake this as defending them, because Iâm 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.
Itâs 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 itâs 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 arenât all rainbows and unicorns, either.
Regarding some of the âtough loveâ youâve 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 doesnât necessarily make their advice any less valuable. Donât take it personally, but do make it your motivation.
Good luck!
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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 âyes, itâs so unfairâ commiseration.
Because thatâs 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. Thatâs invaluable. But it also self-regulates to shut down long gripe sessions. Thatâs also a good thing.
I try to remember what itâs like to be a new host or face a frustrating situation for the first time and start my comments with âitâs a shame that happened to you,â but then move along to offering some useful action if possible. And sometimes the most useful action is âlet it go.â
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Name that president at the timeâŚ
On the basis Iâm multiple time zones, several thousand miles and behind a perimeter confinamento, I can be brave and suggest Reagan.
JF
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Canât figure out if thatâs a compliment to my host expertise 
or a slam on my age 
(I raise you three emojis!)
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Ok, so it was Reagan.
Ties in with when you were in Madrid, during the Franco yearsâŚ
Says he, ducking and running. Like seriously!
JF
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One thing Iâve 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 canât get any satisfaction.
The hosts who havenât had issues tend to be able to write posts which are brief and clear and donât go off on tangents or tedious details. The hosts who canât 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, Iâm not that surprised that those who donât know how to be concise get their issues shuffled to the bottom of the pile.
Of course, this isnât always the case, Iâm sure. Thereâs 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.
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And that seems like what I would have to do. Just let it go. I donât see any other solution. Thank you. I appreciate it.
Thanks Brian. I have actually pointed that out to them. I mean how the review violates their policy and sent videos and screenshots⌠thatâs 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?
The copy of the review you posted in your original post doesnât violate their review policies, though.
You really should read what the review policy says. While you may know that the guest has lied, Airbnb doesnât. A host saying the guest is lying isnât something they will base a review removal on.
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But doesnât the review have to be honest? Even when the evidence to refute that claim is on the message thread?
What screenshots of messages made it clear that the guest was lying? Just because a guest sends you rude, nasty messages isnât proof that what they said in the review is false.
Now if the guest sends you messages that are clear extortion attempts, like âIf you donât refund me, Iâll leave you the worst review you can imagineâ, thatâs another story. Extortion is against Airbnb policy and they would remove a bad review if you can prove an extortion threat.
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I am not even referring to the rude and nasty messages. Messages that showed that I was very communicative even when I was being called names. I attended to her compains including changing the water heater temperature. I did not invade her privacy. My listing states that I have outdoor camera. I requested for a police report when she claimed that police came to the listing in order to issue her refund. All this was in the message threat.
This is the review, unless you left something out. It says nothing about a camera, a water heater issue, or police involvement, so those things are irrelevant to the review.
The accusation that you invaded their privacy is nothing you can prove otherwise. The only thing she said in the review that you could prove to be a lie is that you didnât respond to the guestâs concerns about the shooting, so that is the only thing you should have focused on.
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A savy guest will see this for what it is. It is a rant because she can.
Ok she says there was a shooting. No date. No street so canât be verified. Did she hear a car backfire? Did she hear hunters?
I wonder what she thought you were going to doârush over with your 9mm and stand guard on the front porch?
Iâve made the mistake of giving a review more power than it has and not giving future guests enough credit for their discernment skills
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Ok. Thats another angle to look at it. I didnât consider it that way. I just thought that it will be horrible for me when other guests see âshootingâ⌠Great!! This makes me even feel better! There is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel! I plan to be here for a long time. 
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Actually no. Lies are not covered. Usually, a review will only get pulled if you have in writing âreview extortionâ or something is ânot relevantâ. But lies are opinion and so are allowed.
In short, Air is 95-99% guest centric and could care less about hosts.
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Truly, this forum is mild compared to some I have been on. I sent my listing in to be reviewed on one and they said that the wall in my back bedroom was the color of urine. She was blistering, just over the top. I did not handle it well. Seriously, it was so bad. So I said something like who peed on her brekkie that morning. Then the rest of the group jumped on me and said "damn, newbies, come to ask for your opinion and ⌠blah blah blah.
People are direct and honest on this forum. It wouldnât be helpful if they didnât.
Maybe your frustration with AirBnB is overflowing into your interactions with tenants â or maybe they just sense your stress and feel it is aimed at them. I mean, if more than one person complained about rudeness.
And cut yourself some slack. We all want our places to be perfect at first and most arenât. From what I understand, the two most important things are internet speed and a comfortable bed â great mattress and high end sheets.
I find all of the companies I work with these days are guest-centric and, honestly, we have to be glad they are if everyone is to succeed. I sell on eBay and everyone is always complaining about eBay taking the customers side.
I grew up working in places where âthe customer is always right.â There is so much competition for everything, I think it is more important than ever. Without customers, there is no business for anyone, in any business. And, an unhappy customer will tell 20 people and a happy one will tell 5.
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