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A guest I hosted a while ago left me a five-star review. I had left her a less-than-favorable review due to the mess she left.
Well, today I got a message from Airbnb support that she has decided to remove her review. My review for her is still there.
So it seems like I got penalized for leaving an honest review. Not that this review matters anymore as it is buried deep, but it could hurt in some cases.
If that ever happened to me, I’d message the guest. “You know, XX, when guests behave respectfully, they get 5* reviews and don’t find it necessary to retract their honest 5* review of their stay out of childish retaliation.”
I had a similar situation - the guest gave me a good review, and mine was accurately negative.
They asked airbnb to remove their positive review, which airbnb did; then the guest replied to my review (on their profile page) with wild accusations and falsehoods. Not knowing that the only folks who will see their response to the review will be future hosts, they were happy as clams - but then they must have been told how poorly the response they made reflected on them (and that it did not affect me in any way)… So the guest then asked airbnb to remove their response - but it was over the time limit to remove. So, when future hosts look at their reviews, they will see a vindictive and pissy response to an accurate review.
Hopefully, your guest will do the same. It always ends badly when folks reply out of anger…
Of course it is. But a user can ask for their own review or response to be taken down and Airbnb will comply. I actually read of one host this happened to, she complained to Airbnb, pointing out why the guest had done this, as retaliation, the review got reposted, then taken down again, then reposted. I never found out what happened in the end.
I don’t think negative reviews make much of a difference to guests. It’s not like they can’t book certain properties. By using the IB and RTB acceptance rates, Airbnb will force hosts to host bad guests.
They just want more commissions. The whole review system is pointless for screening guests. The only thing it helps is to vent out our frustrations with bad guests.
I have taken control of the situation myself and now charge credit card deposits. That has reduced bad behavior.