Terrible review for no air-conditioning

1

So we’ve just had a string of quite hot days in Melbourne (which is usually relatively mild) and got a review back from a guest who comments the apartment is lovely and decorated, good communication and clean but no-airconditioning. She gave us a 2 for accuracy (and a 3 overall) for not advertising the fact we don’t have air-conditioning. Isn’t this the wrong way around? If we advertised we had air-conditioning and didn’t, then absolutely ding us. But we don’t say anywhere that we have air-conditioning and in a place like Melbourne where it’s not commonplace, this seems especially ridiculous. She also marked us down for location as “too much traffic”.

Not much that can be done so more of a vent :slight_smile:

2

Have you spoken to Airbnb about this. That’s crazy on that basis you should also tell her that for example you don’t have children, you don’t have live in grandparents or pets, that you don’t have a sea view, a boat or a hot tub.

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3

@Helsi haha my husband said something similar- “you didn’t advertise that you didn’t have a snow-cone maker and i was expecting a snow-cone maker so two stars for you”

I was thinking about contacting airbnb about it but couldn’t find the link- i’ll take a look again

4

Call them. The numbers are pinned to the top of this forum for your country.

5

I’m calling them as we speak :wink:

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6

Wow, airbnb agreed to take it down on the proviso we don’t mention anywhere in our listing that we have air-conditioning. Super stoked ! Thanks everyone!

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7

You don’t have to mention it in the narrative either. The amenities list included Air Conditioning - if you didn’t check it then you don’t have AC.

But I must say, your good outcome is not what I usually hear. It also depends a LOT on who you get on the phone and what country. I am pretty sure Airbnb no longer runs their own support hotline. It is outsourced. The same people support other companies.

8

Do you suppose it depends on your track record as well? Let’s say you’ve been a host 2 years and never had an issue, you have good reviews, you’ve done nothing but bring Airbnb revenue. What does it cost them to remove a review for you?

9

I wondered that also- we have just hit the 100 review mark (across 3 properties) and the vast majority are 5 stars so wonder if that did make a difference.

10

So glad this worked out for you! If you didn’t offer AC in your listing, you shouldn’t be dinged for it by a guest. If she was really expecting AC, she should’ve checked if it was under your amenities…

This reminds me of an experience a few months ago, while my husband and I were looking for Airbnb’s to stay in in a generally hot Latin American country during their summer months (their winter months have highs of 70-80). The Airbnb we chose stated that it had AC under amenities, but when we looked through the reviews, we noticed a reviewer stated that it was a desk fan, and not AC! How can you mistaken AC for a fan? We confirmed with the host that it was a fan and not AC, and unfortunately had to cancel the reservation due to that.