Airbnb removed my negative review • Hacker News Board

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#61

Post by cycrutchfield » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:57 PM UTC

elmerfud wrote: post #8

Airbnb removed my positive review and accused me of being in cahoots with the host to leave positive feedback. They said they have found an existing relationship between me and the host. Mind you have no social media accounts, this was my first stay at an Airbnb, I'm from USA and this was in Medellin Colombia, I usually stay at Marriott hotels and I only went with Airbnb because the girl I traveled with suggested usi…

Why do you care so intensely about this?

Edit: I should have expanded on my post a bit. It's quite obvious that the review was flagged by some ML model, most likely not because the reviewer is a liar but probably because the host has a high prior for shenanigans. Combined with the lack of social signals for the reviewer, I could see why an ML model might be overzealous. But back to my original question: nobody is being called a liar, why take it so personally?

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#62

Post by rcpt » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

At least you got the money back.

I had an experience where, after arriving in town, the host denied me entry because they thought my negative COVID test result was faked.

That was bad. But what was completely insane was that Airbnb refused to refund my money. They only offered me $200 back on a $500 charge. Ridiculous.

I'm in the process of arbitration right now. Here's the guide: https://fairshake.com/airbnb/arbitrating-with-airbnb/

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#63

Post by medellin » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

wantsanagent wrote: post #46

medellin wrote: post #9

Airbnb most recently has continued to ignore requests to remove houses that violate the building’s HOA where i live. People have been turned away when they show up by security as it’s not allowed but the people just try to sneak them in. When reporting this to airbnb they refuse to do anything. I’m getting fairly sick of the laissez faire stances these companies are taking. It’s not just that we don’t want airbnb its…

Frankly I'll back AirBnB over an HOA any day. HOAs are a societal cancer.

Sure let’s delegate decisions that are entirely neighborhood and building specific to a company that doesn’t even understand the local issues. Yeah HOAs can suck and aren’t needed in some cases but in my case the HOA is doing the correct thing and legal action has been taken against these places. It’s a shame airbnb won’t enforce local government policies because it will eventually blow up in their face only after people like me and my neighbors are harmed.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#64

Post by admax88qqq » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

mynameisvlad wrote: post #52

oliwarner wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> have no social media accounts, this was my first stay at an Airbnb See what happens if you ask a bank for a loan with no credit history. Of course these are only tangentially alike, but public history is an important way to distinguish organic reviews from AstroTurf.

Since when is a social media account required to do online business? You also don't need a social account to login, so how would Airbnb even know that user named "John Smith" on Twitter is you?

Don't exaggerate. There is a difference between doing online business and leaving an optional review.

OP was still able to use Airbnb, they just removed one positive review possibly because they have no online history making it hard to distinguish them from a bot or puppet.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#65

Post by mmastrac » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

My partner was in the same boat with a near slumlord experience in toronto. The pictures on the listing showed a basic but clean place. In person, there was a hole in one of the doors, a floor that was literally disintegrating, a kitchen sink that pulled out of the countertop when you tried to use it, etc.

Her negative review was removed after a complaint by the host, and then the host proceeded to libel her in the review they made with false statements. It took a battle and sending loads of pictures to AirBNB to get them to remove the false review of her and restore the negative review of the place.

Needless to say, I lost of a lot of trust in AirBNB that day. The "air cover" guarantee isn't worth the paper it's printed on. We've gone from 50:50 hotels:airbnb to hotels only, outside of extremely specific cases.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#66

Post by kmoser » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:58 PM UTC

raydiatian wrote: post #6

I had the same experience with VRBO. My "hosts" decided to come home at midnight and fuck loudly in the room next to me while I was trying to sleep, so I left. VRBO first told me I couldn't get my money back, but that I could leave a negative review if I was unsatisfied. The host denied everything, even though it was pretty obviously coming from inside the house, I even had to walk right past the window where they we…

You missed the opportunity to video and monetize it on OnlyFans.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#67

Post by mynameisvlad » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

admax88qqq wrote: post #64

mynameisvlad wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since when is a social media account required to do online business? You also don't need a social account to login, so how would Airbnb even know that user named "John Smith" on Twitter is you?

Don't exaggerate. There is a difference between doing online business and leaving an optional review. OP was still able to use Airbnb, they just removed one positive review possibly because they have no online history making it hard to distinguish them from a bot or puppet.

I'm not the same person, and the question still applies. If you're so pedantic, then,

> Since when is a social media account required to leave reviews?

It's just as absurd when written this way. But, please, show me the exact place where Airbnb (or any other big company) says that a social media presence is required to leave a review. I'm waiting.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#68

Post by prettyStandard » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

cycrutchfield wrote: post #61

elmerfud wrote: post #8

Airbnb removed my positive review and accused me of being in cahoots with the host to leave positive feedback. They said they have found an existing relationship between me and the host. Mind you have no social media accounts, this was my first stay at an Airbnb, I'm from USA and this was in Medellin Colombia, I usually stay at Marriott hotels and I only went with Airbnb because the girl I traveled with suggested usi…

Why do you care so intensely about this? Edit: I should have expanded on my post a bit. It's quite obvious that the review was flagged by some ML model, most likely not because the reviewer is a liar but probably because the host has a high prior for shenanigans. Combined with the lack of social signals for the reviewer, I could see why an ML model might be overzealous. But back to my original question: nobody is bei…

Because we can't trust the systems we need to live our lives.

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#69

Post by bushbaba » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

medellin wrote: post #9

Airbnb most recently has continued to ignore requests to remove houses that violate the building’s HOA where i live. People have been turned away when they show up by security as it’s not allowed but the people just try to sneak them in. When reporting this to airbnb they refuse to do anything. I’m getting fairly sick of the laissez faire stances these companies are taking. It’s not just that we don’t want airbnb its…

Why doesn’t the hoa identify the condo owner amd fine then to oblivion?

Re: Airbnb removed my negative review

#70

Post by cycrutchfield » Mon, Jan 02, 2023, 4:59 PM UTC

chollida1 wrote: post #15

There is an old joke, how do you know that someone is a vegan or does crossfit? You'll know because they'll make sure you know minutes after meeting them. In 2008-2011 on HN if someone worked at facebook you knew because they mentioned it so often. Now you never hear anyone saying they work for Facebook because of all the negative externalities that Facebook and Instagram have had on the world that no one wants to be…

Citation needed for the magnitude of Airbnb’s contribution to “ruining housing and rental markets”