This isn't just an AirBNB problem--lots of other companies like Amazon, Google, Expedia, Booking.com, and others do the same thing.
Airbnb removed my negative review
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Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#82Any platform that extracts money from X has the incentive to get rid of any negative reviews about X. Reviewers are not the revenue source. That's why AirBnB, Yelp, Glassdoor, etc will get rid of bad reviews for the right price. Read all bad stuff about AirBnB on reddit, you see where airbnb is heading. People should stop using that platform, whenever you find an alternative.
It would be in AirBnb's long term interest to promote accurate reviews to increase trust. If a host is bad and they don't get rid of them it will lose customers.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#83Airbnb 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…
> 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.
You're not wrong. However, if a company uses my presense (or lack of) on social media as a way to make judgements I will not give them a penny of business.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#84As someone whose main income source is from short term rentals, Vrbo provides a much better experience for both hosts and guests. Being able to easily call and talk to a helpful human at Vrbo and have them actually solve a problem is really refreshing.
I spent three months talking to the "helpful" humans at VRBO's tech support, trying to get a refund from a stay that didn't happen due to weather. The host was great and issued the refund immediately, but VRBO wouldn't pass along the funds back to me. They kept alternating between pointing their fingers at the host and pointing their fingers at Expedia (who was involved in the transaction for reasons I still don't understand). When out of options, I took to trashing them all over social media and review sites, and then all of a sudden I got contacted by a part of their customer support org who seem to be able to do things. Finally, out of nowhere the refund quietly showed up on my credit card statement.
Awful experience, and I've sworn them off ever since. Very stereotypical "friendly but can't do anything" human customer support.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#85My nextdoor neighbor sold their house last year and now it's an Airbnb. Despite the fact that I live in a house in a normal residential neighborhood, I'm now forced to live next to a hotel. And I have no say in the matter. Super frustrating. I've read people talking about how Airbnb screwed the host or the guest. But few people talk about how it screws the neighbors.
How's that different that having a neighbour in hot love with his lawnmover at 6AM ?
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#86My nextdoor neighbor sold their house last year and now it's an Airbnb. Despite the fact that I live in a house in a normal residential neighborhood, I'm now forced to live next to a hotel. And I have no say in the matter. Super frustrating. I've read people talking about how Airbnb screwed the host or the guest. But few people talk about how it screws the neighbors.
You have a say - go to your town’s planning and zoning commission, find others with similar concerns, and force votes on the legality of a full-time hotel next door.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#87I left a bad review once also. The host had it removed. But, in their review of me, they asked why I left a bad review. In the emails received from Airbnb asking for a review, they tell me as a guest that neither party can see the other review until both are submitted. Evidently, this is a lie. Otherwise, how would the host know whether my review was good or bad?
Another issue I have found is that many of the listings on Airbnb are not by the owner, but by some person acting independently as a broker. I have found this in many different countries. This may explain why, when I tried to request a booking, it was not available. The actual property owner had already rented it to someone else. Further, once the broker/host gives the owner the rent, there is no way to get any kind of a refund if there is an issue. The owner has no affiliation with Airbnb. The 'host' no longer has the money. And, Airbnb does not want to pay the expense. So, the guest is left hanging. Maybe they, too, can submit a review that the host will have removed. It's disgusting.
If risking the use of Airbnb, be very careful when a 'host' says a property is not available, but provides a link to a different property. It may have a very different cancellation policy than the original property.
Airbnb claims in their FAQ pages they want to be authentic. But, they seem to be authentic only in the support of their bottom line, even if that requires dishonesty in other areas to achieve.
Because of the combination of different issues, I have decided Airbnb can no longer be trusted. I now prefer to book hotels or apartments through competitor sites. I encourage others to do the same.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#88AirBnB somehow swung from consistently being better than hotels to always worse. Now I am just back to getting hotels, which is fine I guess, but it was nice while it lasted. I was a big AirBnB booster so it was disappointing to see this journey.
Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#89Airbnb 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…
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Re: Airbnb removed my negative review
#90I keep getting surprised about how good Airbnb's marketing is.
It has convinced a whole generation of travelers to look for Airbnbs before hotels.
Nowadays, whenever I manage to convince my friends to stay at hotels, they are always taken aback by the concept of cheap hotels and how hassle free the whole experience is.
How did Airbnb accomplish this feat?