For anyone who missed the link to the article in my previous post - every host on the platform should still familiarise themselves with the new Vice story, with how Airbnb's review system is perceived by consumers, and in particular, with the company's official responses therein. (Once again, hosts who are "educating" their guests about the Airbnb review system, needs to be very, very careful)
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/epgvm7/airbnb-scam-how-to-tell
Review Scams And Threats.
The ultimate goal for Airbnb hosts is to keep their five-star ratings, and, if possible, attain Superhost status, which, among other things, requires them to maintain at least a 4.8 overall rating. Anything less can impact the number of bookings they get, and there’s more than one guide on keeping ratings high the honest way
Somewhat frequently, hosts—even really, really bad ones—will seemingly ask up-front for a five-star review no matter what the stay was really like. Conti, for instance, got an odd request for a five-star review at the end of her disastrous stay in Chicago:
The last time I heard from Becky and Andrew, they sent me a strange message on Airbnb asking that I give them no less than a five-star review—since Airbnb had “changed its algorithm”—and that I communicate all concerns privately.
“I respectfully request that you let me know about any challenges you faced with my property directly on this message thread rather than write a 4 star review [sic],” they wrote.
Someone else who said they stayed at a “Becky and Andrew” property in Milwaukee said she received the same request from them: “After we checked out we also got a request to give a five star review, and handle disputes privately.”
That is one particularly ham-handed way to do things. But the people who wrote to us also experienced some of the other ways hosts attempt to keep reviews spotless. Some hosts demanded that guests who had bad experiences not review them, or else prevented them from doing so until the time window in which they could leave a review expired.
Getting a bad review hidden or pulled down entirely
Airbnb will hide or pull down reviews in certain situations—and, again, there are several guides available online for how hosts can get reviews pulled down, sometimes for good reason (if the guest never actually stayed there, for instance, or is clearly lying). But several people told us they felt that system had been weaponized against them, used to keep their accurate complaints hidden.
I recently left a fair, yet three star review on a host’s page, and then Airbnb took my review down saying it was "against their policy." Apparently, the host had completely fabricated a fake text conversation claiming I “extorted then for a refund in exchange for the promise of a good review” and sent a screenshot to Airbnb of the supposed text “thread.” After contacting their support to explain my situation, Airbnb claimed that they had done their due diligence of investigating and told me not to contact them anymore, case closed. - Location unspecified
Running out the clock
Several guests told us that as they tussled back and forth with hosts and Airbnb for a refund, the two weeks they had to review their stay expired, and they were unable to leave one. Guests are also unable to leave reviews if their stay was cancelled—even if it was cancelled because they arrived there, noted the house was actually, for instance, a trap house (another real email we received) and left immediately
I cancelled the booking within five minutes of arrival as not being what was on offer on their site. I got nothing in writing either. Airbnb refused to refund me pending an investigation and stalled and stalled. As a guest one only has 14 days to leave a review of a place. Between Airbnb and the host, they stalled until I was no longer able to leave a review. I also never got a refund. - Pretoria, South Africa
Airbnb says that in this specific instance, guests should leave a review while the dispute resolution is still happening:
“We encourage people to leave reviews, even if a dispute or mediation with a host is ongoing. Our double-blind review system ensures the review will not post or be visible to the host until the host also submits his or her review, or when the two-week window lapses. We send multiple email reminders during the two-week window to leave reviews, including right before the two weeks are up.”
Retaliation
This last one is less a “scam” and more just “flatly illegal.” A small number of people described getting threatening or abusive text messages after leaving a bad review:
I wrote a scathing review on the host's profile and the host replied with a ridiculous number of abusive Whatsapp voice messages, claiming to be Lithuanian mafia. - Lithuania
Airbnb responds:
The integrity of our review system is paramount. We do not tolerate efforts to game the system, and hosts or guests attempting to do so are subject to consequences, including suspension or removal. If a guest is asked either to not leave a review, leave a false review, or feels that a host is engaging in extortion, they should flag immediately to our team so that we can take action. They can easily contact our Customer Support team about these issues through our app or the Help Center on our website.
We maintain a clear and strict review content policy, and the threshold to even consider removing a review is very high. Justifiable reasons for removal may include hate speech or extortion, for example. We want guests to see all reviews associated with listings -- both the good and the bad -- so that they can make informed booking decisions based on authentic experiences.