what external body can i complain to regarding airbnb who took of my review off regarding a bad guest

[Demetris8]

Hi 

I have been with airbnb for over 10 years and finally had enough. I had a guest stay who caused damage by knocking a large picture frame off my staircase wall as he walked up the stairs. He appologiesed and agreed to pay. I got two quotes for the work and invoiced him. two days before he left. On the morning he was leaving he promised to send the money via may paypal later on that evening after he settles in his new place. I was a litttle concerned as to way he didnt send the money straight away via paypal but he had great reviews and I had his deposit to fall back on that airbnb are holding on my behalf. After him not sending the money and ignoring my whatsapp mesages for payment I wrote and honest but obviously damming review so as to warn other hosts this guy is not to be trusted and lies about promising to send payment then doesnt.  Via airbnbs resolution center he also lied and denied he did any damage. 

But the main issue here is airbnb removed my review claiming I threatened him  with a bad review if he didnt pay. I proved i never threatened him as he always agreed to pay and he gave me a speach that he always pays for his debts. So no threat was ever made by me. After I proved this to airbnb they still said my review violated their policy.  since being with airbnb for over 10 years I am aware it does not violate their policy but obviously my review informed any new potential hosts not to trust him as he kept on agreeing to pay for the damamges then once he left ignored all my massages and even denied he did any damage via the resolution center. Its unaccapteable for airbnb to remove honest reviews just because it reflects badly on the guest and may affect the future bookings. the whole concept of reviews are so hosts can get an honest pictiure of the potential guest before accepting or declining their booking. Airbnb are refusing to re-instate my review. so anyone know which body i can complain to regarding airbnb doctoring reviews giving future hosts a false understsanding of the guest. I have repeatedly asked them for the contact details of the Ombudsman so i can put in an offical complaint but they are refusing to even reply to this question. 

so all hosts be wanred airbnb are removing bad but honest reviews.

So if anyone can help me with you to complain to of if they have the contact details of the Ombudsman I would extremely apprecaite it 

many thanks in advance 

[Emiel1]

@Demetris8 

IMO you should not have made the "appointment" with the guest to pay the damage directly via Paypal.

If he failed to do so, you can not include in a review he can not be trusted, as it is a matter outside Airbnb.

BTW Did you made the claim also via Airbnb ?

As the review can not be read anymore, it is difficult for the community to judge also

You can also use the feedback option to report your grieves:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/feedback

As i think there is not much to win for you regarding the "review-issue" : maybe let it go.

If it is still possible, then claim the money for the damage via Airbnb:
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/264/what-do-i-do-if-my-guest-breaks-something-in-my-place

Best regards,

Emiel

[Demetris8]

Hi Emiel,

thank you for your comments. after he ignored my msgs regarding payment he promised to send i put a claim in via the airbnb claim center and got the damages paid for thank you.

i have put negative reviews in the past which reflected the guests stay and they have never been taken down by airbnb. In one case when i reviewed a bad review from a guests I complained to airbnb saying it was grossly dishonest, guest even claimed he was in a diffferent room than shown which i could easily prove was a lie but airbnb told me they can only remove a review if someone says a rude or racist word. I was advised to reply to the review stating my side which was my only option.  so its important my review gets put back up because it did not breach any terms and must of been taken down because the guest contacted airbnb with further lies. 

[Helen3]

Hi @Demetris8 

There are no ombudsman for global  STR companies- mainly they are for UK public sector, utilities , telecoms, banks etc.

I’m sorry this guest behaved badly but confused as to why you agreed to deal with the guest outside of Airbnb regarding the payment.

As @Emiel1 says we can’t comment on whether the review should have been removed as we can’t see it.

It would have been better to raise a request for payment through Airbnb and ensure the guest paid as a condition of continuing his stay. 

[Sarah977]

"and I had his deposit to fall back on that airbnb are holding on my behalf."

You've been an Airbnb for 10 years and you didn't know that Airbnb most definitely does not hold a security deposit from guests?  It's only a bogus security deposit- something the guest could be charged if they do damage, but which all they really need to do is refuse to pay.

Sorry this happened to you, but A. you should have charged him through Airbnb, not made arrangements off-site or trusted him to pay up once he'd left . B. it's not a good idea to deal with things like this by calling or texting a guest- if you keep the communication on the Airbnb messaging system, there will be a record of what transpired.

Also, it sounds like this was simply a accident, not willful damage. What exactly needed to be paid for? The picture frame broke? The glass? Unless guests break some costly item,  or break things intentionally or because they were being wild and uncaring,  it's better to set aside a few bucks from each booking and build up a fund to cover replacing things broken by accident, rather than trying to charge a guest.

[Demetris8]

the large picture frame costs nearly as much as his booking, of course I am going to claim back the money, i am not running a charity!

[Helen3]

What happened when you lodged the claim through Airbnb @Demetris8 ?

Has the guest paid out yet?