How to handle a retaliatory review

Hosts should feel comfortable welcoming guests without worrying about the possibility of a retaliatory review. You can request removal of reviews that you believe go against our Reviews Policy, such as a retaliatory review.

Retaliatory reviews are biased reviews guests might leave after you report a serious policy violation, such as:

• Damaging your property
• Overstaying their reservation
• Violating your standard house rules
• Having an unauthorized party or event at your place

Let’s say a guest smokes in your home against your house rules. You tell your guest that you found cigarette butts in the living room, and you submit a reimbursement request for deep cleaning. In response, your guest refuses to pay and leaves an angry review. You can dispute this review, and we’ll investigate to determine if it qualifies for removal.

Learn how to request removal of a review

Requesting removal of a review doesn’t guarantee it’ll be removed. You’ll be asked to show how the review doesn’t follow our Reviews Policy. You’ll be able to provide us with any details and documentation about the policy violation, such as photos or message threads with guests.

Your documentation will need to demonstrate that a clear policy violation happened. It must also be clear that reporting the policy violation to Airbnb and/or the guest likely led to the retaliatory review.

It’s a good idea to keep all communication with guests in your Messages tab, so Airbnb Support can easily review this documentation.

Hosts have told us our policy around retaliatory reviews has helped them host with confidence. Host Leanne says a retaliatory review on her listing “was promptly assessed and removed when I made the request. I really felt Airbnb had my back.”

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.