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How to prevent a retaliatory review on Airbnb?

  • March 31, 2026
  • 4 replies
  • 122 views

Will.Fraser
Inspiring
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We currently have a doozie of a guest in one of our BNBs and they booked a non-refundable stay with us on March 13th and then tried to cancel on the 20th.  I declined since we are NOT the trip insurance but rather a host who is being asked to refund a . . . non-refundable booking.

 

Fast forward 10 days and the guest chose to travel anyways (as would I since they sunk the cost and it’s a beautiful place) and guess who shows up?  A grumpy goose.

 

They are demanding that the hot tub be serviced becuase it was unusable when they arrived (professionally serviced each week, so what do they mean?) 

 

Reading the tea leaves here . . . this person is bitter due to not getting a refund on a non-refundable booking.  So they show up and have an unsurprisingly frustrating stay.  What will their review say?

 

However, all of this is likely retaliation from them not getting to cancel the booking, so is there a way to prevent a review from being left? 

4 replies

Homelike.ca
Known Participant
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  • Known Participant
  • March 31, 2026

You are in a tough situation, really, and there is nothing you can do. Booking.com does a better job here at making sure reviews don't weigh your property down, and the old reviews tend to not weigh as much as the new ones. They also have a metric so that really extreme reviews don't pull your score so much. But for Airbnb, you just have to let it go. 

 

I must also say Airbnb does a terrible job mediating these situations even if you try to fight the review. Very likely they might not remove it. 


Eli Stoughton
Participating Frequently
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  • Participating Frequently
  • March 31, 2026

I would turn off any automated requests for review. I would also use the feature where you can hold your review for them for the very last second: this has been one of my favorite Hospitable features for years as it essentially prevents them from getting the notification that you have reviewed them which would prompt them to leave a review for you. Additionally, if they try to blackmail you in any way such as asking for some money back in exchange for them not leaving a bad review, then you definitely need to screenshot that and use it if they leave a bad review. Airbnb should be able to remove it if those are the circumstances.


Miles Hobson
Hospitable Team Member
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  • Hospitable Team Member
  • March 31, 2026

Here’s that delayed review feature ​@Eli Stoughton is mentioning: https://help.hospitable.com/en/articles/4604749-leaving-a-bad-review-for-a-guest


Will.Fraser
Inspiring
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  • Author
  • Inspiring
  • April 2, 2026

I would turn off any automated requests for review. I would also use the feature where you can hold your review for them for the very last second: this has been one of my favorite Hospitable features for years as it essentially prevents them from getting the notification that you have reviewed them which would prompt them to leave a review for you. Additionally, if they try to blackmail you in any way such as asking for some money back in exchange for them not leaving a bad review, then you definitely need to screenshot that and use it if they leave a bad review. Airbnb should be able to remove it if those are the circumstances.

Well said ​@Eli Stoughton and ​@Homelike.ca !  

 

Any way that Booking.com bests Airbnb is fascinating!  I’m hopeful I can get a thoughtful CSR on the other end who understands the nuances of this guest and the fact that you can straight lie your face off about a hot tub and if the retaliatory embers were already there it seems to prove that the BS is indeed BS.

 

Let’s see .. .