Airbnb's Harsh Response to Catching Rogue Review Removal Services...

Summary

This video discusses Airbnb's review system and the challenges hosts face with negative reviews. It explains how some hosts were caught using virtual assistants (VAs) to remove bad reviews by paying fees, which led Airbnb to tighten its review removal policies. The speaker offers a detailed approach, similar to legal arguments, to help hosts remove unjust negative reviews. By knowing Airbnb's terms of service well and presenting thorough, multi-faceted arguments, hosts can improve their chances of having bad reviews removed, ensuring the protection of their business and reputation.

Takeaways

• 📉 Airbnb lost control of their review system when virtual assistants (VAs) charged hosts $50 to $100 to remove bad reviews.
• ⚖️ Airbnb responded by tightening their review removal policies, making it harder for hosts to take down bad reviews.
• 👨‍🏫 The video teaches hosts how to approach removing negative reviews, using legal-style arguments to improve their chances.
• 💼 Airbnb's review system is crucial for maintaining trust between guests and hosts, especially in the face of competition from hotels.
• 🙍‍♂️ Guests often retaliate with negative reviews when they don't get exactly what they want, which can unfairly damage hosts' reputations.
• 🔒 Hosts need to formulate strong, well-rounded arguments when disputing reviews, attacking every possible issue like a lawyer would in court.
• 📑 Knowing Airbnb's terms of service thoroughly is essential for successfully disputing reviews based on policy violations.
• 📉 A recent bad review can lead to a lower Average Daily Rate (ADR), impacting future bookings for hosts.
• 💡 The video offers a hack: Use ChatGPT to analyze Airbnb's terms of service and generate comprehensive arguments for removing bad reviews.
• 📝 Hosts should document everything in writing, including phone calls and chat transcripts, to strengthen their case when disputing reviews.

Q & A

What issue did Airbnb face with rogue entities charging to remove bad reviews?

Airbnb faced an issue where rogue entities, known as VAs, were charging hosts between $50 to $100 to remove negative reviews, which is against Airbnb's policies.

How has Airbnb responded to the rogue entities and hosts involved in the review removal scandal?

Airbnb caught the rogue entities and the hosts involved but surprisingly did not ban the hosts. Instead, they tightened up their review removal policies to make it nearly impossible to remove bad reviews.

What is the primary purpose of Airbnb's review system according to the script?

The primary purpose of Airbnb's review system is to protect guests from having bad experiences and to create good, honest communication between guests and hosts.

How do hotels' consistency argument affect Airbnb's business?

Hotels argue that their consistency is superior as they are more reliable and less likely to have issues like hosts locking guests out or spying on them, which has led some business to shift away from Airbnb.

What is the impact of a bad review on an Airbnb host's business?

A bad review can significantly impact an Airbnb host's business by lowering their Average Daily Rate (ADR), especially if the review is recent.

Why is it difficult for Airbnb to protect good hosts from bad guests?

Airbnb cannot fully protect good hosts from bad guests as their primary method is to filter out what they believe to be legitimately bad reviews to maintain a good community and business environment.

What strategy does the speaker suggest hosts use to argue for the removal of a bad review?

The speaker suggests hosts use a strategy similar to how a law firm would argue a case in court, by formulating a legal argument that addresses every possible point to attack the review.

What is the significance of knowing Airbnb's terms of service when disputing a review?

Knowing Airbnb's terms of service is crucial as it allows hosts to build a robust legal argument to dispel a review by citing specific violations of the terms by the guest.

How can hosts use Airbnb's relevance policy to their advantage when disputing a review?

Hosts can use Airbnb's relevance policy to their advantage by arguing that if a guest did not stay or violated house rules, the review is not reflective of their actual experience and should be removed.

What is the 'hack' mentioned in the script for understanding Airbnb's terms of service?

The 'hack' mentioned is using chat GPT to upload Airbnb's terms of service and then reference them while asking for arguments to dispel a review, which can help hosts exhaust every possible reason to get a review removed.

Why is documenting phone calls with Airbnb important when disputing a review?

Documenting phone calls with Airbnb is important because it provides a record of the host's attempts to resolve issues, which can be used to verify the host's claims and strengthen their argument for review removal.