How to dispute retaliatory reviews

Editor’s note: This article was published as part of the Airbnb 2022 Winter Release. Information may have changed since its publication. Learn more about our latest product release.

We know Hosts are often concerned about the possibility of a retaliatory review. These are biased reviews guests might leave after you’ve reported that they’ve violated one of your house rules, damaged your property, or committed another serious policy violation.

Our review system enables you to dispute reviews you believe to be retaliatory.

You should feel comfortable hosting guests without worrying about the possibility of receiving a retaliatory review. You can dispute a retaliatory review—no matter when it was posted—from guests who commit a serious violation of policies, such as: 

• Damaging your property

• Overstaying their reservation

• Violating your standard house rules 

• Having an unauthorized party or event at your place 

Disputing a review doesn’t guarantee it’ll be removed. When you dispute a review, we’ll ask you to provide evidence, such as photos or message threads with guests. 

Your evidence will need to demonstrate that a serious policy violation happened. It must 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 your communication with guests in your Airbnb inbox, so our customer service team can easily review any evidence. Keep in mind that only primary Hosts and primary guests can dispute reviews. 

Get more info about our reviews policy

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 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. 

Hosts have told us our updated policy around retaliatory reviews has helped them to 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.” 

Host Daniel also “dealt with a review that I deemed to be unfair,” he says. “I can say that [Airbnb support] was very helpful in resolving my request.”