A superhost on Airbnb digitally harassed one of their former guests after asking him to leave a review—then the guest posted about it.
In a video with over 188,000 views, TikTok content creator Sean Lans (@seanlans) posted his side of a recent debacle with a superhost on Airbnb.
“I’m not even normally the type of person who leaves reviews, but I checked out of this airbnb yesterday and since then I’ve already gotten like five messages from this host being like, ‘please review me! Please review me!” he said.
Lans took the request into account and followed the host’s recommendation. He left a review after receiving multiple messages, but he was completely honest about his stay.
“I gave a four-star review overall,” he said. “It was a nice stay but not worth five stars.” Lans identified two main issues with his stay: there was an overpowering air freshener scent that covered up a foul odor, and the thermostat was constantly set to 62 degrees.
“One minute [after leaving the review], I started getting inundated with message after message from this host,” the TikToker said. The host then continuously messaged Lans and asked him why he waited until after he left the residence to address his concerns.
The host allegedly attempted to guilt-trip Lans by mentioning that they would lose their superhost rating due to the four-star rating. Lans then discovered that the Airbnb rating system severely negatively impacts any hosts that receive four-star reviews, making him question his decision to leave a review in the first place.
How does the Airbnb host system work?
A medium article online refers to the “dreaded” four-star review, discussing how any review that is less than five stars is essentially “terrible.” As Gabriel Campell puts it, “To maintain or achieve Superhost you have to get four 5-star reviews for every 4-star review you get.”
Airbnb incentivizes its hosts by giving the best-reviewed “superhost status,” which identifies “recognized” hosts. Airbnb more heavily promotes these superhosts to potential guests, giving them a special badge and search filter. To achieve superhost status, hosts have to have a 4.8 rating, a 90% response rate, at least 10 completed stays or 100 nights over 3+ stays, and an incredibly low cancellation rate. In essence, it’s particularly difficult to maintain superhost status considering unforeseen factors. A host can’t control whether a guest decides to cancel or review their property, for instance, so even slightly negative reviews can diminish their status.
There are other reasons for hosts to want a superhost status. For one, Airbnb Plus only shows off properties with a 4.8 rating or higher on its platform. In order to reach that population of customers, hosts have to maintain a perfect rating. It’s incredibly easy to drop from a 4.8 to a lower score with just one bad review.
@seanlans Like regardless of if it affects them deleting the review will give a dishonest perspective to other people who want to book the Airbnb so idk #airbnb #travel #hotel #honest ♬ original sound – seanlans
Commenters discuss Lans’ options
Many commenters were quick to point out that the hosts’ response was inappropriate and overstepped beyond a host’s responsibilities. Despite hosts needing positive reviews to maintain their superhost status, they continued messaging. @AceADC commented, “Their response necessitates leaving the post up.”
@blitzkrieg1122 recommended reporting the host for harassment, adding: “Don’t feel guilty for giving an honest review. I am sensitive to fragrances and get migraines from them. Your Review would help people like me.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Sean Lans and Airbnb for comment.
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