In August this year, me, Elaine & husband, Ashley stayed in an airbnb flat in Stow, Scotland hosted by Donal. I/ we rarely use airbnb, but been happy with them up til this stay. For some unknown reason, the host Donal took it upon himself to give us a very negative review, which stands out like a sore thumb from all other reviews on me which ate entirely positive. I can accept negativity, if it's true, but his statement was in no way accurate. He said that we left his place 'messy'. We were out from mornibg to evening every day of our stay at the annual Edinburgh festival, we only used the kitchen for a cold breakfast. The cooker, hob & washing machine were never used. I can surmise from reading other guest reviews on himself as a host that he will only accept positive reviews on himself. My review on him was good 4/5. I made a comment about the hot water failing. It wasn't a huge problem & he replied that he was having it seen to. I was allowed to reply to the review, which shows online & I messaged Donal, asking him to quantify his comments. STRANGELY, this was the ONLY time tgat he failed to reply ( he responded promptly to any queries when we were staying there). I took the matter up with airbnb, whose common sense has deteriorated since my last contact with them years ago. Each airbnb Rep came across agreeable with me (this turned out to be false). They All said they could see my own great reviews & could see that Donal had oddly not replied to me about his review on me. They All said I should choose their online option to have the review on me removed. I did so & within minutes (hardly enough time for them to properly read request for removal) airbnb sent an auto-reply saying that Donal's review will not be removed! It did not entirely surprise me, as I had sensed a lack of honesty in my contact with them. IF I ever use airbnb again, I shall not be giving reviews. More likely, I will be using another platform offering similar type accommodations. I had been happy with previous airbnb stays. I now see the low-rated review score of airbnb & no wonder. I see that one European country has now banned airbnb completely from their country. A clever idea, give your money to the local hotels/apartments instead.
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