Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

The safety of the location might be, but if the location is misleading that's on the host - e.g. if the town listed is actually a little.bit over and it's technically located in the higher crime town down the road. This happened to me once with a hotel, not Airbnb though.

The circle is the circle and a map function relating to physical address — it cannot be manipulated by the host.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

The safety of the location might be, but if the location is misleading that's on the host - e.g. if the town listed is actually a little.bit over and it's technically located in the higher crime town down the road. This happened to me once with a hotel, not Airbnb though.

Again, you have to look at the circle that Airbnb provides before you book. If after you get the exact address you feel that the circle misrepresents where the property is, then definitely bring that to Airbnb's attention. But it sounds like in this case that OP did not even look at that map. If that circle is too big for your liking and you would not be comfortable staying in portions of it, then you should probably book a hotel or lodging where you know the exact location before you book.

I did look at the circle and it encompassed several different neighborhoods. However, I am not an expert on South Philly and made the mistake of relying on the reviews.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

The safety of the location might be, but if the location is misleading that's on the host - e.g. if the town listed is actually a little.bit over and it's technically located in the higher crime town down the road. This happened to me once with a hotel, not Airbnb though.

Again, you have to look at the circle that Airbnb provides before you book. If after you get the exact address you feel that the circle misrepresents where the property is, then definitely bring that to Airbnb's attention. But it sounds like in this case that OP did not even look at that map. If that circle is too big for your liking and you would not be comfortable staying in portions of it, then you should probably book a hotel or lodging where you know the exact location before you book.

I’ve also found that, in general, hosts will provide you some more specific info if you reach out and ask. You can also ask when you’ll get the address-in some cases you’ll get it immediately after booking, which depending on the cancellation policy would give you some time to cancel if needed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

The safety of the location might be, but if the location is misleading that's on the host - e.g. if the town listed is actually a little.bit over and it's technically located in the higher crime town down the road. This happened to me once with a hotel, not Airbnb though.

Again, you have to look at the circle that Airbnb provides before you book. If after you get the exact address you feel that the circle misrepresents where the property is, then definitely bring that to Airbnb's attention. But it sounds like in this case that OP did not even look at that map. If that circle is too big for your liking and you would not be comfortable staying in portions of it, then you should probably book a hotel or lodging where you know the exact location before you book.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

The safety of the location might be, but if the location is misleading that's on the host - e.g. if the town listed is actually a little.bit over and it's technically located in the higher crime town down the road. This happened to me once with a hotel, not Airbnb though.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know that the host should be responsible that a crime occurred 10 blocks away. And that was the basis for your feeling unsafe.

While I agree with this, my BIL is a super host for a couple row houses in DC near RI AVE metro, on the “wrong” side of the tracks. Of the reviewers who mention the neighborhood (about 75%), everyone was complimentary — easy yo metro, nice for a walk, great for their dog, etc. One single woman said she didn’t feel safe walking the mile back to the house at night in the dark alone. All the comments have stayed up.

Gee...what woman would feel safe walking alone at night in the dark for a mile anywhere?

What bs. What a crappy comment. I can tell you lots of places that would be fine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1) you didn't stay there
2) you commented on things exterior to the home that hosts can't control
3) bad neighborhood is dog whistle for brown people live here. AirBNB can't promote racism

But if you wrote "great neighborhood, close to everything!" they'd leave that - but it's essentially the same thing: whether the neighborhood makes the place more or less appealing. Just like I appreciate reviews that tell me if a property is in a spot that's close to everything, as a woman making plans in places I don't know, I would like to know if other visitors found a location made them feel unsafe. Yes, granting that this can be a subjective measure, it can be a proxy for racism, all the stipulations - I still want to know. And Airbnb not allowing those sorts of reviews, makes the platform less useful to me.

OP could have said, location is far from everything and rated that aspect low and the host would have had less ground to get it removed. I think getting into safety was not the best move because what does that even mean? Two different renters could have looked up the crime stats for the neighborhood and come to different conclusions as to whether it was “safe” enough for them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know that the host should be responsible that a crime occurred 10 blocks away. And that was the basis for your feeling unsafe.

While I agree with this, my BIL is a super host for a couple row houses in DC near RI AVE metro, on the “wrong” side of the tracks. Of the reviewers who mention the neighborhood (about 75%), everyone was complimentary — easy yo metro, nice for a walk, great for their dog, etc. One single woman said she didn’t feel safe walking the mile back to the house at night in the dark alone. All the comments have stayed up.

The host asked to have the review removed. It sounds like your brother in law is more honest.

I had this happen to me re a review I left on a place I stayed in Denver a few years ago. The listing wasn’t clear re the neighborhood, and we had 2 nights reserved. After the first night we left. Drug addicts all over the place and people got into a huge fight right outside our place in the middle of the night (F you, I’m going to kill you…no f you….). Also the house had someone living in the back yard in I guess a tiny house/converted garage that hadn’t been disclosed in the listing. When we complained we got a generic answer and realized this listing was owned by an investment corp/REIT, and we weren’t going to get anywhere. We left.

So I left a negative review and it stayed up for about a week and then was gone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I finally heard back from Airbnb. My review was removed because safety of the neighborhood is beyond a host’s control. Yes they actually put that in writing.

Do you disagree? Obviously lots of other people have stayed there and don’t feel “unsafe”. Whatever feelings you had were not the Airbnb hosts’ fault.

If the house is in an unsafe area, that should be stated somehow in the listing

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know that the host should be responsible that a crime occurred 10 blocks away. And that was the basis for your feeling unsafe.

While I agree with this, my BIL is a super host for a couple row houses in DC near RI AVE metro, on the “wrong” side of the tracks. Of the reviewers who mention the neighborhood (about 75%), everyone was complimentary — easy yo metro, nice for a walk, great for their dog, etc. One single woman said she didn’t feel safe walking the mile back to the house at night in the dark alone. All the comments have stayed up.

Gee...what woman would feel safe walking alone at night in the dark for a mile anywhere?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It was probably removed because your comment “unsafe area” was an opinion not based in facts.

All reviews are opinion based, in any case, I gave specific examples of recent crimes within 2 blocks of listing. Also a fact that I felt so unsafe there I did not spend the night.

That's why it was removed, OP. You didn't stay there.

+1 If you'd stayed there and been hurt, then you could have posted.

I usually stay with a super host and never have had a problem.

Airbnb asks for ratings on cleanliness, communication, check-in, accuracy, LOCATION, and value. So comments about the location should be fair game.

Anonymous wrote:I don’t know that the host should be responsible that a crime occurred 10 blocks away. And that was the basis for your feeling unsafe.

While I agree with this, my BIL is a super host for a couple row houses in DC near RI AVE metro, on the “wrong” side of the tracks. Of the reviewers who mention the neighborhood (about 75%), everyone was complimentary — easy yo metro, nice for a walk, great for their dog, etc. One single woman said she didn’t feel safe walking the mile back to the house at night in the dark alone. All the comments have stayed up.