Airbnb reviews

[Airbnbprincess]

Have stayed in several AirBnbs over the summer and I now notice that two of the owners have written me reviews which list all the names of my family: e.g. "Kate, Wills, George and Charlotte were excellent guests and left the cottage very clean", that kind of thing (apart from obviously I'm not HRH!).

For various reasons I make quite an effort to keep identifying details of my DC off the web. I asked AirBnb to remove the names of my DCs from the reviews, replacing it e.g. "Kate and family" or similar - but they have refused, saying "We have a strict policy not to remove, censor or edit reviews, as doing so would jeopardise the reliability of our entire review system".

They have since offered to remove the entire review - but then I lose my valuable positive guest feedback, so it's not a good outcome for me either way.

AIBU to be miffed with Airbnb for being so inflexible, given that these are minors, and the only contract made was with me and me alone. What if it identified "looked after" children or those in hiding from an abusive family member? Or am I being precious?

(NB. You can't change a review once you've left it, and I wouldn't want to bring it up with the hosts in any case as I know they were nice people who thought they were being friendly by including my kids).

I think you are being precious. It's very common for reviewers to give names.

I'm not sure how their first names would identify them... Plus you can't search for them by name in the Airbnb app. I think YABU and overreacting.

I think you make a very valid point. Can the hosts edit their own review?

I agree hosts should be able to edit their reviews.

I wouldn't worry about what has happened - it's only your children's first names. No big deal.

But in future to avoid this happening just don't give the hosts the names of your children.

No fc301, reviews, once left, cannot be edited.
Cardi, if the names are relatively unusual, they might be identifying, especially in combination. Also, although I agree the site is probably not searchable by name (I have only ever used the app), I wonder if a google search would show up the review?
I am cautious about privacy as I had a stalker for a very unpleasant few months when I was in my 20s. A long time ago now, but the anxiety never goes away entirely.