Bottom 10% tag!

[Aria27139]

it’s redundant. There are reviews and rating already. 

it’s sadistic. no one books that listing. No one wants to be in bottom 10%. Would you tell your lover I booked a bottom 10% listing?! 

no merchant has ever marked it’s merchandise as bottom 10% 

it’s sadistic. The genius who came up with the idea should be FIRED! 

[Shelley159]

Hi @Aria27139 

In case it helps, the tag can be quite temporary. It's the guest favourite ranking system that classifies properties in layered categories, but the ranking updates every 24 hours. So when a good review comes in, the status can change. Guest favourite looks not only at the overall rating, but also at the sub-category ratings. Because recent reviews count heavily for GF, a property can be lifted out of the negative group by good recent reviews, despite there being older ratings that are lower.

One possible strategy is to drop the price temporarily, which should hopefully help to turn some quick bookings, get the ratings up, and score value-for-money points.

I would change the title of the listing - the present one is unclear to me, and it should describe the listing rather than the host. There are limited characters available in the title - something that can give the listing a boost would be ideal. In your case guests seem to think the location is great, so perhaps words that highlight that in the best possible way could work well.

[Aria27139]

After tagging the listing as ‘bottom 10%’ no one books anymore. It’s black hole! You cannot recover! 

Thats why I call the policy sadistic. No business brands part of it’s inventory as ‘bottom 10%’!

have you seen bottom 10% section in grocery stores, in car dealerships, on Amazon?! NO!

only Airbnb’s sadistic policies do that. These people don’t know slightest thing about hosting. 

Their protocols specifically says we don’t verify the truth of the reviews. So if some guest for some psychological reason claims he found two corpses in my closet their protocol allows that to be published.

The geniuses who came up with these policies should be fired. 

[Shelley159]

There are retail examples of goods that are for sale with labels to indicate that it's not premium @Aria27139 . They're sold at a marked-down price, which is why I think a temporary discount could help you to turn guests and to have the opportunity to get other (more recent) reviews.

It's true that you can't change a review response, but if you ask for it to be deleted, Airbnb will do so.

[Christine2602]

@Aria27139 

Bonjour 

Je suis tout à fait d'accord avec vous.

Autant c'est valorisant pour les 1ers, autant c'est très pénalisant pour les derniers.

Surtout que les critères sont très flous.

_______________________________________________________________________
 
Google Translation added by Community Manager:  

Hello,
I completely agree with you.
Whilst it’s rewarding for those at the top, it’s really quite detrimental for those at the bottom.
Especially as the criteria are very unclear.
Christine
Good humour is contagious.

[Christine2602]

Je viens de regarder votre profil.4.67 est une note basse pour le site.

Cependant les réponses aux commentaires m'interpellent.

Elles sont agressives et mentionner des voyageurs nommément dans les réponses à d'autres est vraiment dérangeant.

Pas du tout professionnel.

C'est plutôt ça qui m'empêcherait de réserver chez vous.

_______________________________________________________________________
 
Google Translation added by Community Manager:  

I’ve just had a look at your profile. A rating of 4.67 is quite low for the site.
However, it’s actually the responses to the reviews that catch my attention.
They come across as aggressive, and mentioning guests by name in replies to others is really unsettling.
It’s not at all professional.
That’s actually what would put me off booking with you.
Christine
Good humour is contagious. 

[Olga1547]

Hi Christine,

I agree with you about responses. When you get a false review you become upset and you act emotionally.

i wanted to edit those responses.  But guess what? Another one of Airbnb’s  ‘brilliant’ policies does not NOT allow the host to revise the responses. Again, totally irrational, sadistic policy. 

of course all this starts with Airbnb allowing any falsehood allegation be published as a review. Nothing in their protocol stops a false/lie review to be published. 

A guest gave me a one star for communication and overall rating just because I texted her some needed info. She complained: “I’m on vacation. Why do you text me? I worked hard for this vacation”

now my listing is tagged bottom 10%! These people are SICK! 

[Aria27139]

Hi Christine, 

The reply by Olga is mine. Not sure how it got mixed up.

i found Airbnb policies irrational. They have no clue about hosting.  

bottom 10% tag is totally redundant and unnecessary. Everything is reflected in the rating and reviews. Everyone can see those. To come and add the ‘bottom 10%’ is totally sadistic. The geniuses don’t realize that’s a death sentence for the listing. 

I explained about the response to the reviews in the post under Olga. 
I agree with you. I wanted to revise those but another sadistic Airbnb policy STOPS the gusts from editing their responses. There’s absolutely no rational for it. Whom that policy benefits. These policies are pathological. 

[Greystone0]

I think that this 'bottom' reference is to (partially) allow AIRBNB to identify the bottom and remove them.  AIRBNB has been removing low listings as part of their overall strategy.  I don't think it is so much about the guest, it's about keeping listings in line, on both ends.

Agree with the good advice given here, you are a little bit of your own worst enemy or somehow busy shooting your own foot.

If you don't 'play' the way AIRBNB wants you to then you are flagged as somehow 'less than'. This is how the top tier works  too (only those that are playing by all of the engagement rules can reach the top tier "1%, 5%, 10%", it's not so much about the 'guest' as you can see that listings with only 7 reviews can have this 'special' status. it's absurd.

I think you might need a small break - I prescribe no more review responses for you for awhile 😉

And like @Christine2602  says - good humor !

good luck.

[Frances3408]

@Aria27139 . Can I just say firstly I hear your frustrations. Only other hosts know how hard this gig can be at times. 

So may I suggest when you need to vent, come here to Host Circle and post away, rather than in the guest review replies which are really best used as a tool for future guests to read and decide whether to stay.

I think many of the really low rating listings were taken off so everyone else is moving down when more shiny and new listings come on and earn stellar initial ratings from few reviews (till they also get pinged for something).

Also, I dont live at any of my listings but I have made an effort to get to know the near neighbours and exchange contact details. One neighbour now appreciates being able to put any extra rubbish in the listing bin while keeping an eye on the place. 

Do some SWOT analysis and you will be ready to relaunch. All the best.

[Helen3]

I appreciate it's disappointing to find your listings in the bottom 10% @Aria27139 

In your situation I would be focussing on how you can address issues some of your guests have raised which is leading to your lower reviews . 

I would also show how you are responding to guests leaving you less than a five star review isn't helpful -  these responses would certainly put me off from booking with you.