Airbnb Answers: Protecting you from one-off bad reviews

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Airbnb Answers: Protecting you from one-off bad reviews

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You asked: Can Airbnb protect hosts from one-off bad reviews?

 

Reviews are so important. They not only impact the success of your business, they’re also really personal. We know you put a lot of thought and care into your hospitality and that it’s frustrating when you receive a review that’s uncharacteristically low—be it a mistake, a misunderstanding, or an unfair assessment. You’ve raised concerns about this, and we want you to know that we hear you and we’re taking this issue really seriously. We’ve invested and will continue to invest a lot of thought and effort into how we can make the review system more fair.

 

The good news is, we’re already making a lot of progress. Here are some updates we can share with you now, below, and we’re committed to keeping you in the loop as we roll out more changes.

 

A tool to detect outlier reviews

At the last Host Q&A, in June, 2018, we said, specifically, that we’d look into outlier reviews. To be clear, one-off low reviews can be considered outliers when a host has otherwise great review scores, but a single guest leaves a bad rating that seems out of place. Here’s a solution we’ve come up with: We’re working on building new tools that will automatically detect when outlier reviews like this occur— and give us an opportunity to correct them. So let’s say a guest gives you five stars for cleanliness, accuracy, check in, and so on— for each of the sub categories— but then a two-star rating overall. The new tool will flag this and prompt the guest to correct the overall rating. We’re developing this new tool now, and you can expect to see it soon.

 

Research into how those reviews affect Superhost status

In addition, we’re doing research to see how a single outlier review can impact a host’s ability to gain or retain Superhost status. The ultimate goal is to find ways to make outliers less impactful for terrific hosts and to make sure the review system is fair.

 

Location, location, location

Finally, we’re looking at the Location rating and how that can affect a host’s standing. It’s worth noting that Location isn’t used in calculating a host’s overall rating. But you’ve told us that you’re frustrated when you get a low rating in this category since where your home is located is out of your control. And we hear that.

 

This is a tricky one. It’s a hard concern to address because judging the quality of a home’s location is so subjective. Some guests may love that your space is off the beaten path; others might be disappointed it’s not closer to public transit. We’re doing a lot of research into how we can continue giving travelers the information they need and want when they’re making booking decisions and, at the same time, make sure hosts aren’t affected by something that’s out of their control.


So we’re looking into new ways to collect and highlight guest impressions of your home’s location information. While we don’t have a concrete announcement on this yet, you can expect to hear more details soon, perhaps at the next Host Q&A. In the meantime, please know we’re working on this. Keep sending us your feedback on how we can make the review system as fair as possible.

 

View this and other answers from the Host Q&A here.

 

408 Replies 408

I got a 3 star from a fellow host who complained in the the review and warned others about making sure to get that extra room he didn't get in my single guest house. Now Airbnb won't remove the totally misleading review since it's his opinion and they don't care about guests giving out false info about hosts. 

Thanks to all hosts who don't go around trashing other hosts when using Airbnb. 

Especially it's completely untrue.

Eveline25
Level 7
Bussière-Galant, France

Well, I' m very pleased to read that essential issues are being looked at while the new criteria for superhost are being  applied. I'm one of the many who, in the meantime, have been deprived of their statut just for one quite good review accompanied by a 2*. Could  this new guest have understood the system the other way around (1 exellentissimo, 2 very good...) ???

Eveline25
Level 7
Bussière-Galant, France

If you do hear and take the issue seriously, why not getting back to former criteria, which apparently did work, while you're investigating new fairer ways ?

Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

What Airbnb tells the guest:

 

*         much worse then expected

**      worse then expected

***    as expected

****   better then expected

***** much better then expected

 

What Airbnb tells the host:

*        delisted

**      delisted

***    delisted

****  delisted

***** superhost

 

 

How it is logical:

 

*        bad = delisted

**      not good = delisted

***    good =  warning

****  very good  /   4,5 * = superhost

***** excelent

 

Location should not be rated by stars at all. Every guest can mention it in his text review and they do it anyway.

 

 

Ryan66
Level 10
Cape Town, South Africa

I gave you the solution MONTHS ago, but as always Airbnb "know best" and didnt even care to respond......

 

Oh wait I forget, im a host and hosts are trash to airbnb. Only guests views and feedback is important.

 

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Hosting/Airbnb-are-stealing-you-HARD-EARN-5-STARS-HERE-IS-PROOF/...

 

 

Maria38
Level 10
Venice, Italy

It has happen to me sometimes, that I have a guest who asked money in exchange of not doing a bad review, and when I refuses the blackmail it gave me the bad review wile all the others rewiews are 5 stars, also I have a guest who asked to have breakfast ( wich is not included) and I give her breakfast, then asked a free boat ride and then I gave her and at the end give me a really unfair 3 stars I don't even understand why, some guest think 5 stars is to mutch, thinking as in life there is always some room to improuve, as a host who has more reviews 5 stars I apreciate the effort airbnb is making 

Jorgen2
Level 4
Copenhagen, Denmark

Some companies let a personal assistent do the reservations.

The visitor hardly know about the system but let thenselves in as it was a regular hotel, turning up after midnigt etc.

 

 

They give a dam about doing a testimony

Anatoliy2
Level 8
Seattle, WA

How about value?

i had several cases when guests marked 5 stars for everything but 4 stars for value. This is very subjective, does it calculate into the overall rating?

thank you 

Jorgen2
Level 4
Copenhagen, Denmark

Airbnb give lower staus because I have helped a customer on the hook by rejecting him. The cause was fully the failure of Airbnb, which had put location 102 km away from teh real location.

This is not atall fair and should be corrected. Iy only took 3 years to change and correct the error from Airbnb part.

Danita1
Level 3
Hampton, VA

A rating for affordability related what the host offers compared to other listing would be helpful. I have had guests who will attempt to haggle me about the price of renting a room in my home at a rate if between $25-35 when they had an option of renting other rooms with less amenities but they chose mine and still rated low. I allow my guests full access to the entire home with the exception of my room and my daughter's and a few rate less than 4 or 5 when they used more of the space than those that rate me at 5. 

 

It would also be helpful with recuperating for damages when reported. I have only had two incidents, one when a child spilled koolaid all over my c as tpet and another where a guests brought roaches with them. Each time Airbnb requested that I communicate with the guest that of course denied that they were the cause. This is frustrating and awkward with someone staying in the home you live in. 

Wayan30
Level 4
Bali, Indonesia

Unfortunately Airbnb does not hold up to its word. You have agents coming out and saying its all for the good when the guest blackmail you or you refund and the agent threatens you to reply immediately or they will cancel on your behalf WITHOUT EVEN VERIFYING WITH YOU when they do not even know how to check a jetlag. The airbnb Agent Adriani did this to my listing and well lost my superhost status. And she closed the case without a word  very rude and unprofessional. All is great with the funny laws that you are all TRYING. Fix your agents first, it is surprising how they treat guests like gods and hosts like trash. 

Tomas69
Level 4
Quezon City, Philippines

Sometimes a guest finds your place ideal for her purposes (ex. near to place of business or meeting) but not so ideal for another whose activities are farther. One would rate you a 5 while the other rates you 4 or lower, thereby pulling down your overall score. The location criteria is subjective indeed! Be better off removing this measure and just let guest express himself on the comments.

Andree1
Level 4
Qualicum Beach, Canada

Location, I feel should not be included at all.  In the descriptors of booking a location there is a map and most hosts describe how many minutes from town and have priced their location accordingly.  Guests book because of price and then complain and give a lower rating because they are not “ in town” - wanting the best of both worlds.

Daniel601
Level 10
Charlotte, NC

I'm happy to hear something is finally being done about outlier reviews after all this time.

 

One suggestion: Default the star selection in the app to 5-stars.

 

I noticed when I was staying as a guest at another host's property that star selection in the app can be tricky.  It is very easy to select less than 5-stars when you didn't intend to.  I've asked some guests who gave less less than 5-star reviews the reason for their not leaving 5-stars and been told they intended to leave 5 and unintentionally selected less than 5 by accident due to app design.

 

Another feature I would like to see tied to reviews - automatic blocking. I.e. if a guess leaves less than 5-stars at a host, prevent them from ever instant booking that host. I had someone give me a low score for no obvious reason, not reply to my asking why, and then a month later rebook me using instant book. Now why on earth would I want someone who gave me a low score before to rebook me?! Fool me once...

 

 

Daniel, I second your brilliant suggestion for automatically blocking guests from re-booking with a host in the future when they have already left less than 5-stars in their review on their initial stay.  Every host who cares about the service they provide would agree with you that they would be fools to host those guests a second time at great risk to their Super-Host status. 

 

It also would be a great wake-up call to those guests who, time and again, give all 5-stars ratings in all but one category and 4 stars in that last category with an overall rating of 4 stars!  If Airbnb doesn't grasp the issue, then perhaps guests would, that if you don't VALUE the OPPORTUNITY for affordable accommodations wherever you want to be, then keep doing what you're doing, and the hosts will stop hosting!  Life is just too short.

 

It really boggles my mind that people don't comprehend that KIND people in SAFE neighborhoods are OPENING UP THEIR HOMES to them.  Whenever I stay in someone's home as a guest, that is what is on MY mind when I'm rating them.  I did someone's dishes in gratitude over and above giving them a TOP rating when my husband and I stayed in their Northeastern home near a big city.  Their home was a rented duplex, and the inside stairs leading up to their place had HOLES in them and the wall paper was peeling!  Inside their home was humble, with one bathroom for the two of them AND the two of us (on the next level up) to share!  But it was comfortable, and their hospitality made me feel safe and welcome!  Our experience there and at two other hosts' accommodations are actually what inspired my husband to suggest that we open up our home to travelers in our neck of the woods. 

 

While in the Northeast, we were both GRATEFUL for the opportunity to spend $50 per night instead of the $300-$400 PER NIGHT, what we were hearing others at our conference were having to pay for a room.  For the price of one night at the downtown high-rise hotel, we were able to stay the entire conference as well as rent a car for the week!  I don't want that opportunity to go away!  So AIRBNB, please HEAR us when we say, "Please fix this problem!"

 

Lastly, there is a hard-to-please couple traveling around from one Airbnb to another, and they told me themselves that they gave up their home and basically live out of their car because their work takes them to various parts all around the country.  Now you would think that, depending on Airbnb like they do for their daily housing, that they would be more careful about their conduct toward hosts than they have been. 

 

We bent over backwards for them, allowing them into our personal space to do their laundry (which we CLEARLY STATE on our listing is NOT an amenity that we provide).  But we allowed them to do loads a couple of times throughout the week so they wouldn’t have to go to a laundromat, and they repaid us by smiling to our faces and then posting in their review 12 days after departure, among other things, libelous character assassinations which have no basis in fact!  Ironically, I was trying to educate this woman on her own very narrow view of the world in a friendly sort of way, but it backfired.  She is one of these fragile snowflakes who also knows how to manipulate the system to take advantage of people and then stab them in the back.

 

I have discovered that their scathing, "Gotcha!" reviews continue to this day, over a year later, to very unsuspecting hosts.  It appears that she is the one who leaves the excruciatingly lengthy reviews, which I would have wanted to read BEFORE confirming their stay with us.  They have a tendency to book affordable accommodations that clearly state what amenities are included or not included, and then CRITICIZE the host for not providing amenities that they don't provide.  They really should stop using Airbnb and go stay at a Marriott or Hyatt!  It's painful to see them being allowed to repeat this over and over again with hosts who echo, "Why didn't you say anything before sticking it to me with a negative review?!"

 

******FYI HOSTS:  It is POSSIBLE to see ALL the past reviews a potential guest has left for their previous hosts, it just takes a little legwork to click on their profile then click on the profile of their past hosts individually and scroll through THEIR reviews until you see the picture of the guest you are researching.  A little patience is required currently to dig in to some of these past reviews left for hosts from your potential future guests as it currently stands, primarily when the past host has a lot of activity and therefore lots of reviews you have to scroll through in order to get to the one guest's reviews whom you are researching.  The fact that the information is there at all is evidence that Airbnb could make this EASILY available to hosts in advance of confirming reservations with new guests by the click of a button!  Please join me in requesting Airbnb make this readily available to us!  ***********

 

Knocking out these Outliers would definitely deal with the issue of such deceitful guests who don't say anything about what is annoying them until they are sure that their hosts have left them a stellar review.  Then they let 'er rip . . . once they're gone and you've left them a positive, glowing review, and there's nothing you can do about it!  Now I routinely check for reviews of future guests for what they said of THEIR PAST HOSTS before confirming a reservation.  

 

Honestly, we're kind of getting tired of the whole rigmarole, and are constantly going back and forth between whether or not it is worth it.  I would love to have suggestions as to other alternatives to Airbnb, as competition always gets the fat cat to take notice.  Airbnb had a great idea, but hasn't done a good job of understanding that without HOSTS, they have no INVENTORY!  We need to help them understand this.

 

If you're still reading this, at the risk of being like Hannah who is the loquacious reviewer of her and her partner's hosts, it’s really quite comical how she fancies herself an "Airbnb Informant!"  Here's an actual cut and paste of a small portion of one of her reviews that I find funny:  "Note: The parking spot is to the right of the building while the entry keypad is located next to the door on the left side of the building only. This is the only access point for guests without a key fob. Check in involves self-check in with a lock box with a key located on the door to the condo once you have made it through the initial outside keypad which leads to the elevator. The elevator takes you to your condo room hallway which has the lock box."  (end of quote)

 

Other than the sad fact that this is only 1/4 of all that she wrote in this poor host’s review for one stay(!), it's hilarious if she thinks that she's informing anyone who cares about this information (future guests of this host) and believes that those guests without a key fob are going to seek out HER review on the 12th page of their reviews in order to find out what to do next upon arrival!  LOL!

 

At least Airbnb has its word number limits and frequently cuts her off when . . . 

(It cracks me up every time!)