Airbnb Answers: Protecting you from one-off bad reviews

[Airbnb]

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.

[Rebecca0]

@Laura2383 I checked out your profile and the guest you refer to (Jonathan) and I'm SO cross on your behalf.  What horrible horrible people, ugh.  As you say, they have repeated this behaviour many times.  The majority of hosts they stayed with have great reviews and, in almost all cases, the pattern is the same:  they said everything was fine at the time and did not mention anything until their "gotcha" review, as you put it.   What is wrong with them?  What on earth do they get out of it??   Despicable.   I noticed that they often target relatively new hosts.  One poor guy cancelled all subsequent reservations and delisted after their scathing review 😞

You are so right that looking at the reviews prospective guests have left previously is a good indicator of whether they will fit your place.   There is a really great app that helps with this:  AirReview from Google Chrome.   Install it NOW!    It's excellent.  All reviews that guests have left will show up on their profile.   It has saved me from a nightmare guest at least once.

Finally, have you contacted Support about the review these nasty people left for you?  It's bordeline defamatory and I think you have a case for it to be removed.   Honestly I think these people should be removed from the platform as well.

[Laura2383]

Rebecca, THANK YOU!  Thank you! THANK YOU!  I cannot tell you how it warmed me to see your response and right judgement!  I WASTED so much of my time with Airbnb Support at the time of Jonathan's review, as you say, when WE were just starting out as hosts.  I wasn't asking them to remove anything other than the false and heinous accusation of racism.  They refused, and I just want to say to you that the person I think she was referring to in my comment to her, as I was trying to help HER consider putting herself in another person's shoes, is a young black man who is also a Purple Heart Veteran, who LIVED with us for a period of time, long before we started using the space for Airbnb.  More like an extension of our family, he is still our son's barber (and mine occasionally), and has been a guest at our Thanksgiving table for two out of the past three Thanksgivings!  What I remember telling her was that HE HAS suffered racism.  He shared with me his reality, and I witnessed it in my own neighborhood, sadly.  If he knew anything about her wrong judgement of me, implying something other than the truth on this public forum, he would have given her a "talkin' to" because he doesn't tolerate "negative energy," as he calls it.  In any regard, from this and one other "outlier" review, we lost SuperHost status which we had previously attained right out of the gate before Jonathan and Hannah arrived.  

Fortunately, more than a year and a half later, we slowly gained it back.  Many opportunities came because we are in such a high demand area.  We provide a good value in, albeit humble, accommodations.  We just kept doing what we always do, "showing [Southern] hospitality to strangers."  After Airbnb reviewed all the evidence, including the friendly email exchanges between us AFTER her departure, but before she left her review, they did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  I talked to a lawyer in my church who indicated that we had an excellent case which is clearly libel.  The only problem was that no lawyer can afford their time when there is no financial loss involved.  I'm glad that we continued to have guests take a chance on us, and Jonathan's review quickly got relegated to the back back back page.

I feel so greatly vindicated with you taking your time to reach out to me.  I take it by your comments that you found their profile and saw what I'm talking about in regards to other hosts of theirs.  (I do think I remember seeing that one poor host who de-listed from Airbnb and thought the very same thing as you.)  I agree that they really should be removed from the platform.  They were also in Japan (before coming to us), and she actually commented that the room was small "even for Japan's standards."  HOW DOES SHE KNOW WHAT JAPAN'S STANDARDS ARE FOR ROOM SIZES??!!"  What sort of an EXPERT on Japan real estate is she?!  How many thousands of places in Japan has she stayed in to even know what is typical?  Very reckless and snooty too.  I agree.  They must be stopped.  They can stay at the Hilton and write their complaints to them!  I'm sure they'd find something wrong with it!  Most likely, the price.  LOL!

Also, THANK YOU for the tip about AirReview from Google Chrome.  I'm going to go check it out now!  Blessings to you, Rebecca!  (I hope to someday make it to Edinburgh so that I can hug you in person!)  🙂

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

We use AirReview, @Laura2383, you would find it useful. 

FWIW, I just read through maybe half of Jonathan's reviews of other hosts - he's a nightmare passive/aggressive guest who clearly has 7 priorities which, in some ways, are incompatable and they will never be 100% happy: 1. Parking must be free, convenient and big enough for his large truck. If he has any issues with not being able to park in the same place day after day, he has a little tantrum, so you must provide dedicated parking available 24/7; 2. Privacy, so much so that he should NEVER book a place that isn't a full house where curtains are present in every picture or ask in advance if every window can be covered; 3. issues with Noise - so again - should never book a place where other people will be nearby - no apartments, studios, or shared homes. He mentions more than once that he prefers to stay in more remote settings (read: antisocial and intolerant); 4. WiFi and high download speeds because when he travels he "works remotely" while "streaming tv".  So if you are too remote, you best have amazing, free WiFi too; 5. Cleanliness - even behind couches and headboards - if he can't find anything, he'll find "dust" to complain about (in more than one case - dust on lampshades!). In remote cabins, he complains about bugs - so your cabin needs to be airtight and nature-free.  He frequently complains about cleanliness in the same breath that he says he didn't say anything about it.  So it's gross enough to complain but not enough to ask the host to correct it - common passive/aggressive behavior; 6. Self-service check in that better be easy to do and you better provide step by step instructions in advance and be available immediately when he can't work out the instructions after long days of driving when he just wants to go to bed (again - antisocial and intolerant); 7. Cheap - the place better be inexpensive but provide a luxury stay.  Not one of the places they stayed was a "luxury" locale - so he's asking for far more than he's booking (read: entitled millenials who think the world owes them since they're hard-working vegans - yes, he tells readers he's vegan in his reviews over and over - so who is "witnessing" to whom?!)   If this couple ever tried to book with me - I'd cancel without question.  There was absolutely NO WAY to provide a 5-star stay with them.  If everything isn't "just so" you better be wearing your swammy hat to read his mind to know what you should correct immediately because he's not going to tell you, smile to your face about his stay, and then, well, get you to leave a pleasant review while he writes paragraphs about how crappy your listing actually is.  He's a nightmare. 

[Cara59]

you might have learned that even an instand book can be rejected with a quick phone call to airbnb.

at least as a superhost i have had to do that, even saying for instance that you suddenly had to schedule a plumbing event on that day. something to think about!

[Dale75]

My headline is  Cozy Log Home at End of Road...and in fact it is within 10 miles of 6 major features...and being at the end of the road, has no noise, no traffic, no pollution and yet is surrounded by amazing  landscape and archeological and cultural  destinations (ruins, petroglyphs, red rocks, etc).    Yet my lowest  rating is for location, very frequently.   I think location should not be subjective but based on accuracy:  if you don't want end of the road, don't come to my place and complain it is at the end of the road.  You can go 20 miles up the road to the tourist trap area and pay 5 times as much...or  find a beautiful, quiet, tranquil setting and drive 20 minutes through pristine high desert and Red Rock scenic byway  to the  main tourist destination.

Summary:  location rating should only be  based on accuracy.   If I say end of the road and it is at the end of the road, that should be a 5 rating.  

Also, I have had rating from 1  rating (outlier) for cleanliness to 5 for the very next guest with absolutely same conditions.   This kind of outlier rating should be dismissed, if it is way out of line with other ratings.  I have 75% 5 star ratings and  two  1's for cleanliness.  One guest even showed me "white paper on the carpet) which turned out to be a 1/4 inch string  OF the carpet.  One guest  complained of dust in a corner you could not see....since it was in a nook behind an airconditioner and so  downrated me.  Such  erratic ratings should be dismissed if the overwhelming  ratings of guests  show  5 star.

[Laura2383]

" . . . OF the carpet!" cracked me up.  Sadly, we have similar stories too.

Thank you for taking the time to post this very sensible explanation of how it should be and how Airbnb should treat nonsense!  And thank you for continuing to fight for providing what most of us value.  We hope it's still worth your while to list on Airbnb when we get to Arizona!  Your place sounds awesome and we too value escapes away from what we fondly call "Tourist Trap, USA!"

[Janis39]

I just had this happen! A guest ended up not needing half the time he booked, and rather than asking me what I could do, he starting bashing the place to Airbnb, and yelling at me on the phone! I even offered to refund any time that was RE booked if he cancelled, but he insisted that I cancel, which of course I can't do without looking bad! And of course ruined my 5 star record with a terrible review!

I think an easy solution would be to allow hosts to delete 1 review per year or per 10 reviews. It's totally unfair to let one miserable person ruin a great reputation!

[Kate637]

Not sure where to place this comment, so I'm adding it to the lot here.  I just lost my superhost status because of the number of reviews to number of guests declined.  I have several repeat guests who are travel nurses.  To expect them to repeatedly rate and review me is obnoxious, and a turn-off for some I have spoken with.  We have discussed finding a different source for bookings to avoid affecting my ratings, and may still be necessary since Airbnb places so much weight on that and the superhost status.

[Kristine45]

I also think the Location rating should just go away.  It really doesn't rate anything.  Some people use it to say how convenient it was to where THEY were going and some use it to say how convenient was the home to find and some people just don't know what they are supposed to rate and truly, it's worthless.  Lose it.  Value is the tricky one.  SO subjective!  I could lose that one too.  

[Daniel601]

Suggestion to the "Location" issue: Move from stars to tags. Don't rate location at all. Solicit tags for the location from the guest. Examples - near public transportation, convenient to interstate, convenient to downtown, secluded, inner city, urban, suburban, rural, etc.

Those tags would make it easier for future guests to narrow what they're looking for without penalizing the host.

[Laura2383]

Another brilliant idea!  Thanks for sharing!

[Mark266]

One idea could be the ability to submit a request to delete one bad review per year for all super hosts.  I rarely get bad reviews, but when I do it is usually because the guest fails to reach out to me when they have a problem.  Bad reviews also seem to be more common when the weather is bad.  ABNB could ask how the weather was during the guests stay.  If the guests lists bad weather, then perhaps those reviews could be filtered.  Bad reviews seem to come from first-time guests also, which could easily be filtered for further review.    

[Michelle548]

Location should not be a criteria that is rated. Period. It's should be part of the listing description with choices like: downtown, suburbs, rural etc. Then under amenities there should be options for nightlife, shopping, etc.

[Sonya54]

On the subject of outliers, I’d also like to query the loss of superhost status based on one anomaly. My record is faultless, fully 5 star rating, and yet I lost my superhost status based on one error on my booking diary. It was noticed immediately, the guest was entirely understanding, but to minimise hassle for them I had to cancel the booking, rather than them to do it, and lost my superhost status for 6 months. It feels very unfair as I go above and beyond for my guests.

[Ken294]

I'm quite clear in my Neighbourhood description, that I live in a gentrifiying neighbourhood, with a mix of people, some being down on their luck and having mental problems, yet sometimes I still get a bad rating for my location. I'm very clear in my description that my hood has the night life and great restaurants, it's not quiet. 

I'm pretty sure that the people who give me a bad location rating don't even read my description and are instead focusing on the price, as my neighbourhood is slightly lower in price than quieter, more affluent downtown areas.