Clarity about the recent Superhost criteria change

[Airbnb]

We’ve noticed a lot of discussion lately about the updated Superhost criteria, so we wanted to explain why we made this update.

The Superhost program recognizes the best and most iconic hosts on Airbnb. Since it began, in order to be a Superhost you had to meet several criteria. You had to host at least 10 stays per year, you had to have zero cancellations (except for extenuating circumstances), you had to respond to 90% of the messages you received within 24 hours, and 80% of your ratings had to be 5 stars.

The first 3 criteria are staying the same, but beginning in July, instead of needing 80% 5-star reviews, Superhosts will now need an average review score of 4.8.

There are several reasons why we decided to make this change. First and foremost, because it’s simpler and easier to understand. One of the top pieces of feedback we received about the old program criteria was that guests couldn’t intuitively understand what it took to be a  Superhost. By making the change from 80% 5-star reviews to an overall rating of 4.8, guests can more easily understand what it means to be a Superhost. Additionally, switching to an overall rating of 4.8 stars also brings consistency across our new programs like Collections and Plus, which require a 4.8 overall rating as well as several other criteria.

In looking at recent data, we estimate that between 90% to 95% of our Superhosts are going to have no problem qualifying for the Superhost program under the new criteria. Ultimately, it’s our goal to have as many Superhosts as possible and have all hosts provide amazing guest experiences worthy of stellar reviews. Our plan is to continue to closely monitor how these standards impact the Superhost program and evolve them based on what’s working and what isn’t. We truly appreciate the feedback you’ve provided so far and we look forward to working with you to bring further clarity and consistency to the program.

[Ann10]

@Eileen71, I think you can block them.  Click on report and then click something else. They won't be able to contact you after that until you unreport them.

[Tuenchai0]

This post is in response to the post left by Eileen, I tried to reply directly to Eileen's post but for some reason I received an "unexpected error message"

Hello Eileen,

I've just read your post with much interest, as I know just how much a few 4 star reviews can negatively affect one's overall star rating.  In your post you state the following: 

"The wife, who didn’t even see the place but who had the AirBnb account rated it from her Texas home and gave a 4 on value".

That's a third party review, and to the best of my knowledge is in breach of Airbnb's review content policies. The person that booked "wife" wasn't part of the group that stayed, so she can only rely on the opinions given to her by a third party (her husband). 

Airbnb's policy on reviews states that the following is not permitted:

• Reviews that do not represent the author’s personal experience or that of their travel companions.

The person that booked "wife" didn't stay at your place, so the review doesn't represent her "personal experience" and as she didn't stay at your place with her "husband", he cannot be consdiered as her "travel companion".

Contact Airbnb, politely explain the sitution and kindly ask for the review to be removed on the basis that it vioilates Airbnb's review content policies.

Hope this helps!

Tuenchai

Super Host with 1,423 Reviews and a 4.9 Star Rating

[Vikentijs0]

Hi guys 🙂

Really glad that there is such a nice community out here 🙂

I have a question

I have 2 listing and each of them meet the requirments but when they are added its lower than both of those

It doesnt make any sense 😄

Have any of you guys had this?

[Vikentijs0]

Also the 2nd question:

is it possible to argue or report a 1star rating

the only one star rating was a ridicilous person whoch didnt make any sense and didnt even want to communicate so the score was ridicilious and unfair, what should we do in these types of situations?

[Igor55]

I am almost near of saying good bye to Airbnb with all of these changes on super host. I don’t know what to say.

My overall rating is 82%.

I have 4 listings: 4.8, 4.8, 4.7, and 5.0 and my overall is 4.7.

so unfair and strange mathematics! 

[Mike--Leonora-and-Samant0]

I have had alook through this thread and what is immediately apparent is that there are so many hosts with AirBnb that are passionate and dedicated in providing something special to their guests, I congratulate all of you for working so hard and caring.

We as hosts are all too aware to the scoring system and as most people say, we actually fear it, as the mearest slip up can have dire consequences. Unfortunately a large proportion of guests are far from aware, through no fault of their own, about how the system works. I had one guest give me several 4's so I messaged him and asked him what was the problem as I would like to 'fix' anything that is wrong, he said "nothing was wrong, the place was great, he didn't realise that a score of 4 was such a bad thing" ! 

Unlike what I believe is the intent of most scoring systems where you start at a mid point and go up and down from there, so in a system of 10 points you start and 5 and score up and down from there. AirBnB starts at 5 and the only way is down, so I can quite undertand from a guest's point of view they would percieve 5 as pure perfection and the likelyhood of being 100% perfect is minimal so why not score a 4, after all 4 is still pretty good right? In this instance very definitley wrong! Until such time as the honest AirBnB guest understands what the rating system means or ArBnB changes the scoring system, then as hosts have very little hope.

Sadly there are always going to be 'bad apples in the pile' as far as guests go, but there should be some way of weeding them out so that the WHOLE AirBnB experience, both host AND guest are a pleasure to deal with and provide something special. The vast majority of my guests are wonderful people but it is the few that make us very wary of all guests and that should not be the case. We should be able to welcome any and every AirBnB'er with open arms and know that we are both going to enjoy the experience. We have several repeat 'long stay' guests who book with us directly and sure things go wrong, just as they go wrong in every house, but I don't fear it, I fix it, I know they love the place becasue they come back year after year. The same cannot be said for our AirBnB guests, a comment from them is greated with trepidation, not becuase they are malicious, vindictive people (although I'm sure there are those out there too), but because of the scoring system and its consequences.

I do hope AirBnB will reconsider this latest move or better still, put some real effort into making the WHOLE AirBnB experience an enjoyable one and (lets face it) a profitable one for all of us. I would suggest a scoring system of 10 and the ability to 'blacklist' not only bad hosts but also the bad guests, might be a place to start, but there again I'm only a host so what would I know.

Keep up the good work my fellow hosts and keep smiling.

[Robin114]

I only host part time and I travel a lot. Because many guests do not review, and I have only 30 reviews, total, one bad review can drop my rating. Last year, I had one low rating, so it took until this year to get it back up. Perhaps consideration of dropping the lowest rating as an outlier can help with super host ratings?

[Monique51]

My fellow hosts have all made eloquent and mathematically supported arguments for why the new policy is unhelpful and makes no sense. I offer Airbnb a relatively simple 'appeasement' solution: give hosts one 'get out of jail free' card per year that we can apply to that one-off 'punishment' review. It happens to all of us. 

ALTERNATIVELY, Airbnb could separate the criteria for superHOST from superLISTING. Especially as we host increasing numbers of spaces, or Airbnb encourages us to use co-hosts, we run into a need for a distinction.

I'm a long time single unit superhost (since the program started) but didn't meet the criteria this time around despite having only 5 star reviews for my apartment, simply because I briefly co-hosted another space that was less stringent in its choice of guest. One of those guests gave a 1 star review to punish my co-host, and that has knocked me out of superhost rankings, even though it had nothing to do with me, nor with my principle listing, the one for which I'm consistently given 5 stars. As a traveller I run into a similar challenge: how do I give a great review to a HOST, even if the property that person is hosting (often for another owner) isn't great?

[Sonia_Michael1]

The change to the criteria for Superhost is a disaster!

Your rationale for changing the criteria doesn't make sense - there will never be a system that everyone understands. 

We run a consistently loved AirBnB venue. We have been marked down by guests twice: Firstly when a family arrived at 10.30pm and left without breakfast and then said it wasn't value for money (every single other guest has raved about the place and said we should charge more!) Secondly, we told a group of guests in advance exactly where we were located, how far the nearest pub was to walk to and gave them lots of different options, we arranged in advance for the pub to give them lunch on a day they don't usually serve food - the guests then marked us down for location! Sometimes whatever you do for people you can't win. AirBnB has made it too easy to lose Superhost status at the whim of unjustified criticism from guests. Please rethink your strategy.

[Susan1081]

Ute...  you are awesome! You must be a great mathematician!

I myself was kicked off of super host because of a poor review from a guest that said that they had trouble with the directions, and the reason they had trouble with the directions is because they did not read them. The directions are very very specific on my webpage because this is a country property. I have had excellent ratings... zero cancellations , good average, etc..always in the upper portion etc. etc. etc. and I got nicked on cancellations because people don’t respond within the 24 hour timeframe  or they can’t make up their minds ...

if I have had zero cancellations then how do I get in trouble when the people don’t finish what they started?

By the way are we insulting humans by saying that they cannot understand a percentage such as 80% or 85%? Do we really have to make it a 4.8 what does that really mean? Ute had the answer!

Has anyone ever gone into the little bottom area of Airbnb and seen who is actually involved with Airbnb at this time? There is big, big, big business down there. They’re all these hotel conglomerate names down there and it’s no longer ..just call up the guys in San Francisco and have a decent phone call. It makes me sad… 

[Jenn48]

I disagree with the ten bookings. Most of my guests stay 4 nights to a week +, so although I have stellar reviews this summer I’ll have 9 bookings and won’t qualify. 

[Lisa1292]

Superhost Unfair Rules;

As a new host to ArBnB, I received an automatic booking from a quest.  She booked the reservation as though there was only one person coming.  I asked her a question and she was very evasive.  It was exactly 6 hours after she booked the reservation, I decide to cancel her reservation.  When she booked the room she selected 1 quest but in her comment she said "we".  So, I asked her "who would be joining her for her visit".  I explained for safety purposes I would like to know who is coming to my home. This was her first booking with ArBnB, she had just joined.  She was going to arrive at my home in 4 days, so the week cancellation was available.  At the time, I didn't know about selecting the host quest that other quest have recommended so that they can't automatically book with out pre-approval.  I felt uncomfortable with her coming with someone and not letting me know prior.  I've always followed and went beyond ArBnB rules to eventually get that superhost badge.  As a result of one cancellation I will not achieve it.  If a host has a bad feeling about a quest, they should be able to cancel.  This isn't an option and as a new host, this isn't made clear.  This is unfair for a new host trying to achieve Superhost.  Since I started ArBnB, I superseded all expectation and rules.  So for one cancellation, I loose my chance of Superhost.  Now, the rules have changed for the worse.  Thank you but no thank you with regards to superhost.

[Dana-and-Vance0]

Dear Airbnb

I had to cancel a guest reservation due to having to take the City to court to prove to them I can legally do rental vacation home in my house.  The guest did not want to cancel for fear of not getting their money back and I did not want to risk ruining their vacation so I canceled for them.  The city said they would require guest to leave if they were there.

We did take the city to court and WON!!  It took 5 months of a lot of stress & hope!

I lost my Superhost by tring to be a Superperson and do the right thing.

[Robin114]

In reviewing super host standards, and your rating system, I have decided there is a disconnect between the two.

If 4 is meeting expectations, why should we all have to freak out over that? 

Our guests value a super host rating, but frankly, it then raises their expectations also.

My home is old and small. I recognize that and charge a lower than average rate for my area. To have somebody say the value met their expectations us fair,  but I should not be punished for it.

Please airbnb, lower Super host to 4.5

[Sarah977]

@Robin114  It's even worse than that- "Met my expectations" is a 3 star. "A bit better than my expectations" is a 4 star.

How dare we be such poor hosts that our guests found their stays to be "a bit better" than their expectations.