The reviews system is being updated

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

The reviews system is being updated

dispute-reviews-XL_(1).jpeg

 

Hosting connects you to strangers from around the world that you’d likely never cross paths with if you weren’t a Host on Airbnb. Reviews are an essential part and natural conclusion to each stay – whether a Host rates a guest or a guest rates the experience they had during their stay, reviews are displayed publicly for everyone to see. With that being said, sometimes reviews left by guests may feel unfair. You’ve told us that you’re frustrated with the current reviews system, so we’re updating the way reviews work as a result of your requests.

 

Feel more comfortable hosting guests without worrying about the possibility of receiving a retaliatory review or not having enough info about potential guests with the following upgrades:

 

  • Learn how you can dispute retaliatory reviews under our updated reviews policy.
  • Flag reviews from guests who commit a serious policy violation or violate your house rules.
  • Read specific details left about guests by other Hosts—and leave these details when any guest stays with you. 

 

Early next year, we’re also introducing a chatbot to make it easier for you to initiate a review dispute—without having to contact Community Support.

 

The same process applies to the reviews guests leave for you. Guests will still choose one to five stars for their overall stay. They can now also add a star rating—and specify what went well or could have gone better—in several categories. Only your overall star rating is factored into Superhost criteria, so your star ratings and feedback in specific categories won’t impact your Superhost status. 


Read more about it on the Resource Center.

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137 Replies 137
Debra587
Level 1
Huntsville, AL

At the very beginning of renting our cottage we had a person named

**[Name hidden due to privacy concerns - Community Center Guidelines]

, write a review, "that the cottage was very remote and there wasn't any shopping to speak of."  Her review has caused a lower review number than I would like, and most reviews since then have been high, but it's hard to overcome one that was so low.  I understand that your new retaliatory review protections can dismiss a review that may be affecting our review numbers. Thank you.

 

**[Name hidden due to privacy concerns - Community Center Guidelines]

, one and three stars given in the value, location, and accuracy categories.
Sep 21 - Sep 23, 2018
Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

Hi @Debra587 

I've moved your post over to our dedicated post about the update to the review system, just to keep things tidy!

 

You can request removal of any retaliatory review, regardless of how long ago it was posted. 

 

You can read more about how that works here - hope this helps!

Jenny

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Debra587 

 

No, I am afraid you have misunderstood. The "possible" removal being referred to is for retaliatory reviews, i.e. when a guest leaves a bad review in retaliation for something, like being brought up on breaking house rules or being asked to pay for damages.

 

It has nothing to do with reviews where the guest gave you low ratings simply because they didn't like the place (regardless of whether it was exactly as per your listing) or any and every review that is affecting your rating. 

Martha943
Level 2
London, United Kingdom

In general I think this sounds like a big improvement. I really like the idea of being able  to read and leave feedback for other hosts only, not the guests. Sometimes a little heads up is worth its weight in gold, when a guest is generally very good but has a few foibles that are worth being forewarned about.

I'm happy to see addressing the specific problem of bad reviews from guests that broke rules, having seen this happen to someone I know. 

I think it's all a good step in the right direction. 

I would also like as a consideration for the future, the ability to dispute a bad review when the mistake is the guest's, and it can be clearly proved. 

Here's an example from my experience: 

Last year I had a ten day booking from a person who I thought would not enjoy herself at my house at that time of year. I told her in detail via the inbox the problems that I foresaw but she insisted that it was what she wanted. 

She stayed one night and then said she wanted to leave, saying she was not happy, for all the reasons I had carefully pointed out to her! 

I helped her find somewhere more suitable and proposed to charge her my minimum stay of three nights so I didn't lose out too much. 

Now in fact, the lady was extremely nice about it, and admitted quite happily that I had been right and the mistake had been hers. I was upfront that I was worried about a bad review. and she told me not to worry at all, and she kept to her word. 

However, I contacted Airbnb support about this while I waited for the review, because I was very worried. And I was told that, basically, I just had to suck it up if she left a bad review. 

Luckily she didn't! But that would not have been a situation of retaliation, or of rules broken. Nevertheless I felt it would have been a situation where I would have been justified in asking a bad review to be removed, and I felt very un-supported when I was told it was not, especially when I had gone out of my way to help, cancelling the major part of a very big reservation and finding her a suitable hotel in a different location. 

Something to consider for the future perhaps. 


Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hello@Martha943 ,

 

Glad that you found this new update helpful . Thanks for sharing your experience and suggestions here. 

 

Bhumika

 

Can't find what you're looking for? Click here to start a conversation!

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Martha943 


@Martha943 wrote:

I really like the idea of being able  to read and leave feedback for other hosts only, not the guests. 


BUT, see @Gillian166 's post where she shares screenshots of the new review process. It told her that the comments would be shared with the guest, as well as other hosts.

 

As for your experience, personally, I think it is reasonable that reviews/sections of reviews should be removed if they are complaining about anything that is CLEARLY stated on the listing, and that includes things like when the guest complains that they weren't allowed an early check in. It's just common sense to me, but there is no way that Airbnb are going to remove those kinds of reviews.

 

I once had a guest who complained in her review (and marked me down) because she claimed she had not been told about something important. I messaged her and reminded her that, not only was it mentioned twice on the listing, which I asked her to confirm she had read, but she was reminded about it in THREE messages. She admitted that she had missed the information (clearly she had not read a thing), but couldn't care less as she was on holiday and didn't want to be bothered about it. So, I called CS, but they told me the same as you. "It doesn't violate our content policy" and  "It's the guest's experience".

 

I appreciate your optimism, but nothing Airbnb has said about the 'new' policy on retaliatory reviews will make any difference in situations like this or the one you describe. I'd be willing to bet my bottom dollar that those will not qualify as retaliatory, which is understandable. Those guests are not being retaliatory. They are just being clueless.

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

All very exciting. It appears Airbnb are listening to hosts as well as guests.

I do wonder if guests also can benefit from this policy?

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hello @Mike-And-Jane0 ,

 

Thanks for appreciating the efforts. Hope these new changes can benefit both hosts as well as guests and make review disputes easier to solve.

 

Bhumika

 

Can't find what you're looking for? Click here to start a conversation!

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Gillian166
Level 10
Hay Valley, Australia

This seems great. when is it being rolled out?

 

 .

Bhumika
Community Manager
Community Manager
Toronto, Canada

Hello @Gillian166 , 

 

Glad that you found this update useful. This update is in effect since its announcement today. You can have a look at this article for further information: A simpler way to dispute retaliatory reviews.

 

Bhumika

 

Can't find what you're looking for? Click here to start a conversation!

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@Bhumika  I have about 10 reviews that I have to write and I don't see any changes, so perhaps the new system doesn't apply to existing (unwritten) reviews), will it only take effect for new reviews from today?  

well to respond to myself, I can confirm it has been rolled out now!! and it's quite similar to the review process guests leave. it's made the review process longer, previously i could do reviews in about 15seconds (I have a bunch of saved comments that I paste in, and sometimes for an exceptional guest i'll write something extra), but this new process is going to take a bit longer, but still should be 1min max. 

 

Note if you leave 4 or 5 stars the bubbles are good things, but 3 stars is when there are problems...

Screen Shot 2022-11-17 at 4.53.52 pm.png

Screen Shot 2022-11-17 at 4.53.58 pm.png
and now I have more questions please @Jenny  
@Bhumika 

it says We'll share this with Matthew and other Hosts.

what exactly will you share with Matthew, because previously guests couldn't see their star ratings. Is that still the case? Are these comments anonymous because it sure doesn't read that way. 

 

Likewise though, as a guest i get asked the same questions during the review and it also says it will be shared with the host, but it is NOT shared with us at all. 

Jenny
Community Manager
Community Manager
Galashiels, United Kingdom

Hi @Gillian166 

 

I have asked the question, and if I get more info, I'll pop back and let you know!

 

Jenny

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Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Gillian166 @Bhumika 

 

In theory, this sounds good. However, it would be great if you could direct us to where we can find more detail on particular points, as the articles linked are really general.

 

The article linked above says: "For example, along with finding a guest’s overall rating, you’ll know how other Hosts rated them on cleanliness, communication, and following house rules."

 

But, this is nothing new at all. We have rated guests on these categories for years, and have been able to see those ratings from their previous stays for quite a while now. It would be far more useful if the article explained the addition of the 'extra details' that hosts are now able to supply.

 

In Brian Chesky's video (the one aimed at existing hosts, other than at attracting new ones), about 2 minutes, 15 seconds in, he starts speaking about this briefly and you can see here an example of the additional details he's referring to:

 

Screenshot 2022-11-17 at 00.34.28.png

 

Where can we find out more about this or see the full listing of options? I assume there are more, e.g. regards smoking for example. And, if they are already in effect, why is @Gillian166 not seeing those when she goes to leave a review?

 

As for the details a guest can now leave in addition to their ratings, above you've mentioned that the guest can "now add a star rating...in several categories." Again, they have always been able to do that, at leat as long as I've been hosting.

 

Then the article says: "For example, if your place is super clean, a guest might choose five stars and “squeaky-clean bathroom.”" Again, is this new? We had something like this a few years back, only it was called highlights or something, and a guest could choose "sparkling clean" I think it was. Some of those highlights would then appear on the listing, but a lot of hosts didn't like this for a number of reasons, so I assume that's why Airbnb scrapped it. Are we now to assume that these comments will be visible only to the host they are being left for, or will they be publicly visible? 

 

RE ground rules for guests, the article on that says that the house rules will now be displayed more prominently, including on our listings. Well, I just went to check one of my listings and I can't see how it's more prominent. The basic house rules are still displayed at the bottom page, rules/policies, which was once one of the menu tabs that used to display at the top of the listing or whilst scrolling, is still not there. Again, is this something that is supposed to be in effect already or still to be rolled out?

 

Sorry for all the questions, but these articles are really vague and often presenting existing features as something new.