New to Hosting first 4 star rating

[Matt6829]

Hey all, we are new to hosting. We recently welcomed our fifth guest. She was great and we had zero issues with her. We accommodated an extra guest for her and were flexible with our check-out time. My main concern or question is that she left a glowing review of our place and even highly recommended us. It was the kind of written review that we strive for.  However, she left a 4-star review. As I am learning quickly, the rating system is more of a punishment than a reward. Does anyone have any good ideas for navigating the 4 star reviews? I find leaving the magnets on the fridge tacky and I really just want to do a great job earning 5-star reviews without begging for them. What is the best way to educate guests on the rating system? Also, does Airbnb have any plans to address the rating system? 

Thank you. 

Matt 

[Anna1981 · Accepted solution]

Hi, don’t get too spooked by a 4 star review. Is there a particular reason why it’s not 5? If it’s a valid point that the guest made, try to fix it and just move on. You can also send a message to the guests directly and ask. Sometimes they think that 4stars is very good, they don’t realize that we need all 5 😁.  I also find it helpful to check in on guests a day after they arrive just to make sure everything is ok. Being proactive instead of reactive helps. Because it’s too late to fix things after they have checked out. I hope I was able to help!

[Matt6829]

Thank you for the response. As I have learned most hosts take personal pride in providing great service, as do I. Her review was great, it read like a 5-star review, but with a 4-star rating. We did have a power outage due to lightning strike, but we communicated with her and she even mentioned it was out of our heads. I like the idea of checking in on day two and I will start doing this moving forward. Thank you for the advice! 

[Zheng49]

"We did have a power outage due to lightning strike, but we communicated with her and she even mentioned it was out of our heads."

Did you offer a partial refund for her troubles? That might be what could have pushed that overall to 5 star. 

[Matt6829]

It was down for 2 hours and I communicated the whole time. I didn't think this was necessary. Is this common practice? 

[Debi79]

Hang in there for a few more reviews. I had the same thing happen early on.  It is frustrating that a single 4 star takes so very long to be re-balanced ... it took 5 more before I got back over 4.5!  And it doesn't seem like old reviews ever fall off. 

I had one stay where the heat failed and it was during a super cold snap. I did place a single- night refund to their stay that helped mitigate it a bit. But I don't do that unless something goes wrong for a very long period. 

Someone else suggests reaching out directly to the Guest to ask for more background on why only 4 stars was chosen.  Nerve wracking, I know but... there's not much you can do once it's in there.  😕

[Zheng49]

You could reach out to the guest and ask why she left 4 for the overall rating. If there are any areas for improvement etc.

With a glowing review like that, there is a chance she messed up and clicked on the wrong thing.