how do you get back to 5 stars?

[Daryll-And-Nikki0]

Hi everyone.

We have had 5 star ratings for everything until one guest ruined my sofa and a few other things and when I asked for compensation he then left us a 2 star rating - even though before that he had said he had had a wonderful time.

So its taken my rating from 5 stars to 4.9 (45 five star ratings, one two star rating)

How do I ever get back to 5 star overall rating?

Ps the guest didn't pay for the damages and Airbnb refused to remove his rating.

[Rowena29]

@Daryll-And-Nikki0 

BAd news I"m afraid in that you can never ever ever get back to the perfection of 5 stars - you're forever relegated to 4.9    ( under the current system anyway which is extremely unlikely to change)

As irritating and unfair as i'm sure that is, in reality, most guests coudlnt' care less about 4.9 vs 5.

Every host is in the same boat and almost everyone has had an unreasonable guest adn an unfair review.

Guests look at what other guests have said, your photos and your price.

It's very unlikley to affect your future bookings.

I do understand how much it riles, but - onwards and upwards, try to put it behind you and look to the next booking....

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Daryll-And-Nikki0 

@Rowena29  is not quite correct in what she says. The fact is if you get a further 579 5* reviews you will get back to the perfect 5.

Now whether that is possible is perhaps debatable but good luck and don't obsess too much!

Spreadsheet below

43	5	215
1	2	2
			4.93181818
622.369362	5	3111.84681
1	2	2
			4.99518744
579.369362	extra 5 * reviews needed

[Linda2798]

Thank you for doing the math for me.  I did get sent the numbers by Air and thought well that's it never going to get my 5 stars back but at least now if I stick at this game for long enough and no one else gives me less than 5 stars ever again I can get it!!  ha ha 

[Rowena29]

Interesting @Mike-And-Jane0 

I'd be very happy to be proved wrong re this.

Do you know for sure though that this would actually translate into a perfect 5 score being reinstated?

I know that when I go to my progress I'm told I have 5 stars.

But when I go to my listing, guests are told I have 4.97 stars.  I was under the impression that the star rating  on our listing, next to our reviews, could never climb back to a perfect 5 once it had been lost. Obviously a bit of an intellectual exercise, given that nealry 600 successive perfect scores are needed,  but if it did actually work it would be nice to think it was at least POSSIBLE to get back to 5 ( however unlikley..)

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Rowena29 

Basic maths says when the rating is calculated to two decimal places you have to get to 4.995 before it is rounded up to 5.00 - I can only assume that Airbnb were taught the same maths (or math) as I was.

If you are being told you have 5 stars I guess that is the 4.97 rounding to 5 when calculated to 1 decimal place.

[Rowena29]

@Mike-And-Jane0 yep I completely understand where the perfect 5 comes from in my progress and how they've done the rounding up, my point more was - do you know for sure airbnb actually do employ the strategy you presented when it comes to your rankings that a guest sees? I realise it doesn't really matter - I'm just interested. Because everything I've ever read about the subject has said that once the perfect 5 has gone, it's gone for good, 4.99 is the highest that will ever show....  ( the way things SHOULD happen and the way they DO happen in airbnb land are not always one and the same...)

[Sarah977]

@Daryll-And-Nikki0  Considering that star ratings are entirely subjective, and guests will give 4* ratings for anything from a valid issue to "I never give 5*s on principle", to "Oh, did I? I must have hit the wrong star by mistake, I meant to leave a 5" to "Well, your place was great, but we didn't like the town much" to "I was fighting with my husband, so I had a crummy holiday", I think hosts shouldn't worry about not being a perfect 5. It's concerning if it drops low enough that you lose Superhost status, or falls below the basic requirements, but other than that, if the star rating is given for any reason other than valid issues, there's nothing a host can do to make themselves "perfect".

[Daryll-And-Nikki0 · Accepted solution]

Yes its hard to be perfect and the whole 5* expectation is somewhat absurd.

The issue is about AIRBnB behaviour in not implementing there own policies which state that review must be "fair and unbiased and relate only to the stay" - nothing personal. In our case the reviewer commented they had a great time and the stay was terrific but then went on to call us out on seeking payment from them for damages. In fact what we did was trigger the AIRBnB insurance claim for the damage they did - which bye the way  AIRBnB has since paid. So several issues with this.

1. Why would AIRBnB allow somebody to leverage the platform in such a personal and vindictive way

2. Why will they not back their own policies

3. Why do they refuse to answer any specific point raised - they merely hide behind generic statements of "we have reviewed this but...."

All in all it  outlines alce of ethics and transparency - key issues for a platform such as this.

[Ute42]

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@Daryll-And-Nikki0   

You made a mistake. You asked for compensation for a ruined sofa. What was the result of Your misbehaviour? You didn't get your money but You got a 2* review.

In the system of airbnb, don't make a damage claim, don't ask your guests to follow the house rules and don't deny a 2am check-in bc You will get a bad review for doing so.

I trust You will not make the same mistake again so good luck with collecting 579 five* reviews.

[Sarah977]

@Daryll-And-Nikki0  Be aware that Ute is the forum's Queen of Sarcasm, just in case you took that seriously. 

[Ute42]

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@Sarah977 

You just ruined my joke. The real joke though is, that my post isn't a joke.

[Sarah977]

Aw, sorry, @Ute42 . Can I make up for it by telling you that there's not many people who could pull off the level of sarcasm you do in their non-native language?

You always make me laugh, but I've seen posters take great offense on forums to something they thought was serious because they missed the sarcasm.

And you're right, it's no joke. 

[Ute42]

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@Sarah977    

That's the essence of sarkasm – to keep people in limbo about how this is actually ment. To make people think about it – what does she really mean? Is that serious?

Unfortenately English isn't my mother tongue. You should read my German posts, there's a lot of limbo going on in there. Some people love me for it and some people hate me. And that's what I love.

And then, Sarah, women should not be too calculable in what they say and what they to. You know that, You're one of us.

[Tim2635]

I think there should be a way of getting our 5 star back we have 96 5* and 3 4* and are 4.97