Bye Bye Superhost

[Robin4]

Ever since the start of 2017 I have been able to retrain my Superhost status with each assessment but, I think I am going to loose it come this next assessment due 30th June because I will fall slightly short of the 4.8 overall requirement.

Over the past 12 months I have had......

76 x 5 star reviews!

13 x 4 star reviews!

 3 x 3 star reviews ! 

It's not a big deal because Airbnb don't routinely display a hosts status on search pages any more but where it becomes just a touch unfair is, I will be penalised for doing nothing wrong.

Of those 13 x 4 star reviews some where just like this one......

What could I have done better there?

And what about this one......

If Airbnb are going to insist in their rating system of hosts that a less than 5 star incurs a penalty, then they must insist in that review system that the guest justify that penalty.

I know we have worn this topic out over the years and maybe guests have got a bit more critical since the onset of Covid 19 but I am not that chuffed about losing my Superhost status over nothing a guest has mentioned that I have done wrong!

Cheers.........Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

That's interesting to hear about Ebay. I didn't know that it was difficult to report an unsatisfactory item.

A bit off topic, but I definitely wouldn't say that Ebay protects its sellers above its buyers. I have found it to be quite the opposite, which is why I don't really use it to sell stuff anymore. I have found them to always favour buyers, making it really easy for them to scam sellers. Perhaps it is different in Australia.

Quite some years ago, Ebay changed it so that a seller could not leave a negative review for a buyer, only positive, but a buyer could leave positive, neutral or negative reviews. How is that fair? They said it was to protect buyers from retaliatory reviews, but they could have had a 'blind' review system instead if that was their aim. Imagine if Airbnb hosts were only allowed to leave positive, 5* reviews, but guests could still leave 1*!

[Robin4]

@Huma0 

As you have no doubt learned from my involvement here over the years, my darling wife Ade has MS and has virtually lost the use of her legs. She depends on a walking frame around the house and a 'Gopher' (mobility scooter) when she wants to go shopping or for other outings. 

Mobility scooters are electric vehicles powered by, of course, batteries! Last August I bought a set of 2 year guaranteed batteries of the correct size and deep cycle type from an Ebay seller. In February of this year (7 months after purchase) the batteries had deteriorated to the point where the gopher would not travel for 1 Km before coming to a complete stop. I contacted the seller with proof that both batteries were down to less than 40% of their rated storage capacity but, the seller wanted nothing to do with them, had absolutely no intention of honouring that 2 year stated warranty. 

I tried to complain to Ebay but their complaints site is so cleverly designed that you cannot actually report a seller for selling a faulty product. I tried for weeks and just had to give up in the end.....I am afraid, if you buy on Ebay Huma,  it's a case of .....Buyer beware!

Cheers........Rob

[Huma0]

@Robin4 

I've never tried to report a faulty item on Ebay so I don't know about the complaints site. Was the seller also the manufacturer/brand, because usually a product will come with a manufacturer's warranty?

Anyway, it sounds like Ebay is not necessary good for either sellers or buyers. I used to sell a lot of things on there, but it got too painful. The last time I tried to sell something, the buyers were such a pain in the backside that I ended up selling it on FB Marketplace instead. Not that they were that much better there, but there weren't as many time wasters. 

The item, which was an early Victorian safe which would be worth several hundred pounds when restored, was listed at £50 because I just needed to get rid of it. I had three separate people buy it on Ebay and then cancel the purchase (even though technically they are not allowed to do that) because, guess what? THEY DID NOT READ THE LISTING and didn't realise it was heavy. Sound familiar?

Yep, common sense is not so common.

[Kelly149]

Oh and @Robin4 the SH math is always in its own tab on profile or insights. I’d trust that over a CS. And I know mine popped to 4.8 sooner than I’d manually calculated. I guess it all depends on what the rounding tolerances are set at. 

[Robin4]

@Kelly149 

Kelly, it's my understanding that, unlike 'Overall'  the Superhost tolerances are set at .5!

So the SH tolerances are 4.8, 4.85, 4.9, 4.95......but what do I know! CS has thrown that out the window!

According to my profile in Insights I am sitting on 4.8, so lets see what happens! 

Cheers........Rob