Confusing Review......all 5-stars except the overall rating, that was 4-stars

[Peter1354]

Dear Fellow Hosts,

Curious about the how I ended up with a 4-star overall rating when everything was 5-stars. Maybe someone can explain, as I've no idea. I attached a couple of screenshots for reference. 

Maybe I'me being judged against some mystery criteria, like the time I was criticized for the sun going down too early, and the house casting a shadow on the pool in the early evening 🙄

Airbnb should get rid of the Overall Rating, as I don't think many people know how to use it and in cases like this are detrimental to all the hard work we, Chih and I, have put into making this a really nice Airbnb. Honestly, you give people more than 4-5 choices and they automatically go into decision constipation which leads to just picking random answers, anything to be done 🤣

Cheers,
Peter

[Peter1354]

 @Jennifer235 @Catherine-Powell @Robin4 

Hello Jennifer, Robin and Catherine-Powell (who I assume is an Airbnb employee?),

So nice to hear from someone in the Bay Area, we used to live in Oakland,  first exit off the Bay Bridge. 

One of the things Chih, my husband, and I did while we lived in Oakland, was open a small cupcake bakery called "Republic of Cake" in Orinda (just over the Oakland hills). During the seven years we owned the bakery we were exposed to many "Jekyll & Hyde" businesses, Airbnb is one. These are business where you can be a ‘consumer’ and a ‘merchant/host’ simultaneously. The two that standout are YELP and AMEX.

As a YELP consumer (reading the reviews and making decisions based on what my peers thought), and a business owner (on the receiving side of those same reviews). To make being a merchant worse, YELP has a “filter”so they can remove "suspect" reviews, while at the same time attempting to sell advertising space for better placement … more than a little unethical. 

Likewise with AMEX, card holder since 1984. However, with the bakery we were an AMEX merchant and that is a whole new experience. Talk about abusive and expensive. At one point I was charged 5% commission on a pre-paid AMEX card and I was more than a little upset. AMEX had already collected a fee when they issued the card and they already had the money, and when I questioned it, I was told that was the way it is. When I said I didn't want to accept the gift cards any longer, I was told it was "all or nothing"... I chose nothing.

While AMEX and YELP think they are key to your success, they really aren't. 

I did resume accepting AMEX, after a three year absence, due to strange coincidence on a flight from London back to San Francisco. The lady in the seat next to me recognized me as one of the owners of Republic of Cake. The lady was one of our customers, and lived in Orinda. As it turned out she was a VP of Customer Service with…..AMEX!! Go figure! She point blank asked me why I didn’t accept AMEX, after listening she corrected the mistake and we reinstated outr merchant account: took a little respect, that’s all.

For most of us, the spaces we rent are our homes, where we live, so to have all the hard work, care, love we have invested in our spaces comes down to nothing more “what sort of bowel movement” did the guest have that morning, is offensive so say the least.  The other ratings are merely fluff, quite pointless, as I could stay, grade 1-star on everything, apart from the overall rating which would be 5-stars? Seriously!! I’m sorry, but the person who thought this was a good idea is an idiot.

I also fail to see how an arbitrary “overall rating” is a rational way of measurement for all the effort put into being a host? It isn’t. It’s a “a blunt instrument” pure and simple.  I didn’t think I would ever find a Jekyll & Hyde business that had a worse rating/review system than YELP, a system pretty much despised by most business owners, until Airbnb’s.  It is offensive of Airbnb to consider all our hard work worth little more than a toss, an after thought, then make it the most important grading tool. 

Until Airbnb considers us more a ‘partner’ rather than just a throw-away ‘product’ nothing will change. If Airbnb’s plan is to become the Walmart of the accommodation business, then it is well on the way. The way Airbnb treats host is about the same as Walmart treats their suppliers. I wonder how long it will be before we'll be charged for more visibility, and have to pay higher commission for a 4-star rating than a 5-star? 

A few specific questions: 

1. If all we’re doing is pouring water on the floor, as Airbnb never looks at this and if they do they certainly don’t do anything, then the community seems like a waste…if it’s not an agent for change, then it’s no more than a place to vent: as the clear message is - Airbnb isn’t going to change and they really don’t care about my throw-away product.
2. If there are Airbnb employees on here, do they ever respond and if so do they have authority to start a conversation?
3. Does Airbnb senior management ever have on-line meetings with hosts? If not, why not? 

[Ann72]

@Peter1354  I hate the 4 star overall so much that just yesterday I doom-scrolled through all my past reviews to remind myself of the names of every a**hole who has ever left me one.  Are they all dead to me?  Yes, they are.  I am one-quarter Irish.  What is Irish Alzheimer's?  You forget everything but the grudge.

To respond to the three questions at the end of your post - 1., yes sometimes changes do come about as a result of community activity, 2., yes, Airbnb employees do respond from time to time and they do have the authority to start conversations, and 3., I have participated in host sessions with Airbnb departments, and so I believe has @Christine615.  I don't know the job titles of everyone participating but I have been in meetings with Brian, Catherine, and others.

Do these things happen all the time?  No.  But when I get impatient for change, I remember:  4 million hosts (and an ever-changing and presumably higher number of guests).  It just helps me to think about how many permutations must be considered for every policy under review.

[Robin4]

@Peter1354 

Peter this all comes about by Airbnb's steadfast desire to highlight something wrong.....not concentrate on those things that are right.

If we look at the guest to host review process and break it down into steps.

Step one says " How was your stay at Peter's place"?

Now the guest thinks...."The pictures looked great, the host had a heap of good reviews, communication was excellent, bed was fantastic we were expecting something special and we got it!" 

So, he puts in that first step....... 5 stars! 

Second step he ticks the items that impressed him, and then he comes to step 3, and Peter, here is where the whole thing goes off the rails!

How did your stay at Peter's place compare to your expectations? 

The guest then gets to think and he says to himself....

'We were expecting something pretty good and that's what we got, it met our expectations' ....

so, he ticks the middle box.......'About the same as I expected'!

He then thinks...."Well I can hardly give it 5 stars if Airbnb suggest that meeting our expectations is OK!"

So he goes back to step one and alters his star rating accordingly.

Peter we know he does this because he gives you a 5 star in all the categories! There was nothing wrong, not a hint of what you might have been able to do better, no criticisms, the guest was expecting a good stay and that is what he got.

It's frustrating when you get them like this............

A great stay, it met your expectations, it was a 3 star!

Peter don't let it get you down, it's nothing either you or the guest have done wrong, it's just Airbnb's quaint way of punishing hosts for doing their best!

Cheers..........Rob

[Peter1354]

@Robin4 

Hello Rob, Thank you for comments and feedback. I copied you on another post reply, which deals with the same frustrations. It really is a kick in the teeth when this happens.

It is certainly clear that Airbnb has no interest in changing this system, which is a shame. Luckily, Airbnb don't need to talk to us, we're just the product and easily replaced. 

What is also clear is that Airbnb has great affection for their guests, and disdain for their hosts. The only time you place no value on someone's hard work is when you don't value what they offer. 

It really is offensive.

[Sarah977]

@Peter1354  What they have is great affection for the guests' service fees, which fill their coffers. 

[Peter1354]

@Sarah977 

LOL!!

It is what happens when you think you are the industry and it, the industry, would fail with if it were not for Airbnb. Honestly, ask Nokia who went from being the biggest cell phone maker to a has been, due to the arrival of the  iPhone. Airbnb are a facilitator, and beyond that appear care not a hoot. 

Be safe Sarah

[Craig627]

how can this problem be fixed? 

as it stands the hosts star rating is doomed to go down the longer they operate

[Craig627]

As it exists now a guest writes a review, they select star ratings to several relevant things such as: cleanness, location, ect. and they apply a star rating to each item.
As in our case 5 stars as usual
then they apply a star rating to their overall experience (in our case 3 stars) because of it was raining that weekend or something else beyond the control of the host.
Then because the relevant items Such as cleanness ect, do not apply ( they should)
The overall experience of 3 stars is what we get rated as hosts.
This platform needs to be updated to be more fair.

[Robin4]

@Craig627  @Peter1354 

Don't expect it to change guys, we have been trying for years, we have made suggestions but we have been steadfastly ignored by anyone associated with property development in Airbnb.

Change is not going to happen, we have to realise that and be pro-active on our side. We have to educate guests on how the Airbnb review process differs from the accepted norms of reviewing.

This is the sheet that I include inside the front cover of my house rules folder.....click photo to enlarge!

Some guests are genuinely shocked when they read this and say, they had no idea that by giving a host three stars they were penalising the host. They actually thought they were being constructive and helping the host!

As hosts we should not have to grovel to guests for good reviews, it makes the whole concept look a bit seedy.......I don't like having to do it, but, if we care about what we do, we don't have a choice, Airbnb have forced us into a corner where we have to defend what we do.

If we just stick our heads in the sand and say 'well great reviews are not the end of world',  the  system just keeps on promoting failure. Hosts who don't give a da*n about what they do, don't care, their ratings drop down to 4.3 or less, they drag the entire platform down while hosts who do care get frustrated and leave for greener more caring pastures. It is dragging down the quality of the platform, hosts want to be promoted, not criticized!

The concept is self defeating! 

As you Craig, pointed out, poor stats are cumulative and it takes 30 x 5 star reviews to repair the rating damage that 1 x 3 star review will do.

Once you lose a 5 star rating, you will never get it back which is possibly okay if you deserve it, but grossly unfair if you don't, yet Airbnb tells the guest that's how they should review.

Cheers.......Rob

[Bob297]

@Robin4 @Craig627 @Peter1354 
.
The evening before the guests leave I send them a PDF via whatsapp thanking them for their stay. I also ask them to leave a review and include the same "star" image and explanationRobin uses.
Even guests who used to be a host themselves, are surprised to read how the system works.

I use different wordings for other platforms and use templates that I personalize.

@Peter1354: we are almost neighbors :-). I have two villas in Curacao.

[Annette391]

@Bob297 @Robin4  Would love to have a copy of the sheet and/or the table you use to explain and  illustrate the stars rating for guests. 

@Craig627 @Peter1354  This is super frustrating! The overall should be an average of the categories, not subjective. And,  if my guests' stay at my property met their expectations, it should be 5 stars.  They shouldn't be misled into giving less than if cotton candy clowns, rainbows, and unicorns didn't show up to make sure the stay was "much better than expected". For instance, I can't control a cold snap or rain, but that could make a guest's stay not as good as they expected. @Catherine-Powell I thought there was talk from Airbnb of reforming this.  Maybe I dreamt that.

[Sarah977]

@Annette391  Not sure what you mean by "should be an average of all the categories, not subjective"?

All ratings are subjective. What is 5* clean to one person might be 3* clean to another. Ratings, by their very nature, are never objective, they aren't based on facts, but on the individual perception and attitude of the rater.

[Peter1354]

@Annette391 @Sarah977 

Maybe “subjective” is not the best descriptor, a better one is “dishonest” it is certainly more accurate. The single question on which the products are rated is misleading and openly dishonest. It is a system designed to keep the product fresh, steady turnover, as with tenure will come an eventual lower rating. 

It my mind is heartless of Airbnb to implement such a system, one designed to purposefully mislead the guest without a care for the host, the people involved. 

BTW did Brian address this in his news update?

[Sarah977]

@Peter1354  I have no idea what Mr. Chesky (I don't call him Brian, because he isn't a friend of mine and the folksy first name thing is designed to make him seem like he so cares about hosts, when he most certainly doesn't) addressed in the video.

I don't watch them anymore- they make me sick, so full of platitudes and "caring", when the realities of using his platform are the opposite of what he tries to portray.

[Robin4]

@Annette391 

Annette, sorry for the delay in responding to you, I have been away on family business for a couple of weeks. Is this the sheet you are looking for?

If this is what you are after, simply copy this picture by right clicking  > 'save image as' and pasting it to a folder on your computer.....it will reproduce in A4 size when you print it, so you can incorporate it in your house rules folder should you wish!

The rationale for this has been recently changed Annette! When I did this, step 3 in the guest review process was as follows......

You will note the 5 options available relate to the star ratings the guest can give you.

This step has now been deleted and the guest is now asked to find fault with a predetermined number of items. I know this because I have just completed a review for a property we stayed at last week......

This checklist was for 'mostly accurate'! The guest is not asked for what was right.....only what might have been wrong! You can just imagine what those boxes are for 'Not accurate at all'!

Airbnb continue to have this fetish for getting guests to find 'rats up the drainpipe' for hosts properties! They encourage guests to find failure, not reward success.

For that reason Annette,  I leave that sheet in my house rules folder so that guests can see the consequences of the ratings they give. We should not have to do this, but Airbnb back us into a corner I am afraid.......and doing it works, my last 42 reviews have been 5 star and I have only had 4 in the last 100 that have not been 5 star. It makes the whole review process a sham but, we have to play it by Airbnb's rules!

Cheers.......Rob