Does Airbnb 8 ball?

[Dorothy122]

I know that Airbnb sends guest that are really quality control, to check that your place meets five star standards. To many things have happened that lead me to this conclusion. Make Airbnb unhappy for some reason. I think they also 8 ball you by sending a lot of bad bookings that not only do bad things to your property but give you bad ratings. Some of the complaints are outright lies or some extra you would not give them. If you don't get five star ratings they put you at the bottom of their booking list. You lose bookings and benefits.  I will know for sure this is what is happening if my current booking turns bad. This will make three in a row. Maybe time to find another booking company.  

[Elisabeth40]

I am not being rude, but I am asking how this technically works? Is there an algorithm for this type of task  and who decides all of the sudden that you should get bad guests and reviews. I am not judging here anyone, but I would find it really crazy if someone would invest time to program such tools which destroy you. Usually people supposed to grow and not be destroyed. I believe people choose your place on price, location and needs. how would a computer know if a guests will give a bad review, that's not possible!?

[Cormac0]

@Gordan0

The relevance to this post is that surprising things can happen on Airbnb...

[Alon1]

@Cormac0 

This may not be what you had in mind, but surprising none the less.

A few days ago I received a message from a Guest in Hong Kong (surprising in itself given the current restrictions). But this wasn't a new Enquiry or Reservation Request, it was from a past contact explaining why she had cancelled a Reservation Request before I had chance to answer. Date of RR, February 22, 2015! 

i sent her a polite response, 'scratching my head'....

[Sarah977]

@Alon1  That is a real head scratcher. I wonder if she meant to send that message to a recent host she'd booked with and clicked on the wrong profile. Either that or her message got lost in cyberspace for 5 years and just miraculously came through. 

Used to be that a letter would slip behind the sorting table at the post office and found and mailed years later. I remember reading about a case like that- it was a marriage proposal which the recipient never received until about 30 years after it had been sent. Oops.

[Alon1]

@Sarah977 

I don't think it was meant for another Host.

  I didn't mention that at the time it took me a day or so to notice the cancellation when I checked Reservations for another reason, and noticed it was an RR without an accompany- ing message., I sent her a note informing of this unusual occurrence, especially as a live-in host. Her reply which I received a few days ago simply stated: 'Hi I didn’t booked and cancelled your house'.

My 'scratching my head' response has not received a reply. But then I don't expect it so quickly and have marked my diary for c. 2025.

The cyberspace scenario seems more plausible. Though I rather entertained the possibility she might be an Alien light years away, so it's taken that long to beam down to Earth.

Any further conspiracy theories welcome.....

[Helen350]

I disagree that you need 5* to be top of the listings @Dorothy122 . One of my rooms was consistanty top, or in the top 2-5, despite having a ranking of 4.83 - 4.84. Many of my competitors had a better star rating, but featured lower on search rankings. I think my high placing must have been due to high number of VIEWS & bookings, = high profile, not stars given. My other listings, ranked 4.73 - 4.75 also feature on the first page, usually, whilst 5* places appear further down. I'm sure it's turnover, not rating.

[Dorothy122]

Sorry to say this. But I refuse to let a bunch of strangers tell me how valuable I am by star ratings.  I keep a clean house, provide a good place to sleep and even offer breakfast. I am boss of my BnB not Airbnb.  

[Ann489]

@Dorothy122  maybe you should delete your listing from their platform then.  There are plenty of things that I don't like about Airbnb, but it is my choice to list--or not to list with them.

[Dorothy122]

true, I am considering it.

[Sarah977]

@Dorothy122  The scenarios you describe and attribute to some secret conspiracy of Airbnb's, just sound to me like typical scammy guest behavior, which happens. Guests manufacturing some issue, be it the blinds were dusty, or they found a cockroach (which they actualy brought with them in a baggie for exactly that purpose). There are all sorts of online blogs, Facebook groups, etc, where those who are scam-inclined exchange info on how to get a free Airbnb stay.

I don't think this has anything to do with someone being an Airbnb employee who has been sent by the company to damage your ratings-  there's no reason why the percentage of unscrupulous people, trying to get something for nothing, would be any less among Airbnb employees than among the average population.

" It's funny how people don't want to consider the truth."- Truth is something provable. You haven't proven anything. You've simply put forth an idea of what you think is happening. That's called a theory, not the truth.

I looked at your review pages, and I don't understand why you are so convinced that Airbnb employees are trying to tank your ratings- Aside from the latest review, you have pages full of wonderful reviews. And that latest review is from a guest who it looks like just joined and had no previous reviews, let alone 70. Brand-new to Airbnb guests can be problematic- they often haven't thoroughly read the listing description, or the house rules, and have unrealistic expectations of what an Airbnb is, or how they are meant to behave. And as a host, you have the option to respond publicly to a bad or lying review, to set the record straight for future guests, so not sure why you haven't made use of that option. Of course, that doesn't erase the star rating, which is a bummer (many of us hosts would like to see the star ratings abolished completely) but at least potential guests will be aware that they should dismiss that review.

What would be the point, anyway, in Airbnb sending employees around for the purpose of tanking a host's ratings?  I could see the possiblity of them sending employees as quality control to listings which have received many complaints or low ratings, to see for themselves if they think that listing should be suspended. But I can't think of any advantage to Airbnb to send someone to a  listing that has high ratings and reviews, simply for the purpose of lowering the star rating. Airbnb doesn't benefit in any way from having low-rated listings on its platform, to the contrary.

[Anonymous]

@Dorothy122  Airbnb's entire "quality control" protocol is based on automation.  It does use a lot of manipulation strategies to modify hosts' behavior - all the "tips" and warnings and status markers, to  name a few - but they're all run by bots. Your hypothesis seems to be based on the undercover inspections used by hotel chains - the purpose of which is to enforce standards, not to deliberately degrade their own product.  It is pretty common for Airbnb employees to use the platform as guests, because travel credits are a standard part of their benefits package. 

But you seem to have convinced yourself that, out of 700,000 hosts on the platform, Airbnb would single out a host with just one property in an obscure town in rural Washington, and "send" multiple people on its payroll with orders to downrate you purely for the purpose of decreasing your star ratings. How on earth would they benefit from this, let alone find it to be a worthwhile use of their budget?  They've deleted thousands of listings from the platform without explanation before, and if for whatever reason they find inclined to purge yours, they could do that with the click of a button. It makes absolutely no sense that they would commit a considerable travel budget and man-hours to send someone to the middle of nowhere for no reason other than to make your life more difficult. 

Airbnb's total workforce is dwarfed by the number of people out there who lie and cheat to get their way, who disrespect other people's property and rules, and who give lower ratings than recipients feel they deserved. You've had over 100 bookings, it's inevitable that a few of those are going to be duds. I know these are paranoid times for everyone, Dorothy, but Airbnb is not conspiring against you. You and your listing mean nothing to them aside from a few data points out of trillions trickling through the algorithms, and a microscopic percentage of their revenue stream. 

[Alon1]

@Anonymous 

re. 'But you seem to have convinced yourself that, out of 700,000 hosts on the platform, Airbnb would single out a host with just one property in an obscure town in rural Washington, and "send" multiple people on its payroll with orders to downrate you purely for the purpose of decreasing your star ratings.'

Sounds like a script for David Lynch.

[Dorothy122]

Yes, they are a big corporation that acts and behaves like any money making company. They are corruptible and people with power abuse that power. 8 balling is an old business practice that has been around sense mankind began trading.

**[Inappropriate content removed - Community Center Guidelines]

[Anonymous]

Dorothy, you've gone over the rainbow.

Nothing in this Alex Jones-esque diagram connects your suspicions about the internal workings of big corporation to a motive for them to target you specifically. 

Is it really so hard to accept that a small portion of your guests just weren't as happy with their stay, or didn't behave as responsibly, as the others? This is a completely normal thing that happens to every host without the intervention of some wild evil conspiracy. And while your home is very important to you as a person, it's not the kind of listing that AIrbnb is making most of its profits from - I don't know how to convey how utterly insignificant you are to them, and how nonexistent their concern about your star ratings is. 

Also, I'm guessing the word you're looking for is "blackballing."  "Eight-ball" refers to billiards and, euphemistically, to cocaine and methamphetamine. Please tell me you don't suspect Airbnb of slipping meth into your coffee too.

[Ann489]

@Anonymous    well said.   Maybe we can lay this bizarre post to rest now.   😉