Does anyone have experienced all 5 stars reviews in the categories but 4 stars overall ? so unfair

[Maria568]

When people is happy , great comments and they still give you 4 stars ???

[Maria568]

adding to my post ... 4 stars overall and all the categories are rated 5 stars and the comments are great ? I don't understand , can they changed it ,,, maybe is a mistake ...... 

[Huma0]

@Maria568  I've posted about this before (will try to find the post and add a link here but it was a while ago).

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about how the star rating system works. Guests leave the overall star rating but leaving the individual category star ratings is optional, so some guests rate all categories, others rate a few, and many guests don't rate any at all.

The problem occurs when guests don't rate the categories, because to the host, those categories will appear to be 5 stars, but they are not! They are non-ratings that will neither push your average in that category up nor down. I don't know why Airbnb displays them as 5 when the guest did not leave a score, but that's how it is.

So, in answer to your question, if you see a guest has left you 4 stars overall but all the categories are showing as 5, perhaps there was something else they didn't like that doesn't fit into those categories, but it is much more likely that they simply didn't rate them. They left an overall rating and skipped the rest.

Hope that makes sense.

[Maria568]

Thank you Huma ...I understand now... I'm still think the system is wrong... this particular guest was extremely happy and she recognised she made a mistake and tried to fix it  (I don't think she can ).. people are not educated by Airbnb that a 4 stars can affect your superhost status and put you out of business... they think they are giving you a great favour. 

[Alon1]

@Huma0 

One person who should take special notice of your account is @Robin4 

Robin is particularly irate by 4 Stars Overall while 5* for all other 6 criteria 

Indeed, Robin has devised a special chart for Guests to address this anomaly as he sees it.

However, I have reason to question your account. I can readily point to two reviews that don't seem to fit your explanation.

One Guest gave overall 3 stars and nothing else shows for the 6 criteria. 

 (If I've understood you correctly, then it should show 5* for everything else?).

Another gave 3 overall, and rated 2 criteria: Cleanliness 3* and Accuracy 2*. 

   (Nothing else shows).

I wait your reply.

Thank you.

[Marit-Anne0]

@Maria568 

I must admit that I have done exactly that once as a guest.  The place had an awful smell of sewage that did not fit into any category, so I gave a 4* for overall.  The written reviews are all excellent, but I suppose the situation explains why this host was not a superhost, quite a few must have done the same as me.  

[J-Renato0]

@Maria568 

Yes! It is rare, but unfortunatelly it happens.

[Anonymous]

@Maria568 See here: https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/In-Case-You-Missed-It-Review-update-Host-Guarante...

If the guest did input the category ratings, they should have gotten a prompt to verify that the Overall rating is what they intended. If they didn't, it's likely to be a case as @Huma0  described.

It may have been the honest truth that they made a mistake with the rating, but that's also the most common answer guests give when confronted about it. As you noted, there's a disconnect between how Airbnb presents the 4 star rating to guests ("Very Good") and how they treat hosts who receive them (Abject Failure).  With your hundreds of great reviews, you're in no danger of being put out of business over this one rating, so try and take comfort in knowing that your guest was happy and don't let the stupid stars get you down!

[Maia29]

The system is still ridiculous and the guests don't realize how important their ratings actually are to hosts. I'm tired of giving guests 5 stars and then they give me a 4 star rating, even though they didn't have any issues as far as I know.