Review Process as a Guest - as of March 2021‌‌

[Emilia42]

For those who have never stayed as a guest, here is a snapshot of the review process when completed in March 2021. I completed this review on a laptop and accessed the review from the e-mail prompt that Airbnb sent after my stay.

E-mail from Airbnb asking to review. Note: if you click on a star with your curser, that will populate the star rating on the first step of the review, but it can be changed. 

 

First step - Choose an overall star rating:

 

If giving a 3 star or below a "Report unsafe behavior" link will appear:

 

If giving a 4 or 5 star, the next step will be to choose 'compliments.' This step is optional and can be skipped. If giving a 3 star or below, this step is not an option.

 

The next step is to describe your trip: 

Then choose a star rating for the 5 subcategories. Cleanliness, Accuracy, Check-in, Communication, Location, and Value. 

Note: If you choose a star rating of 4 or below for any subcategories it will ask you to choose from a list of possible reasons and add detail. Examples:

 

If you give a 5-star overall rating but a 4 star in any of the subcategories, you will get this message. You have the option to change the overall rating or ignore it.

Next is the private note to the host: 

Next, the public review:

 

 

This concludes the review.

[Ann72]

Amazing.  I feel you had fun in spite of that!  @Emilia42 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Emilia42 

Very envious~~ I've been trying to persuade Henry to go glamping again. We went a couple times several years ago and I had a lot of fun 😀 

[Stephanie]

Thanks for sharing @Emilia42 !

It's great to see such good feedback from you all on this. With this step in the right direction, please let us know what you think we can continue working on in the review/rating system in the future. 

Thanks,

Stephanie

@Branka-and-Silvia0 @Ann72 @Sarah977 @Colleen253 

[Yocencia0]

@Stephanie

the review arbitration process is not going that well.  With Covid we have a few new guests that leave very long reviews clearly mentioning things about the town, roads near the home, and/or things that are not listed as amenities, and even one that goes on about our photos and decorations even though it all is visible in the listing photos.  

the support arbitrator does not want to remove reviews like this as they also have token comments about relevant things.  In my example, almost all good comments about relevant things that are covered in our listing anyway, with some non-relevant bad things seasoned in.  My listing (in this example) has some 183 other reviews but arbitrator will not remove one with so much irrelevant because of some innocuous comments about relaxing and nice fishing etc.   What is the point of the irrelevant policy if it can't be used.  The new protocol seems to encourage guests to find something to put in.  

Example: 

"The town has a huge paper mill, keep your vehicle vents and windows closed when driving through. The short span of road to get to the house was full of potholes, just go slow. "  kind of the definition of irrelevant.  

maybe a policy that super hosts can remove or hide one review a year per listing without question from arbitrator , or make it hide 1 review per 100 reviews received.

Also maybe the system should used Trimmed Mean instead of simply the mean for the star scores.   This would toss the few outliers, and would make the odd poor review less of an issue.

[Jennifer2682]

Hi Stephanie, I don't really understand the question about "expectations".  For example, I recently stayed at another Airbnb while on vacation.  It was amazing and I was really impressed with the host and the space.  However, I had pretty high expectations going in... I paid a good amount for the accomodation, they had all 5 star reviews, etc.  So, while the stay was certainly exceptional, I expected it to be so.  So, it didn't really "exceed" my expectations... it met them.  I'm wondering how this question provides value to the host and how it potentially effects us or our ratings?  

[Emilia42]

@Jennifer2682 Totally agree with you on that. I always review every single Airbnb with "The same as I expected" because I had great expectations and they were met. 

Also, it says that "Your host will only see answers that multiple guests have picked" but as a host, I have never seen this information and don't know where to find it. 

@Stephanie could you check with the team on where to locate this info?

[Sarah977]

@Emilia42 @Jennifer2682  That question really shouldn't be there at all. It actually has to do with the guest, not the host or the listing. A guest's "expectations" are something which really exists purely in their own mind.

An experienced host and guest like you, Emilia, who reads through the listing description and therefore has no unreasonable expectations, would check that box fairly, but for the majority of hosts, it's a potentially damaging and pointless question.

If a listing was inaccurately described, therefore the guest was led to expect something different, there's already a rating for that.

[Stephanie]

@Emilia42 Let me ask around, will get back to you!

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Emilia42 The answers that 'multiple guests have picked'. Isn't the the 'sparkling clean' etc that comes with each review?

[Sarah977]

@Mike-And-Jane0  No, she's referring to the "Did it meet your expectations" question, not the "compliments" section.

[Debra300]

@Jennifer2682,

You bring up some very valid points and question.  They could also be applied to anything that's related to the Value area, because they are subjective to the guest's viewpoint.  The price that you paid for your last Airbnb might be considered inexpensive or exorbitant, depending upon the financial, lifestyle and travel experiences of the guest.

At my place, we run the gamut of guests who could easily afford a more expensive space, the new/inexperienced traveler, and those who barely can afford to stay with us.  Each type of guest has a different perspective for their expectations and point of reference for value.

[Jennifer2682]

Value!!!  It's the worst category to be rated on.  Folks know what they're paying for... they just don't always like to part with their money.  This category needs to go!  

[Cathie19]

Thanks @Emilia42 for posting your experiences. Your screenshots are most helpful and the overall guest’s review structure seems much improved. It was a negative shocker, so this is definitely a move in the right direction and heartening.  I just hoping I’ll get the opportunity to be a guest this year. It may be within Australia rather than overseas, but will be grateful for small blessings.

[Michelle1851]

@Emilia42 @Thanks for posting this, I’ve been a recent guest lately also, and I was surprised how in depth the review process was.   

It’s definitely frustrating, the last place we stayed never reviewed us. I had left a good review but pointed out some things they could improve on in private feedback,  but they never responded, meaning the next guest never benefited either.  It was a large company. 

I have so many glowing reviews in my guest book, however many people don’t even bother with the Airbnb reviews, ugh,  I wonder if it has to do with the length of the survey.   My one and only group of undesirable guests went thru and gave me all 4s with a 5 overall, no rhyme or reason. 

[Helen427]

Glamping Mount Hobson, Auckland

Lovely to hear you have had quality @Emilia42 time Glamping.

We spotted this on the base of Mount Hobson, Remuera, Auckland , New Zealand on a recent walk...great to see the tie thrown to the side and an Atlas..

Thanks for the helpful insight into Review changes for Guests.

I wonder if there's also been changes for Hosts?
Will keep you posted if there has been as have a pending Review