Unfair Superhost criteria

[Sandy170]

Prior to this last review quarter my status was 4.9 stars.

This has now dropped to 4.7 stars due to the ratings of 2 x satisfied guests.

I have therefore lost my Superhost status.

I messaged the guest that gave me only 4 stars for cleanliness, this was her response:

“"It was all as clean as it could be".

She also stated:
"Please do not think I have meant any criticism. its not a spanking brand new house, which i suppose would have got a 5".

So I have lost my Superhost status because of the age of my property which is clearly stated in the description.
PLEASE EXPLAIN TO ME HOW THIS IS JUSTIFIABLE.

[1 x other guest gave 4 stars for value and location in the same quarter, I am still to seek a response from this guest, however this review on it's own would not have lost me my superhost status].

[Linda108]

Hello @Sandy170 .  You have 4 listings with 49 reviews, 44 of which are related to one of your listings.  I am a bit confused about your post however.  First of all, none of the individual category ratings are factored into your rating.  Only the overall rating is used and your overall rating is higher than 4.7.  Second, one or two ratings of 4 will not drop your rating from 4.9 to 4.7, given the number of reviews you have.  Is it possible that you focussed on the individual categories rather than the over all rating?  Also, how were your other criteria, such a response rate, doing?  

[Colleen253]

@Linda108 "Jinx', as we used to say when we were kids 😄

[Sandy170]

.

[Sandy170]

Hello @Colleen253 and @Linda108  please see response below

[Colleen253]

@Sandy170 What do your stats in your superhost tab tell you? That's where you need to look for clues as to what's going on.

[Sandy170]

100% response rate. 0% cancellation rate. 11 stays, 97 nights according to the dashboard.

Overall rating 4.7.

5 star ratings from all but 3 guests who gave 4 star 'overall' ratings over the last year. 

One of the guests who gave 4 stars in 'overall' gave me 5 stars in all the subcategories.

Another who gave 4 stars overall, as mentioned above, had given 5 stars in all subcategories except cleaning which she gave 4 stars despite stating "it was all as clean as it could be".

The other who gave 4 stars overall gave 4 stars each for location and value, but gave 3 compliments: sparkling clean, thoughtful touches and response rate.

All the guests left fab written reviews and compliments. Zero complaints.

I feel it is so unjustified to strip me of superhost status. 

I'll be looking to find bookings from other sources because of the unjust stripping of superhost status.

[Michelle53]

@Sandy170    Here's how the calculation works. 

You had a total of 11 stays reviewed during the review period, July 1, 2020 - June 30, 2021. 

You mentioned that 3 of them were overall 4 stars.  So 8 were 5 stars.

The rating is calculated like this :-

(3x4)  +   (8x5)  =  your rating

12 + 40 = 52

Total possible score:   11 x 5 = 55.

Your rating/total possible = 52/55  = 94.5%.     This equates to 4.73 out of 5 (rounded). 

I've been dropped from Superhost status before for a 4.78 score.  It takes time, but you can recover.  It's best to focus on good reviews rather than dwelling on Superhost status.   It didn't have any impact on my booking rate.

[Colleen253]

@Sandy170  It’s as Michelle showed you in her calculations.

We all need to keep our heads when it comes to the Superhost hoohah. Airbnb is so successful at using it as a behavior modification and mind control tactic. Hosts are the only ones getting their ginchies in a knot over it. That’s exactly what Airbnb wants. Here we are, desperately striving to keep that golden 5, and in the pits of despair when we fall even the teensiest bit below it. To any guest, a 4.7 rating is fabulous (not that any of them are paying much attention to ratings). I mean, look at how close to 5 it is! As long as your written reviews are good, then no matter what your rating is, you’re going to get booked. That’s all that matters.

[Nanxing0]

I completely agree with the fact that 4.8 star ratings is essentially unrealistic in some parts of this world. The fact is that different places have different "local standards" of amenity, cleanliness, furniture and even bugs. People from a top-of-the-world place travelling to a third-world country can easily have higher expectations than what the destination place can offer, thus result in lower-than-deserved reviews. I personally travelled to Puerto Rico and have this strong feeling that if I use the standard of Philadelphia area to judge, the lodging environment in some part of Puerto Rico is unacceptable. I also had some guests from other parts of US that complained about my Philadelphia city listings too noisy, which is quite common in the city and mine are actually much quieter than most others.

[Sandy170]

@Michelle53 

Many thanks. I really appreciate your time and effort to explain this to me. Your calculation makes sense. However airbnb's criteria doesn't.

@Michelle53 , @Linda108 , @Colleen253 , @Nanxing0 

As I have a 4 month (airbnb) booking starting within this quarterly review period it seems it will not be possible to regain Superhost status anytime soon.

The loss of my Superhost status has really demotivated me in regards to airbnb bookings.

So I started searching for bookings via other channels and have had success already. 

As this will mean even less space for potential airbnb bookings I guess I must come to terms with the fact I most likely will never be a superhost again.

This is a real shame as I was proud of the Superhost status and have enjoyed being an airbnb host. 

Thank you all for your support, advice, and for sharing your experiences. All much appreciated. Good luck to all.