Get guests you can trust— every time

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

I hope you are having a good day.

I wanted to let you know that we have updated the booking process to make sure you don’t have to host repeat guests if you don’t want to. Now, anytime you give a guest 3 stars or less, that guest will not be able to instantly book any of your spaces, even if you have Instant Book turned on.

Find out more in our Help Center.

What do you think about these changes? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

Lizzie

[Helene116]

Based on multiple comments from other hosts, I believe the rating system is fraught with weaknesses. It is not a true reflection of the actual facts one way or the other. Airbnb should create a more objective system. For example, how can "location" be rated? "Location" is completely relative to where you need to be in the city. Not everyone needs to be downtown, and people book a place without knowing how far are the places they need to go to. This category should be stripped completely from the rating system, as hosts could never improve this. Also, there should be more categories and the system should be from 1-10 not 1-5. 

[Riza2]

Hello,

Its been nice to join this chat room, so i can open up my point of view regarding to a guests and our mutual service.

Thanks a lot Lizzie..

Riza

[Dee9]

i dont understand why we cant see guest's star rating

[Marzena4]

@Dee9 Because Airbnb decision-makers assume their common sense is superior the hosts'. And that is why there is abundance of topics devoted to unfair reviews (by guests) and wording negative reviews (by hosts) in this forum 

[Zephyr0]

I agree!

[Elizabeth429]

Hello,

I can see what rates my guests have given me. And if the rate you lower that 4, they must explain why. 

[Peggy75]

I just got a notice that we can cancel a reservation on instant book up to 3 times if it's within 24 hours. Also Airbnb now makes the guest say what's wrong if they give less than 5 stars. I think this shows they are trying to listen. These are great improvements. They have also set up an extensive check-in automatic message with pictures that goes to your guest automatically after you set it up. i'm sure every change is a major production with waves of reaction and consequence and has to be thought out for months. IF YOU COULD ASK FOR ONE CHANGE WHAT WOULD IT BE?

[FamilyKJ0]

If Hyla gives a guest 3 stars can that guest instant book with ME?

What if I require a guest to have good ratings for instant booking to work?

Thanks...Karen & Jeff

[Helga0]

There is a new feature rolled out, only on IB listings at the moment: we can now see the guests stars, the average of all categories, like in our listings. Plus you can see how many recommends they hot. Or rather from how many hosts. If the number is different from the number of reviews, you have to check how many repear visits the made. 

[Elizabeth429]

Hello Lizzie,

Are you saying I could prevent from having a specific guest from booking my place ever again?

I recently had a issue with a guest, he broke my main house rule, nevertheless I gave him a 5star review because he was an overall good guest, but I do not want him back into my house.

I asked AIRBNB if I could bann this guest from renting my house again and they said no, that I couldnt. I could just cancel his reservation if I wasnt happy; and we all know what it means to cancel confirmed reservations 😉 :S

[Momi0]

@Elizabeth429   

Please help me to understand your thinking.  You gave 5 Stars to a guest who broke YOUR main House Rule!?!?!  The reason I am a bit shocked and annoyed is that I have hosted a few guests who were given great reviews they didnt' deserve by other hosts who came to my home thinking house rules were a joke!  I even contacted another host who did what you did and his reply was:  "I didn't want to hurt her feelings."  My jaw is still dropped over that.   We need hosts to write honest and accurate reviews. 

1.  My Instant Booking  (I host in my home) requires that every guest be a 5 Star rated guest only, and I don't want YOUR GUEST using my IB if he is going to stay somewhere (your home)  and break a MAIN house rule.  I rely on hosts to be honest and accurate.  

2.  That guest is now going to think its ok to break other hosts house rules because you still gave him the highest rating possible. I find it very disrespectful of a guest to come into a home and break rules.  I have stayed at 5 Airbnbs' around the world and have never broken a House Rule and neither has my 13 year old who has been with me at every single one of them too.   

3.  5 Stars is for guests who actually ARE guests who have earned 5 Stars.  Guests who breaks rules are NOT 5 Star guests.  IMO.

4.  Reviews are there for hosts to be honest and I am pretty sure you didn't write in that review that he broke your main house rule or did you?  Please tell the rest of us that you were HONEST in your review and wrote that he broke your house rules.  We need to know these things because there are hosts like me who dont' want to have guests like that at all.  I would rather host a guests who leaves his wet towel on the floor then someone who comes back to my home and smoke!  Make sense??  

Smoking is one of my BIG MAIN NO-NO's!!!

5.  As a host on the ABB platform, I have to say, I am pretty disappointed that you would actually not want to protect me against someone like that.  At best, your guest sounds like a 4 Star guests.  When I have a guests who breaks rules, I write that in their review so other hosts know about it.   (in private feedback, I write to the guests reminding them how important house rules are and they should do better at their next stay). 

Here's an example of what I write in the review so other hosts can get a clear pic. 

Respect of House Rules:   This guest is receiving 4 Stars because on Day 1they broke several house rules, but after 1 friendly reminder, they adhered to our house rules the remaining days of their 4 night stay.    Some of the rules broken were fans  and lights left on after they left to go sightseeing, walking into my house with their shoes and drinking soda in the airbnb room. 

Respect of House Rules:  This guests is a 5 Star rated guests because they followed and respected all house Rules without any reminders and would be welcomed back in a heart beat!  My favorite kind of guests to host for sure. 

By the way, I am about to write a 3 Star review on my most recent checked out guests first timers to ABB.  And no, I would not want to host them again, therefore, I am clicking on THUMBS DOWN during my review process. And trust me, I don't know any host that would want to host these two, because they suffer from CHRONIC MISERY DISEASE.......hahaha...never hosted anyone who complained about  E V E R Y T H I N G....and I mean everything....traffic, the beach, Hawaiian islands, sightseeing places, my home, my sweet well trained pets, my breakfast (not enough salt, we hate yougurt), and NOT ONCE did they ever thank me for making breakfast every morning which takes 30-40 mins to cook and prepare.  Nor did they even thank my husband for allowing them to be GUESTS IN MY HUSBANDS HOME....that pissed me off the most nor did they apologize for waking up my entire family at 3 AM taking a shower!!  A shower at 3 am...that's a first I have to say.   Oh did I mention they gave me THREE LARGE LOADS of laundry to do for them after staying with us only 2 nights.....with one more night to go?  I was stunned!  in 2 years, I Have never had a guests give me 3 loads of laundry to do.......even my guests who stayed 10 nights in September only gave me 1 load to do.  

And to answer your question, you can use the new BLOCK feature to keep that guests from ever messaging you or booking your place.

again.   So yeah, the ABB employee was incorrect.  Not everyone makes these mistakes, as their Customer Service is truly one of the best in the country in my opinion.  

I truly hope my post helps you when you write any future reviews.  I hope you gave him 4 Stars in House Rules when you chose your stars.  That's what he actually earned....4 stars, not 5. 

[Elizabeth429]

Hello Momy,

Thank you for your message, I´ve learnt a lot from it.

I hope I can explain myself properly in the next few lines, I am not good at making myself understood in writing.

At first, when the guest made the reservation and I replied by welcoming him, I found his overall messages a bit passive aggressive. I mentioned it to an AIRBNB employee by phone because I was somewhat worried. As I talked over the phone with this employee, I had to remind her she was being recorded because she was raising her voice trying to convince me THIS guest was a five star guest and that if I decided to cancel his reservation, I would have some sort of penalty.

So he came into my home and broke an important rule to me plus made/did some damage. Then I called AIRBNB to ask them what the procedure was. Since I had made a complaint about the same guest just a few days before, I felt a bit out of place, as if I was making some excuses regarding this guest. They suggested talking directly to him to get to some sort of arrangement. AIRBNB however, reminded me he was a five star guest with great opinios and if he didnt agree with my request, it was going to be his word against mine. Again I felt he was being the priority and not me.

I spoke to him and he immediately agreed and apologised to me. He paid and all. He was a young man who made a mistake. I dont think he will be doing it again. 

Even though I gave him a 5star, I told AIRBNB in private everything about my experience and thoughts about this guest. I hope that will help in the future in case this happens again to another person hosting the same guest. That way AIRBNB will be less protective of the guest and help out the host. 

I am still new at this, I am learning :))

[FamilyKJ0]

@Elizabeth429 @everyone  

We all need to keep other airbnb hosts in mind when giving a rating. Giving a five star review is telling the other hosts that this is a great guest and you should boom them even if you don't have instant booking.

[Momi0]

@ Family ( Karen & Jeff)

   HI...... that's exactly my point in the earlier post I wrote.  Now that I am getting the whole story from @Elizabeth429, (that her guests not only broke a main rule, he also broke something of hers. Its making me doubt every 5 Star reviewed guests I get through Instant booking even more so.  Appreciate you reiterating my sentements that its extremely important that every hosts take the time to write a factual review thinking of the next host who might get your guest.  

Again, I want to encourage hosts to be descriptive in why they gave a guests a 3 or 4 Star review.  I have been vigilant about posting more and more about how I write my reviews. Again, for those who may or may not have seen my initial post on this thread or others, here is what I do.  (again, these are samples of what I wrote about 3 different guests. This is NOT all one guest. 

CLEANLINESS:  This guest receiving 3 Stars for the following reasons.  There was a lot of EXTRA cleaning required to restore our bed linens to near perfect condition for our next guests.  The bathroom was found with water on the floor all the time.  House Manual stipulates as to where all recycleables should be put on our property,  yet this guests failed to follow those instructions with their plastics and cans throughout their 4 night stay.  

COMMUNICATION:  This guests received 4 Stars.  Most of the time they were very good about responding to my messages on their ABB account during the booking process, however, they failed to comply with House Rule 10 which requires that all guests give me their actual check in time 1 week prior to arrival day. This guests needed 2 more reminders over a 4 month period to comply with House Rule 10 and did not provide that answer until 24 hours before check in.  

RESPECT OF HOUSE RULES:  This guests was a definite 5 Stars!!!!!  They followed and respected every House Rule without a single reminder during their 5 night stay.  My favorite kind of guest and would be welcomed back in a heart beat.  As a matter of fact, we gave them a Hawaiian calendar for their home as a gift to remind them of how much we hope to host them again in our home in Hawaii.  We are so grateful for their fun attitude and grateful heart!

Hope this helps someone....thanks for reading.  :)) 

and to the male host who likes to write reviews with only 2 words...( and yes HE knows how I feel about that).  LOL.....please try to add at least 5-6 more words....you can even do it while you brush your teeth,  that takes about 1 min at least right?  🙂

[Donald28]

You actually knocked off a star because you had to ask twice over 4 months to get a check in time? How are they supposed to give you an accurate checkin time 4 months prior? You have at least 10 house rules?! LOL. Wow, you are a stickler huh?! I wouldn't want to stay with you. Sorry.