Review Update inspired by our Community Center Hosts

[Laura_C]

At the end of last year, we announced several updates outlining new policies to help address irrelevant and biased reviews, a topic many of you understandably have expressed concern about. Thank you for all the feedback you gave in response to this, I've been reading all your comments and additional ideas on what you would like us to focus on next.  

Although only a few weeks have passed since then, your suggestions are already making a difference. 

One feature we've just launched (yes! It is already live!!), is adding a prompt to the overall rating section of the review process for guests:

If a guest gives 5 stars for all subcategories ie. Cleanliness, Accuracy, but then selects 4-star as an overall rating, a prompt flagging this to the guest will appear.

It was 100% your comments in these threads that inspired us to ensure this work happened. Shoutout to our hosts who brought this to our attention: @Sarah977, @Paola4, @Susanna0, @Laura108, @LuisCarlos1, @Aaron79, @Mariana58, @Justo6, @Rodrigo569, @Elmari0, @Melodie-And-John0, @Dee51, @Brian1595, @Peggy137, @Heidi313, @Ela22, @David64, @Anne8553, @Keita5

Of course, there were many other suggestions given and this is just the beginning of our work to make improvements in this area. Please do continue to share your ideas across the Community Center and we look forward to providing you more updates throughout the year.

~ Laura

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Ute42 

 Every person isnt cut out for hosting and neither is every home, both need to fit, just one wont be enough.  Rules will be bent and sometimes broken and we will most certainly be judged for things we have absolutely no control over but the customer (guest) and boss (Airbnb) are still #1 and #2 respectively or were out of business.  

"airbnbs guest centric policy" fits perfectly inline with the commitment I've made throughout my life to provide excellent customer service no matter what service I am providing (my real job is in academia).  Sticking with that approach as an Airbnb Host has allowed a greater overall success of our business to be sure,  the superhost Icon is just a small bonus, at this point we would still be fine without it. This can all be done without becoming someones (Airbnb's or Guests) doormat but there is a delicate balance to achieve when people you dont know are actually staying in your home, I wish us all great success and luck in our business and safe travels for our guests!  JR

[Ute42]

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@Melodie-And-John0   

• the customer (guest) and boss (Airbnb) are still #1 and #2 respectively
  or were out of business.

Airbnb would be out of business without us, the hosts.

[Melodie-And-John0]

This is true @Ute42, we have a bit of a symbiotic if not parasitic business model, there is no doubt our singular voices do not trump the single voice of the mother ship so to speak but as active members of the various communities of hosts/ guests and enterprise, we are heard if we can rally enough outcry. In the end, im far more effective with Airbnb than if I were trying to be independent, my guests find me no matter where they are from and thats a good thing. 

[Ute42]

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@Melodie-And-John0 

• In the end, im far more effective with Airbnb than if I were trying to be independent

That is true. I started renting 17 years ago. Renting in 2003 was much more of a hassle than it is today.  But in 2003 I was free, today I'm living in a review-jail

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Circle/Guantanamo/m-p/754779#M6666

[Melodie-And-John0]

Wow @Ute42 , thats extensive, very well documented and excellently written.    There are most definitely problems with the rating system as it is, I think the urge to resist throwing the baby out with the bathwater has Airbnb trying to shine a coprolite system, unfortunately even shiny, its still dung and inflexible from being so ancient.   The final version should recognize the values our consumers judge us (not Airbnb) by more simply and logically like poor, good and excellent and degrees of each.  Right now, 4 levels of poor and one of excellent don't do hosts justice when judged by either guests or the mothership...  JR

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Ute42 Review Jail!! I love it. Or how about Review Wh***- oops sorry that's not nice Review Sex Industry Worker. I suppose it's time to not really care- you do the best you can and you accept the situation.

[Alex-And-Rhea0]

@Ute42  Wow! Then it's really hopeless, and here we are slaving away for the Evil Empire.

I guess it was too good to be true that you could work for yourself and make a little money and have some fun and meet some nice people. I'm disappointed.

[Susan17]

@Laura_C 

"..and simultaneously thinking if there's something else we can do to address this issue (eg notes during the review flow to guests to help them understand what a big deal a 4 or below is for a host)"

Instead of attempting to educate millions of guests with notes during review flows (yet more information for them not  to read), would it not make much more sense for Airbnb to simply quit making star ratings such a "big deal" (and not in a good way) for hosts? In any other review arena imaginable, 4 stars is perceived as a perfectly acceptable, applause-worthy achievement  Yet in the eyes and actions of Airbnb, a 4 star rating is treated as an abject failure, and a punishable offence. Therein lies the crux of the entire problem, and the single core issue that inarguably causes the greatest stress, angst and destruction of morale within the host community - and the one which most urgently needs to be addressed.

Also, could we be updated on the removal of outlier reviews, please? (a very important topic which Airbnb has repeatedly been stating is "under consideration", since Feb 2018)

[Ute42]

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@Susan17 

airbnb will never change their reviewsystem unless hell freezes over.

I don't know if You know this, but Don Henley from the rockband „The Eagles“ announced after the bands breakup in 1980, that they would never ever play together again „unless hell freezes over“. Well, they did play together again in 1994, recorded it and named the multi million seller album

• Hell freezes over

Maybe there is hope?

[Susan17]

Lol! I didn't know that, but love the story, @Ute42!

Where there's a will, there's always a way. Nothing is impossible. 😉

[Trevor243]

I take a wider view of the whole online booking / reviews systems across all OTAs. We have multiple properties, each listed on AirBnB, Booking.com, HomeAway and TripAdvisor. Each system has problems.

Booking.com have changed their review system. It works in much the same way as the AirBnB system does now, except it's a score out of 10. If guests review each element as 10/10, they can still give an overall score of 1 or 2. As with the recent change to AirBnB, if a guest does this, it is flagged to the guest, but they can still post that. There is uproar among Booking.com hosts (partners) and Booking.com do not care, do not listen, are simply not interested in hosts (their "partners"). Booking.com also allow racist, sexist, homophobic, rude, offensive, fake, unfair or any other negative reviews. They say "it is the opinion of the traveller so it stays online".

I agree with much of what's been said about the AirBnB reviews system - it's unfair on hosts, especially those that try their best, provide high quality, clean and comfortable accommodation, who bend over backwards to ensure guests enjoy their stay, and who get penalised unfairly because of a "guest centric" reviews system.

The review scores no longer show which properties are the best, they show which owners are now best at explaining to guests how to rate a property in a review.

We all want our guests to enjoy their stays, to be happy, to tell others that they had a lovely holiday. We want them to come back again and again, and for their friends to come. And yes, we do get repeat bookings.

But people are different. Some are permanently unhappy. Some are not astute enough to understand review systems and how they impact hosts. Some can't be bothered with reviews. What this means is that none of us can expect good reviews from every guest. Sometimes we'll get negative reviews, even if we deserve top scores. We might be able to help some guests understand review systems and score us more fairly, but we can't change people and the permanently unhappy ones take great delight in posting unfair and negative reviews.

One saving grace is that the unfair reviews system affects all of us. Other hosts in your area will have exactly the same issues as you do. They will be just as frustrated as you are. In the grand scheme of things, if we all suffer from unfair reviews, it's still a "level playing field".

By listing on multiple OTAs, we increase the chances of getting bookings. The occasional negative review will have less overall impact. Properties will still get filled and we'll still earn money. If higher scored properties get booked first, slightly lower scored properties will get booked later. One way or another, the bookings will still come in.

The exception is when you list a new property and you're unlucky in getting a 4* or lower review from the first guests. One solution is to just create a new listing for the property and close the original one to new bookings. This is really only viable on a new listing with the first review(s) - if you have 20 x 5* reviews, you won't want to replace that listing.

Using OTAs like AirBnB / TripAdvisor etc is "passive marketing". List your property, sit back and wait for guests to find you and book your property. It's easy, it's convenient, but it's not the only way. Pro-active marketing can bring a lot more bookings, plus, if you take bookings direct via your own website or social media, you also avoid the negative impact of unfair / negative reviews.

About 40% of my bookings (on multiple properties) are now direct with us, through our website / social media / recommendation etc, rather than via an OTA. I've been far too busy to do any real marketing yet, so this is a bit of a surprise. In time (when I've cleared up a massive backlog of work), my website will grow, our social media presence will grow, and hopefully we'll get even more bookings direct rather than via an OTA.

So .... I don't like any of the reviews systems and I generally ignore reviews. I'm often far too busy to look at them until several weeks later anyway. I don't worry too much - I can't change how the systems work, it's a lot of time and effort trying to convince guests to rate us 5* instead of 4*, and everyone gets affected by the same issues. We get fully booked through the summer one way or another and very good booking levels in winter now too.

And now I've rambled on far too much and need to get more work done .....

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Trevor243, I like your POV on the subject, praying the serenity prayer is the best idea (worry about stuff you can do something about not things you can't). Maybe the label "Stars" should be eliminated, partial "stars" isnt a concept anyone can really relate to.  4.56 "stars" is a bit Nebulous if you ask me, that would be stardust maybe?    Chasing a fifth complete star via anything other than sustainable delivery of an excellent product (including great customer service) isn't something I strive for.  Repeat and locally referred non OTA clients are the growth areas for me that matter at this point not raising 4.91* stars to 5.0. 

[Lizzie]

Hello team,

@Ute42 , @J-Renato0, @Melodie-And-John0, @Susan17, @Jennifer1421, @Huma0, @Rowena29, @Paul1255, @Lisa723, @Emilia42, 

I hope you are all doing well and are gearing up for a nice weekend. 

To go back to the initial topic here, I would also like to thank those of you who made the suggestion to add a prompt to 4*, I know this isn't a huge change to the review system, but many of you mentioned it and it's been added, so it is worth highlighting. 

I've been reading through your comments to Laura's post here and undoubtedly there are some very valid points, I don't think there is any disagreement that we would like to see some changes to the review system, but when you think about the amount of people who are using the system currently and that actually review systems are notoriously difficult due to their subjective nature and legal requirements, it all adds up. 

Thinking on this, something struck me a few days ago after reading a topic in the CC on reviews, that here in the CC we are amazing at giving feedback on existing features, or experiences that have already happened. This is one of the great things about the CC–that we provide supportive and honest feedback. But, we don't often take the time to think ahead and let ourselves come up with our own ideas for a new improved system as a whole, rather than making changes to existing products. 

I don't know about you, but this kind of thought, even if it doesn't go anywhere outside of the CC, is really exciting and a chance to question our thoughts on what we think would be really good.

I believe there is a huge amount of scope for us as a community to think outside of what is existing and think what we would have in our 'perfect' review system. Now I know the moon isn't made out of cheese and just because we imagine it, it's necessarily going to actually happen, but for our own enjoyment, expanding knowledge and probably just a great opportunity to have a good discussion, why don't we challenge ourselves to think about what would make a review system great. 

We could discuss what other review systems we've used (anything goes, perhaps your local village shop has a good review system and you love the design) or critically analyse what we think would work for all the community (because after all a review system has to work for both hosts and guests, and also meet legal requirements!). 🙂

What do you think? Interesting discussion? Community project perhaps?

Thank you. 

Lizzie

[Elena87]

@Lizzie 

For disputes like this

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Help/Guest-caused-damage-denied-it-gave-a-false-bad-review-but-A...

Have something like this

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubious_Goals_Committee

[Paul1255]

Hey @Lizzie I hope you are well.

I am all geared up for a busy work weekend so all good here 🙂

I'm sure the hosts who were lobbying for a prompt to be added to 4* will be pleased to have been listened to- and will surely extend their gratitude.

I admire your effort in trying to steer the conversation on the thread towards @Laura_C 's original intention when she created it.

Yes, there is certainly a huge scope for us to think outside of what is existing in terms of review systems- and come up with a perfect one (I am sure everyone would agree there isn't a perfect one, but that there are fair ones)

I think a topic like that would be great to work on with new hosts, but from my perspective- and I am sure from those of seasoned hosts, and those that have been let down by the review system- I would want to continue to ensure my voice is heard around making positive changes to the current system we use that has such a huge impact on our day-to-day hosting/professional lives.

As always, best wishes

Paul