5 Star Rating System flawed

[Andrea522]

The rating system is out of 5 stars where I am (switzerland) but a lot of guests just give 4 stars and a really good review, perhaps thinking that "perfection is unatainable" which is a resonable position to hold.

But then Airbnb threatens to delist my listing because i'm at 4.4 and I'm seeing a message saying "you're at risk" on my page. 

How does this make sense ? How can you expect everyone to rate 5 stars ? People don't understand that 4 stars in bad in the eyes of the site. That's a relatively good rating in their view. 

I think the rating system should consider 3 stars the cut off level, not 4. That's extreme in my view. 

All this is doing is pushing people to try to game the system by asking for 5 star reviews. Please change this !! 

[Huma0]

@Raffaele-and-Astrid0, yes what I can improve from the feedback, I try to improve, e.g. make the bed more comfortable, make sure the room is warm enough etc. The things I can't change, I try not to worry about, but make clearer in my description or communication before a guest arrives. You can't get it right everytime though as many don't read the description/rules (I am really trying to get them to read them everytime now) and you can't always anticipate what little thing a guest might not like that all the others had no problem with.

I doubt I would ever mention something like the bed being too close to the window, but you never know what may bother some people!

[Llorien0]

Why is it that so many consumer surveys consider anything less than 5 stars a failure.  I find it very hard to give 5 stars on any survey - because 5 stars indicates very near perfection.  I consider the 5 star rating system should be like the normal distribution curve - only 2.5% of people get 5 stars, 13.5% get 4 stars, 68 % get 3 stars, 13.5% 2 stars and 2.5% get 1 star.  Obviously Airbnb, Uber, etc do not understand this system!!

[Huma0]

Here's an example of what I was talking about...

I had 80% five star reviews. Then three guests left reviews, one four star and two five star, yet my percentage went down to 78%. If each review was given equal rating regardless of the number of stars given, then my percentage should have gone up, not down!

Why does the four star review count more than two five star reviews added together? That doesn't seem at all fair to me.

[Huma0]

I had to call Airbnb today with a question from a guest, but asked them about this at the same time. The lady I spoke to was very nice, but she wouldn't really give me a clear answer whenever I asked her if a four star review counted more than two five star ones.

What she did say was that the four star review had pushed my percentage down to 78% and, when I explained that I also had 2 x five star reviews at the same time, she said I needed 4 x five star reviews to get it back to 80%.

I may be getting the maths wrong, but that implies that 1 x four star review = 4 x five star reviews, but again, when I asked her to confirm this, she didn't really give me an answer, just said don't worry, you'll get more five star reviews soon!

[Raffaele-and-Astrid0]

Hi @Huma0 and @Leslie7

you can't be real!

Huma did you called Airbnb for this? wow!

how could you expect that a "call center kid", give to you an mathematical explanation in "how percentage works" by phone? and maybe after the call, you might thought: what a useless service! 😄 ahahaha

guys with this we are at the limit of crazyness.

if you guys want to know WHY the percentage working in this way, you have to STUDY math, (basic school level)

this might help: http://www.mathsisfun.com/percentage.html

if you like to understand better, (maybe the system is wrong for real), you can calculate the percentage without even studying math, here: https://percentagecalculator.net/

Remember that the same amount of units (added or tooked), not give you the same result on "percentage", because the result depend in base of the number that you start from. 

100 + 20 = 120 (20% more) ----- oh yeah that's ok, easy!

120 - 20 = 100 (16,5% less) ---- what???? can't be real!!! something wrong!! OHMYGOOOD! no no, just can't be real only 16,5% what?? I took away the same quantity, 20, I took 20! no no no no this is rubbish, my calculator is broken, wait let me call "Casio" I have to say something about, their calculator is wrong for sure! I will aks a refound!!! 😄

ok, I have had enough fun! 😄

------------------------------------------

Now, the stasticts of Airbnb working in this way:

you have the total of guest let say 75, but only 57 guest gave you 5 stars, so Airbnb want to know how many "times" you get 5, so that mean that every "guest value" is: 1 unit.

- SO, dosen't (cesured) matter what they gave to you: 4, 3 or 1 star, matter only "how many times" they click 5.

 For to know that, they calculate the difference between the actual 5 stars number - 57 (A)  - and the total guest number - 75 (B).

A : B = C 

C x 100 = %

So,

57 : 75 = 0,76

0,76 x 100 = 76%  

so, you recived 76% of the time 5 stars! 

now let say that we had 2 guest in the last week, so 77  total guest but they gave us 4 stars, so the 5 stars number (57) don't change.

57 : 77 = 0,74 x 100 = 74%

we recieved another guest and he gave us 5 stars  58, 5 stars - 78 guest

58 : 78 = 0,74 x 100 = 74%

we recieved another guest and he gave us 5 stars - 59, 5st - 79 guest

59 : 79 = 0.74 x 100 = 74%

we recieved another guest and he gave us 5 stars - 60, 5st -  80 guest

60 : 80 = 0.75 x 100 = 75%

you are SO confused right now??  right??  ....ahahahah 😄 you are so lost! ... you see? this is math! you have to study! 

what you not see, is the numbers after that 0,74XXXXXXXXXXX

57 : 77 = 0,740259......ect

58 : 78 = 0,743589.... ect

59 : 79 = 0,746835... ect

60 : 80 = 0,75 

Check with your number in your stats and you will see that the math is not wrong.

Remember Math is not an opnion.

with love

cheers Raf

#pleasecomebacktoschool #please no bad felling.

[Huma0]

@Raffaele & Astrid, thanks for the lesson in basic school level maths, but I do know how to work out percentages. However, per your method of calculation, which is logical enough, my stats are NOT always correct.

For example, if Airbnb were accurately using this calculation, then before the three sets of guests I mentioned above, I should have had 81% not 80% five stars. Okay, it's only 1% but it's still off.

No, I didn't call Airbnb to ask about this. As I explained quite clearly in my post, I called them on behalf of a guest who had a query (it related to guest fees). I thought there was no harm in asking about this while I had the rep on the phone. Unlike you, I don't automatically assume other people are stupid.

So, before you make disparaging and potentially offensive remarks (I see your post has been censored) about other users of these forums, perhaps you should A: read the post you are responding to properly and B: consider that you know next to nothing about the people you are addressing.

I did my maths exams a year early because I was fast tracked and I got an A (along with A's in all other subjects). I won a full scholarship to one of the top ten schools in the country. I got a First Class Honours for my degree, which places me in the top 1-2% of graduates in the country, and a Distinction for my post-grad, which places me higher still. I not only attended, but have been a guest lecturer, at one of the most competitive and prestigious universities in the world. The next time I study, it will be for a PhD.

So, no, I don't think I need to go back to school, but thanks for the suggestion and no offence taken. Inspite of your numerous typos, I can tell that you think you are being very witty and if you get your kicks trying to make other people look stupid, I guess that's your business.

#take a course in communication skills

#don't hate me for my high IQ

[Raffaele-and-Astrid0]

Hi @Huma0

the whole post is sarcastic....

the (censured) I wrote that! 🙂

your 80, maybe is 80XXXXX how I clearly explained.

there is no shame to just say "I was wrong"

for all other things, i don't care, I was trying to help you to understand.

funny things is that "only with you" are not always correct, the law of math changing only with your listing.

In science if you want prove that something is wrong, you have to provide evidence, otherwise is just useless talk.

again, there is not shame to say: I was wrong. 😉

see ya

always with love.

Raf

[Huma0]

@Raffaele-and-Astrid0, no, of course I am not always right, but I am always polite, unless I have been given very good cause to be otherwise.

I don’t have a problem with your advice, only a problem with the way it was given. You may have been trying to 'help', but why do it in such an unpleasant way?

Yes, I know what sarcasm is. It’s often referred to as the lowest form of wit. The fact that your post was sarcastic doesn’t stop it from being rude. The two often go hand in hand.

Perhaps my response to it was a bit over-the-top, but I really can’t abide rudeness, and you were being rude to both me @Leslie7. However, I should have just ignored it as the best way to deal with internet trolls is not to feed them.

#manners maketh man

[Raffaele-and-Astrid0]

Hi @Huma0

now I'm a rude troll.... LOL! 😄

everything is  in prospective, and is very easy be miss understood through internet, because there is not a "voice tone" and you can't see people in the eyes.

so people read how they think might be read it, and most of the time they are wrong. It is for that that I avoid all social platform, are too messy.

On top of that I'm not native english, so... sometimes I use google translator to help me to find the words, and maybe are not always the right words, and the sentence maybe come up rude or to direct, because this is how italian talk.
it was not my intention to be offensive, and especially in here, this is not facebook.
I'm italian, I like kidding around, I try to smooth the angle, but sometimes I forget that english people have a different humor. (for you I am/was rude) 😄

in the end I was just tired to reading host after host judging a system without even check how is working.
this happen often, people don't read, don't check, not looking around for extra info, they only complaint and want the solution that come to them.

what needed, it was only make some calculations to find out that all this discussion was only useless talk. 

anyway it's ok, next time I will think to my business, I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

see you around 🙂

always with love

Ciao Raffaele

[Huma0]

Thanks @Raffaele-and-Astrid0. I admit that I maybe overreacted to your post. It did make me really angry for the first time on this forum, but perhaps it was 'lost in translation' like you suggest. 

I did actually have an Italian housemate for some time, who had a unique and very dry sense of humour. I found it very funny and we are still really good friends. But then we were communicating face to face, not only via the internet.

Your calculations do make sense. Perhaps you could add them to this post in a shortened form, i.e. Without the sarcasm! I think a lot of users would find them most useful.

#bygones

PS i 'll stop with the hashtags now, but you started it...

🙂

[Raffaele-and-Astrid0]

Hi @Huma0

thank you for your reply.\

I'm glad that you have a good Italian friend. they know how to cook! 😄

I will do a post with the math in how rating works. (without sarcarsm) 😄

have a nice day

Ciao Raffaele

[Julie142]

Yes, @Raffaele-and-Astrid0

You were quite rude, and I even reported your comment. This is not how we address to each other in here.

[Sandra856]

Raffaele & Astrid  Wow..you are extremely rude and then try to excuse yourself with a grin. It makes it even worse.

[Leslie7]

I will say again, it is easy to say that when you have only 70 reviews. You'll see. As you accumulate more reviews you will receive more ratings that are less than five stars, no matter what you do. That's how people are. You will get more guests as you have more stays who simply do not leave a five star review no matter what you do. That is especially true if you accept more reservations. We have started being a lot more selective about our guests and it is definitely making a difference.

And what several of us are saying about raising the percentage is that is should be simple math, but it isn't working that way. The impact to the percentages from a four star review compared to the impact of a five star review is not equal. Yes, it should be, but it isn't working that way. I don't know if it's a glitch with the Airbnb system, or a deliberate thing, but it is not working the way that it should. I have spent A LOT of time with a calculator and my stats, and it is not being calculated properly.

Good luck!

[L-A--and-Martin0]

That's not what is being discussed. It's the lack of disclosure regarding the all-or-nothing fake 5-star system, when it's actually only a 2-star system and that the guests who are being urged to assess a host accurately for "transparencies" sake have NO idea that it's not a actual graduated, real, fair actual 5-star system, but it rigged to cause competition and failure in what's referred to as the "community." That's what being discussed. If transparency is being asked then it needs to be supplied.