Ignore me, I am ranting :)

[Peter890]

Hi all,

Just had a guest, new to airbnb. Communication was good, place left in good shape. Left him a good review. He left me 5 star reviews for everything except cleanliness where he gave 3 stars because of "dust" and 4 stars overall.

I am in the apartment now and have checked the place end to end - and the rating is  cranky. Oven, hob, fridge, freezer, microwave, bath, sinks, under beds, sofas, everywhere is pretty spotless, as normal. There is no dust without using a microscope and a bright light 😉 It is spring here so with the windows open there is plenty of pollen settling everywhere.

These off-piste reviews seem to happen about every 30 guests. The best one I remember was a guest last year giving 5 star reviews for all individual scores, said they were delighted but then gave a 4 stars overall review. Huh??? 

We take so much care - courtesy soaps, shaving kit and toothbrush. Bath salts, recommendations for places to go, tea, coffee, juices right the way down to a little kinder chocolate for each guest...we really really care...and really value 5 star reviews...

The unevenness of guest reviews sends me crazy! When we get something wrong, sure, we take it on the chin. But when guests just have a cranky idea of what stars to give? I think some guests use it like a hotel star rating, if they want a 5 star like that then the Four Seasons in Prague is excellent at Eur570 per night for a basic room versus our Eur60 for a whole apartment! 

Just a rant. I don't think there much to do about it and we are running at 92% for 5 star reviews anyway so most people value what we do 😄 It's not like it puts superhost at risk. But it does make me want to rant!

Rant over. Thanks for listening 🙂

[Marcia55]

When I first started as a host I would stock the refer fix their bed empty their garbage every day they were there and I loved doing it for them.  Then one day from and Airbnb person I was told I was not to goi into their room  I wanted them to have the best service. Then al at once I was told the quality of my work  was not good and that I had to work on it.  If I have a long term quest I tell them that I change the sheets every two weeks unless requested other wise,  most of the time they shower every nite.  I let them know there is snacks and fruit ect on the island in the kitchen.  It is hard for me not to give them the best and I feel that that is what has happened.

I also charge less maybe that plays into it.  I quess you cannot win them all, but I want to.  

No toilet paper and they still get a 5 amazing.

[Peter890]

Hannah,

That made me laugh out loud 😄 That is exactly what I am talking about and what I think airbnb need to work on. They can't make the world a consistent place - but a few gentle guides that we hosts could at least refer guests to? That would go a long way...

When you have your gopro footage, do be sure to post it. I may even do the same 🙂 After the 4 star review we got mentioning dust I spent 4 hours deeeeep cleaning, utterly spotless. And the next guests were really easygoing and didn't notice a thing. And they did have a genuine problem (the hot water packed up) - but gave us a 5 star review anyway. Go figure 🙂

I don't expect a perfect world. But airbnb have it in their power to make this review piece less of a lottery. If they want to 😉

Awaiting the gopro footage with great interest 🙂 You never know, it might even make you a second career on youtube 😄

Take care,

Peter

[Robin4]

 Hannah

For some reason I cannot tag you with this post of yours, I just hope that you somehow come accross it. Unfortunately the CC is suffering a lot of post addressing issue lately, almost every post will result in a contributor whos tag cannot be accessed from the drop down list and I hope the modertators can do something about this, it really is very frustrating!

Rant over....Hannah, we do feel hurt when guests seem to have this entirely unrealistic expectation of a listing they have thouroughly read and booked.

I can't move my listing from the Adelaide Hills into the centre of Adelaide....but guests mark me down because the centre of Adelaide is not where the listing they chose to book is located!

If a guest cannot fit into their busy schedule (despite a few prompts) that few minutes to leave the host a review....the host gets penalised in their stats.....really, is there a subtle logic there that escapes me?

Yes Hannah, I have had guests who gave me a four star for cleanliness, and like you, the little notation alongside that star rating was...."Dust'....nothing else, just dust! I even have a Whirlpool Whispure 2000 ducted air filtration system which runs 24/7 to make sure there is no dust, no pollens, no alergens in the cottage!

I can't tell you the amount of effort I put into making sure there is no dust in my listing! Every surface is thoroughly dusted between guests, the concrete floor is steam mopped....I spend half an hour making sure the bed is perfect, ironed sheets...creases just where they should be, not just on the sheets but on the pillowcases, which have freshly washed and sanitised pillow protectors....I never expect a guest to sleep on anyone elses dibble!!

When I have the effort I put in devalued by that one word.......dust.......yeah Hannah, I cry, that is not me! 

But Hannah, the reality is I don't give a sh*t....look at my reviews! If I get one that says I have a 'Dust' issue....that says more about the guest than it says about me.

Hannah you are a superhost with 130+ great reviews, don't take it to heart, there is absolutely nothing you are doing wrong!

Cheers.....Rob

[Aurora52]

Peter,i just had guests giving me 4 stars because they complained to AIRBNB saying:

the place was dirty and we can explain: After we come from the beach we walk barefoot in and outside the house and so we have to clean our feet every time before went to bed🙈🤔😀Really?

You have guests that they will finde something even if is nothing to find 

[Sarah977]

@Aurora52   Incomprehensible. I'm surprised they didn't complain that the beach was too sandy.

[Deborah299]

I just received my first mediocre review after 7 guests.  I gave all of my guests a 5 star but could not with this one.  I gave him 4 stars average which is more than I wanted to.  He never explained before coming that he needed to overheat, or burn teflon in my kitchen because as a cookware sales person he was proving to customers that nothing sticks to the pot.  I have pet birds, which he knew about before arriving.  Birds are extremely sensitie to fumes and there have been nightmares reported with teflon.  Most people don't know this.  I explained this and asked him not to burn the pots becuse of the fumes.  He complied and did not do this again, however, he left my place with an unflushed toilet, very dirty bathroom and bedroom and would not put dishes in dish washer even after I asked him too.  I work 2 other jobs trying to make ends meet.  My average star rating from this person was 3 stars which brought my average to a 4.7.  I would not have agreed to have this person as a guest if I knew before what he needed to do.   Even without pet birds, I do not think most folks would have tolerated the lingering odor from burnt teflon. This person was here for 11 days.

I stay in my home and rent out a room, private bath and share use of kitchen, etc.  

Any advice on how to handle this?  

[Marcia55]

If the quests do not read these they should.  I had one similiar and not only was it not written down, but I went over it with him.  I am sorry this has happened to you and I hope your birds did not get sick.  I hope this does not distort us.  sorta joking on the distort.

[Peter890]

Hi Deborah,

I do agree with some of the other replies to your post. If you have someone unreasonable - and burning teflon pans is unreasonable - then ask them to leave. For us, our house rules say that unreasonable behaviours will result in you being asked to leave - and we have thought that through so that we know how to do it, even calling police if needed.

Thankfully in 300+ guests we have never had to do it! The vast majority of people are reaonable...

BTW, I did have to cancel a reservation once for a particularly suspect guest - and by being super-clear in the mail messages on airbnb they (airbnb) supported me and I had zero fallout in terms of reviews or ratings. If ever you do have that kind of problem, I suggest you write a short note to the guest through airbnb detailing the exact sitaution. You need a trail of messages to support your case 😉

Good luck - and here's hoping you have a nice long run of perfectly reasonable guests for the rest of the year 🙂

Peter

[Sarah977]

@Deborah299   This guy was doing cookware demonstrations in your home? With strangers coming in and out for these demonstrations? At what point did he start doing this in the course of his 11 day stay? If it were me, I would have told him to cancel his reservation and leave as soon as this started. When people start doing weird or disrespectful things it's a pretty good indicator that it will only get worse. I'm so sorry he tanked your rating.

You say you've already written his review, so I don't know exactly what is needed in the way of "handling" at this point. If there is still time, you can leave a response to his review. And please, next time review the way you feel- if you feel someone doesn't deserve more than 2 stars, don't give them 4 just because you're a nice person.

[Deborah299]

Thanks Sarah,

He was preparing for demonstrations at a big box store nearby.  So no folks in my home.  I still have time to respond though. Again thank you for the suggestions. 

Deb

[Tracy200]

I have had two groups give me 5 stars for all categories, leave a raving thankyou detailing the loveliness of my home and the care I gave them and then they do a 4 star overall experience rating.

this is not their fault...Airbnb should never create a situation like that.  This is a contrary rating system.  The overall experience rating should be removed.  What if everything was 5 star but they were unwell on the trip and rate it a 1 for overall experience.  Its stupid.

[Peter890]

Hi Tracy,

This is exactly what I was ranting about 🙂 I had exactly the same a while back! The rating system could do with a proper overhaul to explain to guests how to use it - and to hosts so we know what to expect. 

Removing the overall rating is a good idea, it should just be the average of the individual scores for cleanliness, location etc. I think aabnb need to spend some time and marketing dollars educating guests about what abnb stands for - and it is not to assume ratings like a hotel.

For example, the location review means that it is "as described" - if the description says 30 minutes by bus to the centre of town - and that is accurate. If description says in a  quiet area - then don't expect bars and nightclubs around the corner! The location rating is not there for a guest that chose "quiet, out of town" but when they arrived changed their mind and wanted 24 hour bars and clubs!

But there is no sign that this is on abnb's to do list (viz adjustment to rating system effective today) so best make your own plans 🙂

Good luck!

Peter

[Huma0]

Some hosts have suggested on other threads that the only star rating that counts towards the Superhost evaluation is the overall experience one and that it doesn't matter what ratings guests leave in the individual categories. Is this true? If so, why would Airbnb bother to stress that the Location rating does not count towards the evaluation? Wouldn't they say that none of the individual ratings, including location, count?

Can anyone shed some light on this?

If the individual ratings do count, then I think it should be compulsory for guests to complete all categories, or none at all, because what I find is that guests will often only rate the categories where they have a criticism and not bother with the ones they were totally happy with.

E.g. a recent guest gave me 5 stars overall, saying in his review that the Airbnb has everything you need, but he gave me 4 stars for Value (not sure why as it's exceptional value for London) and didn't bother with any of the other star categories. Another gave me 5 overall, but 4 for Location and Check In (said the house number was too small), but again didn't rate the other categories. 

If the individual categories do count, but many guests are only going to rate the ones where they have some sort of complaint, they are going to bring the scores down without realising what they are doing!

[Peter890]

Hi Huma!

I counted the star scores up ages ago and I think that it is only the overall rating that counts towards Superhost, not the individual scores for location, cleanliness etc. They are for your information but I suggest you take care of them as it does not mean that one day airbnb won't change and count them up as well!

We have always been gently pushing our guests towards a 5 star review, implicitly - by offering great service, - speedy response, individual soaps, shower gels, iced water in the fridge etc.

But we are becoming a bit more explicit now - explaining that anything less than a 5 star review is bad as far as we are concerned - and if any aspect of their stay would make them less than happy to give us 5 stars, tell us so that we can correct it 🙂

It runs against my style to be so explicit but there are too many guests who leave off-piste reviews as they think 5 stars should mean like a 5 star hotel, i.e. ultimate luxury! To be fair, I do not think that airbnb have spent enough time and energy explaining how the rating system should be used. And no sign that they will either! So the job falls on you to educate your guests that 5 stars means "a good place to stay, exactly as advertised and a few nice treats on top".

That is a tricky thing to achieve, good luck!

Peter

[Chile1]

My guest arrived and take photo unload to Airbnb request all money refund after she ruined my apartment. The case manager PAUL get all my money from my booking to the guests and then no reply my message! I need to hire technician to fix the furniture they reined, I need clean all of my bedding linen after they put them on the floor and step on it! Six bedding linens not one! All dirty and deep shoes black marks. They **bleep** in the toilet and it is sticky! I need to all clean over again after I clean it for five hours before they arrived! They like the Terrorism and Airbnb case manager Paul is their helper! I called Airbnb and they said after the case manager involoved it, you cannot complaint or find other justice to help!
What can I do! Being a host in Airbnb is so helpless especially when the guests like terrorism have their helper on Airbnb!