There have been a lot of posts recently with the same content as this....it is a complaint about reviews.
Up until just recently I would not have been bothered to do this yet again (it's been done to death) because I felt it achieved nothing! But, it appears we have had a win by grizelling about 'Group reservation Payments' to the point where the option has now been removed, so, maybe someone does take notice of what we collectively say here!
Like most of you, I put my heart and soul into my hosting.
When I started off I never thought I would be successful because I didn't have anything to offer a guest, just a daggy old building! But I tried with every hosting to make it special in some way.
I resisted the temptation to list on other platforms because I didn't want the effect of, or my efforts 'watered down' by having reviews spread around......15 here, 21 there. So I have ended up with a block of more than 150 reviews here.
And it seems everyone likes that...... except Airbnb!
In my Airbnb hosting career I have had 144 five star reviews and 10 four star reviews, but in only three of those 4 star reviews was I actually criticised for anything I could improve! In the other 7 they are fine, nothing I could fix. I did nothing wrong but, because they were an overall 4, my 5 star review rate has slipped to 92% .
Why is Airbnb penalising me for something I can't make any better?
Why is it my fault that the guest booked and paid for my property, in the full knowledge, it wasn't where they wanted it?
Why is it my fault when a guest who has been given a specific address in a short street with a row of 12 houses with large numbered numerals on the front wall and also on the letterbox at the gate can't find the property?
I would like to know how many other Airbnb hosts put an Airbnb sign up at the driveway or entrance to identyify the property, as I now do!!
Or even worse, have to deal with a star rating like this.....
If my 5 star review rate keeps slipping because of reveiws like these, I will lose my Superhost status....all because of something I could do nothing about.
Will Airbnb please consider dropping the 5 star review rating as an assessment criteria? There is little, or no, correlation between it and a hosts performance.
Cheers.....Rob