So why is 4 Stars 'Good' for Guests - but 'Bad' for Airbnb Hosts?

[Rachael26]

Normally I am looking at things from a host angle - but I saw something recently that really made me think. I was an Airbnb guest last week and  I saw all the correspondence that Airbnb send to guests, before, during and after the booking.

It was very interesting and useful, especially the request to review (which I share with you below).

As Hosts we are all working towards satisfied guests and lots of bookings. And using Airbnb means we also have to be concerned with the Review System - and the dreaded pressure to achieve 5 Stars. Not only because some of us may want to achieve SuperHost (the jury is still out for me as to whether there are any significant benefits to being a SuperHost - the increased expectations from guests v. a dedicated phone line and a $100 travel credit - hmmmmm, still not sure!) but also the pressure to keep above a 4.5 average, because when you dip below that number Airbnb start to send warnings of suspension and all sorts of negative things. As if the pressure of hosting wasn't enough!

So my question is this - is it fair for Airbnb to have such a high average standard (above 4.5) which basically makes anything lower than an overall 5 Star 'Bad'....... but the email they send to guests after a stay doesn't point this out. It actually reads like this (see below) and I believe this is sending one message to the guest - while sending another message to the Host.

'How was your stay at Fred's place?

Terrible

Bad

Okay

Good

Great

Share your experience while it’s still fresh. Your review will help Fred improve and tells future guests what to expect.'

SO IF FOUR STARS ARE CONSIDERED GOOD - and Airbnb sends this explanation out to the guest with the review request - then why such an unsupportive reaction from Airbnb when Hosts get a 4 star review?

Wouldn't most people booking a place to stay to save money and somewhere cheaper than a hotel - wouldn't they be happy with a 'Good' place? And delighted, but not expected, if a place turned out to be 'Great'? So why is it so bad from Airbnb's point of view to get a mix of 4 star and 5 star reviews?

I also agree with the suggestion that Airbnb should wait to send the warning emails until a host receives an overall 4 star review three times in a row. That would be more indicative of below par performance than the occasional 4 star overall that some guests just seem determined to give to be difficult or whatever reason they have in their heads.

This email message from Airbnb to the guests (showing 4 stars to mean 'Good' and 5 stars 'Great') is not helpful if Airbnb continue to use a different measuring stick for Hosts (meaning 4 stars is not 'Good' but that you are failing as a Host).

[Mary167]

My understanding is that, at least in my area (Los Angeles) the majority of hosts are older, retired women like myself who have spare rooms in the homes they live in.  I know there are people who have multiple listings, who don't live at the premises they list, who illegally rent out part of their apartments or condos without getting management approval.  The Los Angeles City Council is in the process of investigating the entire Airbnb setup here, and it's likely they will pass laws limiting or banning hosts who don't live on the premises they list.   Also there is a chance limits will be placed on the number of days per year we can accept guests, perhaps 180 days.  The reason is people who own or rent homes or apartments they are choosing to list with Airbnb rather than lease the property to permanent talents, because they can make more money that way.  The city's position is that these hosts are taking affordable rental property of the market.  Personally I'm OK with all of that.  Airbnb already collects occupancy taxes from guests and remits it to the city, which has taken some steam from the hotel industry who has been trying to shut us down.

[Mahrita0]

MAYBE NOW BUT THEY STARTED ADVERTISING SPARE ROOM TO RENT NOW THEY ARE TO BIG TO INTERFERING

[Annette33]

in line with @David126's observation, that is another good reason for Airbnb to just drop that silly ratings game. or if at all, just offer some generic 3-4 star rating, without punishing the host ever. all the extra writing in a review, like guest scoobidoo was so wonderful is mostly rather contrived and quite ridiculous, and doesn't help the next host one bit.

the other way around, just let the guest decide if and why  they want to stay at a place or not, simple enough.

But we can discuss all that until we're blue in the face - and then, one day, surprise! it will all have changed overnight. 

[Mahrita0]

VERY TRUE HOW DARE PEOPLE BE ALLOWED TO COME TO YOUR HOME SO THEY CAN MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE A BIT OF **bleep** THIS THE ONLY COMPANY I KNOW THAT PUT PERSONAL DETAILS ALL OVER INTERNET IF YOU STAY IN A BNB IT IS PUT IN A BOOK AND LEFT FOR THE GUEST TO LEAVE A REVEIW NOT BLACK MAILED INTO DOING IT TERRIBLE AND THE PUNISHED AS THE DONT UNDERSTAND HOW IT WORKS I HAD A GUEST WHO WROTE A BOOK ON MY REVEIW IT WENT 1) 2) 3) I THOUGHT IS THIS GUY TAKING THE P___

[Karen313]

@David126 True. We can only speculate. It would seem imo, the company is clearly moving towards selling to the highest bidder.

In which case, all of the deaf ears & blind eyes to hosts' common sense suggestions, would make more sense. 

[Ange2]

Lowest common denominator marketing and there are many more hosts than guests.

[Ruth-and-Russ0]

I'm not sure how valid the reviews are anyway, but it's what we have to work with. Certainly all "4s" should be good enough!  Maybe someone from AirBnB could answer the very valid question about pressuring people to be above 4 all the time! 

[Ange2]

@Ruth-and-Russ0    Airbnb would explain the star system if it wanted valid feedback but that would result in an overabundance of superhosts and render the term meaningless.  The pressure is a marketing tool.

Airbnb can afford to lose hosts, even great hosts. This is most apparent in Airbnb push for IB for everyone, great hosts, even superhosts get kicked down the search ranking system when they won't do IB and get less and less bookings (as per this forum and Airbnb's warning about less bookings if you don't do IB). Hosts who do IB even if they have  average (and some even poor) reviews appear on top simply because they satisfy one criteria - they allow IB.

The host is merely an asset or liability to Airbnb's greater good and it has nothing to do with reality – that is way too complicated and the data would be far too large to handle,  it's all about manufactured perception, by far an easier route to take  - nothing personal, at least not to Airbnb.

Here's Uber chart.

[Rachael26]

@Ange2 - Great post and love the Uber chart! I used them for the very first time when in Philly last week - and was quite impressed with the efficiency. I took 11 rides over 4 days - and not once did a driver ask me for 5 stars.... but then as I talked to most of them about what Uber was like to work for and then they asked me all about Airbnb (interestingly 5 of the 11 drivers were considering starting a listing for the first time this year!), they probably were not treating me like a 'normal' passenger.

There was one story I did find so disappointing - and reminded me to be appreciative of the much better support that Airbnb do give hosts overall. One of my first rides was with a driver who, after being a regular driver for a woman dentist for over a year - 5-6 times a week - when during a chat one ride she made a negative sweeping statement about Muslims - and he quietly informed her that he couldn't share that view as he was himself a Muslim - she said she was shocked, that she didnt know and why hadn't he told her before?. As she left the car she asked him not to drive her or respond to any calls from her office in the future - and the next day gave him a 1 out of 5 stars. When he called the office to ask about the 1 star - all the Uber control customer support person would advise was that he should keep quiet about it in the future - and they did not remove the bad 1 star rating.

Appalling. And so sad that in 2017 that this ignorance and blind intolerance is still out there.

Apologies for going off the subject! 🙂

Best Wishes.

[Mary167]

That is outrageous, and I'm shocked Uber would not tell the woman to take her business elsewhere.  I already decided to use Lyft rather than Uber for several reasons.  When the Muslim ban was announced a few months ago, many taxi drivers in New York refused to drive to & from the airport in protest.  Uber quickly took advantage of the situation by putting more drivers into service.  In any case, after using both, I much prefer Lyft.  (Many drivers work for both Lyft and Uber anyway)

I appreciate that Airbnb will not tolerate racism, and I understand any host or guest who demonstrates racism will be removed from Airbnb permanently.

[Rachael26]

@Mary167

That's interesting Mary! I talked to a few of the drivers who worked for both - and, in Pennsylvania around Philly at least, they told me Lyft had more positive interaction with drivers, asked for and sent out regular feedback and new initiatives, so it did seem to have a slight edge - but after the dentist story I may change my app to Lyft when I go back next weekend - it may be interesting to see a difference if any.

Best Wishes.

[Ange2]

@Rachael26   Thank you. I forget to credit the person who did the chart,  my link to it did not take,  it's from an article about Uber.

[Amy38]

@Rachael26 Actually, that sounds exactly like Abnb if one believes the myriad detaile complants on these posts.

[Amy38]

The following is posted in Host Voices which is supposedly monitored by the company.  Do go and 'like' it.  Abnb is not Netflix!

Change the Rating System
Status: New
Christabel & Rita Thursday
Christabel & Rita
please change the rating system to just 3 options

Good

Neutral

Bad

the 1-5 system is absurd.... guests are not aware that only 5 is good for AirBNB and that 1-4 are Bad

we the hosts start to receive warning that our account will be disabled when our rating drops to 4.4

this is totally unfair as for some guests a 5 star rating is for a fairlytale non-existing accomodation, so the maximum that they give is 4

also the rating system does not discriminate between guests who stayed just 1 night and those that for example stayed 15 days

i believe the rating should be multiplied by the number of days the guest stayed

[Annette33]

@Rachael26, yes, the different yardstick is quite obvious. I believe that sooner than later Airbnb has to find a way out of this mess with the reviews: it might have been a good idea at the beginning, to make guests trust a listing or host, but now that Airbnb is solidly established, what's the point? It only aggravates a lot of hosts and now actually does Airbnb more harm than good, as host dissatisfaction is steadily mounting. As soon as they recognize that, they will either drop it or majorly loosen up that silly demand for the 5 star review.

It is also highly nonsensical that all hosts should have 5 star reviews - or god forbid, only 4.5 star reviews - at all times. the current system sure shows those 5 stars with practically each listing and you have to strain to find the occasional 4.5.  Who does that help? Nobody. But hosts are constantly on their toes... and some even explain the unfair system to their guests and nudge them to write reviews, and hint, hint, it has to be a 5 star review! Though I understand hosts' fear and motivation in this, it really makes me cringe: a guest has paid us for staying at our place. After that, they should be left alone, no pressure from Airbnb or hosts to write a review, or worse, what kind of review it better be.

Re superhost status: Guests don't even know what it is and I don't believe it makes one bit of difference to them when they book a place. I also have yet to see one benefit: I was never given a special phone number to call and I have heard it here in the CC a number of times that hosts have not gotten their travel credit after their one year of being superhost. So at best, the rewards are minuscule, but Airbnb was effective in making it a pride thing to achieve, while it practically falls into your lap as long as you don't screw up.