I've gotten 4 star accuracy ratings twice now. Both times I have politely asked the guests what was amiss so that I can improve the accuracy of the listing. In one case they "thought" there was an elevator and there is not. They even admitted that they now realize that it wasn't in the listing. So my listing was 100% accurate yet I am stuck with 4 stars. Adding insult to injury, the reason they wanted the elevator was for the guest's elderly parents who came to stay for part of the stay (BUT they never asked about additional guests and so never had permission either). I have since used up some of my precious 500 characters of listing description to clearly state there is NOT an elevator. The 2nd case just happened and this time they "thought there was a grill on the deck". There is ZERO mention of grills in my listing and no pictures of grills (in fact, the HOA does not even allow grills of any kind on the deck). So again, my listing is 100% accurate yet I am stuck with 4 stars. The same guest also called me at 1:00pm on check-in day saying that the code didn't work to unlock the door. Apparently they also "thought" they could check in anytime instead of the clearly stated 4:00 check in time. I gladly unlocked the door for them and let them check in early. But I mention this to show a pattern with the guest not comprehending the listing and communications from the host (we are both native English speakers so language is not the problem).
I understand that some ratings are subjective (cleanliness, communication)....but accuracy seems like it is pretty objective....accuracy can be proven or not. An earlier comment said that it should be "accuracy and completeness"....however, this won't help because to be "complete" I have to list everything that the property DOES NOT have which is impossible and ridiculous. At this rate my listing description will be "Come stay at my condo with no elevator, no grill, no bidet, no raspberry vanilla scented soap, no butler, etc".
My recommendation? If a guest selects anything but 5 stars for accuracy they should be forced to include, in writing, what was inaccurate. Hopefully this will prompt them to go double check the listing before they make the claim. Then, hosts should be able to contest this rating if they can prove that their listing is indeed accurate with respect to the guest's claim. This also makes it easier for hosts to quickly address legitimate inaccuracies!
All parties (hosts, guests and Airbnb) want accurate information. So I understand the need for an accuracy measure. But if the accuracy measure is, well, inaccurate, then it hurts everyone!