Whats wrong with a 4star review? Nothing!

[Dee9]

I find it funny that people get so offended or upset over a 4star review in any category. Someone posted she actually asks guests privately why they gave 4stars. Really? I would think doing that would make them not want to come back - just my opinion.

Lets not be so hard on ourselves (or other people) by remembering...4stars is still a good "score"! 5stars means PERFECT, so maybe they didnt think every category was PERFECT. Thats their perrogative. PERFECT means something different to every single individual.

Stop stressing over the little stuff. And maybe stop interrogating people over a 4star review. Its not worth the stress. 4stars means almost perfect - whats wrong with that? Nothing!

[Dee9]

From Airbnb copy & pasted....

No that information is not true. You will need to get consistently low stats (under 4 stars) before you are penalized. And you will get a notification first. 

I am not clear why you all are trying to start an argument but I’ll say it again.... I don’t swear the small stuff. 

[Gillian19]

I have never had consistenly low stats (ie under 4*), but when my average for the property dropped below 4.4 I was told I would be delisted if my stats didn't improve. If they don't mean it, then they should stop sending these threatening emails. They are what causes the stress, not the actual rating. I am not sure where you get your information from as it seems to be quite different to both what we all read on the site and what reality tells us.

It must be nice not to stress about being delisted.

[Dee9]

I copied & pasted it from correspondence I just had with them over this topic.

Again,

The website says...Targets represent the average level of performance....

therefore I perceive that number can consistently change based on the current average.

Again, Im not trying to be right im trying to encourage people and Im not clear why everyone is trying to start an arguement that was not my intention.. It seems some of you like to be unnecessarily stressed with or without airbnbs help.

[Elizabeth10]

"Im not clear why everyone is trying to start an arguement that was not my intention."

Your post starts with "I find it funny that people get so offended or upset".  

"It seems some of you like to be unnecessarily stressed with or without airbnbs help"

There's several people writing you that have copied and pasted the nasty grams AirBnb is sending them when they are below 5 stars.   I along with them ARE stressed over it.

I do not find it funny and I am not laughing.  Just had myself about up to superhost and then several REVENGE \ RETALIATON reviews  in the last 2 months due to

1) not liking a house rule after booking.  Got the email a couple of weeks before checkin, "oh, I just read your house rules and I booked to have my friends over...., etc..... .  I wrote back, yes it does say under amenities "No events or Parties" and the house rules says no "unregistered guests unless paid for".  I did agree to have one if pickup, but let me know WHO, WHEN, etc.  Snuck 3 unknown men during the stay - two of them at 2:30am in the morning, and I'm downstairs in my private living area alone.  (Proof on security cams) AND and still complained citing reasons for a poor reivew  about items CLEARLY disclosed in the rating 

 2) next booking, puts in 1 guest but says 2 are coming, pays but gets revenge in the review like its my fault AND AND and complained about items disclosed in the rating 

3) rating based on the fact I denied a partial refund claim she made on date of checkout saying 4 of the guests did not stay. *

#3 Denied due to 1) cancellation and guest refund policy 2) count of people checking in, then  coming and going on video surveillance throught the reservation does not match the claim (which I can provide),

3) incorrect refund amount, and overinflated and not based on the actual extra guest fee over the base price.   The private star low ratings complains about items disclosed

 and items clearly described as NOT part of the listing.  *** She booked another AirBnb AFTER the 9 guests checked into my home on 5/25 (security cameras).  I found the "glowing" review (host and booking party) during same reservation period as my hosting her family.  

Sent a complaint to get it taken down based on content policy (doe not meet personal experience since she 3rd party booked) and meets the legal standard of demation in Indiana 1) false and provable statements 2) harmful to someone’s reputation published “with fault” (intent or intentional admission)  3) It is written with the intention to inflict material harm (Per Se).  4)Intent of malice (applicable here) or negligence (not applicable here).

I work for a church and needless to say I don’t make a good salary.  After two cancers, fibromyalgia with high deductible market place plan that I can’t afford, I just had the $435 initial autoimmune blood test come back positive (out of pocket – deductible still not met this year).  Although I told my doctors years ago around 2014 I was sure I had Lupus (fired 3 of them because of this, even a dermatologist told me I had rosacea and it wasn’t Lupus rash on my face I described).  After finally having the butterfly rash, I immediately saw a new doctor June 1, 2018.  As soon as he entered the room, he gasped and said have you been told you have Lupus?  So finally the proof is finally about to hit the pudding.  But this means more expensive tests thru a Rhuematolgist in September (the soonest they can get me in) to make sure it isn’t another type of autoimmune disease. I have to do AirBnb or become even more in debt or homeless.  On guess what the number one non-drug treatment they suggest to combat or prevent  Lupus or related disease flare-ups?  AVOID STRESS.

When you open the web page invites visitors to share their home and host and they cite a stong message that  they “Support” their hosts.  These situations do not support your hosts when AirBnb does not want to take the time to ensure reviews are fact based, let alone not done of malicious intent to attack someone who is sharing their home and following your policies—not to mention how often have I complained that guests do not adhere to my rules or try to get past policies (such as  refunds and cancellations).  It’s just not good business ethics to not take care of your hosts and disgruntled and burned out hosts abound in their community, social media, and internet web sites.

[Dee9]

My name is Deepankar from Customer Experience Team with Airbnb and I would be more than happy to assist you.

I understand that you have some concern for penalties due to ratings being less than 4.7 average star ratings for a host.

Just to let you know that anything other than 4.7 average star rating would not cause any penalties to a host. It's just that we require the host to keep a check on their ratings and whenever there is an issue we advise them to try and improve it.

4.7 on the other hand is a very good rating for any host.

Rest be assured that rumor will not affect any host in Airbnb

[Sarah977]

"......anything other than 4.7 average star rating would not cause any penalties to a host."

Seriously? So if a host has an average star rating of 2.5, they wouldn't be delisted? What I quoted here from the communication Diane received from Deepankar makes it blatantly obvious that this is total hogwash.

And is typical of the type of disinformation the company specializes in. 

Diane, no one would be stressed about star ratings if the company would just be completely straightforward and clear about the parameters. And no, the "target" is not based on the average rating of all airbnb hosts, as far as I can tell. If it were, it would change somewhat daily or weekly or monthly. However, it NEVER changes. 

[James2591]

I asked a guest if everything’s Great why 4 stars. 
he said, 5 stars means you’re perfect and none is perfect, just god. What’s wrong with these people?!

[Rebecca181]

If the above information is true, then Airbnb needs to stop sending those warnings out to hosts that they will be delisted when they fall below 4.7 - Which is what is currently happening. Warnings should be sent out only if the host falls below 4.0 'consistently', not the minute they fall below 4.7. This would provide congruency, and would alleviate the concern hosts have regarding guests being told four stars is 'good', but we are sent warnings if we go below 4.7.

Also, given that 'revenge reviews' are often allowed to stand by Airbnb, a great host can find themselves going below 4.7 and getting warnings simply because they upheld their House Rules and the guest had a hissy fit and retaliated with a low Overall rating. My point being that one can be rightfully concerned about problematic policies and procedures without necessarily being 'stressed out'. Incongruent practices lead to dysfunctional systems riddled with 'Catch 22' and 'Double Bind' scenarios. If we all just accepted such dysfunction and/or judged those trying to rectify it so as to create better relations between hosts and Airbnb, nothing would ever have a chance to improve or change. 

Lastly: Your original post came off to me as being somewhat condescending and judgmental both in content and in tone.  If you approached the topic differently, and acknowledged that under the current system some very good hosts are being sent warnings they really do not deserve, warnings that mention the possibility of being delisted. people might have been able to hear you better. It would be abnormal for a host to NOT be stressed out when receiving such warnings. These hosts are not sweating over 'small stuff'. For many, their Airbnb's are their primary source of income - their very livelihood - and their 5 Star service is something they take great pride in, and feel great passion about (particularly hosts sharing their own personal home). That's not 'small stuff', to me.

[Elizabeth10]

You said that so much better than I did!

[Willow3]

From where I stand... (a position of relative comfort I admit) I see these statements about falling below targets in the same light as the pricing suggestions.... made by bots without any real teeth behind them.  

We all have seen the absurd pricing tips, or the "people booked a different place for $25bajillion less than your space" messages.  We all recognize that the platform has serious limitations in the real world.  Like everything in life - listen to what is said, take what is valuable and ignore the rest.  

Oh, and an important word that is (I feel) being ignored... the message is if hosts CONSISTENTLY fall below the target - which is a moving target since it's an average platform wide - a  listing MAY be removed.  It doesn't mean a revenge review or a clueless guest, is going to end our hosting careers.  

[Elizabeth10]

And everytime someone complains about the ratings in the community, someone posts, "its just one".   I don't disagree ONE revenge\clueless\false,etc. guest review probably doesn't harm it.  But its consistently MORE than one  and over a short period of time I am seeing a increasing trend due to revenge\clueless\false,etc.  reviews.   That does hurt averages and the moving target sinks and drops off the end of the earth.  

[Sarah977]

Willow- it's not a moving target. Have you EVER seen it change? Has anyone here? I certainly haven't. I think the statement that it's based on the average of all hosts is about as honest as telling the guests that 4*s is a good rating and then threatening hosts if they fall below even 4.7.

[Willow3]

I did the math for my town - 89.5% of properties are solid 5*s.  The rest are 4.5* so, yeah, I think it's probably pretty accurate.

[Sarah977]

Willow- so you're saying that an unvarying 4.7 (every day, every week, every month) is really an accurate average of ALL airbnb hosts worldwide? If it was really an average, I find it hard to believe that it wouldn't change by at least a percentage point occasionally.

[Willow3]

WIth the massive number of properties listed - it would require a HUGE shift to move the average.  The average star rating for my 105 local listings is 4.95* - well above the 4.7* site wide target posted.  

I do believe that there are revenge reviews.  I do believe that clueless guests leave worse than intended  reviews.  But the numbers show that most guests "get" the system.  There is a 5* listing in my area... that is a real piece of work.  We locals joke about it.  It's not even closely comparable to my listing... but we both have 5*.  Because guests do in fact for the most part, understand the system.  

I will very often read listings of people who post here and feel unfairly targeted - and to be honest, I understand why their guests review them as they do.  I've told a couple that I thought they got of easy, in fact.  This forum is a bit of an echo chamber - with only one side of any story being told/heard.  I recently got a 4* review... and in my opinion it is rather ridiculous.  But I rolled my eyes and went on my merry way.  I truly believe that "what you look for, you will find."  If you think guests are out to screw you, then they will perceive your angst and it will reflect in their experience and your review.  I expect my guests to be lovely - and 99.99% of them are.