AirBnB Computer Programming Runs Amok Again...

[Letti0]

I just received Super Host Status today, but this is what my listing is telling me now. They seem to have misplaced all of my reviews LOL...  So I am not in the Family Collection either anymore per this:

[Alexandra316]

@Letti0 A lot of people have posted about this today, so I'm guessing it's a site wide glitch. I have the same issue also.

[Lizzie]

Hello @Letti0 and @Alexandra316, 

Thanks for highlighting this. As the assessment period has just come to an end, it might just be that the system is updating (I don't know though). I have fed this back to our team just incase, so hopefully it will be resolved soon.

Thanks again and have a super weekend.

Lizzie

[Alexandra316]

@Lizzie My primary concern about it is that it removes me from both the Family and Work collections. I trust that it will be resolved before the next Superhost assessment, but in the meantime, I'm not a member of either collection.

[Cor3]

Hi @Alexandra316,

I had seen the issue in my progress monitor today. But I did not realize it would actually throw me out of the family collection. But appearantly it did (Not for all Superhosts though)!

So thanks for pointing this out to me!

@Lizzie,

Not good for business!
So I hope it will be resolved soon, and I will keep an eye on it.

[Jean242]

This was also my concern when I contacted support today. They were useless and f#$@ing rude. Do they even receive training? I hate contacting them! No answers at all. Pathetic.

[Rachel0]

I have exactly the same issue - got told  I needed to work on providing reviews when in fact I have reviewed every single guest who has stayed with me since the beginning  of time.   My page looks exactly like @Letti0's.  I am not in the work or family collection by choice, but I would be very annoyed if I were and lost business as a result.

[Sarah977]

@Rachel0  As others have said, it's a system glitch, altho my listing appears to be unaffected by it, at least so far.

But just thought I'd let you know, in case you don't, that the Trips Reviewed % does not refer to the reviews we leave for guests, but those they leave for us. Absurd, for sure, to be rated on someone else's behavior.

[Cor3]

Hi @Sarah977,

It is indeed a little absurd, that we are being measured on someone else’s actions.

But mathematically it makes some sense though.

We are typically at 90% or so. And most guests leave us a review pretty quickly. Only a few others need a little encouragement. And some just don’t bother (including a guest, who already made verbally clear, he didn’t like the area: Too many hills).

Anyway, it seems to be working again. So issue solved.

As for a moment, I was afraid they were only going to fix it only after the weekend.

And the weekend for us, is when most possible guests look up our listing.

I’ve been in IT all my life, and 1 of our golden rules has always been: Never release new software to production on a Friday afternoon 🙂

[Sarah977]

@Cor3  Can you expound a bit on how it mathematically makes sense for hosts to be rated on whether their guests decide to leave a review or not? I understand that reviews, both of hosts and guests, are important in a booking platform, but it seems to make a lot more sense to rate hosts on the number of reviews they write and somehow admonish guests (as airbnb is so fond of admonishing hosts) if they don't leave reviews.

[Cor3]

Hi @Sarah977,

Of course, I can expound a bit.

We are all being measured on the stars left (on overall experience) by our previous guests in the past 4 quarters.

And in order for the figures to be a least somewhat representative, you need a minimum number of respondents (I think for proper statistical analysis and representation, it should actually be much more than just 50%).

Suppose you had 50 guests last year, and only 1 of them would have left you a review. It wouldn’t just be fair to base the Superhost evaluation on (being either good or not so good).

I’ve got an account with Airdna (maybe you have heard of them). And some time ago they did send me some analysis on the Airbnb Superhost program. And funny enough, they claimed (provided you have been able to host more than 10 guests/groups in the past year). It was actually harder NOT to become a Superhost, than to become one?

At least, that’s how I read it.

[Sarah977]

@Cor3  Thanks for the clear explanation, I do understand what you're saying. But punishing hosts for the fact that more than 50% of their guests failed to leave reviews still doesn't make sense, since we can encourage guests to leave reviews, but really have no control over that. It's the guests who should be called to task if they don't leave reviews.

Really, airbnb should stop using the star ratings altogether (which guests in fact don't actually see anymore at all, they just get text and boxes to check, with no stars at all, although airbnb translates those checks into star ratings on the host's end), which has been suggested before on these forums, to evaluate hosts. A simple thumbs up or down and the opportunity for a written review instead of the highly flawed star rating system is really all guests should need to see to make an informed decision about whether to book a listing.

[Cor3]

Hi @Sarah977,

It is indeed somewhat unfair, to use the willingness and actions of our previous guests. In order to evaluate our performance.

I had a guest a couple of months ago. And I had to remind the guest twice to leave me a review.

No reaction, until about a month later. Text: “It was amazing”.

Well, thank you very much. For not taking the time to put that text into the review box, 2 weeks ago 😞

So, we indeed have no control over it. And I do know that Airbnb is sending guests automated reminders. Obviously it helps a little, when guests get a non-automated mail from an actual human being, they have at least been in contact with.

As far as I know, guests still get to rate the hosts by stars (I actually asked a previous guest, this particular question, a couple of weeks ago).

As for me: I do not really bother what rating system Airbnb is using. The aim is always a 5-star all-over. Anything less can be considered as not good or even bad.

I even know people, whom would never give 5-stars, just out of religion.

It is unfortunately what it is.

As you may know, the rating system has been a widely discussed topic on the community. And Airbnb’s reply has always been: No, we have no intentions to change the review system.

[Sarah977]

@Cor3  Maybe it's different in different parts of the world, or maybe this is a very recent change, but 2 weeks ago when I was in Canada staying at a friend's house, she had recently been an airbnb guest (she is also a host herself, and we had been discussing the flawed review system). She called me over to look at her computer screen to see what she was asked to fill out as a guest. What airbnb translates to Overall star rating read like this: (may not be the exact wording, but close enough)

Exceeded my expectations.   (box to check, no stars shown whatsoever on any of this)

Was a bit better than my expectations.

Met my expectations.

Was below my expectations.

(And I can't remember the last really bad one)

So, in fact, a guest checking the box "Met my expectations" would not be saying they weren't pleased, but that would translate to a 3* review for a host.

Somewhat shocking, no?

[Cor3]

Hi @Sarah977,

The person I actually asked on the subject whether they were able to give us a star reward on overall experience, was from Florida, USA (On June 29, 2018). And the reply was: Of course, I gave you a 5!

We all know that some parts of Airbnb, may function differently in different parts of the globe.

I.e. Free cancellation policies for South-Korean guests. Higher service-fees for hosts in Italy. Airbnb Plus currently only available in 14 cities worldwide. Experiences, Restaurants, Concerts in a limited amount of cities, Etc.

So, when Airbnb is (gradually) changing their review system towards the questions, as mentioned by you. This would really be shocking!

How many guests are saying: Exactly as in the pictures.

Which in my view, means: It really is as good as promised in the listing (which in effect is a commercial advertisement).

But this would also mean: It met my expectations, So a 3-star!!!

It is actually somewhat weird, that Airbnb does not provide a help page on something so important. As to how the review-form by a guest or a host does look like.

I also heard lately, that Airbnb is nowadays asking for a lot more information in reviews by guests.

Such as:

• Was toilet paper provided (Yes/No)
• Was bedlinen provided (Yes/No)
• Etc.