Featured Reviews

[Rob511]

Hi There

I have some questions regarding the order of guest reviews that appear under my Airbnb listing.  To date I have received 38 five-star ratings and one three-star rating. I'm struggling to understand how Airbnb determine the order of displayed reviews.  The three-star review is shown in fourth place, which gives it an unrepresentative prominence to prospective guests.

First question:  Does anybody know how these reviews are selected?  After a lot of effort I cannot find any pattern (chronological, country of origin of guests, star rating).

Second question:  Is it worth contacting Airbnb to see if I can change the prominence of the only negative review?  Has anybody attemped this?

Third question:  I submitted a response to the review at the time.  Unfortunately I commented on a specific category (check-in, which received one star).  Rookie mistake.

(My comment from the listing.  Interestingly this guest never actually stayed at the property, but that is another matter that I took up with Airbnb with absolutely no success): 

Response from Rob:  "Oh dear - you really can't please everybody.  A one-star review for check-in after 17 consecutive five star reviews.  I'm disappointed and perplexed, but onwards and upwards...."

This is pretty confusing and off-putting for potential guests.  Is there some way to edit or remove this response from February 2019?

Many thanks

ROB

[Sarah977 · Accepted solution]

@Rob511  Supposedly reviews are ordered with those by guests from the country where your listing is first, but beyond that, I don't know. So in your case, reviews from fellow Kiwis should be first, with reviews from foreign guests after. 

Second question I don't know the answer to .

I think you'd have about as much luck getting Airbnb to allow you to edit or remove your response as as you had protesting the fact that a guest who never checked-in could leave a review 🙂 But you can always ask. I don't think the response is that awful, though. It's not like you attacked the guest in any way or went on some long rant. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. Your other good reviews will speak for themselves.

[Rob511]

Hi Sarah977!  I really appreciate the prompt reply.  Yes, the NZ reviews appear to be up first, but quite how they are ordered after that is still a mystery.  Subsequent NZ reviews don't seem to change the order of the first half dozen or so.  I'm probably being way too sensitive, but it's a tough market here in Rotorua NZ.  I will ask Airbnb about removing my comment, but I have practically zero expectation about them actually doing something.  They certainly have a poor attitude when interacting with their hosts ("Yes, your concerns do seem to be valid based on several of our stated policies. But we really don't care and we aren't going to discuss this with you any further")   😞

[James415]

Hi there, my issue with reviews is that they are not necessarily listed in date order. So I got a negative review in July 2019 followed by a glowing one in August 2019 but that one was posted on the previous page in among the reviews from last year! I challenged this with Airbnb and was given this reply:

"Hi James, We would like to update this but unfortunately, it is system locked, and we cannot change any setting for your latest review to be at the top.

The order of review will depend on the location of the viewer"

Well yes I understand that reviews will be listed in particular languages and that will be decided by where the person logs in from, but not putting reviews in date order is utterly illogical.

Airbnb also sent me this information in a link:

"Why aren’t my reviews shown in order?

When someone browses your listing, reviews are ordered based on several factors that are relevant or helpful for guests, including things like:

• How recent the review is
• The language of the review
• The country where the reviewer lives
• The length of the review

For example, if a French traveler browses your listing, recent reviews written in French or by French guests will be shown first. This helps guests read reviews that are relevant to them so they can decide if your listing is a good fit.

However, even though a newer review might not show at the top of your listing page, all the reviews are still available for potential guests."

James