Recommendation from other hosts (no negative reviews)

[Asu0]

Hi everyone,

I have a question about a booking I got yesterday via Instant Booking, that contradicts my settings in my opinion, but not according to AirBNB I suppose.

I had "Recommendation from other hosts" checked in my settings, which has an statement as "These guests have traveled on Airbnb, are recommended by other hosts, and have no negative reviews."

When yesterday I got booked by this guest, I saw he had only one review (a group review) with 2 stars indicating "Good people" (which is contradicting itself). In my opinion a 2 star review is a negative one and until now had thought AirBNB considered so too.

I contacted the support center to explain, how that was possible. The response was that my requirements doesn't have anything to do with a 2-star review. I asked what I should consider as an negative review then, and waiting for response right now.

I would also consider asking the host that left the review, but he doesn't seem to use the platform for a long time.

So did you have similar problems? Or do you know how AirBNB considers a review as a negative one? Is it maybe because that review was left for a group another person as the main guest, so only appears in my guest's profile but not count as his review?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Asu0 

i think Airbnb considers a "thumb down" as a negative review.  I am not sure if a group review counts.

I would also like to know the answer.

[Asu0]

Thanks @Branka-and-Silvia0. I will let you know here, if I can get a satisfactory explanation from the AirBNB representative.

And how do you see whether other hosts checked thumbs down or up for your guests?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Asu0  I am afraid you can't see how many thumbs up/down he have, the only thing you can see is the average star rating and his reviews

[Asu0]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 After a long unhelpful conversation with the represantative, I think the reviews are evaluated negative or positive according to thumbs up or down feature. I couldn't get any answer unfortunately, whether group reviews has an effect on secondary guest on the booking.

[Thorey0]

Hi, I have a similar problem but I also have it as a guest requirment that I want them to be recommendend by other host with no negative review.

But it quite often happens that I get bookings from guest with no review at all. I got 2 bookings like that yestarday. 

So therefore I do not understand how this requirment works. 

I am renting out my own home therefore it is very important for me to be able to read reviews. 

[Rich-and-Yan0]

Yeah Thorey, I just experienced that myself. We just went live on Airbnb yesterday, and we had set up the "Recommendations from Other Hosts" as well as the need for a government ID as prerequisites for booking.

But then lo and behold, we had at least four attempted bookings by people who had neither of those. I didn't understand this, as I would have thought they'd be blocked from trying to reserve--but they weren't. Some were groups of young people, too. And after all of the money we sunk into renovations, and after hearing a number of horror stories from hosts this summer about young people partying and trashing their places, I had no choice but to politely explain the situation and decline them.

Well, here's the real crappy part of that story: it seems like we have dropped down in the algorithm because of those "declines." Yesterday, we were pretty high up on the listing, hence all of the enquiries. Today, however, we're so far down that you'd really have to be looking to find our place.

So yeah, it seems like stipulating that guests must have these requirements doesn't really matter. They can still put in pending reservations, and it is left to you to reject them. Then, when you do, the system makes you suffer for it. 

This makes no sense to me. But maybe someone else has another perspective and can advise me otherwise? If so, I'd really like to hear it. 

[Asu0]

@Rich-and-Yan0 As far as I know, the requirements only apply for the Instants Bookings. Other guests, who doesn't meet the requirements, might still send you a inquiry or reservation request and you can approve them, even if they don't meet the requirements.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Asu0 Thank you for that information. Yeah, we're just figuring all of this out as we go. The Instant Book feature seems to have good and bad aspects, and this appears to be one of the bad ones. Anyway, I'm sure we'll "find out groove" once we've been at this for a couple of months. Cheers.  

[Rich-and-Yan0]

So continuing with this theme, we would really like to know if anyone else has had either good or bad experiences with the "Recommendations from Other Hosts" feature. Please share whatever you know, as we'd all love to hear it and learn from your experiences. 

[Kathy356]

I just received an instant book and the guest has only one review and it is a 3.5. Upon review, the red flags made me decide to cancel. I have heard that you need to call the customer service number in order to not be penalized. I have read you get two or three free cancellations and then they penalize you. 

Even though I haven't used my "free" cancellations, I called and the customer rep said it would be penalty free. I guess I will wait and see what that means.

[Ange2]

I am betting thumbs down - would not host again -  is the only thing considered a negative.

I have had people with 3 stars and less, and negative written reviews but they are allowed to book IB.