Review System - Guests can do different overall vs combined, but hosts can't?

[Laurel52]

So I noticed recently that a few guests had left 5 star reviews in all the underlying specific areas (cleanliness, checkin, location, etc), but then chose to leave a 4 star overall review.

When a host chooses their guests reviews they have to enter the 3 categories and then the system automatically generates the overall score.

Just wondering why this is an option for guests only?  In an effort to be reasonably fair to both the host and the guest, both sides should either have the option to have a separate, non calculated overall score, or both should have an auto-calculated overall score.

[Letti0]

@Laurel52 It's the new review system. Rather than stars for over the stars are based on 3 *'s As expected, 4 *'s A bit better than expected and 5 *'s Much better than expected. Lots of 4 *'s coming many hosts future I am afraid. 

[Laurel52]

In this case, is AirBnB going to adjust their expectations of hosts ratings?  If 4* is going to become a likely standard reply, then expecting hosts to maintain 4.8 average or above seems a bit steep.

I'm certainly not going to object to the changes so the ratings become reflective of more than the extremes, but by the same token, the expectations of what hosts are expected to provide should also be concurrently adjusted to reflect the new review system.

[Olga279]

Laurel, I fully agree with your reasoning. I was not aware of the rating system change, so I was absolutely shocked yesterday when my last guest was full of praise for my listing but then left an overall 3.5* out of 5* rating, attributing it to the fact that they saw a spider(!) in the apartment. One would get an impression that the place was laced with spider webs and that the insects were crawling all over, but the fact is that the place is VERY clean and tidy, absolutely NO spider webs even in the most remote corners. Yet the apartment is situated on the ground floor and has a large terrace facing thick shrubs and greenery, and if the guests leave the terrace door open, which they often do, it may well happen that a wretched insect will crawl in, but as a host I can hardly be accountable for that, can I :-? What makes this rating even more absurd, these guests were so engratiating and friendly that I rated them 5* in all categories, despite the fact that they left the kitchen sink full of dirty dishes that they could easily pack into the dishwasher... I am only glad that they did not bother to write their review in English, so only the potential guests with some knowledge of Spanish may read it.

[Yulianna0]

@Olga0, at least he did not mention spiders in his review. Only trains close to the house. 

[Laurel52]

As a secondary thought, this also means that hosts who are as accurate as possible in detailing their accommodations and drive to provide truthful information about their rentals are often going to get "as expected" because their host was accurate.

Is the system going to take that into account - i.e. a host getting an 5* accuracy rating for their rentals and a 3* as expected would theoretically make sense.

Or should hosts downplay their accuracy of listing so that when guests arrive they are surprised as the experience was "much better than expected"?

You're putting hosts in a bit of a spot because they need to be accurate and reflect their rentals, but also making it so the only way to achieve a "much better than expected" rating is to not fully disclose little perks or as the system says ''thoughtful touches' etc.

[Gina161]

How do I prompt my host to give me a review?

[Letti0]

@Gina161  Use the AirBnB messaging system if that does not work. Try a text message or call them. if all else fails. For some reason I have seen that many hosts just don't review their guests which is not helpful to the guest who needs that first review to book other properties sometime because a positive review is required.  

[Gina161]

Thanks for the response.

I’ve tried all you’ve me tu Bed & we got on so well, plus I left her a review too. Not sure why she hasn’t left me a review. She even texted me saying that she hopes I come & stay with her again. Maybe she’s not familiar with how to leave a review. I don’t want to keep messaging as I think that may become a nuisance to her.

i’m hoping Airbnb will send her prompts & links to leave her review 

[Ed142]

How can you work to make the guest experience better when you get an overall 4, zero comments on the reason, and 5s on all sub categories?  It could have easily been a typo missed finger press but you'll never know. Happened to me 18 overall 5 ratings and one 4 for unknown reasons.  A poor system.

[Letti0]

@Ed142  I'd guess it's the new review process they don't see stars to check off for it anymore. The overall rating is a question about your listing and a 3* = As expected, a 4* =  A bit better than expected and a 5* = Much better than expected.  

[Ed142]

So that means if you are really good at describing your house, very articulate, you are penalized because it is not "better than expected". Ridiculous! Airbnb is losing my confidence in their processes.

[Letti0]

@Ed142  It's actually worse than that they ask a ton of questions about amenties and did you have this refrigerator, dishwasher, soap. toilet paper, towels, pillows. etc. plus  9 categories to pick from for the new highlight box Squeaky Clean, Great Amenties, etc. It's basically spying on host and data mining and it's takes too long, so guests no longer complete it and stop half way through, so the 50% reviews you need to keep SuperHost status in addition to the 4.8* Overall rating are both being effected. 

[JeanPaul0]

moi pareil, drôle de système : évaluation globale 4 et tout le détail 5 pour certains voyageurs  ! pas cohérent, ils font comme ça leur chante les voyageurs.. on sait bien qu'il n'y a pas de perfection mais ce n'est pas logique

[Douglas164]

new to the forum...hope l am in the correct spot

talked to airbnb repeatedly about how the 'overall score' should be computed by an airbnb algorithim based on the metrics provided to the guests....why collect them otherwise, when they are not used

airbnb has 'raised' the issue internally a number of times, but recommended l post here, as well as address the guest directly...so here is what l just sent the guest today ie 19 Oct 18

 Evening *

Have an issue l would like to discuss with you but first, however, a little background information, if l may

l have approached Airbnb several times with an issue about their rating system, consisting of the review which you used this afternoon, and how it impacts Superhost status, of which l now belong

The problem, as l see it, with the review/rating system site is that guests do not realize that the metrics that you have scored me 5/5 on ie cleanliness, accuracy, etc have zero input/value when it comes to impacting the 'overall score....the only metric Airbnb uses to assign superhost status on. Rather, the overall score is a complete arbitrary number the guest can assign as they chose, completely independent of any of the earlier scores ie cleanliness

This effectively negates, at least in my mind, all the hard work and expenses l put into our property to ensure that it is clean and safe, getting user guides translated, hiring the best property management team l can etc ...so that we can offer you the best product we can. Airbnb 'tells' both of us that the information is irrelevant.

Imagine a teacher telling you, despite have 100% in all subjects, you are going to get an 80% overall average...because that is the way the system works? Conversely, a place you want to rent gets a 5/5 overall score but 1/5 in cleanliness, accuracy, etc. Would you trust a scoring system that can be gamed like this?

Case in point: your narrative suggests you had a positive experience with us....your 5/5 scores suggest the same. But you gave me a 4/5 on the overall score, which is the only score airbnb uses to reward superhost status on....which l have now lost.

If you think that our cottage warrants a 4/5...so be it.

However, if you think that, upon reflection, our overall score should be 5/5...you can contact airbnb to change your score

On my side, l will continue to ask Airbnb to drop the 'overall score' metric and instead, automatically compute my overall score based on the metrics of communication, cleanliness etc...that l excel at.

But there is also a business side to this analysis: if l consistently did poorly on a calculated 'overall score'...l could see where l could improve this score ie raise accuracy to a 5/5 instead of a 3/5. But how do l improve my 'overall score' when l have scored 5/5 in all metrics? It simply does not make sense.

Thanks for reading this...and thanks for joining us at our cottage

d

any thoughts about how to get airbnb to address this issue?