Review

[Laura2800]

Hi,

I have received a review that is 5* in every criteria however it has come through as a 4* review overall and has consequently brought my score down.

Any ideas as to why this could be? I didn't think it was possible to give an overall 4 when everything scored 5!

Thanks 

[Lawrene0]

It is possible, @Laura2800 , because the overall score is not an average of the others - it is scored separately by the guests. Sometimes it is a mere whim, sometimes they "just don't give 5", sometimes it is a mistake, and sometimes it is because of something not covered by value, communication, cleanliness, location, check-in, or accuracy. It could be noise or rain or whatever. The question is something like "how would you rate your stay" and guests can take that to mean their entire trip - traffic, etc. 

It cannot be changed, anyway, no matter the reason.

It happens enough that hosts have mentioned it many times in this forum, but not enough that it should tank your score. Looks like you are doing well, score-wise. 

I don't write to guests to ask why, but if you think you might learn something that will make your place better, you could. Some hosts do. 

[Helen3]

It's frustrating @Laura2800 but that's how the rating system has been set up; that guests can give whatever overall rating they like,

[Laura2800]

Thank you very much ladies! I am still quite new to this so didn't realise that it was a completely seperate score.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge with me!

[Lawrene0]

If you get a chance, @Laura2800 , stay as a guest somewhere. It is really helpful for hosts to see the guest side of things. I'm convinced it makes me a better host, and it certainly explains those things that don't seem to make sense!

[Bo24]

Hey Laura,

I had an exact same incident with one guest.

As others said, airbnb won't do anything, this is just how things are. If you have an overall 4 star once, you will need at least 4 extra 5 star to equalize it to average 4.8, which is the requirements for becoming superhost.

The least you can do is to setup a clear instruction and explain to your guests how important this overall experience rating is and hope they can give you a nice score in the future. 

Cheers,

Bo

[Ann489]

@Laura2800   Happened to me as well.    Guest gave five stars in every category, but only four stars overall.   Welcome to the wonderful world of Airbnb's non-sensical rating system.   😉