Star Reviews Missing

Answered!
Daniel1323
Level 2
Irvine, CA

Star Reviews Missing

Anyone else notice that average Star Rating is no longer appearing when a Guest send's a booking request? They only show the written reviews, not the average Star Rating. 

 

If this is true, this is another way AirBNB continues to put guests above hosts. They are removing ways we can evaluate our potential houses guests and turning our homes into Hotels. 


Our listings are Not Hotels, They are our spaces, our homes, our property; and we should have every tool at our disposal to make sure we are picking the right guests to come visit. 

DanMcNeely
1 Best Answer
Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Daniel1323 I believe this is a glitch. I have found that if I cannot see the star rating I move the message to the archive I can see the ratings. If an archived message doesn't have visible star ratings I move it back to the inbox and I can see them. It's really strange but it works sometimes.

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12 Replies 12
Sandra856
Level 10
Copenhagen, Denmark

Hi 🙂 @Daniel1323

You can only see a guest's star rating when they have instant booked. You can't see the ratings when you get an inquiry or when a guest sends you a request to book.

It has always been like that. Airbnb want hosts to choose instant book and to be able to see the ratings are one if the benefits you then get as a host. 

Emilia42
Level 10
Orono, ME

@Daniel1323 I believe this is a glitch. I have found that if I cannot see the star rating I move the message to the archive I can see the ratings. If an archived message doesn't have visible star ratings I move it back to the inbox and I can see them. It's really strange but it works sometimes.

@Emilia42 But it is not possible to see a guest's star ratings when a guest sends a "request to book"? It is only possible when the host got instant book turned on? 

@Sandra856 If a host has instant book enabled they can see the star ratings for requests and inquiries. If a host does not have instant book enable they can never see star ratings. 

@Emilia42 Yes, but how do you know that this host got instant book turned on when he only mentions that he received a request to book. I didn't know that it was possible to see the star ratings for booking requests and inquiries when instant book was enabled. 

@Sandra856 I checked his listing and when I went to book, I could instantly book it.

Helen350
Level 10
Whitehaven, United Kingdom

@Daniel1323 I have found the same as @Emilia42 ! (Moving to archive makes stars appear!)

Thank You. That's super helpful. It makes NO sense why AirBNB would only show you the Star Rating after a booking is confirmed. The Star rating is my MAIN filter to determine whether a guest will follow the house rules and not trash the place. 

 

DanMcNeely
Sarah977
Level 10
Sayulita, Mexico

"The Star rating is my MAIN filter to determine whether a guest will follow the house rules and not trash the place. "

 

Well, that's foolish. The star rating tells you almost nothing, as you have no idea why the guest was given that rating. There have been plenty of hosts who have gotten horrible guests who had 5* ratings. On another host forum a host asked for feedback on what ratings to leave for a guest, whose behavior they outlined. The answers, all from experienced hosts, ran the gamut from 2*s to 5*s- it's entirely subjective.

 

Reading a guest's past reviews as well as the reviews they have left for previous hosts and direct communication with guests are the best filters for determining whether someone will be a good guest.

@Daniel1323

Agree to disagree. I would appreciate you not labeling my system as foolish since it’s worked for me ever since I’ve started hosting on Airbnb.

 

You do not know my experience, and different hosts approach filtering guest in different ways. 

DanMcNeely
Alison754
Level 2
Waikawa, New Zealand

So what is the considered view when you have instant bookings turned on but you get a request to book from someone who has been a member for 5 years but has no reviews and no star rating. Our instant book settings accept people recommended by other hosts but we have just had a request from someone who joined in 2015, has no profile description and no reviews. I can't work out if I'm missing something in the settings.

 

Alison

Sandra3910
Level 4
Waihi Beach, New Zealand

@Alison754 I set up my Airbnb account in 2016, but only started using it this year when I began hosting, and have also had quite a few guests with no reviews but old accounts, so I don’t think it’s uncommon. I think it’s because Airbnb prompts you to set up an account quite early in the process, even if you’re just having a bit of a browse. Most guests that I have hosted don’t have any kind of profile description, unless they’re hosts themselves. 

At least with an older account you know that it’s less likely to be a guest that had bad reviews, who had to ditch their account and set up a new one! Also, not all hosts leave reviews.

 

I have my IB to the same settings as you, so if I get a request to book and the person has no reviews, their opening message can go some way to telling me what kind of guest they will be. If they write a polite, thoughtful message, telling you about themselves and why they’re coming to the area and how much they’re looking forward to spending time in your beautiful place, then you’ll probably have a polite, thoughtful guest. If on the other hand I get a message such as one I got the other day “Holiday and after lunch cheers!” (my check in time is 2pm) then that’s going to make me pause (and, in this case, decline).