an obvious 5 star review is counted as 4 star

[Herwig0]

5star review shows as 4 star

so I received obviously a 5 star review for my home. BUT the review shows at the guest as a 4 star only, also my "standrad" percentage fell from 86 to 84%

How comes?

Do I understand anything wrong?

thanks

Herwig

[Steve143]

Hello @Herwig0,

No, you do not misunderstand anything.

Guests can review the listing and give 5 stars for accuracy, check-in, cleanliness, communication, location and value. They can also give stars for "overall". They sometimes give 4 stars for this even though they give 5 stars in the other categories because "overall" includes everything, not just the 6 other categories. If a guest thinks there's an issue with something not covered by the 6 named ratings they can give an "overall" rating of less than 5.

Your "standard" percentage is the percentage of "overall" 5 star ratings.

Yes, guests can sometimes give an overall rating of 4 stars even though other ratings are 5 star and their review is very good. They often don't mention the problem iin their review.

You could try messaging them to ask how you could improve on the overall rating.

Steve.

[Herwig0]

@Steve143, thanks a lot for your insight, as I'm using airbnb only as a host, I had no idea about the "overall" star rating. Anyway, does that mean all 6 categories where I got a 5star rating are neglected, as the overall was set to 4stars? Or in other words, could I get in all categories 1 star, but if overall was clicked as 5 star it overrides all others? This would be important to know, as it plays into the superhost percentage.

thanks for a quick note, if you find some time...

best regards

from Portugal

Herwig

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Herwig0 I am ABB member for a year and a half and reading post here on CC every day but I don't understand it either 🙂

Anyway, the art is to find the best balance between what you offer and your prices (keep in mind your competitors , your time and effort, your expences) and do the best you can without feeling used as a door mat 🙂 

[Margaret335]

I have messaged guests several times and asked them how i could improve on my listing description accuracy, kindly stated that i am open and willing to any suggestions,   but NO ONE has ever replied . I believe they do not read  and the host is then penalised because of this. 

[Victoria567]

Hi @Margaret0

An increasing number of guests done bother themselves to leave a review.......it’s a bit naive to think they will reply, afterall air bnb has become in many entitled guests eyes.....a very cheap hotel alternative, nothing to do with being part of the sharing experience.

Sadly we have become a cheap commodity in the eyes of several guests.

[Lacramioara1]

Airbnb is asking also questions which are not disclosed to hosts. 

After having several great experiences on airbnb as a guest giving only 5 stars, now I face a situation where I have to give less. I tried to negotiate with the host and he is not taking into consideration my demand. The room is extremely cold, I've got sick and he is not understanding at all. On top of that the bathroom advertised as not shared it is in fact a shared bathroom, there are problems with cleanliness etc. I was decided to give him 5 stars when I saw understanding in check in times, negotiated at the time of booking. I was expecting another smooth grat 5 stars experience. But it is not the case. He became a super host by forcing people to 5 star him. He calls this "5 stars policy". Well, he will be surprised to have less. You must earn 5 stars. Otherwise Airbnb will not function. People will go back to normal hotels and this movement already started. Same story for Uber. When they are not able to pick you up because they have a language problem or if the car is stinky, dirty,... well, it will not be 5 stars. Those stars must be earnt. After eack 5 stars click there is a section where airbnb says "this information will not be shared with the host". In my case I will explain what happened, I will show pictures and I will tell Airbnb how much is sthe real rating. And guess what? He may have 3-4 stars and will say that something is wrong with the algorythm. In fact he did not listen to me when we could negotiate nicely. 

[Letti0]

@Lacramioara1  If the listing is not accurate please report the listing and the host in addition to an honest review. AirBnB was built on trust, if you can not trust the host to provide what they say it doesn't work. The same with guests if they can not be trusted to follow the rules the hosts set it doesn't work. Each person host and guest is trusting the other to do as they say. A host demanding a 5* review is ridiculous, you have to earn that, but AirBnB's new review process is screwed up. Hosts that should be actually getting 5* overall ratings are in fact getting 3* and 4* reviews for overall which effects their ranking and SuperHost status because the overall score is based on a question now, not stars like cleanilness, accuracy, location, value, check in and communication. Overall score question is how was the listing response and the star equivalent are 1* much worse than expected 2* a bit worse than expected 3* as expected 4* a bit better than expected 5* much better than expected. So a host that has an accurate listing is given a 3* overall and then AirBnB sends theats of delisting your place for not getting a 5* review when they have made it almost impossible now with the question versus the star rating. 

[Lacramioara1]

Letty, my recent review was not taken into account. It simply diappeared

[Letti0]

@Lacramioara1  I would call AirBnB and ask for an explaination as to why it was removed it the reason does not violate the Content Policy I would request it be placed back immediately.

What is Airbnb's Content Policy?

By posting content in public areas on Airbnb, you agree to abide by these guidelines and all other Airbnb policies. We reserve the right to remove any content, in whole or part, that violates these guidelines, our Terms of Service, our Community Standards, or for any other reason at our sole discretion.

In the event of repeated or severe violations, we may suspend or permanently deactivate the account(s) in question.

You can report the content directly or contact us to report content that appears to violate these guidelines.

The following content is never allowed on Airbnb:

• Content created solely for the purpose of advertising or other commercial content, including company logos, links, or company names
• Spam, unwanted contact, or content that is shared repeatedly in a disruptive manner
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The following are violations specific to the type of the content on Airbnb:

Listing Titles

• Listing titles that do not serve the purpose of providing information relevant to the listing type, style, or experience
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• Content that is off-topic, doesn’t ask a question, or doesn’t offer knowledge in response to a question as part of a larger discussion
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AirBnB Australia +61 2 8520 3333

[Lacramioara1]

Hi Letti!

So the content policy removes my review if I say that the bathroom was shared instead private as advertised . And many facts,  happenings like knocking in my bathroom door at night, not having heating, not be allowed to have a hot shower instead, host doing his laundry at 2 am in the wall next to my bed but not allowing me a shower etc etc etc

[Letti0]

@Lacramioara1  I think the host got the review pulled, you need to contact AirBnB to have it put back up if they removed it without it being in violation of the content policy is what I am saying. I know of both hosts and guests that have gotten reviews put back up after contacting AirBnB because the removal should not have happened in the first place. It's worth the call to try. 

[Victoria567]

Hi@Lacramioara

Well it was a bit daft giving this host 5 stars.

I’m getting really sad about the number of hosts and guests failing to write a true factual account of their experience in their reviews.

In does nothing about keeping the integrity of the integrity of the review system intact.....in fact the review system is becoming a farce, with increasing amounts of bland, vague, wishy washy reviews, that are as much use to their reader as a chocolate teapot!

[Lacramioara1]

Hi Victoria! My review simply disappeared. It was a simple description of facts which I thought will help other travellers and the acordingly stars(only one five, the others honestly depended on the facts)

[Salem2]

So does that mean that the only rating that counts is the overall rating?

And the other catergories are irrelevant as they don't contribute to the overall star rating? whats the point? I always thought it was averaged out!