4 star ratings

Polly16
Level 2
Ottawa, Canada

4 star ratings

Some of my guests went to several Airbnb right before coming to my place. They told me they were not satisfied of their previous Airbnb but they ended up not giving them reviews and gave me a 4 star. From their perspective, they think 4 star is good. But I feel that I should have given them a lower quality Airbnb such that they don't leave me a review rather than give me a 4 star. A 4 star would actually lower my rating and my future guests will see a 4.5 star if I have many 4 stars. I wish that Airbnb would give penalties to the overall ratings even if guests don't leave a review 

1 Reply 1

I strongly disagree with the notion that hosts should be penalized for not receiving a review. It's completely beyond our control whether guests choose to review us, and their choice not to do so does not necessarily indicate a lack of satisfaction. Furthermore, it doesn't make much sense to me that you would wish to have given a "lower quality" experience to a guest who believed they were giving you a positive review.

 

However, your comment does illustrate a real problem with the disconnect between how the star ratings are presented to guests and the impact they have on hosts. When guests are rating us, 4 Stars is shown as "Very Good." But when Airbnb displays the feedback to hosts - particularly in the "Superhost" system - 4 stars is taken as a total failure. Guests who enjoyed their experience with a host like @Polly16 would surely be quite upset if they knew that their positive review was causing distress. Airbnb should make it very clear to the reviewer that anything other than 5 stars is going to appear as a negative.